More teachers plan to quit as Covid stress overwhelms educators - CNBC

More teachers plan to quit as Covid stress overwhelms educators

More teachers plan to quit as Covid stress overwhelms educators

KEY POINTS

• After nearly a year of struggling to meet the demands of teaching during the coronavirus crisis, many educators say they are ready to switch careers or retire.
• But in order for schools to fully reopen, the U.S. needs more teachers, not fewer.

The challenges of teaching in-person or online have stretched educators to their limits.

After nearly a full year of either putting themselves at risk in a classroom or struggling to reach students remotely, many now say they may change careers or simply quit.

“Teachers have been feeling the brunt of how drastically this pandemic has changed our world,” said Colin Sharkey, executive director of the Association of American Educators, a national professional association.

“The demands that are put on them are off the charts.”

At a time when many state and local governments are struggling to recruit and retain educators, a nationwide poll of public education professionals found a growing number are ready to leave their jobs. CONTINUE READING: More teachers plan to quit as Covid stress overwhelms educators

NANCY BAILEY: Why Teachers Might Still Not Believe It’s Safe to Return to In-Person School #tbats #REOPENSCHOOLSSAFELY #openonlywhensafe

Why Teachers Might Still Not Believe It’s Safe to Return to In-Person School

Why Teachers Might Still Not Believe It’s Safe to Return to In-Person School

Anger about schools not reopening is directed at teachers and their unions. Sometimes it’s made to sound like they’re the problem and not Covid-19! Many public schools have opened their buildings, and teachers never quit working during the pandemic.

Teachers aren’t epidemiologists, they aren’t statisticians. They want to rely on information and recommendations concerning Covid-19. But that information isn’t always clear.

Grim Milestone

With the recent somber Covid-19 milestone, we hear the virus has killed over a half million. Constant reporting about the loss of life is seared into a teacher’s collective consciousness.

There’s good news too—vaccines, more awareness of the need for better school conditions, a downturn in cases. But there’s a discussion of variants, and news about schools isn’t all good, complete, or honest.

Children

While Covid-19 is said not to affect children like adults, children do get sick.

Here’s the February 25 report about a 10-year-old child whose Covid-19 complications included amputation of his hands and legs. There have been repeated CONTINUE READING: Why Teachers Might Still Not Believe It’s Safe to Return to In-Person School

NANCY BAILEY: CDC Recommendations Are Clearer, But Teachers Face the Same Problems and New Ones

CDC Recommendations Are Clearer, But Teachers Face the Same Problems and New Ones

CDC Recommendations Are Clearer, But Teachers Face the Same Problems and New Ones

Just because school opening isn’t causing higher levels of community transmission doesn’t mean that there isn’t individual risk to teachers and staff. If we had wanted schools to safely reopen, we should have worked hard as a society to keep transmission rates down and to invest resources in schools.

~Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and a visiting professor of health policy at George Washington University.

The CDC’s recommendations about school reopenings are better than previous guidelines and teacher union leaders seem to approve. They say they have a road map based on science, but teachers still have concerns. Here’s a description.

What about the Red Zones?

According to the new color-coded zones, the CDC identifies counties by Covid-19 risk, blue, yellow, orange, and red. Each zone is supposed to follow specific mitigation steps, with the red zone being the most concerning.

Dr. Walensky says: If we get to a point where we are beyond the red zone here, really high levels of community spread related to the variants or related to just more transmission, we may need to revisit this again. 

CNN reports that most zones are red zones.  CONTINUE READING: CDC Recommendations Are Clearer, But Teachers Face the Same Problems and New Ones

Fewer than 100,000 children in the US live in a county considered “low” or “moderate CONTINUE READING: CDC Recommendations Are Clearer, But Teachers Face the Same Problems and New Ones

NANCY BAILEY: The 12 Point Covid-19 DISCONNECT Between Teachers and Those Who Want Schools Open Now!

The 12 Point Covid-19 DISCONNECT Between Teachers and Those Who Want Schools Open Now!

The 12 Point Covid-19 DISCONNECT Between Teachers and Those Who Want Schools Open Now!

Pressure is being placed on teachers to return to in-person classes. Here’s why that’s a problem.

1. Precautions

The CDC  and Dr. Fauci and President Biden want all schools to return to in-person learning with precautions in place. But precautions are exactly what many schools often lack.

Teachers know best whether or not precautions are in place at their schools. Their views should be heard and respected.

Schools have classrooms with no windows or windows glued shut. They still have lousy ventilation systems and maintenance problems. Some schools are overcrowded. School districts may face shortages of qualified teachers, school staff, and substitute teachers.

2. Vaccines

Americans are repeatedly told about the importance of getting vaccinated and to remain cautious afterward.

Some Americans have trepidation about getting vaccines that have been rolled out quickly, but most teachers have been eager to get vaccinated to return to the classroom safely. Some states have worked to get teachers vaccinated, and others have not.

Yesterday, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told reporters during a White House news briefing that teachers don’t need vaccinations to return to classrooms. This sounds disingenuous.

3. Funding

States and school boards should seriously consider how Covid-19 money will be spent CONTINUE READING: The 12 Point Covid-19 DISCONNECT Between Teachers and Those Who Want Schools Open Now!

Mitchell Robinson: Stop Shaming Teachers into Reopening Schools | Eclectablog

Stop Shaming Teachers into Reopening Schools | Eclectablog

Stop Shaming Teachers into Reopening Schools

A friend of mine made a post on social media last night saying that she “wasn’t angry about people thinking schools should reopen,” and while I admire the measured tone and spirit of cooperation she displayed in her commentary, that sentiment left me feeling uneasy.

Because I AM angry about people demanding schools reopen ASAP.

I get the frustration, and the fear that so many have about possibly losing their jobs. But none of that makes it ok to try to shame teachers back into the classroom with comments like, “the kids need us”, “it’s going to be so powerful”, “we’re going to forget all our worries once we get into it”, and “remember why you became a teacher”. This is nothing more than cheap and lazy rhetoric designed to make teachers feel badly for trying to protect their own health, and the health of their families.

The solution isn’t rushing to open schools before they are safe–the solution is for Congress to pass a stimulus package large enough and bold enough to pay people to *not* go to work, and that provides bonus/hazard pay for those who *do* need to work–health care workers, public safety personnel (fire and police), grocery store workers, etc.

And that stimulus package also must provide the federal and state resources to actually *do* something about making schools safe, which to my knowledge has happened in very few places. It’s not enough for school districts to “encourage” their employees to get vaccinated–school systems should be proactively securing enough vaccine doses for all employees to get two shots, CONTINUE READING: Stop Shaming Teachers into Reopening Schools | Eclectablog

CURMUDGUCATION: Moral Distress and Teaching

CURMUDGUCATION: Moral Distress and Teaching

Moral Distress and Teaching

I've run across this new-to-me term several times in the past few months-- moral distress. It wasn't developed for the teaching profession, but lots of teachers are going to recognize what is being described here.

Andrew Jameton gets most of the credit for drawing the moral distress picture, looking at the world of nursing. This piece from the AMA Journal of Ethics lays out his ideas pretty succinctly and points the way to broadening them. Here's the basic definition:

Moral distress, according to Andrew Jameton’s highly influential definition, occurs when a nurse knows the morally correct action to take but is constrained in some way from taking this action.

This is immediately recognizable for anyone who has been in the teaching world for the past few decades. "Stop teaching all those full literary works," some of us were told, "and start drilling these short excerpts with multiple choice questions instead." Pull these kids out of their electives and put them in test prep classes instead. Stop worrying about their education and their life after school, and start worrying about their test scores instead. 

Honestly, moral distress in teaching can't be blamed solely on education reform. There have always been those moments. The time a supervisor told you that you needed to stop counting spelling for a student's work--including his spelling tests. The students you were required to pass because the front office wanted that kid out of there. I was in a meeting with a special ed supervisor once, debating the scores for a student in my class, and I lost my cool and snapped, "Look, why don't you tell me what grade you expect the student to get in my class, and I'll just fudge the numbers to get that." Without a hint of irony, she told me that would be very helpful. Beyond the special events, CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Moral Distress and Teaching

Education Matters: Teacher fear in DCPS is real and palpable.

Education Matters: Teacher fear in DCPS is real and palpable.

Teacher fear in DCPS is real and palpable.

 I have written many times about the lack of contact tracing, and social distancing, and how the dashboard shouldn't be believed. If the district cares, they sure haven't shown it, and the fear for many teachers and staff is real.  

I received this from a reader. I have edited it to take out anything identifying because, sadly, in DCPS, teachers have a lot to be afraid about.

So one of my students is positive. I only found out because I asked the secretary. The only thing my principal has said to me about anything is that their absence has been excused. Telling me in the hallway because he happened to see me.

I’m not going to lie. I’m having a slight panic attack because no one is telling me anything. The only reason I know is because I asked our secretary. If it was just me affected, that is one thing. But it isn’t. It is my class and all the kids. It is all the resource teachers. It is the other teachers on grade level because they make us move kids around for their stupid pet program.

It is my two personal children. It is their classes, their teachers, their middle schools. It is my CONTINUE READING: Education Matters: Teacher fear in DCPS is real and palpable.

Terrie Brady and DTU stick up for veteran teachers

by Unknown / 16h

A few weeks back, I was told something may be coming, and Terrie Brady yesterday confirmed it when she asked the district to renegotiate on behalf of veteran teachers, many of who are about to take a pay cut. To be honest, I don’t think it should have come to this. The district has money extra in reserves and is saving money from the referendum. They didn’t have to throw veteran teachers under th

Some good news from DCPS

100+by Unknown / 19h

People have accused me of writing only about bad news, and they are right. I don’t do a good news blog but, in my defense, I am a teacher in Florida, and I do work for DCPS, and they give me plenty of bad news to write about. That being said, there were a few signs of hope at yesterday’s board meeting. Last Monday’s COVID-19 shots for school board employees apparently went over well, I mean very

School Board votes to give themselves a nearly 6,291 dollars raise while giving veterans a pay cut.

by Unknown / 20h

You know I had hoped they might do the right thing, and there is a glimmer of hope as the union has requested to reopen contract negotiations for veterans, but at the end of the day, the SB voted to give themselves a 7k raise many while veterans took a pay cut. Teacher salary increases, as well as contrac

A teacher’s deepest concerns going into 2021: students who disappeared, covid-19 myopia and six more - The Washington Post

A teacher’s deepest concerns going into 2021: students who disappeared, covid-19 myopia and six more - The Washington Post

A teacher’s deepest fears about 2021: Students who disappeared, covid-19 myopia and six more

Longtime educator Larry Ferlazzo has been a frequent writer on this blog for a decade — and now he is back with his list of the things that most concern him about schooling going into 2021.

Ferlazzo teaches English and social studies at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento. He has written or edited 12 books about education, writes a teacher advice blog for Education Week and has a popular resource-sharing blog.

His many pieces on this blog include one about how teachers can help students motivate themselves, and a favorite of mine, titled, “NEWS BREAK (not breaking news): Teacher asks students to grade him. One wrote: ‘I give Mr. Ferlazzo an A at being annoying.’ ”

In July, he wrote a post about the eight things that were most worrying him about the start of the 2020-21 school year during the global coronavirus pandemic. They included concerns about how he would quickly and effectively build relationships with students remotely, the mental health of his students, and concerns about the difficulty of remote learning but the lack of understanding about those difficulties by administrators and others.

This new piece about what most concerns him heading into a new calendar year appeared on one of his blogs, and he gave me permission to publish it.

Ferlazzo also recently made his annual list of what he considered the worst and best education news of the year, which you can read here.

By Larry Ferlazzo

In July, I wrote a column for The Answer Sheet headlined, “Teacher: Eight concerns about school this fall that are robbing me of sleep.”

And, boy, was I spot-on with those concerns as the fall semester unfolded.

I was able to get a decent handle on the ones I listed that were within my control, such as what to cover in the curriculum and what to jettison.

And I have developed a substantial amount of cynicism about others beyond my control, particularly those related to people who have never done remote teaching but still tell teachers how to do it. CONTINUE READING: A teacher’s deepest concerns going into 2021: students who disappeared, covid-19 myopia and six more - The Washington Post

Teacher Burnout in the Pandemic | Diane Ravitch's blog

Teacher Burnout in the Pandemic | Diane Ravitch's blog

Teacher Burnout in the Pandemic

The New York Times published an article recently by Natasha Singer–one of the best reporters on education issues in the Times–about the toll that the pandemic is taking on teachers. An extraordinary number say the burden of teaching remote classes and in-person classes is not sustainable. Large numbers of teachers are planning to retire, or have retired.

All this fall, as vehement debates have raged over whether to reopen schools for in-person instruction, teachers have been at the center — often vilified for challenging it, sometimes warmly praised for trying to make it work. But the debate has often missed just how thoroughly the coronavirus has upended learning in the country’s 130,000 schools, and glossed over how emotionally and physically draining pandemic teaching has become for the educators themselves.

In more than a dozen interviews, educators described the immense challenges, and exhaustion, they have faced trying to provide normal schooling for students in CONTINUE READING: Teacher Burnout in the Pandemic | Diane Ravitch's blog

We Are All Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf | Teacher in a strange land

We Are All Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf | Teacher in a strange land

We Are All Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf

I just finished reading A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door: The Dismantling of Public Education and the Future of School, by Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider. Berkshire and Schneider are co-hosts of the podcast Have You Heard, which is the best $2 I spend every month—and, as journalist and historian, both bring interesting perspectives to the ongoing discourse about what used to be called, without a trace of irony or bitterness, education reform.

It’s not a long book—217 pages plus another 40 pages of notes and references—and it’s eminently readable. It would be an excellent choice for anyone who cares about public education—parents and grandparents, policy-makers, teachers and school leaders—to use as concise handbook explaining what the hell happened to public schools over the last couple of decades. There’s a bit of history, a good look at failed-over-time policies, and a clear analysis of the intersecting factors that got us to this point.

Who wants to see public education die, and why? Berkshire and Schneider tell you, but like all interesting and disturbing stories, you have to trace backward first, to the origins and mission of public schooling and the conflicting values America assigned to education, as a start-up nation. This sounds tedious, but it’s not. In short, succinct chapters, the authors spend the first quarter of the book laying the groundwork for the rapid changes—the dismantling of a once-noble idea—we’ve seen in the 21st century.

Ernest Boyer once said that public school is a stage upon which Americans play out CONTINUE READING: We Are All Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf | Teacher in a strange land

Big Education Ape: 100th Episode: A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door – Have You Heard - https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2020/10/100th-episode-wolf-at-schoolhouse-door.html

‘This feels like life or death for many of us’ -- student writes letter to teachers - The Washington Post

‘This feels like life or death for many of us’ -- student writes letter to teachers - The Washington Post

‘This feels like life or death for many of us’: Student’s letter to teachers resonates, goes viral

If we were ranking weeks according to our anxiety levels, this one would rank up there with the worst of them, if not at the top.

The 2020-21 school year has been tough enough, starting out with classes online almost everywhere because of the coronavirus pandemic. But the arrival of Election Day — election week or month, really — has made it harder to focus than ever — for kids and adults.

That’s what prompted a senior at Denver South High School named Jadyn Mill to write a letter to teachers about how students are feeling at this moment. She sent it to veteran history teacher Hayley Breden, who tweeted it out — and now they are getting supportive reactions from students and educators alike about the sentiments it captures.

“I wrote this letter to offer insight into the experiences of young people during this time,” Mill said in an email Monday. “I sat down yesterday and all I could think about was the election and the fear associated with it. These past few months have been quite the struggle and I just knew this week would not be an exception. I wanted to find a way to communicate how myself and many others are feeling in a way that felt comfortable, safe, and honest.”

The letter says in part:

This feels like life or death for many of us. We are sitting here, pits in our stomachs, teachers in our eyes, and futures on the line. So please, take it easy this week, not only on us, but on yourselves as well!

Here’s Breden’s tweet, and the full text of the letter by Mill.

Teachers responded to Breden, including a teacher named Alfredo Silva, who tweeted: CONTINUE READING: ‘This feels like life or death for many of us’ -- student writes letter to teachers - The Washington Post

Why Is McKeesport Area School District Still Open After COVID-19 Outbreak? | gadflyonthewallblog

Why Is McKeesport Area School District Still Open After COVID-19 Outbreak? | gadflyonthewallblog

Why Is McKeesport Area School District Still Open After COVID-19 Outbreak?

At least six staff members and students at McKeesport Area School District (MASD) tested positive for COVID-19 in the last week alone.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) Website, two or more cases in a school building within a 14-day period call for some sort of closure to ensure the safety of students and staff.

So why are none of the district buildings closed?

The western Pennsylvania district located southeast of Pittsburgh reopened on a hybrid schedule on Sept. 2 with about a third of parents opting to keep their children out of the buildings and in the district-run cyber program.

Since then, finding concrete information about Coronavirus infections at our public schools – MASD or others – has not been an easy task.

Local newspapers only occasionally report on them and rarely put single incidents in context. Nor is there any government or other comprehensive database that collects CONTINUE READING: Why Is McKeesport Area School District Still Open After COVID-19 Outbreak? | gadflyonthewallblog