Exploding Requirements and Workforce Shortages – An Existential Threat to the Public Schools
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21 responses to “Exploding Requirements and Workforce Shortages – An Existential Threat to the Public Schools”
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I doubt that the Virginia public school system was ever a model of administrative efficiency, but there can be no doubt that it is going downhill fast. My sense is that bureaucrats are in full cover-your-ass mode and have given up doing anything other than deflecting blame for the increasingly disastrous results.
I soon will be publishing a post, told from the perspective of a teacher, describing the mendacity of the school discipline records. No one is interested in providing numbers that reflect reality. Teachers don’t bother reporting most incidents because there’s no point — nothing happens, nothing changes. School administrators discourage reporting of incidents because too many incidents makes the school look bad. Then there’s the phenomenon, which you describe, in which the district fudges numbers to make the district look better.
I wonder if the Youngkin administration appreciates the extent to which the schools are in total meltdown mode.
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I hope so. All we can do is tell them the facts.
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Exploding requirements? Oh, schools. Not pipelines.
Maybe another tip line?
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or perhaps we should allow all parents to approve every page of every book that is ever assigned … I am sure that helps with teacher retention.
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That could work. But, they’d have to read them. Nah, the current method of internet outrage and conspiracy is working just fine. It is, right?
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Great opportunity for Youngkin to demonstrate some leadership and a clear direction. 3 academic years of school in a row have been wrecked. Fall 2022 should be simple: 1. Staff the schools. 2. Enforce attendance. 3. Some basic middle of the road guidelines for conduct. 4. Focus on the basics. 5. Executive order to suspend selected new/old burdens on teachers for one year.
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I don’t think the Governor can “suspend” requirements of law, at least, not without a declaration of emergency. I would hope that is the case; otherwise we would be under an autocratic system of government.
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The seacocks are wide open. It’s an emergency.
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Open seacocks are a sign of scuttling, not an emergency. Things are always visible to the determined.
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Well, the McAuliffe/Northam administrations tried their best to send it to the bottom, and given more time would have succeeded. I’m sure Youngkin’s administration will continue this “work”, just from another perspective.
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Uh yep. The difference is that Youngkin will chop up and burn the lifeboats for fuel first.
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I like your spirit. But none of it will be simple, especially number 1. You watch. The schools that do it cut their own throats with faked staffing reports.
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“Then figure out how we are going to educate, recruit and retain the teachers and other personnel we require to educate our children.” Easy. Raise their pay by 25% and give them the resources so that their jobs don’t drive them to insanity
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The pay raises will likely happen when the GA gets concerned enough. It will be time late. The pipeline is really dry.
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I agree with your concern over the accuracy of data in state reports. It is not a problem unique to DOE, however. For many years, until he retired, a friend of mine would annually rant about the inaccuracies he detected in the annual financial reports submitted by localities to the Dept. of Accounts. It seemed that DOA never checked them. The Compensation Board has staff that audits the reports sent in by local constitutional officers. (There is money associated with those reports.)
I also agree with you on how we are loading up teachers and schools with additional reports and requirements. The 2022 GA was no exception to adding to these burdens. These bills were passed and are awaiting the Governor’s signature. Maybe the Governor will veto them or return them with amendments getting rid of the requirements:
HB 197–encouraging schools to submit recommendations regarding reading and math assessments. (Although this is not a requirement in law, you know that teachers will be pressured into participating in it.)
HB 319/SB616–requiring that a “literary data report” be filed annually
HB 741–requiring schools, in preparing their annual safety audits, to include detailed and accurate floor plans for each building
HB 1108–requires schools to provide instruction on gambling and its additive potential
HB 1215–requires schools to include course on personal safety training
SB 724–requires each school board to submit annually to DOE a report listing the 9-1-1 address of each student that does not have broad band accessNow this one has already been signed; SB 656, requiring teachers to notify parents of sexually explicit content in assigned readings or activities. (No matter whether you think this is a good idea or not, you have to admit that this is another requiremet on teachers.)
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Nonsense, all of them, including SB 656.
Individual legislators of both parties layer this on without a second thought because some donor or lobbyist asked them to do it. No one wakes up one morning and thinks this is how he or she will somehow move the ball forward in the Commonwealth.
We need a cleanup of the Code. The Governor should lead that.
Or perhaps Louise Lucas, Madam Chairwoman – hell really will have frozen over.
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If the Governor signs all the rest of these bills, that should be some indication of how well he, his Secretary of Education, and Superintendent of Instruction are attuned to this issue.
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Agree
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“We the unwilling, led by the inept, have been doing so much with so little for so long that we are now qualified to do anything with nothing at all.”
To a Democrat, a mockery.
To a Republican, a plan — as long as they don’t unionize. -
“We the unwilling, led by the inept, have been doing so much with so little for so long that we are now qualified to do anything with nothing at all.”
To a Democrat, a mockery.
To a Republican, a plan — as long as they don’t unionize.
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