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Lowering professional qualifications has not fixed the "teacher shortage"

Posted by Cambion 
Lowering professional qualifications has not fixed the "teacher shortage"
February 03, 2023
I say "teacher shortage" in quotes because there is no teacher shortage. There is a "fair pay and expectations for teachers" shortage. I think I remember reading stuff before about schools lowering their standards for teachers so that people like custodians and veterans could teach, and in spite of a nationwide job search, nobody wants to be a teacher.

See the part I highlighted in red. They know what the problem is, but rather than create better working conditions for their educators, schools would rather just close and say there's a teacher shortage.

I see it in my area as well. The district where I used to work is constantly running ads with multiple positions to fill, ranging from crossing guard to soccer coach to teachers for pretty much every subject. This isn't necessarily just a teaching issue, it's a job issue in general: if nobody wants to work for you or you're bleeding staff, YOU are the problem. It's not "this generation is lazy" or "all millennials care about is avocado toast" or any of that shit I often hear thrown around as an excuse. It's people having reasonable professional standards for their potential jobs that employers are not willing to meet because they've gotten away with mistreating their staff for so long.

I do feel bad for the kids who don't suck who want an education because none of this is their fault.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/03/us/teacher-shortage-lowering-qualifications-wisconsin/index.html

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t’s January, the middle of the school year, and yet tenth grader Lala Bivens is preparing for her first day at a new school.

Bivens started fall classes at One City Preparatory Academy, a new charter middle and high school in Madison, Wisconsin, but on January 13 a teacher shortage forced the school to shut down classes for more than 60 9th and 10th graders, including Bivens, who then had to switch schools.

“Teachers were just dropping like flies,” she told CNN.

Since the beginning of the school year, Bivens says she lost her math, chemistry and history teachers. The charter school’s CEO, Kaleem Caire, tells CNN the school lost “five core academic teachers” since the high school opened last fall.

On the second day of school, the Academy lost a humanities teacher. Then, four weeks later, a math teacher resigned. The school would lose three more teachers throughout the fall.

“We have quite a few students who are behind academically, the teachers found it hard, and some teachers came on not knowing how hard it was,” Caire told CNN by phone.

In addition to having to deal with low pay, high student-to-teacher ratios, poor working conditions, post-pandemic learning loss, school shootings and social or emotional issues with students, teachers across the nation are also grappling with culture wars over what they can and cannot teach in the classroom. (Here's the fucking problem right here, but the administrators will say the reason is NoBoDy WaNtS tO WoRk!1)

Despite a national recruitment effort, Caire says he could not fill the open positions at the school. “Competition is intense. There are 16 school districts in this area.”

By the time Caire made the decision to shut down classes at the school for ninth and tenth graders, he had been filling in as a math teacher while other teachers at the school were teaching more than one class at a time.

The charter school helped Bivens and 61 other students scramble to find new schools midsemester. After a week of missed classes, Bivens’ mother was able to successfully enroll her at a local public high school.

It’s not just Wisconsin
What’s playing out in Madison is the worst-case scenario of a national teacher shortage gone unchecked.

Department of Education data shows 47 states have reported teacher shortages this school year with the problem being most acute in urban and rural areas. Meanwhile, desperate state legislatures are passing laws making it easier to become a public schoolteacher by lowering or eliminating certain qualifications.

The National Council On Teacher Quality told CNN that over the last two years, 23 states have lowered teacher qualification requirements for beginning teachers. That includes lowering or removing assessment tests designed to determine whether teachers have a firm grasp on the subject they will teach and creating emergency teaching certificates to expedite candidates into the classroom without a teaching degree.

Arizona, Florida and Oklahoma have created new pathways for people without a bachelor’s degree to teach in classrooms.

“Making it easier to become a teacher is an overly broad, short-term solution to staffing challenges that amounts to saying we just need ‘warm bodies’ in classrooms. It’s harmful to students and insulting to the teaching profession,” said Heather Peske, president of the National Council on Teacher Quality, a Washington, DC, think tank that researches and evaluates teacher quality nationwide.

Linda Darling Hammond, president of the Learning Policy Institute, an education research and policy advocacy group, says state efforts to repeal teacher qualification requirements will only exacerbate the teacher shortage.

“When states respond to shortages by reducing standards rather than increasing salaries and improving working conditions, what they’re doing is creating a vicious cycle. They get people in who are underprepared. Those people leave at two to three times the rate of those who have come in with preparation.”

Hammond says at the same time the quality of education for students suffers. “You’re undermining student achievement.”

A Band-aid on a gaping wound
Since Florida opened teaching roles to veterans without a bachelor’s degree last August, the initiative has only netted the state 11 new teachers, according to the state’s education department, raising the question of whether lowering standards is an effective solution to the shortages.

Florida’s Department of Education denies that there’s a teacher shortage and instead says, “The purpose of this new pathway was to value the unique experience military service provides while simply offering additional time for these veterans to obtain a bachelor’s degree and other requirements to receive a full professional educator certification.”

Back in Madison, Superintendent Dr. Carlton Jenkins’ school district will absorb most students transferring from One City Preparatory Academy, despite his district dealing with its own teacher shortage.

“I know our staff is amazing and they do magical type work but it’s still a challenge that will eventually bring stress on the staff here.”

“We have to try to make sure that what they learned aligns with what we are getting ready to teach. We don’t want the regression to happen,” he added.

But the learning loss he fears may have already begun.

“When I didn’t have enough teachers in my classes it was very hard because we didn’t really learn anything,” Bivens tells CNN.

Michael Jones, president of the Madison Teachers Inc. union told CNN “We need to change the way public schools view educators as a never-ending supply of energetic martyrs and treat them more like the professionals they are and that we expect for our children.”

Kimberly Walkes, Bivens mother, says when she sent her daughter to school, she always assumed there would be enough teachers on staff to teach, so she was surprised when she learned that was not the case at her daughter’s school. “You set your child up for greatness and they have so many great opportunities and to hear that was no longer being afforded to her, it broke my heart and brought me to tears.”
given the entitled mentality festering amongst the childed I would not want any job dealing with kids ever again

two cents ¢¢

CERTIFIED HOSEHEAD!!!

No one is more arrogant towards women, more aggressive or scornful, than the man who is anxious (insecure..my word) about his virility. Simone de Beauvoir

people (especially women) do not give ONE DAMN about what they inflict on children and I defy anyone to prove me wrong

Dysfunctional relationships almost always have a child. The more dysfunctional, the more children. The selfish wants of adults outweigh the needs of the child.

Some mistakes cannot be fixed, but some mistakes can be 'fixed'.

People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one. Leo J. Burke

Adoption agencies have strict criteria (usually). Breeders, whose combined IQ's would barely hit triple digits, have none.
Quote
Charter School CEO

“We have quite a few students who are behind academically, the teachers found it hard, and some teachers came on not knowing how hard it was,” Caire told CNN by phone.

Notice how the CEO (?!?) is trying to put the blame on the teacher by saying they’re not willing to work hard enough for those poor, poor students.Of course, anyone with half a brain can read between the lines and infer that “behind academically” is code for “violent hellions.” Good, safe schools don’t hemorrhage teachers like that. Five in one semester? One resigned on the second day???

I taught for more than ten years. Teachers have no problem with slow kids. Most teachers prefer a well behaved slow kid to an asshole smart kid. Because, newsflash, it’s not about how smart the kids are. Actually, a lot of the time it’s not about the kids at all. It’s about unsupportive administrators who blame the teachers for everything and throw them under the bus at every opportunity.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________
"Not every ejaculation deserves a name" - George Carlin
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Cambion
I say "teacher shortage" in quotes because there is no teacher shortage. There is a "fair pay and expectations for teachers" shortage.

Yep. Pay them what they're worth, stop overloading classrooms, and stop mainstreaming kids who shouldn't be...there'd be no "shortage" at all.
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kittehpeoples
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Cambion
I say "teacher shortage" in quotes because there is no teacher shortage. There is a "fair pay and expectations for teachers" shortage.

Yep. Pay them what they're worth, stop overloading classrooms, and stop mainstreaming kids who shouldn't be...there'd be no "shortage" at all.

That won't happen unfortunately. Republicans don't want educated citizens.

+++++++++++++

Passive Aggressive
Master Of Anti-brat
Excuses!
I'm sorry but not all tardleighs can be brought up to speed. furthermore how much time is wasted on these tards while the future taxpayers (who will be supporting their tard asses in the future) have to cool their heels while teacher tries to get tard to spell a feline as cat, not kat. or deal with mental brats who have less control than tyson.

two cents ¢¢

CERTIFIED HOSEHEAD!!!

No one is more arrogant towards women, more aggressive or scornful, than the man who is anxious (insecure..my word) about his virility. Simone de Beauvoir

people (especially women) do not give ONE DAMN about what they inflict on children and I defy anyone to prove me wrong

Dysfunctional relationships almost always have a child. The more dysfunctional, the more children. The selfish wants of adults outweigh the needs of the child.

Some mistakes cannot be fixed, but some mistakes can be 'fixed'.

People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one. Leo J. Burke

Adoption agencies have strict criteria (usually). Breeders, whose combined IQ's would barely hit triple digits, have none.
The schools are nothing but brat storage. If you can't privately educate your brat you're not going to have an educated brat. School is there simply to store the brats as parents work 2 or 3 jobs just to stay alive.

+++++++++++++

Passive Aggressive
Master Of Anti-brat
Excuses!
Re: Lowering professional qualifications has not fixed the "teacher shortage"
February 07, 2023
Quote
LoveToLurk
Notice how the CEO (?!?) is trying to put the blame on the teacher by saying they’re not willing to work hard enough for those poor, poor students.

Of course, the people in charge would never place blame on themselves because then they would be expected to do something. It's much easier to blame the teachers for all the school's shortcomings so the administrators can shrug and go, "those lazy teachers are the problem!" That's all well and good for administration, right up until teachers decide they're not going to take their shit anymore. Then it's surprised Pikachu faces across the board in administration.

I saw something last month about a teacher who quit her job to work at Costco, and I saw a similar article before that about another teacher who quit teaching to go work at Walmart. Both these former educators cited low salaries as reasons for leaving their teaching jobs, and the lady who went to Costco also cited burnout because she was heaped with more and more job responsibilites with no relief. Both also stated that they enjoyed their jobs and loved their students, but the job wasn't paying the bills or was simply too much work.

Here's the story about the lady who gave up teaching to work at Costco: https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/teacher-who-quit-career-costco-job-blames-low-salary-burnout-passion-couldnt-pay-bills

And the former teacher turned Walmart manager story: https://abc7ny.com/teacher-quits-for-job-at-walmart-teaching-teachers-seth-goshorn/12078891/

Everyone I have ever known who worked retail has told me it sucks ALL of the dicks in every respect, so when people say that working retail is easier and better paying than teaching, you know shit is bad for teachers. It really does suck because it doesn't sound like it's the students who are the problem in a lot of the cases, but they're the ones who are going to have to pay the price when they can't get a proper education because administration is fine working their teachers damn near to death and giving them pennies for their efforts.
Quote
LoveToLurk
I taught for more than ten years. Teachers have no problem with slow kids. Most teachers prefer a well behaved slow kid to an asshole smart kid. Because, newsflash, it’s not about how smart the kids are. Actually, a lot of the time it’s not about the kids at all. It’s about unsupportive administrators who blame the teachers for everything and throw them under the bus at every opportunity.

Yep. This is the meat of the problem. It was about being hung out to dry by administrators when I couldn't get blood from a turnip. The kids weren't the problem. The lack of resources and time was the problem. Every year, kids were coming in with more and more problems and trauma and teachers had less and less authority and resources for helping them. My last few years I had SO many kids who needed a ton of counseling and social coaching and so on...I could have kept a squad of child psychs on speed-dial for my class alone.

I am not saying schools were "working" back in the "good ol' days", though. I don't think there was ever a time when school worked for everyone. It may have looked like it in some respects, but that was because anyone with any kind of learning difficulty was pushed to drop out, harassment and bullying was ignored completely, poor kids eventually dropped out, teachers who got pregnant (or even just got married) were expected to quit, etc. A whole host of problems were swept under the rug.

I'm actually making less than I did when I was teaching, but my life's less stressful and my new job is actually, ya know...not impossible to execute. It's a refreshing change.
I think that classrooms are being packed with more and more tards with fewer resources to manage them as GOP states are seeking to remove education entirely from schools. The "schools" are the new asylems.

+++++++++++++

Passive Aggressive
Master Of Anti-brat
Excuses!
I saw something on my local news last night. Our city school district has an appeal process whereby students who are recommended for explusion (90% of the time due to violence) can appeal the decision to the school board.

The local news station did an expose and surprise! the skool board overruled the recommendations of the educators (teachers and principals) 95% of the time and kept these brats in school.

How frustrating this must be for educators and teachers, particularly when these little bastards are assaulting their teachers and they are going right back into the classroom!

Three of the city's representatives were interviewed about this policy. One was a white male and the other two were minority females. The male said something like, this is a real shame when the educators themselves are being overruled by an outside body, and how wrong this was that the educators were not allowed to make decisions. The educators know the facts of each situation, etc. ( I agreed with him.)

The females' arguments were: expulsions are discriminatory and "we" always want to err on the side of keeping kids in school.

One of these dumb bitches even suggested these kids needed yoga and deep breathing so they could "manage their anger!"

What about the people who are being assaulted? Won't someone think of those people? angrily flogging with a whip

No wonder the city cannot keep teachers. Who would want that job when someone can assault you and nothing is done about it?
There needs to be a return of tard schools ASAP as there are too many brats who CANNOT be educated.

+++++++++++++

Passive Aggressive
Master Of Anti-brat
Excuses!
Re: Lowering professional qualifications has not fixed the "teacher shortage"
February 08, 2023
The uneducable autards used to be kept out of public schools by policy, for the very same reasons the rest of you have mentioned. Back when common sense was more common, many educators recognized that some children simply were not suitable for schooling, and resources spent on them would be wasted.

Parents of these Tardleys and the National Education Association (NEA) lobbied to change that. The parents wanted free babysitting. The NEA wanted more money for schools, since the public schools are paid based on number of students, and the extra "students" would also add to teachers' job security. The NEA was also the organization pushing mainstreaming. Some, but not all, teachers were all in favor of these changes, figuring it would mean extra pay.

The parents and the NEA got their wish. Worked well, didn't it? /sarc
and crazy, don't forget the ones who don't want to be educated.

two cents ¢¢

CERTIFIED HOSEHEAD!!!

No one is more arrogant towards women, more aggressive or scornful, than the man who is anxious (insecure..my word) about his virility. Simone de Beauvoir

people (especially women) do not give ONE DAMN about what they inflict on children and I defy anyone to prove me wrong

Dysfunctional relationships almost always have a child. The more dysfunctional, the more children. The selfish wants of adults outweigh the needs of the child.

Some mistakes cannot be fixed, but some mistakes can be 'fixed'.

People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one. Leo J. Burke

Adoption agencies have strict criteria (usually). Breeders, whose combined IQ's would barely hit triple digits, have none.
Quote
twocents
and crazy, don't forget the ones who don't want to be educated.

Indeed!

+++++++++++++

Passive Aggressive
Master Of Anti-brat
Excuses!
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