I remember how it was -- JR
Monday, January 16, 2023
Want to Teach in Minnesota? Christians Need Not Apply
Scott Hogenson
I grew up in Minnesota when it was a very nice, normal place; a time when the unofficial state motto was “30 Below Keeps The Riff-Raff Out,” and the meanest thing about it was that lady who scowled at Mary Tyler Moore tossing her hat into the air on TV.
But in a couple years, Christians will not be allowed to work as public school teachers. Neither will Muslims or Jews. The reason for this religious bigotry is new teacher licensing rules that will require teachers to personally affirm transgender ideology.
Biology, genetics, endocrinology, physiology and anatomy have shown that, with the exception of a minuscule portion of the human race, people are born either male or female. But a growing cadre of science-denying ideologues believes people can just decide what sex they are.
I’m something of a libertarian in this regard, but there are limits. If some misguided soul wants to present himself or herself as something they're not, that’s their business. But when somebody demands we believe and affirm these delusions, under penalty of law, that’s a problem.
It's not just me. This is also a problem for Muslims who believe in the teachings of the Quran which instructs believers that in Allah’s creation, he “made of him two kinds, male and female.”
If you think this is some obscure passage, you may recall how Muslim parents in Dearborn, Michigan, last fall vocally protested against local schools that wanted to indoctrinate their children with transgender ideology. The parents were right to do so.
Transgender ideology not only violates the faith of Muslims, it violates that of Bible-believing Jews and Christians as well. The book of Genesis is pretty clear about this, stating in the very first chapter, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.”
But if you happen to be one of the roughly 5 billion people on Earth who subscribe to one of these faiths, Minnesota doesn’t want you to teach public school.
Beginning in 2025, the rules of the state Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board will require that,
“A teacher ensures student identities such as race/ethnicity, national origin, language, sex and gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical/developmental/ emotional ability, socioeconomic class, and religious beliefs are historically and socially contextualized, affirmed, and incorporated into a learning environment” .
People who believe in the God of the Bible or the God of the Quran will be forced to affirm an ideology that is contrary to their faith. This is not a recommendation; it’s a requirement for employment.
This is inconsistent with Minnesota statutes, which plainly state, “It is the public policy of this state to secure for persons in this state, freedom from discrimination: (1) in employment because of race, color, creed, religion…”
The Minnesota Human Rights Act further says it’s an unfair labor practice to deny employment to someone, “because of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, familial status, membership or activity in a local commission, disability, sexual orientation, or age.”
The law does provide an exception, “based on a bona fide occupational qualification,” which makes some sense. After all, it’s entirely reasonable for a synagogue to want to hire Jews. A Christian or Muslim school would probably want to hire Christians and Muslims as well. But apparently, the teacher licensing authority in Minnesota has decided that believing God created us man and woman is somehow disqualifying.
This is more than the latest skirmish in the ongoing culture wars. How is this not a violation of black-letter law? It smacks of illegal discrimination based on religion. Imagine the howls if the state required teachers to profess the faith of an established religion. I wouldn’t like that either.
Some might argue that this isn’t religious discrimination. People can still work as teachers as long as they recant their faith. This tactic has been commonly used by authoritarians across time and around the globe. It is religious persecution on par with that of North Korea and the old Soviet Union.
Will Minnesotans allow this to happen? According to Pew Research, more than 75 percent of Minnesotans are either Christian, Muslim or Jewish. That’s a big number. I would love to see 4 million people living in the Land of 10,000 Lakes stand up and demand their government not discriminate against them. It might just make the news.
But it doesn’t take 4 million people to change this bigoted, Marxist policy. I think three people could get the job done. One Muslim, one Jew and one Christian should engage counsel and sue the state, forcing it to end this religious persecution. If they open a legal defense fund, I’m happy to send a check.
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Public School Enrollment Drops By 1.4 Million Students -- Posing Financial Challenges For Big Cities
Enrollment in U.S. public schools saw a one-year drop of 1.4 million in the fall of 2020, hitting a 10-year low of 49.4 million students.
The sudden decline followed annual growth averaging 3 percent for more than a decade.
Although enrollment rebounded slightly in 2021, it remains at its lowest level since 2010 prompting some districts to consider school closures and other cost-saving measures.
New York City’s public school enrollment decreased to 903,000 in 2022 according to the website Gothamist, down some 10 percent over three years.
“We have a hemorrhaging of families that are leaving the city, leaving the school system,” Mayor Eric Adams said during an announcement in June 2022. Adams feared the loss of students would trigger the loss of federal funding to New York City schools.
Enrollment in Los Angeles United School District (LAUSD), the nation’s second-largest, has fallen from 737,000 students to some 430,000 over the past 20 years, and officials have said they expect another 28 percent decrease by 2030.
“We will have to navigate through difficult but important conversations and decisions in order not only to plan for the future but also to ensure that, during a very unstable and unsustainable set of practices and processes, we come out the other end on solid footing without compromising the viability of our school district,” Superintendent Alberto Carvalho told the LAUSD board in May according to EdSource.
Enrollment in Chicago Public Schools has fallen by 82,000 over nine years to around 302,000 students. The Chicago Board of Education voted to close 50 schools in 2013.
State law now prohibits further closures or consolidations until 2025. Twelve percent of Chicago’s public schools enroll fewer than 200 students.
Indianapolis Public Schools have just over 28,000 students with the capacity to handle some 46,000, leaving 60 percent of classroom space unused.
“I think people should know that everything is on the table,” Superintendent Aleesia Johnson to the nonprofit news outlet WFYI in March.
“But that doesn’t mean only closure is on the table. That means we could consider closures. We could consider consolidations; we could consider new buildings—which I think there’s certainly evidence that we need some new buildings; we could consider renovating.”
In November, the Indianapolis Public Schools board approved a reorganization plan that included closing six school buildings and changing the grade configuration of others.
Losses May Be Closer to 2 Million
The shift away from public schools may be even larger than total enrollment numbers show. Those figures include new enrollees, obscuring the actual number of students leaving public schools.
A 2022 report by Education Next indicates that between 2020 and 2022 enrollment in non-charter public schools declined from 81 percent of total school enrollment to 76.5 percent, while enrollment in public charter schools increased from 5 to 7.2 percent, private school enrollment rose from 8 to 9.7 percent, and homeschooling increased from 6 to 6.6 percent.
That indicates nearly 2 million students left traditional public schools for other educational options.
A study by the CATO Institute showed similar findings, with more private schools gaining enrollment in 2020-201.
Public schools are generally funded on a per-student basis making declining enrollment a significant financial challenge.
School districts have grappled with the problem in various ways.
Despite declining enrollment, New York City school officials have pledged not to reduce spending this year. “As we recover from the disruptions of the pandemic, we will ensure every student has the resources they need to thrive,” David Banks, Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, said in a statement. “This investment will boost our schools that face continued enrollment challenges caused by the pandemic.”
Denver Public Schools anticipates a funding shortfall of some $9 million by the end of the school year that will be covered with reserve funds, according to the district’s financial report.
One factor was lower-than-expected enrollment. School officials project an additional 3.6 percent decrease in enrollment over the next four years.
Minneapolis Public Schools have the capacity to serve 40,000 students but have enrolled just 28,000. Projections show that the district will run out of money by 2025 without some intervention, and school closures are considered likely according to StarTribune.
A year ago Oakland Unified School District closed seven schools due to a looming $50 million budget deficit and a decline in student enrollment.
During the pandemic, many states adopted hold-harmless policies that prevented schools from losing funding due to lower enrollment.
Also, public schools also received $190 billion in federal funding over the past two years through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Plan, created under the federal CARES Act in 2020 and added to by the American Rescue Plan in 2021.
When those provisions run out, the reality of declining enrollment may have an even greater financial impact.
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Australia: Push for more male teachers fails to increase numbers
False accusations against male teachers by female students have been badly handled in the past and few potential male teachers would be unaware of that. Being a male teacher is simply risky. Feminist demands to "believe the woman" are a part of that problem.
And it's a pity. My son had male mathematics teachers in his private High School and it inspired him to major in mathematics for his B.Sc.
Indemnifying male teachers against all the costs of false accusations might help
There has been no increase in the number of male teachers in public school classrooms, despite a push by the NSW Department of Education targeting them for recruitment into the profession more than four years ago.
Education experts said boys and girls benefit from more male teachers in schools because they were less likely to have stereotypical views about traditional gender roles, but recruiting men into a female-dominated field where teacher pay tops out after about 10 years is difficult.
The proportion of males employed in the public school system remained stagnant over the past four years, falling slightly from 23 per cent in 2018 to 22 per cent last year, according to the latest Department of Education data.
Numbers were steady despite the department’s diversity and inclusion strategy 2018-2022 which included an “obligation to address the gender imbalance in our teaching population, attracting and retaining more male teachers”.
The department’s latest move to draw more men into the profession was to use male teachers in social media advertisements and deploy them at careers fairs.
“High school careers advisers are also encouraged to promote work experience placements in government schools to male students,” a department spokesman said.
Data from the Universities Admissions Centre shows just 210 graduating year 12 schoolboys put primary school teaching as their first preference for university study this year.
That figure, which does not include students who applied directly to universities, is a 24 per cent decrease on the year before and is the lowest number recorded in the past seven years.
Schools across all sectors are grappling with chronic teacher shortages, with the federal government projecting a shortage of more than 4000 secondary school teachers by 2025. A national plan to address the shortage was released last month.
Independent researcher Dr Kevin McGrath, who has investigated the gender composition of the teaching workforce in Australia, said the pandemic and a workforce shortage had made it harder to attract and retain male teachers.
“Men benefit from a broad range of occupational choice in Australia which provides opportunities to avoid particular types of work and to seek out employment that provides more flexibility,” McGrath said.
Salaries for NSW teachers start at $73,737, and hit a maximum of $117,060 if they are accredited as a “highly accomplished” or “lead” teacher. Pay jumps to $126,528 if they take on more responsibilities and become an assistant principal.
“Male teachers face a greater opportunity cost for choosing a female-dominated profession, compounded by potential negative perceptions or ridicule for doing work performed predominantly by women,” McGrath said.
Research indicated that in schools with fewer male teachers, students tended to hold more stereotypical views of gender than in schools where male and female teachers were equally represented, he said.
University of Tasmania school of education lecturer Dr Vaughan Cruickshank said male teachers worked in a predominantly female environment and could struggle to find common interests with their female peers. He also said salary, low professional status, as well as fear and uncertainty about physical contact put men off becoming teachers.
A breakdown of the proportion of male teachers in primary and secondary schools for 2022 is not yet available, but last year men constituted 18 per cent of primary school teachers and 40 per cent of the teaching workforce in high school.
Private schools fare no better when it comes to attracting men, where male teachers made up 20 per cent of primary school teachers and 40 per cent of secondary school teachers.
“The percentage of male teachers in NSW independent schools has not changed significantly in recent years,” Association of Independent Schools of NSW chief executive Margery Evans said.
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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)
http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs
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