Modern School: Teacher Shortage or Glut?

Modern School: Teacher Shortage or Glut?:

Teacher Shortage or Glut?

by Michael Dunn

It is often said that we are suffering a teacher shortage and that terrible pay and working conditions are only worsening it. However, due to several years of mass layoffs, combined with increasing class sizes, most districts have plenty of teachers to fill current needs.

The problem is no longer a shortage of teachers, but a shortage of teaching services. There are sufficient teachers to cover the desired number of classes, but there are far fewer course offerings and desired classes offered to students. They have far more classmates in the remaining classes, which results in less one on one attention from their teachers. Because of 

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Teacher Shortage Areas

		WHAT'S NEW The annual publication of the nationwide teacher shortage area (TSA) list is available. Teacher Shortage Areas Nationwide Listing: 1990-1991 through 2012-2013, dated April 2012. Letter to Chief State School Officers

Annual publication of the Teacher Shortage Area Nationwide Listing designated by the Department of Education as required under the following program regulations:

• 34 CFR 682.210(q) enables a borrower who had no outstanding Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loan on July 1, 1987 but who had an outstanding FFEL Program loan on July 1, 1993 to qualify for deferment of loan repayment under the Federal Stafford Program anytime within the life of the borrower’s loan(s);
• 34 CFR 674.53(c) enables Federal Perkins Loan borrowers who are full time teachers of mathematics, science, foreign languages, bilingual education or any other field of expertise where the State educational agency determined there is a shortage of qualified teachers to qualify for cancellation of up to 100 percent of their loan;
• 34 CFR 686.12(d) enables grant recipients to fulfill their teaching obligation under the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program; and
• 34 CFR 653.50(a)(2)(ii) enables scholars to qualify for the reduction of teaching obligation under the Paul Douglas Teacher Scholarship Program.

A state that desires to propose teacher shortage areas for designation must submit the information required under the program regulations for the following programs:

• Targeted teacher deferment for borrowers under the Family Federal Education Loan (FFEL) and Federal Supplemental Loans for Students (SLS) programs (34 CFR 682.210(q));
• Full-time teaching in fields of expertise, cancellation of up to 100 percent of their debt under the Federal Perkins Loan Program (34 CFR 674.53(c));
• Reduction of the teaching obligation for scholars under the Paul Douglas Teacher Scholarship Program (34 CFR 653.50(a)); and
• Teaching obligation for recipients under the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program (34 CFR 686).

Teacher Shortage Areas nationwide listing for the years 1990-91 through 2012-13, published April 2012.

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Open Letter to President Obama

Open Letter to President Obama:

Act Now to Save Our Public Schools

Help protect the nation’s public schools from privatization and excessive testing by signing this open letter to President Obama. The future of public schools is in jeopardy. Thanks to federal initiatives like No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, schools are being deluged with high stakes tests. Private interests, aided by the Federal Government, are attempting to supplant local control, inhibit parental involvement, and to transfer public funding to the hands of corporate interests. Public schools, locally controlled, are a cornerstone of our democracy. Relegating them to corporate-owned test prep factories places our nation at risk and steals our children’s future. WE DEMAND: An immediate end to high-stakes student testing and the use of incentives or penalties to compel states and municipalities to use student scores as a basis for evaluating teachers, preferring charter schools to existing public schools, and requiring closure of low performing schools. The removal of Arne Duncan as Secretary of Education and his replacement by a lifetime educator who has the confidence of the nation’s teachers. The incorporation of parents, teachers, and school administrators in all policy discussion taking place in your administration, inside and outside the Department of Education. Create a National Commission, in which teachers and parent representatives play a primary role, which explores how to best improve the quality of America’s schools.

Commentary: The choice before the SRC on May 31 | Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Commentary: The choice before the SRC on May 31 | Philadelphia Public School Notebook:

Commentary: The choice before the SRC on May 31

by Ron Whitehorne

In one after another of community hearings and meetings, the School Reform Commission has been told in no uncertain terms that its privatization plan and austerity budget are not acceptable to parents, students, educators, and community members.
In response, the SRC decided to defer a vote on its plan to farm out school management, the so-called "achievement networks," till next year. By law, the SRC must adopt a budget by May 31 and there is little question about what it will look like. Without the authority to raise revenue, the SRC is compelled to either cut or borrow more money.
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Jersey Jazzman: The Queen of Tenure Speaks

Jersey Jazzman: The Queen of Tenure Speaks:

The Queen of Tenure Speaks

by Duke

I've been following the saga of the war between Dr. Janine Caffrey and the Perth Amboy Board of Education closely for several reasons:

• Caffrey was given a platform multiple times in the Star-Ledger to opine that tenure is "...the single greatest impediment to education improvement in New Jersey, without a doubt," even though she hadn't even served one year as a superintendent in New Jersey.
• When Caffrey was accused of malpractice by her board, B4K - the New Jersey reformy lobbying group with deep-pockets and ties to Michelle Rhee's Students First - rushed to put out an ad campaign in her defense. It remains unclear whether the Perth Amboy schools have financial ties to B4K's or SF's backers, although there is substantial circumstantial evidence.
• Despite her previous calls to, as Tom Moran put it, "...end tenure, to pull it out by the roots and to spread salt over the patch of earth where this weed once grew so that nothing like it can rise in its place, ever," Caffrey has been happy to appeal her firing by the PABOE to ACTING Commissioner Chris Cerf, an act I find massively hypocritical. His latest response to her case mirrors the current tenure law so closely 

Seattle Schools Community Forum: More Diversity Sought in Media Advocacy

Seattle Schools Community Forum: More Diversity Sought in Media Advocacy:

More Diversity Sought in Media Advocacy

by Melissa Westbrook

Associated with but not directly to, education, I wanted to put out this information about a media institute for journalists of varying backgrounds.   If you know a journalist or are one yourself, consider applying.  We need more voices, of all kinds, in our media.

GLAAD announces 2nd Annual National People of Color Media Institute

GLAAD, the nation’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy and anti-defamation organization, today announced the 2nd Annual National People of Color Media Training Institute as a part of the organization's National People of Color Media Initiative. The Media Training Institute, funded by the ARCUS Foundation and created specifically for people of color who are LGBT or LGBT allies, develops passionate and visible leaders to speak in national media outlets about issues that impact the lives of LGBT people and their families.

“While there have been major strides to increase visibility around the stories and issues LGBT people face, far 

Learning in the Midst of Poverty — Whole Child Education

Learning in the Midst of Poverty — Whole Child Education:

Learning in the Midst of Poverty

by ASCD Whole Child Bloggers

Post submitted by whole child blogger Paulina Malek, a senior majoring in magazine journalism at Temple University. She hopes to report on poverty, race relations, and animal rights issues in the future.
About 15 percent of Americans are living in poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This number also includes millions of students who are coping with its stressors daily. In his ASCD Annual Conference session "Highly Effective Teaching with Poverty in Mind," Eric Jensen discussed shifting attitudes about students who experience poverty and techniques educators can use to help them achieve success. Jensen, a staff developer, educator, and author, uses research-based strategies to train educators in brain-based learning.

In his session, Jensen first dispelled a myth regarding the relationship between education and poverty in the classroom. One stereotype suggests that individuals of lower socioeconomic status don't care about education as much as those in middle and upper classes. Jensen explains that some people of lower socioeconomic status actually work longer hours or multiple jobs, and so their schedules conflict with events like parent-teacher conferences. In other words, lack of time is the issue, not lack of interest.
Stress is an important factor for students who are experiencing poverty. Although Jensen said some stress can 

Will Sac City Unified Race to the Top? | The Sacramento Coalition to Save Public Education

Will Sac City Unified Race to the Top? | The Sacramento Coalition to Save Public Education:

Will Sac City Unified Race to the Top?

by Kate_Lenox

California failed to receive RTTT grants under Gov. Schwarzenegger. Gov. Jerry Brown and Supt. Torlakson have applied for a waiver for No Child Left Behind trying to have California meet guidelines under its own terms instead of the Federal governments. Brown has declared he wants to lessen the emphasis on high stakes testing for California children and direct the millions of dollars spent on testing and data tracking systems elsewhere. This has disappointed some districts who have jumped on the "reform" bandwagon that is headed towards increasing the impact of standardized testing rather than decreasing it. !--break--
The Federal Dept. of Education has opened up $400 million in Race To The Top grants for individual schools districts. The focus for the implementation of the grants is personalizing education  for "a set of students in their schools". The guidelines include individualized learning for college and career readiness (on-line learning?), more tests that would evaluate principals, teachers and school boards(!) and a focus on school "overhauls".  15 to 20 districts would receive $15 million to $20 million over four years.  Los Angeles Unified Supt. Deasey has said 

Tina Fey protests cuts in her old school district - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Tina Fey protests cuts in her old school district - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:

Tina Fey protests cuts in her old school district

By Valerie Strauss

It’s not a bad thing when someone who is high-profile lends their name to a good cause. This time it is Tina Fey.

Fey attended public schools in the Upper Darby School District in
(Nicole Rivelli)Pennsylvania. She was in the choir and drama club while an honor student at Upper Darby High School, and performed in plays. She was Frenchie in a performance of “Grease.”

So when the three-time Emmy Award-winner heard that her old school district had proposed eliminating specialized elementary school classes in arts and music (along with library and gym) to help deal with a multimillion-dollar deficit, she decided to join the fight