WHEN BILLIONAIRES BUY YOUR SCHOOL BOARDS
HOW MR SASQUATCH BECAME A TEACHER IN CALIFORNIA
It's no secret that education is a hot topic in politics. Everyone has an opinion on how to fix our schools, from parents to politicians, and even billionaires. Yes, you read that right - billionaires. It seems that these days, the ultra-wealthy are using their financial power to influence education policy, and the results are not pretty.
Take the California Office to Reform Education (CORE), for example. This organization was founded by a group of billionaires who wanted to improve education in California. Sounds great, right? Well, not so fast. CORE has been accused of pushing policies that harm low-income and minority students, including the closure of schools and the firing of teachers. And when billionaires buy your school boards, the quality of teachers suffers.
Just take a look at Oakland Unified School District. According to data released by the California Department of Education, only 57% of teachers in this district are fully credentialed. That means nearly half of the teachers in Oakland are not qualified to teach their subjects. This is unacceptable, especially considering that Oakland has one of the highest rates of poverty, disability, and BIPOC children in the state.
But Oakland is not alone. The data also show that at least 10% of California's public school classrooms are overseen by teachers who are not properly credentialed. This is a problem that affects schools with higher rates of low-income students more than those with lower rates. In fact, a CalMatters analysis found that the rate of fully credentialed teachers was 22 percentage points higher at schools serving more affluent families.
So why are so many teachers underqualified? One reason is the use of emergency permits, which allow uncredentialed teachers to work in classrooms for up to one year. Another reason is the lack of subject matter competence, which means that teachers are not experts in the subjects they are teaching. And let's not forget about intern credentials, which allow individuals to teach while they are still completing their credentialing requirements.
But there is hope for change. Assembly Bill (AB) 1505 was passed in 2019 and requires that all charter school teachers meet the same professional fitness requirements as traditional public school teachers. This means that charter schools cannot hire underqualified teachers to teach non-core or non-college preparatory courses.
In conclusion, when billionaires buy your school boards, the quality of teachers suffers. We cannot allow financial power to dictate education policy. Our students deserve better than underqualified teachers who are not experts in their subjects. It's time for real change in our schools, and that starts with ensuring that all teachers are fully credentialed and qualified to teach our children.
Here are the percentages of fully credentialed teachers for the CORE districts
District Percentage of Fully Credentialed Teachers
Los Angeles Unified 87.5%
Long Beach Unified 91.9%
Fresno Unified 88.9%
Garden Grove Unified 92.7%
Santa Ana Unified 90.2%
Sacramento City Unified 89.8%
Oakland Unified 57%
San Francisco Unified 86.8%
The **CORE districts** are one example of a network of schools that received a grant from the Gates Foundation’s New School Initiative in 2018. The CORE districts are a group of eight urban school districts in California that serve more than one million students, including Fresno Unified, Los Angeles Unified and Long Beach Unified⁴. The CORE districts collaborate on data collection and analysis, accountability systems, social-emotional learning, and professional development⁴. They received $16 million over five years from the foundation to support their efforts to improve student achievement and close opportunity gaps⁴.
Civil grand jury: San Francisco Unified teacher shortage worse than the state. https://edsource.org/updates/civil-grand-jury-san-francisco-unified-teacher-shortage-worse-than-the-state
Bing, 6/17/2023
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(2) Many California teachers lack proper classroom credentials - Los .... https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-07-01/amid-staffing-shortage-46-700-teachers-in-california-classrooms-lack-proper-credentials.
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(6) Many California teachers lack proper classroom credentials - Los .... https://bing.com/search?q=California+districts+teachers+not+fully+credentialed.
(7) Opinion: Why the shortage of credentialed teachers may force California leaders to think big. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/opinion-why-the-shortage-of-credentialed-teachers-may-force-california-leaders-to-think-big/ar-AA1cC9Lp.
(8) Nearly one-fourth of SFUSD teachers not fully credentialed, grand jury finds. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/nearly-one-fourth-of-sfusd-teachers-not-fully-credentialed-grand-jury-finds/ar-AA1cC2ix.
(9) Civil grand jury: San Francisco Unified teacher shortage worse than the state. https://edsource.org/updates/civil-grand-jury-san-francisco-unified-teacher-shortage-worse-than-the-state.
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