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Coronavirus and the Schools

We have ALL your misinformation, plus some TRUE FACTS and SCIENCE.
Jim
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#476

Post by Jim »

LM K wrote: Fri Feb 04, 2022 12:57 pm
neonzx wrote: Fri Feb 04, 2022 9:36 am Have any explored using high school students to fill-in (as we do in colleges as TAs, etc) for classes in lower grades?
Everything I've read about this says that subs, even desperate replacement subs, must have a high school degree.
Plus, can you imagine the liability concerns if an accident, fight, or something else were to happen in a classroom being run by a minor?
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#477

Post by neonzx »

Holy hell...


https://www.winknews.com/2022/02/04/the ... ers-leave/

The Great Resignation is affecting the Lee County school district as teachers leave
Teachers and other school employees are tired of feeling overworked and underpaid.

A lot of them are quitting their jobs. Since July of 2020, the Lee County school district has lost about 900 teachers.

So the Lee County School Board has addressed the Great Resignation and what to do about it.

Marsha Ellis, a former Lee County school teacher, left in June after a 19-year career at the district. She said the stress between COVID-19 concerns and low pay was too much. Having to cover other teachers’ classes because of shortages was also difficult.
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Yeah, it's a very large county-wide district with 85k+ students and some 80-some schools -- but losing 900 teachers in 2 years?
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#478

Post by Volkonski »

Only the beginning folks, only the beginning!

Dimwitted governors who forbid mask mandates and other anti covid measures in the schools just make things worse.

Many teachers have spouses who earn enough to support the family without the teacher's meager salary which means that those teachers are not subject to what George Bernard Shaw called the invisible whip of hunger.

Teachers, especially in STEM subjects, were in short supply even before Covid.
neonzx wrote: Sun Feb 06, 2022 9:51 am Holy hell...


https://www.winknews.com/2022/02/04/the ... ers-leave/

The Great Resignation is affecting the Lee County school district as teachers leave
Teachers and other school employees are tired of feeling overworked and underpaid.

A lot of them are quitting their jobs. Since July of 2020, the Lee County school district has lost about 900 teachers.

So the Lee County School Board has addressed the Great Resignation and what to do about it.

Marsha Ellis, a former Lee County school teacher, left in June after a 19-year career at the district. She said the stress between COVID-19 concerns and low pay was too much. Having to cover other teachers’ classes because of shortages was also difficult.
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Yeah, it's a very large county-wide district with 85k+ students and some 80-some schools -- but losing 900 teachers in 2 years?
“If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
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AndyinPA
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#479

Post by AndyinPA »

Long before the pandemic, there was teacher burnout. I have a cousin who taught first grade. She loved working with kids that age. About twenty years ago, she couldn't take it anymore. She wasn't ready for retirement yet, so she became the school librarian. I don't remember if she had to take any special courses to get that position.


(She's a RWNJ, but she's solidly against the book banning and burning. I guess working as a librarian will do that to you.)
"Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought. To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears… To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies." -Octavia E. Butler
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#480

Post by Volkonski »

We can’t blame teachers for leaving their profession

https://dailytrojan.com/2022/02/08/we-c ... zvTZcP5s3Y
School districts across the nation, especially those in low-income communities, faced severe teacher shortages even before the pandemic. Something about incurring massive debt for a career of backbreaking hours and a heartbreaking lack of respect just doesn’t do it for some. But just when teachers across the United States uttered a collective, “this can’t possibly get worse,” the pandemic brought on a new slew of hurdles.

Safety concerns, difficulties teaching online and constantly changing coronavirus guidelines put undue pressure on teachers to juggle insurmountable requirements for meager pay. During the lockdowns, the many problems work-from-home workers faced — lack of childcare and the threat of a deadly virus, among others — made teaching somehow even more impossible than before.

More recently, several school districts have begun to tout laxed safety protocols and removed their mask bans, which add a biochemically hazardous spice to the struggles of being a teacher. Unsurprisingly, teachers are leaving their jobs in droves — and can we blame them?

An estimated 800,000 public school teachers quit their jobs between January and November 2021 across the nation. A recent poll conducted by the National Education Association indicates that 55% of current teachers are considering doing the same.

Where teachers’ unions and politically galvanized school boards couldn’t provide the support needed, TikTok and Instagram stepped up. Social media hashtags like #TeachersLeavingEd and #CareersForTeachers helped teachers find alternative jobs and provided a sense of community considering leaving the profession. Promises of better pay, potential for career growth and better work-life balance have motivated teachers to take jobs in tech, health, sales and more, and many aren’t looking back.
“If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#481

Post by poplove »

The governor of Nevada has just dropped the indoor mask mandate, including schools. He said that the school districts will need to have a plan in place to deal with breakouts. All privately owned businesses and hospitals can still require masks. He also reserved the right to impose the mandate should it become necessary.
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#482

Post by LM K »

Something I find tremendously sad: teachers knew, as undergraduates, that becoming a K-12 teacher meant working for low salaries after accumulating substantial student loan debt.

Those students decided that their passion for young people and for education was worth the life-long financial hardships they would face. Younger teachers knew that violence would be a daily challenge in their career.

We all had one or more burned out teachers during our K-12 years. Thankfully, most of us had several passionate, caring, and life-changing teachers during our K-12 years.

Americans used to appreciate and respect K-12 teachers. That appreciation and respect helped teachers get through the challenges they experienced. But now ... teachers are enemies of the people.

Thankfully some teachers went into the pandemic with their passion intact. Those who still plan to keep teaching have been able to maintain their passion. They're exhausted, but still passionate. Others were already exhausted and struggling to maintain their passion when the pandemic started. Those teachers are done. I don't blame them. I blame parents and those taxpayers who refuse to adequately fund schools.

Aug, 2022 will be chaos. A significant number of that 55% will leave their career. Those who remain will face greater insults.

Sadly, Americans earned this mass migration.
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#483

Post by AndyinPA »

Well said about the state of teachers today.

America has earned a lot of its many problems.
"Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought. To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears… To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies." -Octavia E. Butler
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#484

Post by raison de arizona »

Jared Speight @JaredSpeight wrote: Today, I told my principal that I will not be returning to the classroom next year.

I’ve known I wanted to be a teacher since I was nine.

I’ve have put (literal) blood, sweat, and tears into my classroom for fourteen years.

I just can’t justify the cost any longer.
Jess Piper @EnglishTeach07 wrote:If we understand the end goal is to make teaching untenable to drive teachers out and defund public education to privatize schools, this all makes sense.
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” —John Adams
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#485

Post by RTH10260 »

Court: Michigan universities didn't have to give students tuition, housing refunds
David Jesse, Detroit Free Press
Sat, February 12, 2022, 2:55 AM

Michigan public universities didn't have to pay refunds to students after forcing them into remote learning during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Michigan Court of Appeals said Thursday in a ruling upholding the Michigan Court of Claims.

"The tuition contracts assessed fees as the result of registration, not as the result of receiving services," the court said in its decision upholding lower courts that dismissed lawsuits filed in the court of claims asking for compensation. "We find no error in the trial court’s conclusion that unambiguous terms of the tuition contract rendered students liable for paying tuition once they registered for classes.

"In all cases consolidated on appeal, The University plaintiffs claim the University defendants breached their agreements by failing to provide live, in-person instruction. The University plaintiffs, however, have pointed to no contractual language in which the University defendants promised such method of instruction."

The decision was made by a three-judge panel. Judges Kirsten Frank Kelly and James Robert Redford wrote the main decision. Judge Brock Swartzle wrote a separate opinion agreeing with part of the decision and disagreeing with other parts.



https://news.yahoo.com/court-michigan-u ... 43229.html
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#486

Post by raison de arizona »

Governor Glenn Youngkin @GovernorVA wrote: Since day one, we have worked to empower Virginia parents who want to have a voice in the upbringing and education of their children. This is a defining moment and decisive victory for parents and kids across the Commonwealth.

We are reaffirming that parents matter by signing SB739, effectively giving parents the ability to opt-out of school mask mandates.
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” —John Adams
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#487

Post by sad-cafe »

today marks the one year anniversary since I got the first of 3 covid moderna shots




tomorrow the three puke new board of education members scheduled an emergency board meeting to discuss masks ...they were outvoted last week.

funny thing.. about 3:30 our district cancelled school tomorrow including all evening activities due to anticicipated incliment weather
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Re: Coronavirus and the Schools

#488

Post by LM K »

One ex-teacher in Memphis said she had 194 students during virtual classes because a colleague quit, and it shows why so many teachers are burned out and fed up
Staffing shortages have already forced schools to scramble to keep their doors open during the Omicron surge, and soon the problem could worsen. Many teachers say they are so burned out by the pandemic, overworked because of staff shortages, and fed up with low pay and a lack of respect, they're ready to quit.

Kayla Bryant, a former fourth-grade teacher from Sacramento, said the expectations for teachers were so high and the support so low, she couldn't talk about work without crying.

In a Chicago suburb, Alexandra Lobb had enough when she saw parents in her community "bashing teachers" on Facebook and complaining that teachers just wanted to stay home during the pandemic and do nothing.

"I was so embarrassed to realize this is what people thought of my career
— a career that I was once so proud to announce out loud," Lobb, who quit in June 2021 after teaching eighth grade for eight years, told Insider. "It turned into me not wanting to admit I was a teacher during the pandemic."

Across the country, teachers have been on the front lines of pandemic battles that for some have made an already-stressful profession intolerable. Heading into year No. 3 of COVID-19, Insider asked teachers around the US why they quit or retired early in the last two years as polling shows more teachers may soon leave the profession earlier than planned.

Answers from half a dozen teachers reveal a profession tattered by burnout and feelings of being disrespected, micromanaged and overwhelmed by expectations and unsupported by administrators. Angry parents or political pressures bearing down on the profession were cited by a few, as well.

:snippity:

Educator shortages that predate the pandemic have grown in the past two years and now include other positions such as bus drivers, school nurses, and food service workers, according to the 3-million member National Education Association — the nation's largest union, representing K-12 teachers, higher-education faculty, support staff, and administrators. The union cites recently adjusted federal data showing 389,000 fewer school staff members in K-12 schools and higher education now than before the pandemic.

A little more than half of the 3,600 members who responded to the NEA's latest survey said they planned to leave education sooner than planned because of the pandemic. Burnout, general stress from the pandemic, student absences because of Covid, extra work because of unfilled job openings, and low pay were among the serious problems school employees said they experienced.
:snippity:

One ex-teacher in Memphis said she had 194 students during virtual classes because a colleague quit, and it shows why so many teachers are burned out and fed up.

I was given 194 students during virtual teaching when the other 10th grade ELA teacher quit," one Memphis teacher who quit her job told Insider.

Another problem is that fewer people are choosing the profession, with teaching programs seeing a decline in enrollment.
:snippity:

Despite the signs of burnout and dissatisfaction among teachers, so far, a major spike in turnover hasn't happened, he said. Federal data shows a "pretty typical year" in 2021 for turnover in the public education industry, which includes K-12 teachers.

The voluntary "quit" rate was slightly above the 20-year average, Aldman said, while "total separations" including quits, layoffs, and retirements, were slightly below average. State-level data for educators shows turnover has been on par with long-term historical trends.

"The story for next year is yet to be told," Aldman said.

As politicians gear up for midterm elections, national headlines portray education as a battleground, with fights over face masks, controversial books and the teaching of race and gender. Congressional Republicans are making parental involvement in education central to their pitch to voters while several GOP-led states have imposed restrictions on the teaching of race.

The political pressure could also impact teachers' views about their profession. Thirty-seven percent of 2,000 K-12 teachers polled by SurveyUSA for the advocacy group Stand for Children said a push for laws that "prevent honest teaching and conversations" in their classrooms would make them more likely to leave when the school year ends.
Overall, nearly three in 10 teachers surveyed said it's likely or very likely that they'll leave the profession in the next year.

Politics takes over the classroom

Kathryn Prater, a former Utah history teacher, said it was time to quit in July 2021 because of politicians' efforts she viewed as tactics to prevent teachers from talking about race in the classroom.

The further politicization of teaching has been overwhelming and sad, she said. Children "might not get what is best for them because a few people are worried about a child's comfort instead of their growth," she wrote in an email. Feeling demoralized, she quit without another job lined up, rather than "continuing in a profession where I felt so devalued."
:snippity:

In the last two years, former teacher Daphne Gomez said she has noticed more teachers leaving in the middle of the year rather than waiting to fulfill their contract. "That was something that rarely happened," said Gomez, who founded the company Teacher Career Coach to support teachers considering a career change. "People would bend over backwards to not break a teaching contract."
:snippity:
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Coronavirus and the Schools

#489

Post by AndyinPA »

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/school-di ... =102561169
Just weeks into the new school year, districts in multiple states are canceling in-person classes for several weeks due to respiratory viruses, including COVID-19, among students and staff.

Two school districts in Kentucky -- Lee County School District and Magoffin County Schools -- said they were closing due to "widespread illness."

LCD canceled classes on Tuesday and Wednesday and switched to virtual classes on Thursday and Friday.
MORE: What to expect with COVID, RSV, flu shots set to be available this fall

"We're seeing a lot of illness being reported consistent with COVID and influenza," Scott Lockard, public health director for the Kentucky River District -- which includes Lee County -- told ABC News. "Lee County had a surge of cases and attendance dropped below the threshold needed to stay open, so they closed."
"Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought. To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears… To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies." -Octavia E. Butler
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