I remember how it was -- JR
Sunday, September 26, 2021
COVID-19 Exacerbates Teacher Shortages Across Public Schools, Forcing Some to Return to Remote Learning
Teacher shortages and difficulties filling job openings have been reported in Tennessee, New Jersey, and South Dakota, which saw one school district begin the year with 120 teacher vacancies.
In Texas, Houston, Waco, and a number of other districts saw hundreds of teaching vacancies unfilled at the start of the year.
In one California school district, staff are reportedly sending flyers home with students to let parents know the district is “now hiring.”
The shortage comes amid a spike in retirements and resignations of teachers prompted by the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, schools are already under pressure to hire tutors to make up for lost learning time, while more positions need to be filled in order to run online learning classes for those who aren’t ready to return.
According to a June poll that surveyed 2,690 members of the National Education Association between May 19 and May 26, one-third of members reported plans to leave education sooner than they had initially planned as a result of the pandemic, which could further exacerbate the existing teacher shortage.
A separate survey conducted by the RAND Corp. in January and February found that nearly one in four teachers said that they were likely to leave their jobs by the end of the 2020–21 school year, compared with one in six teachers who were likely to leave prior to the pandemic.
The survey noted that a higher proportion of teachers had reported experiencing frequent job-related stress and symptoms of depression when compared to the general population, citing pandemic-era teaching conditions, such as technical problems while teaching remotely, as just some of those job-related stresses.
Public schools across the United States were already suffering from teacher shortages, particularly in math, science, special education, and languages, prior to the pandemic. But several of them have now been forced to shut down and return to remote learning amid further unfilled vacancies.
Linda Darling-Hammond, president of California’s State Board of Education, said the shortage was “really a nationwide issue and definitely a statewide issue.”
The shortages could potentially lead to some schools, particularly those in low-income communities, hiring under-qualified teachers as they race to fill vacant positions while class sizes expand.
One school, Mount Diablo Unified School District, which serves 28,000 students east of San Francisco, has filled several of its elementary classrooms at the maximum capacity of 32 students—even while social distancing rules remain in place—in an effort to relieve pressure from remote teachers.
Initially, around 150 children had signed up for distance learning. But that number soon spiked to 600 during the pandemic.
As a result, some schools—including Mount Diablo district—are now offering sizable bonus schemes for some of their teachers in an effort to fill vacancies.
Adam Clark, superintendent of Mount Diablo Unified, said the district is offering $5,000 signing bonuses for speech pathologists and $1,500 bonuses for paraeducators who help students with learning needs.
Another California school district, San Francisco Unified, is offering a similar bonus scheme for 100 paraeducator jobs, while nearby West Contra Costa County Unified School District is providing $6,000 signing bonuses for teachers, with a third of that paid out after the first month.
And the teacher shortage isn’t just a problem facing U.S. schools. In New South Wales (NSW), Australia, the alarming shortage of teachers led to numerous occasions of combined classes of up to 45 students and minimal supervision throughout regional and intercity schools.
“This is an example of the very real impact teacher shortages are having on students and teachers in schools from the inner west of Sydney to the Far West of NSW,” NSW Teachers Federation President Angelo Gavrielatos said in a statement. “As we prepare for schools to go back next term, it is a stark reminder of why teacher shortages must be addressed as a matter of urgency.”
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School shootings are a tragic reality in our day and age
Including blacks
It has been noted that there has been an increase in school shootings not just in the United States but worldwide.
However, it would be incorrect to claim that school shootings are on the rise due to stricter gun control laws being introduced across America. There are other factors involved when looking into school shootings. A report released by Northeastern University stated that homicide rates have dropped while school shooting rates have increased annually. The report also indicated that guns used in school shootings were obtained legally 90% of the time.
Looking into each school shooting can help understand what factors are at play. The school shooting in Parkland, Florida was an example of a school shooting that had stricter gun control laws introduced and yet the school shooter still managed to obtain guns legally.
The school shootings in Nevada and Texas were carried out by students who obtained firearms from their family members. It is evident that stricter gun control laws do not prevent school shootings where the guns are obtained legally.
Now that school is back, shootings are back as well. Police had to respond to a shooting in Newport News, Virginia which resulted in what they're referring to as a "mass casualty event".
WAVY News reported,
Newport News police say two students who were shot Monday at Heritage High School are expected to recover, and the suspect is now in custody.
Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew said both victims were 17 years old. A boy was shot in the side of the face and a girl was shot in the lower leg. Drew said both of the two victims’ injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.
So two students were shot. Let me ask you something, did you actually hear about this in the news? I'm willing to bet that you didn't. And do you know why? IT DOESN'T FIT THE NARRATIVE!
The shooter was black. It was more black on black crime and the media can't let you know that black people do wicked things like this.
You know where school shooting don't happen? At home when you homeschool your children. It is definitely the best option for educating your children and preventing them from being indoctrinated. I know that not everyone can do that right this moment, but it's something that people should try to work towards. It's the best investment into your children that you can make. It might take some sacrifice, but it's well worth it.
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We Need Common Sense Back in Our Schools
Julie Perry
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that the political and media elites will go to great lengths to shame and insult Americans who do not conform to the woke, leftist groupthink. I experienced this firsthand when NBC 4 in Washington, D.C. targeted me, and sought comment from my employer, for my views on masks for school children, and the practical impact of trans-gender students in school restrooms.
I may just be a Fairfax County teacher, but I will not be intimidated by the news media doing Terry McAuliffe’s fear-based bidding in a campaign year. As leftist elites try to jam political agendas into the classroom, like Critical Race Theory, and ignore the ramifications of men identifying as women entering the girls’ restrooms and locker rooms, I won’t be silenced. We must end discrimination in our schools – and teach love and respect to all, but not at the expense of love and respect for those who disagree. It is the media and the left’s political agenda that is a threat to our kids, not me exercising free speech that has been a pillar to this country’s foundation.
Virginia’s career politicos have spent the last 18 months issuing edicts to the people of the Commonwealth. They shut down our economy, killed our jobs and put our families’ incomes in jeopardy. They kept Virginia’s schools closed, while countless sons and daughters fell through the cracks of ill-conceived remote learning. They targeted Virginians who believed in personal freedom and shamed those of us who want to open classrooms and not force our young children to wear masks. Their elitist ideas and mindsets are not rooted in a time-honored scientific process, but fear. In a time of chaos, when dialogue and a proliferation of information would help us avert the crises erupting across the globe, they will say, without remorse, that those of us who do not conform to their agenda are the greatest threat of all. When an arrogant and pompous establishment continues encroaching on our freedoms each and every day, it generates a catastrophe that cannot be ignored.
If the media is so eager to cover a controversy in schools, perhaps they should cover the steep losses in learning caused by the Commonwealth’s failed remote learning experience. Better yet, they could take a look into how former Governor and now-democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe’s lowering of standards has led to a precipitous decline in students’ results. These petty distractions, calling out a teacher for her personal views, all while ignoring the terrible policies that have harmed hundreds of thousands of kids, are meager sideshows in the state’s circus of disasters. It is exactly what is wrong with the media today. No wonder so many Americans have tuned out the liberal “news” and sought alternatives that drive towards the truth.
For many families, the utter disarray our education system has devolved into has passed the breaking point and become unbearable – most simply could not remain silent and needed to speak out. Meanwhile, a political outsider has emerged to retake the governor’s mansion and help us retake our schools. Businessman Glenn Youngkin knows what his plan will be from Day One. Critical Race Theory (CRT) could become a thing of the past. You and your children can count on their school being open not one, not two, but five days each week. Students will be pushed to rise above mediocrity and strive for excellence. Virginia’s schools will get the makeover they desperately need to rebound from the nightmare they are today. For the many parents who’ve started demanding accountability in their school board meetings and fighting to regain control over their children’s education, they finally have a candidate who will be a resolute voice for them.
For the sake of our children’s futures, we must foster a respectful and positive learning environment that our kids can depend on, producing model citizens that this Commonwealth can depend on. Political correctness in the classrooms and viewing the world through a permanent lens of race will not get it there. Let’s get back to common sense and get as far away as we can from CRT.
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'Whiteness is not a culture!': BLM activists at Arizona State University scream at two white students with Police Lives Matter stickers on their laptops before forcing them out of a 'multicultural learning space'
Two white students at Arizona State University were forced out of a 'multicultural learning space' after two female BLM activists took issue with the Police Lives Matter stickers on their laptops.
The incident, which took place at the college's Phoenix campus on Thursday, was recorded by one of the woke activists before it was shared to their Instagram page.
The footage begins with the white students sitting at a table studying before they are approached by two activists who state: 'You're offensive. Police Lives Matter? This is our space. You're making this space uncomfortable.'
The two black activists, tell the white students they must leave, saying: 'You're white. Do you understand what a multicultural space means? It means you're not being centered.'
'White's not a culture?' one of the white students subsequently asks.
'White is NOT a culture! You think whiteness is a culture? This is the violence that ASU [Arizona State University] does and this is the type of people that they protect!' one of the activists responds.
She continues yelling: 'This white man thinks he can take up our space ... they think they can get away with this s**t!' she continues yelling.
'This is the only place on campus that does not center you, and you are still trying to center yourself which is peak white cis male bulls**t.'
'I'm not racist, I'm just studying,' one of the students replies. 'I pay the same f**king tuition as you. I'm working 60 hours a week while going to school because my parents don't just give me money!'
The activists continue to protest the Police Lives Matter sticker, saying it is 'affiliated with white nationalists'.
'These people kill people like me and like us, so you're promoting our murderers,' the other activists chimes in.
The white students are then defended by an Asian peer, but the clash continues.
The white pair eventually exit the 'multicultural learning space' saying that they are going to complain to the dean.
ASU has not publicly responded to the video.
The activist was trolled on her Instagram account after sharing the footage.
'Really out there changing hearts and minds by going full Karen freak out on a f**king sticker lmao,' one wrote in the comments section.
'The people recording are racist themselves by discriminating someone for the color of their skin. Imagine wanting to fight racism by yelling and harassing people until they leave,' another chimed in.
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My other blogs: Main ones below
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
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