Damn it⌠I want a doctoral sword!!! Another failure of American academia! No swords!
Shudder.
As a product of WV public schools K-Med School, I can only say âAmen.â
Bad news: Scholastic has moved âdiverse booksâ (social justice, LGBTQ+, anything dealing with diverse characters (like Marvelâs Black Panther)) into their own category and section of their school book fair offerings, and elementary schools need to opt into receiving them.
Good news: Pressure was put in them and they will be changing their ways.
Bad news: The current book fair season is already underway, and they wonât be making changes until the new season starts in January.
As the chairperson of an upcoming middle school book fair, I wasnât happy hearing about the segregation of content weâll have to deal with, but at least at the middle school level those books are included no matter what.
Thank you for doing that important work!
Thanks! Iâm not even part of the Parent Teacher Org. Iâm literally coming in to do a job no one wants to.
Until fairly recently, it was just a thankless job that involved a lot of work and organizational skills. Now it is one that carries the possibility of threats and bodily harm with it. Thank you for doing it anyway!
Not entirely sure how to react to this. First off, it seems to project the old lie that teaching is so easy, anyone can do it, you donât need any special training or experience. On the other, the shortage has reached desperate levels, and it is hurting the future of the students. But does this help them, or just make it look like the issue is âsolvedâ so they can quit worrying about it? Sigh⌠I hate this timeline.
Yeah, that piece has the usual NPR toothlessness. Iâm sure they couldâve found harsher critics, especially those who point out how much such programs devalue the professional training that comes with a college degee.
If pretty much anyone can become a teacher quickly this way, then why bother expecting aspiring teachers to get a degree? Granted, college has become ridiculously expensive, but itâs still a valuable form of teacher training and certification.
This part is just weird to me:
It also isnât clear whether these teachers are more effective. Edwards believes much more research is needed, given the high âinterest and investment.â
âWe want to know whether teachers who participate in Grow Your Own programs have higher contributions to student test scores, whether they have higher contributions to the likelihood of kids graduating high school, whether [the students] graduate college and their income when they become adults.â
MORE effective?
Seems to me theyâre likely to be less so, given their relative lack of training.
Also, it can take several years for teachers with training to really get good at the job. Like the other recent programs that put random people into classrooms these teachers will probably quit after two years, so comparing them to educators with over five years in the classroom isnât going to tell you much.
Among the books included on the list were biographies of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson of the Supreme Court and the civil rights activist and congressman John Lewis; a novel about a Lakota girl; and a picture book about different family types, including families with adoptive or same-sex parents. (NY Times)
As yes, we canât have our delicate white boys learn about the life of (checks notesâŚ) a Supreme Court Justice.
Then, sooner or later someone from Momsters against Library might offer to do it. Thatâs the easiest way to infiltrate. (Things I learned watching Scientology.)
Do these âown-grownâ teachers belong to the union?
There is, in my opinion, a pretty simple solution to both teacher shortages and teacher quality. And Iâve been saying it since I was in high school. Raise teachersâ salaries. But no one ever wants to do that because OMG TAXES and because they think teaching is easy and they think teachers only work 9 months a year. Paying teachers what theyâre actually worth would solve a lot. Not right away, but within a few years.
Honestly, Iâm waiting for one of the remnants of the countyâs shuttered Momster group to come after the fair and, indirectly, me. You make a good point about someone else popping up for a future fair, though. I find the future simultaneously concerning and comforting because I have absolutely no idea what to expect anymore. I just know one has already announced itâs never too soon to prepare for 2024âs school board electionsâŚ
I keep seeing articles about how student performance has been affected by the pandemic. Iâm sure there was an effect, but it seems like the continuous degradation of public school funding is the real culprit. The pandemic has just been the precipitating event that finally broke the system. It was already failing under the stress of defunding. The mistake these articles make is thinking the pandemic is the cause rather than starving the system of funds. And teacher pay is the linchpin.
Did you just DARE suggest that cutting taxes and defunding schools might cause a real problem with education?!? /bitter SSSSSSSSSSSSS
Selling fact-based curriculum based on women to teach American history:
