I have no problem with outing the ones who are devious and do treat staff badly, however I still assert that unless you have first-hand knowledge of a place, then you shouldn't make it guilty by association.

I feel that this point needs to be repeated as it has been a while since I last stated it on this board. I have personally known individuals who have been rejected both by face to face interviews as well as on skype after the interviews with schools or pretend "schools" in china due simply to their ethnic background. One friend I know told me that the statement of, "We don't want black people here" was said to him to his face. Another time I recommended an individual to the Global IELTS training center owner (at the place I was working at) and she frankly stated in mandarin chinese, "We can't have blacks working at our school, it's not good for our business, MEI BAN FA."

While you make a statement that is acceptable by convenient lines of ethics, remember this is a foreign country which doesn't operate by these lines. There are many good teachers out there who are much more qualified than the tourist teachers at any "school" in china who get shafted and who can never get the fair opportunity to work in china. We cannot call an ethnic minority who lived in early 20th century America as being savage or ignorant now, can we? They merely were excluded from the inherent racist, caste system that was forcefully inflicted upon them by the general population. Of course, some people including expats I met in china will still dispute the extent of the discrimination, but that is besides the point. What is important is that any teacher who has suffered the brunt of this discrimination has a right to criticize a place even if he/she hasn't worked there.

If China wants to show how internationalized she has become, one of the things this country must do is to curtail this sort of bias. But she hasn't made any effort to stop this, has she? Therefore private companies including English First deserve this criticism. There was another post made a couple of years back on the English First in the city of Urumuqi that had this exact problem.

Anyways, it's good to discuss something in a more cordial manner compared to the previous arguments we have had on this board. Have a good day.