Columbus oh charter schools: Uh oh. We’re very sorry.

And although the average school day lasts only 6.7 hours, a teacher’s working day can often last 12, and sometimes 16 hours. The rest of the time is spent on writing curricula, checking papers, various meetings and filling out a bunch of paperwork – this is how the 40th working week almost doubles. This is also happening because the workload for the remaining teachers has increased, and this applies to the poorest states, like Oklahoma. But it’s not only that.

Low wages and a second job

The New-York Times also notes that some teachers work 60-hour weeks and then go to a second job after that. A lot of teachers work as baristas, at Amazon and other warehouses, work at car washes (just like the famous Walter White), and also sell tickets at cinemas or fast food. At the same time, they receive almost the minimum possible salary. 16-20% of teachers are forced to take a second job just to make ends meet. But if we count part-time jobs within the education system, then their share will grow to 59%. In total, all this gives already an 80-hour work week.

According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), in 1994 public school teachers in the US earned 18.7% less than comparable workers. In states like Arizona and Oklahoma, inflation-adjusted teacher salaries have actually fallen by about $5,000 to $8,000 over the past decade. In 2015, 29 out of 50 states were spending less per student, adjusted for inflation, than before 2008. As a result, many public schools were dilapidated, overcrowded, and teachers relied on outdated textbooks and worn-out equipment.

“When you double classes, teachers don’t have the ability to talk one-on-one with students and understand what a student needs—both academically and socially,” said Don Etcheverry, president of the Nevada Education Association.

Teacher Tracey Diegan: “I missed so much because of this job”

According to The Guardian, due to low salaries, one in five teachers in the US is forced to take a second job. 53-year-old teacher Tracey Diigan, who receives $ 80,000 a year, is forced to fish for oysters and part-time as an organizer of events: “At first glance, my salary looks like a huge pile of money, but I live in Cape Cod [the cost of living there is 30% higher than in national average]. And as soon as I think about replacing doors or ceilings on the roof, I panic. I don’t have any extra money left. I don’t think about what will happen tomorrow, but I just try not to drown today.”

Chris Williams, 36, a teacher in Texas, already earns $56,000, but still has to work in a bookstore: “If you compare a teacher with no experience and me with 11 years of experience, the difference is only $3,619 per year. This seems to be a signal that our authorities do not really need experienced teachers. And without a second job, I would risk being left without any financial cushion in case of money problems. We are talking about the cost of medicine or a car. In one school in Virginia, teachers are forced to work as school bus drivers.

“I have to share a bed with my child in a tiny apartment. I spend $1,000 and they tried to cut me three times”, “I have a college degree, 16 years of experience, work three jobs and donate blood to pay bills”, “I have 20 years of experience, but I can’t afford to fix the car. In the meantime, I choose to go to the doctor or save money for the children, ”testimonies of American teachers for Time magazine.

But Matthew Williams, aged 31, from Oklahoma, is already working for only $31,000 and is also forced to work as a taxi driver: “I had to move back to my parents because I didn’t pay rent. I love my job and I want to teach children, but I can’t live like that either. I hope that when I work at Uber, I will come across normal customers, and not violent or drunk ones. Megan McMillan from Texas, at 38 years old, in addition to working at school, is training dogs, although she seems to receive a solid $ 51,000: “I have to work two jobs because I can’t pay bills and I’m already in debt. I live alone and have no children, although other teachers have children.”

Staff turnover

According to the authoritative publication Business Insider, the average salary of teachers in the country is about $60,000, but as we can see, even this seemingly big money is far from always enough. And 63% of teachers receive from 30 to 40 thousand dollars, which is already on the verge of poverty and, taking into account rising prices, is already falling abroad. The survey also found that among 62% of teachers who “feel undervalued by society” and who earn less than $45,000 a year, have considered leaving the profession.

The majority of teachers – 55% – said they would not want their child to follow in their footsteps, citing low pay as the main reason. According to a 2018 study by the University of Pennsylvania, 44% of young teachers quit within the first five years. Oklahoma teacher Elaine Hutchison says her daughter plans to continue her family career as an educator, but that no longer secures a middle-class position. “The bonus of my younger brother, who works as an engineer, is more than my salary,” says Hutchinson.

In 2018, the National Center for Education Statistics found that teachers, on average, spent nearly $500 out of pocket each year on various supplies for their students and classrooms. And 94% of teachers spent their own money on school supplies – that is, almost all. It is not surprising that the flow of new personnel is gradually turning into a trickle.

According to the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education, between 2008 and 2016, the number of new teachers fell by 23%. Well, 17% of teachers who do end up in school leave the profession within the first five years. And this is still according to the data for 2015, and today the problem has only worsened. At the same time, the war against state education was consistently waged by both parties, despite different rhetoric.

In the last decade, even the phenomenon of charter schools has spread – public schools that are run as a private business by private individuals. Classical privatization of profits and nationalization of losses. To make life easier for these private businesses, in 2011 the Wisconsin legislature abolished teachers’ right to collective bargaining. And this year, Colorado lawmakers voted to raise the retirement age for teachers.

An empty classroom in a school in Massachusetts

According to official figures, 74% of Americans believe that teachers should receive more. But instead, a third of teachers are forced in the summer, instead of rest, to get a second job full-time, and at other times to combine it with the main one. And sometimes it comes to three jobs at once and still have to donate blood. Although this is not a mass phenomenon, it is not an exceptional case either. Some efforts to improve living standards are still being made: schools are increasing salaries, offering lump sum payments (in one school district in New Mexico, teachers who decide to move are offered as much as $ 25,000). But these are all local initiatives that do not change anything globally.

Culture War

So, low wages and teacher burnout are a companion of the American public school. But there is another problem that forces teachers to leave the profession – not economics, but politics.

In a constantly changing environment, teachers become its hostages. The phrase “We didn’t go through this” is a common phrase in American schools, since every state and every school Many districts and states at the legislative level limit what teachers can tell about US history, race (and American anthropology claims that there are no races) ), racism, gender and sexual orientation, and LGBT issues. On the other hand, when you see frankly icteric headlines like “Mark Twain was banned in the USA”, then we are not talking about the whole country, but only about the decisions of specific schools and their programs in literature. Indeed, in some cases, uncritical perception of books can have negative consequences.

A separate factor in the personnel crisis facing American schools is the so-called culture wars: according to recent opinion polls, 88% of teachers believe that education in their schools is becoming “too politicized.” Conservatives advocate for schools to stay away from potentially controversial topics – and in 2021 they were especially active, as a result of which Florida passed a law banning discussion of LGBT topics in elementary grades, and a number of states also introduced a ban on teaching “Critical Race Theory” and obligated schools to maintain the transparency of their curricula and publish them online. Democrats are already complaining that in Idaho, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Utah, one cannot teach that “white Americans today are morally responsible for slavery.” And, it would seem, it’s great that such an absurdity is kept away from the fragile children’s minds.

Bible at school

On the other hand, conservatives have no problem with the teaching of religion in schools. It may seem ridiculous to you, but for many years there has been a debate at the state level whether it is worth teaching the theory of evolution. In 2002, 45% of Americans believed that the world was created by God and originated 10,000 years ago. In 1999, the state of Kansas banned the mention of Darwin in the school curriculum. The theory of evolution was introduced into the Florida school curriculum only in 2008: “natural selection is the main mechanism leading to evolutionary change”, and “the scientific theory of evolution is a fundamental concept that underlies all biology”, – was stated in the decision of the Board of Education of Florida. Yeah, the 21st century is in the yard, of course. And after all, this is exactly the same political agenda as the promotion of LGBT issues and other issues in the educational program.

And teachers are hostages of the constantly changing political situation, and the diametrically opposite one at that. This is not only stressful in itself, but also undermines the authority of the teacher as a source of reliable information. Well, if it is not necessary to listen to the teacher in the classroom, then you can do your own thing. Hence the drop in discipline and much more. The authority of the school teacher is falling not only among students, but in the whole country.

School metal detectors and police

We have not yet talked about school violence, to combat which the authorities turn into a kind of prison with metal detectors and guards. In addition to massacres, schools also often face police raids in search of drugs. And as the New-York Times points out, these raids are taking on a racist tinge. As you know, in the United States, a significant proportion of crimes are committed by racial minorities. Business Insider even gives 18 examples of why American schools are like prisons. All this also does not contribute to improving the educational climate and the psychological health of teachers.

A July 2022 Gallup poll found that only 28% of Americans “very” or “fairly” trust public schools. And at the same time, Fox News anchors are calling teachers, “Ku Klux Klans who go on summer break.” “When Americans look at what schools are doing, it sounds like these people are promoting ideas and values ​​that seem alien, destructive, and that ultimately undermines their faith in the profession as a whole,” – says conservative researcher Rick Hess.

“The political situation in the United States, combined with the effects of the pandemic, has created this deficit,” – says Randy Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.

Desperate measures for teachers

It is not at all surprising that the ever worsening situation of teachers received an organized rebuff from among them. This year, 47,000 students in one of the school districts in Columbus, Ohio were unable to start the school year due to a three-day teacher strike (it was the largest teacher protest since 1975 years). A year earlier, strikes had swept through schools in Minneapolis and Sacramento. In 2019, Chicago teachers went on strike, and in 2018, strikes swept 6 US cities at once. Teachers demanded an increase in salaries and better funding for the schools themselves (repairs, equipment upgrades, etc.). There were also complaints about poor ventilation in schools and too many classes, with a critical shortage of teachers in primary schools.

Translation of a letter from striking teachers:
“Dear Parents, Guardians, and Families,
We regret to inform you that the start of the school year has been postponed due to planned teacher strikes organized by school teacher unions. The union has notified us that the start of the strike is scheduled for the same date as our scheduled date for the first day of school in the district’s schools. We continue to sit at the negotiating table and try to reach some agreements and start the school year as soon as possible. You will receive an additional message telling you when the first day of school is scheduled.”

“Do you have any idea what it’s like to teach kids when the classroom is either too hot or too cold?” Courtney Jackson, spokesman for the striking teachers, told CNN. The local authorities proposed to raise funding by a “generous” 3%, when at least 8% was needed. A similar strike took place in Philadelphia, but not only teachers were on strike, but also other school personnel, including school bus drivers, plumbers, cleaners, and others.

Author of The Stolen Year / The Stolen Year” Anya Kamenets writes how the pandemic hit not only teachers but also schoolchildren: “The United States is the richest country in which there are a lot of poor children. More than half of the children in public schools grow up in low-income families. And when schools close, many children are unable to receive their all-important free lunches, as well as opportunities for socialization and psychological support.” So when teachers go on strike for more school funding, they are not only on strike for themselves, but for their students and even their parents.

Thousands of Chicago teachers and other school employees at a protest rally in October 2019 during the strike

But not everything is so simple. “This at first glance is somewhat contrary to common sense, but it is a serious obstacle to the unification of teachers at the level of some states – they are prohibited from organizing into trade unions. So strikes for teachers are a desperate and extreme measure that can cost them dearly. Therefore, teachers decide to go on strike only after they have exhausted other options,” says Mimi Arnold Lyon, a professor at Rockefeller College at the University of Albany.

During the pandemic, in preparation for another strike, California teachers faced threats of pay withholding and layoffs “if we don’t come to an agreement as soon as possible while our teachers prepare to strike,” said Janine Peñafort, Spanish teacher at Redwood Circle School, California, which represented school teachers in negotiations with the authorities. “Teachers have become less influential in decisions made in our school. I think that this sense of powerlessness and the huge workload is causing a lot of teachers to leave our schools every year,” Peñafort continues.

The teachers’ union claims that despite multimillion-dollar donations from local billionaires, public schools impose severe restrictions on the work of teachers and schools, and the workload is only increasing. It turned out that about half of all teachers in public schools who were preparing to strike did not plan to return in the next school year. “The county lied for years that they were in some kind of economic turmoil, even claiming their budget was on the brink of collapse. It was a lie then and is an even bigger lie today,” said David Fisher, a teacher with 20 years of experience.

Minneapolis schoolteachers strike for better working conditions and higher wages, early 2022

It’s a very familiar situation when officials claim that there is a lack of funds for education, but this turns out to be a lie. In June 2022, the Supreme Court ruled that unions in the public sector could not collect money from non-union members, a decision that hit teacher unions hard, depriving them of a significant amount of money, and therefore influence. At the same time, already in August, the Arizona Supreme Court blocked the annual allocation of an additional $69.0 million from the education budget.

In fact, the district budget received multimillion-dollar subsidies for education, but teachers continued to be cut, and 10,000 students were left without a full education. “Instead of putting those dollars into education, they’re just saving up for a rainy day, and the district kept firing or refusing to hire teacher assistants,” Fisher says. This is typical bureaucratic hypocrisy, when they don’t seem to kick you out, but create such working and living conditions, then you either quit yourself or die of hunger. Under the stories about caring for children, of course.

In Minneapolis, Minnesota, more than 4,000 teachers, affiliated with the Minnesota Federation of Teachers, have been on strike for several days since March 8 due to low wages, lack of support staff and teaching equipment, and as a result of high staff turnover (640 teachers quit in a year and a half ). “What is being done in Minneapolis is an attempt to run our schools like a business. Many decisions are imposed from above without regard to everyone else,” said teacher Kearney Burns. It was the mass strike and the moral support of students and their parents that made it possible to at least partially solve these problems.

Conclusion

The crisis of school education is a reflection of the general economic crisis. Moreover, the crisis in which more and more working Americans are plunging. Even if stocks on the stock exchange grow along with GDP, as in the 1980s, this does not mean that the majority enjoys this growth. And now, all the more so, there are no prerequisites for the authorities to voluntarily improve the situation of school teachers. Rather, on the contrary, they are trying to make them an obedient tool and hostages of the ever-changing political situation, to which the quality of mass school education is sacrificed (what is the fight against the theory of evolution worth). At the same time, they are remembered only before the elections, and the rest of the time they cut the budget for education. Teachers see this very well and give an organized rebuff. But the economic struggle can only lead to economic changes, but political changes require a political struggle.

• LGBT
• education
• society
• US work

Tweet

Share

Share

Send 90 003

Cool

WhatsApp

Subscribe to my
Telegram channel
and VKontakte group

The Moscow region entered the top 5 regions in terms of the development prospects of the sanatorium and resort industry

Sambo was included in the program of the 2025 World Games in Chengdu

Sambo was officially included in the program of the World Games to be held in 2025 in Chengdu, China, the press service reports International Sambo Federation. …

The gathering of the Russian U16 team started in the Moscow region

The Russian men’s team “under 16” will work in Paramonovo near Moscow. The collection will take place from June 26 to July 24. 21 players will take part in it. Composition …

A building near the chateau hotel caught fire in the Moscow region A building under construction caught fire in the village of Nemchinovka in the Odintsovo urban district of the Moscow region. This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The building under construction …

In the suburbs, plans were announced to organize sports clubs in every school in the region According to the governor of the region Andrei Vorobyov, among the most popular sections are football, volleyball, basketball, athletics, cross-country skiing, chess …

The representative of Kenya became the best player among ambassadors at a golf tournament in the Moscow region 60 golfers from Russia, Vietnam, South Africa, the Dominican Republic, Zambia, Kenya and Myanmar participated in the competition …

Nikishin about real estate: “ I don’t have my own home yet. In Russia, prices are becoming more and more, especially for apartments. In Orel, the prices are already the same as in the Moscow region” – You can probably afford everything. Did you make any spontaneous and unusual purchases? – When someone in the family wants something, I always buy it. Mon …

Chibrikov will participate in the Winnipeg development camp This was announced by the Canadian club. Classes will last from 4 to 8 July. Recall that the Russian striker became a Jets player in May, signing a three-year contract …

Vladimir Putin determined the vectors of tourism development Russian President Vladimir Putin held an off-site meeting in Dagestan on the development of tourism in Russia. During the conversation with representatives of the government …

Karyakin said that the RFU should accept clubs from the Crimea and new regions of Russia Russian grandmaster Sergey Karyakin believes that the RFU should accept clubs from the Crimea, Zaporozhye, Kherson regions, LPR and DPR.