Sunday, June 04, 2023

A Rock And A Hard Place

That is where teachers are right now, they have to watch their every move and they never know who will file a lawsuit or complain to the state over something that they say or do. They live in fear!

Something like the poem that was read at the inaugural of a president or the showing of a Disney movie is enough to get them investigated.
Education Week
By Eesha Pendharkar & Libby Stanford
May 30, 2023


At the start of each school year, Brian Kerekes, a high school math teacher in Osceola County, Fla., has a list of questions he asks his students.

It always includes, what are your pronouns? But a new Florida law that emulates laws that have been passed in at least eight other states says that he would be free to ignore his students’ responses if they don’t align with the sex they were assigned at birth.

“I just want the kids to know that I respect them for who they are and what they bring to the classroom,” he said.
But now all that has changed and heaven fear what a parent will say about it.
Teachers who spoke with Education Week said the laws risk endangering trusting relationships they have with their students and hyper-politicizing the teaching profession, which they say could dissuade prospective teachers from opting for a career in education.
WESH reported that “According to the Florida Education Association, there were 5,294 teacher vacancies in January 2023. In 2019, that number was 2,219.” but the shortage doesn’t seem to be worrying DeSantis.

Plus in some states harassing LGBTQ+ students is allowed! EdWeek goes on to write,
Finally, under a new Montana law, schools will not be able to punish students for intentionally or accidentally misgendering transgender students, or using their dead names (names trans people used prior to transitioning) unless it rises to the level of bullying.
Meanwhile the moral of teachers is dropping (I can’t imagine why?),
Many schools are feeling the impacts of teacher shortages, and enrollment in teacher preparation programs is lower than it was a decade ago. Laws that politicize the profession will ultimately further damage morale and threaten the education system as whole, said Chris Dier, a U.S. history teacher at Benjamin Franklin High School in New Orleans, La.
You would almost think that the Republicans are trying to cripple public education on purpose. Naw, they would never do that… right?



Then in Indiana
Education Week
By Mark Walsh
April 10, 2023

A divided federal appeals court has upheld an Indiana school district’s firing of a music teacher who refused to address transgender students by their first names and pronouns for religious reasons.

A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, in Chicago, ruled 2-1 on April 7 that the Brownsburg, Ind., school district’s decision to end a nearly school-year-length attempt to accommodate the teacher by allowing him to use only last names to refer to all his students did not violate the teacher’s rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“The last-names-only practice conflicted with the school’s philosophy of affirming and respecting all students because the undisputed evidence showed that the accommodation resulted in students feeling disrespected, targeted, and dehumanized, and in disruptions to the learning environment,” the 7th Circuit majority said in its April 7 ruling. “Title VII does not require the school to adopt an accommodation that, although facially neutral, does not work that way in practice.”
They are of course appealing the Court of Appeals ruling and wants the full court to hear the case.

Is there any wonder that there is a teacher shortage?

***

Last week one of my professors at UConn School of Social Work passed away last week.

He was the professor who talked me into doing an independent study class to create a training workshop on trans cultural competency and he became a friend. Out paths have crossed many times since then.

He was a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and had many trans clients some of whom are also my friends. His passion was helping others. 

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