Coronavirus: Thread

[grarpamp]

Politicians have ruined education,
along with everything else they touch.
Keep in mind that in most all countries,
schools and boards and regulators are
all government employees, many double-ruined
with government unions making the situation
even more intractable.
The only fix for public schools is to take your
kids out of them and start private, community,
and home schools.


More Than Half Of Teachers Looking To Quit Due To Pandemic Burnout, Poll Finds

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/02/01/five-alarm-crisis-teachers-union-warns-pandemic-burnout-destroying-schools
https://www.nea.org/about-nea/media-center/press-releases/nea-survey-massive-staff-shortages-schools-leading-educator
https://twitter.com/Adi_Vish/status/1488905497344233474

New polling out Tuesday reveals pervasive burnout among the nation's
educators as pandemic-related staffing shortages and other
difficulties drive a potential exodus from the teaching profession.
Released by the National Education Association, the nation's largest
union of any profession, the member survey shows, according to NEA
president Becky Pringle, that "after persevering through the hardest
school years in memory, America's educators are exhausted and
increasingly burned out."

While staffing shortages at the nation's schools existed pre-pandemic,
Pringle said the current situation represents "an unprecedented
staffing crisis across every job category" that hurts both education
professionals and students alike.

Nearly three-quarters of respondents, for example, said that they've
had to fill in for colleagues or take on additional duties. Schools
being short-staffed also means students who need one-on-one
instruction aren't getting that need met.

The survey was conducted January 14-24 by GBAO Strategies and paints a
clear picture of educators who are absolutely fried. According to an
NEA statement, 90% of members said feeling burned out is a serious
problem, and 67% said it was a very serious problem. Ninety-six
percent of respondents support boosting educator salaries to help
address the problem.

Covid-related stress is widespread, as 91% report it being a serious
problem for educators. That stress is prompting many to at least start
thinking about packing their bags.

The survey found that 55% of members plan to leave the field sooner
than planned because of the pandemic compared to just 37% who felt
that way in August. In terms of creating safer environments amid the
airborne virus, 95% of members say they back improved ventilation in
schools though just 38% reported witnessing such improvements.

And while public health experts stress the need for continued
mask-wearing, over a third of NEA members say mask and mitigation
policies have actually been loosened since the start of the school
year.

    Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve noticed a huge rise in K12
teacher burnout, through my 1-1 convos and reddit/twitter threads. So
we scraped some data this weekend and here’s what we found: COVID
teacher burnout, visualized via reddit comments. (a thread)
pic.twitter.com/A69rdmgi0M
    — aditya (@Adi_Vish) February 2, 2022

Pringle didn't mince words in describing the situation...

    "This is a five-alarm crisis," she said. "We are facing an exodus
as more than half of our nation's teachers and other school staff are
now indicating they will be leaving education sooner than planned. If
we're serious about getting every child the support they need to
thrive, our elected leaders across the nation need to address this
crisis now."

Beyond getting "our collective respect," she said that properly
responding to the crisis entails "paying educators like the
professionals they are, ensuring that their students can get the
mental health support they need, protecting them from Covid, and
addressing the staff shortages so our educators can do what they do
best—helping every student thrive."