There is a lot of conjecture about the "blacklist' for foreign teachers in China. This explanation seems to make things clear. It is is from China Visa Service:
http://www.z-visa.com/faq_eslteachers.htm#blackListIs there really a teacher "black" list?
Yup. If you have done anything willful to damage or hurt the schools reputation or an employee, student or fellow teacher in the school you'll be asked to leave, pay damages (breach fines) and your passport number, and visa or residence permission can be revoked. Individuals that use teaching as a means to subsidize their travel and hedonistic lifestyles abroad may run into this situation. It is important to note there are several types of lists and mention their relevance to living abroad in China.
Nationwide Police Database: The most official and damaging blacklist is managed by the police and department of exit and entry in cooperation with the public security bureaus. It's not a teacher blacklist so much as it is a national database of foreigners that have been accused of some sort of criminal mischief. For example, if you drove a motorcycle drunk and rode into a Chinese pedestrian causing severe damage to that persons health requiring expensive hospital stays and surgery, if you were found guilty and weren't able to finance the persons health bills, the local police might take the next step and get the courts involved who would surely prevent you from leaving the country until the matter was administratively completed to satisfaction of the state. This is also true in the United States and other countries.
Proprietary Lists: Maintained by web companies, schools and recruiting agencies. Non centralized and the least to worry about. If you were on a list for Recruiter A, you might not be able to get a job with them, but that doesn't mean recruiter B would have the same information or have a sharing agreement with recruiter A. Information Sharing is becoming more and more popular though and BESI LLC, Buxiban, and ChinaSchoolReview are examples of three such webs that have proprietary blacklists.
Local Government Lists: They exist but are usually not centralized or connected with other municipalities.
Provincial Government Lists: Maintained by the provincial departments of SAFEA, Public Security Bureau, and Entry and Exit Police are centralized and connected with other municipalities. If you've been unfortunate enough to make this database then you're probably in some sort of legal trouble and will have to deal with things if you try to exit the country.
The thing to keep in mind is not to do anything that would get you placed on one of these lists! Most schools are not even aware of these databases and in most cases will not have the relations to implement a nationwide ban although if you are a trouble maker you may find trouble obtaining work in the same province or locality. If you are a criminal, or accused of a criminal act, you may find it difficult to leave the country until your legal matters are resolved.
99.9 % of people involved with teaching in China do not have to worrk about a "blacklist." It is usually career troublemakers and habitual contract breachers that wind up fretting.
The so-called "blacklist", then, is not the ultimate threat to Foreign Teachers in China. The focus of any foreign teacher should always be on the
Letter of Releasefrom your school, college or university.
This, I believe, is the ultimate weapon of employers in China to control or pay-back foreign teachers. Foreign teachers who do not get a Letter of Release when departing a position cannot get another position.
For good background information on this go to:
http://www.jobschina.org/China_Library_Index/LINK_PAGE/Foreign_Experts_in_China/China_Employment_Contracts/0060401_Contract_Advice.pdfThe notes, by an unknown author, are set in the broad context of employment concerns (eg contracts) but there is specific reference to the Letter of Realease on p2.
I believe that gaining the Letter of Release must be the most important goal for any teacher leaving a position. Without it your chances of being able to take up another position are zilch.