Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Do You Wonder Why Teachers Are Leaving?

Teachers are dropping out of teaching, teachers are fleeing Republicans states, they have had enough of the Republicans watching over their shoulders.
Florida teacher fired for using gender-neutral honorific ‘Mx.’
The teacher has filed a discrimination complaint alleging that their termination is a violation of federal civil rights law.
NBC Out News
By Jo Yurcaba
November 10, 2023


A Florida teacher filed a complaint against their former employer after being fired for using the gender-neutral honorific “Mx.” instead of “Ms.” or “Mr.” in emails and other school communications.

The teacher, who uses the name AV Vary over their legal name, taught high school science at Florida Virtual School, an online public school, until Oct. 24. Vary filed a complaint Wednesday with the Florida Commission on Human Relations and the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging the school discriminated against them based on their gender identity and violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Mx was created way back 1997!
Vary said they began using “Mx.” at the start of the school year to send a welcoming message to students amid a slew of state legislation that targeted LGBTQ people and topics in schools.
According to the Radical Copy Editor
Mx. was first spotted in print in a 1977 issue of the U.S. magazine Single Parent in a short story by Pat Kite: “…maybe both sexes should be called Mx. That would solve the gender problem entirely.” Nat Titman of Practical Androgyny turned up evidence that throughout the ’80s and ’90s there was a scattering of people talking about Mx. or using it as a title themselves. During this period, Mx. was talked about as an “all-purpose” title.

After the turn of the century, Mx. became increasingly used within trans communities, particularly by genderqueer people. It took hold most prominently in the UK, and by 2013 it was in fairly widespread mainstream use there, popping up in many drop-down forms and being accepted everywhere from the post office (starting in 2009) to the National Health Service (starting in 2012).

[...]

This is where it gets complicated. There’s no question that Mx. was originally proposed as a universal title in reaction to Ms., which took off in the 1970s. Why stop with creating an equivalent to Mr. for women, many people rightly asked—why is gender locked into terms of respect to begin with?
But the Republicans in their hyper attacks on anything LGBTQ+ when after AV Vary used it. NBC went on to write,
Teachers in Florida and other states have increasingly come under public scrutiny amid political battles over what content is appropriate for children — in library books, history classes and health classes.

Last year, a Florida middle school teacher was fired after students asked her questions about her sexuality, and she told them she is pansexual. Another Florida teacher resigned in June after she was investigated for showing a Disney movie to her class that included a gay character. And a Georgia teacher was fired in August after officials said she improperly read a book on gender identity to her fifth grade class.
The Republicans are flipping out over diversity, they think it is their god given right to discriminate.

I asked Google's Bard: Are teachers leaving republican states?
Yes, teachers are leaving Republican states at an alarming rate. According to a recent report by the National Education Association, nearly 40% of teachers in Republican states are considering leaving the profession. This is significantly higher than the national average of 25%.

There are a number of reasons why teachers are leaving Republican states. One reason is that Republican-controlled legislatures have been cutting funding for public education for years. This has led to larger class sizes, fewer resources for teachers, and lower pay.

Another reason why teachers are leaving Republican states is that they are facing increasing pressure to censor their teaching. Republican legislatures have passed a number of laws that restrict what teachers can teach about topics such as race, gender, and sexuality. These laws have made it difficult for teachers to do their jobs and have created a hostile work environment for many.

Finally, teachers are leaving Republican states because they are tired of being scapegoated by politicians. Republican politicians often blame teachers for the problems facing public education, even though these problems are largely due to the policies enacted by Republican legislatures.

The exodus of teachers from Republican states is having a devastating impact on public education. Schools in Republican states are struggling to find qualified teachers, and many students are not receiving the quality education they deserve.

Here are some specific examples of teachers leaving Republican states:
  • In Oklahoma, the number of teachers leaving the profession increased by 40% between 2018 and 2022.
  • In Texas, the number of teachers leaving the profession increased by 35% between 2019 and 2021.
  • In Florida, the number of teachers leaving the profession increased by 25% between 2020 and 2022.
These are just a few examples, and the trend is likely to continue as long as Republican states continue to underfund public education and censor what teachers can teach.

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