EDU Trending: Education - a Perfect Storm X3.

(https://www.businessinsider.com/teachers-burnout-staffing-shortage-pandemic-quitting-schools-education-2022-2 and https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2022/03/09/great-teacher-resignation ). 

There is no relief in sight because fewer people are applying to college degree programs in education    (https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/fewer-people-are-getting-teacher-degrees-prep-programs-sound-the-alarm/2022/03 ).  The teacher crisis is only one part of three perfect storms that have been building for a long time and are now in danger of raging out of control.

First, student enrollment which was in decline before the pandemic has steepened its downward trajectory, especially in urban environments.  Contributing factors include online or alternative schooling along with family migration to more affordable cities and towns.  Do the math:  Fewer teachers plus fewer students equal more school closures and a corresponding decrease in federal funding (https://www.the74million.org/article/covid-school-enrollment-students-move-away-from-urban-districts-virtual/).     

Conversely, in smaller school districts, students are registering in ballooning numbers.  Many are from the very families who opted to exchange urban living and schooling for a more community-based lifestyle and educational experience.  They may be disappointed as their new home towns are now struggling to find teachers, staff, physical space, and funds to support the sudden spurt in enrollment (See link above).  A second perfect storm in the making.  

Three is the hat trick.  During the pandemic, many high school freshmen fell so far behind academically that they need to repeat 9th grade (https://www.the74million.org/article/exclusive-data-freshmen-held-back-during-pandemic-fuel-bulge-in-9th-grade-enrollment/ ).  A shrinking faculty exacerbates the problem because classes are bursting well over the desired 17:1 student/teacher ratio.

The bottom line is this.  Without enough qualified teachers and with either too few or too many students to create an effective learning environment, all the arguments about what and how to teach our children is moot.  We will no longer be talking about academic regression but the fact that so many children will be uneducated, ill-equipped to pursue the opportunities of a dynamically changing world.

It is time to come in out of the storm.  See News and Views below.

Note: You can find a related article about alternative paths for teachers, titled “Options and Opportunities” at https://www.merleschell.com/taking-care-of-you.   

News and Views: Specialty Schools - Safe Harbor.

Are these traditional public schools, community schools, charters, progressive, specialized, or the newly recognized independent schools?  Yes… and… No.  These are schools that do not fit neatly into one box with one label.  There is only one I.D. that distinguishes them all:  Schools that work.   

That’s right: Schools that work.  Starting in June, we will begin a series of blogs about a variety of schools, how they are different, and what they have in common that make them work.  They might give you some ideas. 

Question of the Day: Truth Be Told.

Find the truth (or truths) among the following statements:

1. An unprecedented number of school closings nationwide are predicted for 2024.

2. Social/emotional regression is prevalent among young children.

3. Students are moving from brick and mortar classrooms to on-line schooling.

4. Work demands are impacting teachers’ mental health.

5. Enrollment in charter schools has tripled since the 2005-2006 school year.

For the answer, please go to https://www.merleschell.com/taking-care-of-you/ and read “Options and Opportunities.”  

From Me to You: It’s the Little Things.

It is time to smell the roses…or the coffee…or to simply step outside and inhale the day’s possibilities. It’s the little things that mean everything.  

To say that we are living in troubled times is the hyperbole of understatements.  Our stressors are on high alert to the endless litany of aggravations, grievances, political one-upmanship, and sheer nonsense that demand our attention and court (or bully) us to take action.  

But not here.  Not right now.  We need a break – every day – from the causes we champion and even from those we love and support unconditionally.  We need time to refresh, renew, restore a sense of balance and harmony in ourselves even if not always in our lives.  

We need the little things to remind us that, no matter what, every day is a gift.  Here are two of my favorite things.  

Any brand of hazelnut will do, or for a little more zest, I recommend Whole Food’s Night Owl blend – strong and rich, but never bitter.  Delicious!      

Second: Mother’s Day.  This year my son invited me to lunch at a favorite seafood restaurant where those of us who are still a bit nervous about COVID (yours truly) could sit in a socially distanced section. Once at our table, he presented me with red roses and a card where what he wrote meant more to me than all the rest.  Love between parents and children.  It never gets old.  

It is the little things that ground us, fill us up with gratitude, make us smile, revive our energy and purpose.  Little things are love.  All the more reason to treasure those little things.