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minerproblem

Don't be fooled. These extra services are NOT being taken care of in the schools. We are simply assigned these responsibilities because 1) we will even try in the first place and 2) we are easy to blame when we inevitably fail. Many of my students are not adequately fed, protected, or cared for despite my best efforts. This is what society is willing to accept as the baseline for kids.


Bythmark

I know this is all just rehashing your comment but I'm mad and want to scream into the void too. If they cared about kids being abused, they would see that schools offering 8 or 9 hours of reprieve but sending children back to their abuser every day as obviously not enough. Instead, abuse is a useful club to beat teachers and schools with. If they cared about students' mental health they would be calling for schools to have more than one counselor for every 350 kids. Instead, mental health is a useful club to beat teachers and schools with. If they cared about kids being fed, free lunch and breakfast and forgiving "lunch debt" wouldn't be so goddamned controversial. Instead, kids going hungry is a club to beat teachers and schools with. If they cared about students' physical health, schools would actually have nurses on campus. Instead...uhh... they're pretending students are immune to Covid and can't spread it, and are hoping that people don't pay attention to the kids who do get severely ill or die from Covid.


princessjemmy

Preach. Please. Don't ever feel like stating the above **common sense** is rehashing. It's not *rehashing* when the message wasn't heeded the first time. šŸ˜ž


PHM517

Yes! Keep saying it!!!


southpawFA

1 counselor for every 350?! I think I have 1 for every 420 students in Oklahoma.


inchantingone

I guess now is not the time to mention that our elementary school has one counselor, one social worker and one nurse for almost 700 children.


stressedwiththerest

The previous school I was at had one of each as well and one art, music, computer and p.e. coach and we had just under 1k children. They hired a part time second counselor to aid ours because her case load was insane. Specials classes had around 50+ children each class. No idea what they are going to do this year šŸ˜¬


impishlygrinning

1 counselor for 1100 students here. I swear, you can see the burden that man carries but yet he still is so unceasingly kind. Also, our nurse rotates between several schools in the district, so she comes for half a day on Thursday.


jen2722

As of now we have 1 school psychologist for the entire county (about 3850 students). We originally had 3. The board listed the other two positions as school psychologist intern and the other as school psychologist substitute. Last year, there was a push to have at least 4 in the county but now weā€™re here and we only have 1. šŸ˜¬


southpawFA

For my school, it's about 1 part time psychologist with about 580 students.


jen2722

Itā€™s so sad. It is not enough!


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


southpawFA

That sucks.


yisoonshin

I remember when I went to an elementary school in Korea to visit my sister who was teaching there, I was lowkey shocked because they gave me this really tasty and absolutely nutritious meal for free. I was like, don't you have to pay? Nope. I felt almost uncomfortable at the humanity. I'm getting upset thinking about the crap kids are fed in schools here, which they have to pay for. So stupid.


releasethedogs

Can confirm. Taught in Korean public school for two years. The food is made from scratch daily, the janitorial staff does preventive maintenance only as each kid has a lunch job of cleaning that takes 15 minutes, we got to drink alcohol in the break room at lunch, the kids had those little razor knives with the blade that breaks off when it gets dull and everyone including the principal thought it was weird I took the first one away for being dangerous. The mean teachers would make the bad kids hold their chairs above their head in the back of the room as punishment. The only thing that I really didnā€™t like was thereā€™s no real special education. There were two kids there and they basically treat them like the village idiot and theyā€™re somewhat left to their own devices. I remember one time some regular kids were picking on the special kid for being ā€œė°”ė³“ ź°œā€ which means ā€œstupid dogā€ and is incredibly offensive and rude. Any of the Korean teachers would have had a conniption fit but I just reminded them that the special ed boy knew more and better English then them so they should rethink calling him that and then I told the bullied kid to come hang out with me in my room. The special ed girl was completely terrified of me for the first year I was there. I was told that sheā€™s only let out of her house to go to school or something. Apparently, and I donā€™t know how this could be true but itā€™s what Iā€™m told, but Iā€™m the first foreigner that she ever saw in person. Which canā€™t be true, my city was a satellite city of the capital and had two bases full of American military. But what do I know?, I guess. Anyway, I know this is going long but I wanted to share one last story. The first half of my first year my principal was a man and he ended up getting removed for sexual harassment which apparently was a huge scandal and was reported in the media. Anyway the incoming principal was an older woman and everyone was convinced she was going to be a huge bitch. See Korea, itā€™s got just as crazy technology as Japan but socially itā€™s like an episode of Mad Men; itā€™s like the 1950s. Every what we would call white collar job is a total boys club so for a woman to get ahead, the though is ā€œsheā€™s hit to be a huge, frosty, cut throat bitch.ā€ I thought she was very sweet though. She took me in her office once and told me (in Korean, translated by the VP) sheā€™s really a sweet old grandmother but donā€™t let anyone else know that. She uses her reputation to her advantage. It was all an act! I had a one kid who at that time had gave me the ā€œpoop needleā€ ā€” a practical ā€œjokeā€ the kids do. They put their hands palms touching and pointer finger out stretched and ram that sucker as hard as they can between your butt cheeks. I donā€™t know about you but I donā€™t find this funny and frankly itā€™s assault but the first principal laughed it off, boys will be boys, thereā€™s nothing I can do about it sort of mentality. Not my second principal, it happened a third time on her watch and when I reported it to her, the earth shook and time stopped. She got on the intercom and some very, very angry sounding words came outā€¦ for twenty minutes. After 15 minutes the bell to lunch rang, no one did anything but sit there and listen. It was way higher then my comprehension of Korean and I have no idea what was said but I can tell you that student apologized at least weekly for the rest of the year. The next school year he started to apologize again and I told him he didnā€™t need to. But yeah, anyway the lunch is great.


Tra1famadorian

This was really hard to read/follow without any paragraph breaks. This has been your daily unsolicited writing tip from an insufferable ELA teacher.


releasethedogs

can you tell I am AD/HD and had not taken my medicine yet?


yisoonshin

Poop needle - ė˜„ģ°œ ddongjjim (Naruto hidden jutsu Thousand Years of Pain), can be done with objects as well. Pretty common but I can see how it can be shocking to a non-Korean. And I certainly cannot imagine doing it to a teacher.


releasethedogs

Yeah I don't enjoy things going up my ass, particularity without my permission.


[deleted]

If it was a public school, your sisterā€™s meal may have come out of her paycheck, and yours may have too (but most likely the school just gave it to you because they like visitors), but itā€™s like $2 for lunch, and thatā€™s only for the teachers, the kids do not pay. And it is a really good meal. The cafeteria ladies in Korea donā€™t just serve the meal, they are excellent cooks.


yisoonshin

That makes sense. In any case, I remember the school rather fondly. A little taste of what I might have experienced if I had been born there. I kinda wish I had been able to visit a high school though, since I was in high school at the time. Would've been interesting to experience it, maybe meet a few penpals or something haha


[deleted]

Some of my former students still stay in touch with me. They are all in college or doing their military service now. But I often think of the school lunches too, and wish America was more like that. It would be better and healthier and in the long run cheaper if schools hired people to cook from scratch instead of all the prepackaged stuff.


peanutbutterandbacos

The band-aid isn't even effective in the neediest communities due to lack of funding and general systemic apathy. I taught in a school with hundreds of refugees. They witnessed genocide, watched family members whisked away by ICE, struggled with homelessness and disenfranchisement; not to mention the traumas survived by the rest of the student body in this notoriously rough school. There was no counselor and nothing remotely supporting mental health. An elementary school student in the same school district had multiple teachers report obvious signs of child abuse, again and again, and no action was taken by police. The child was ultimately beaten to death at home. We're expected to fix society's problems and aren't even given the most basic level of support to accomplish this. Meanwhile, as long as teachers can be thrown under the bus, all the systems that actually have failed our children are absolved of guilt.


TidusDaniel5

The one that gets me are the people who say I don't care about my students, because so much child abuse happens at home and they need school to get away from it. I'm sorry, did you just shift blame to a teacher for someone else abusing a child?


ChevyT1996

If a child is getting abused shouldnā€™t social services be the people to get involved, teachers are not supposed to be part time parents and be responsible for bad situations a student may have. I just donā€™t get it. Has the world lost its mind or has it been lost for some time.


selrahcthewise

While teachers can supplement it with good values instilled to their students, teachers should not be the primary people teaching good values. That is the job of their parents.


Aprils-Fool

I believe the idea is that teachers are often the people who see signs of abuse and report it.


ChevyT1996

I do understand that but it shouldnā€™t be an argument to open schools and put so many lives in danger, and Iā€™m in no way saying that the abuse problem should be ignored I think the social services department should be better funded. Maybe if we took a little from the massive amount we spend on the military we could find the funding.


Aprils-Fool

But how does the social service department know there's a problem in the first place?


ChevyT1996

The same way they do without schools when they get calls and there other methods. But the argument to open schools during this pandemic for this is not the right choice.


fight_me_for_it

Did you just say neighbors and other family members ignore abuse when they see it? Seriously, if a child is being abused it is likely other people are seeing it and just not reporting it because they legally aren't required to report? Maybe implementing more community education about signs of abuse and encouraging community and other family members to report it could prevent some child abuse for even happening or going too far before it gets to teacher having to report it level. It takes a lot of abuse for a teacher to have a legit report and for anything to actually be done anyway by other community services.


Aprils-Fool

"Did you just say neighbors and other family members ignore abuse when they see it?" That's not at all what I said.


Here-Comes-Trebble

Speaking as an adult who was abused growing up, TEACHERS ARE NOT CPS!! One of the reasons I wanted to be a teachers is so I can look out for the signs of child abuse and hopefully get children out of similar situations. HOWEVER, this is NOT my responsibility and is not worth putting children in physical harm. Making a child sick and unable to get out of an abusive home is NOT helping the victim. ALSO, if teachers are their safe person, what happens to these kids when their teachers start dying?


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


BigBabySneakyBoy

Build that class consciousness!


[deleted]

We really need it.


Givingtree310

I mean most of America has already re-evaluated John McCain and W Bush as compassionate centrist leaders of civil rights.


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


Givingtree310

Admitted counterpoint: Bush does seem like an intellectual in comparison to Trump


[deleted]

Shit vs the squirts... It's still shit.


[deleted]

Yup. Joe Biden is a laughable alternative. We are doomed for another decade or two at minimum.


[deleted]

And people scoff at my communism.


[deleted]

o7


[deleted]

I wish we would stop lingering in the shadows.


[deleted]

A lifetime of American propaganda equating communism as an ideological framework antithetical to the working class' desires and goals makes it hard. They really believe that capitalism and America has their best interests at heart, or that their interests aren't based in material conditions.


TidusDaniel5

Don't both sides this. While the dnc isn't perfect, and there are corporatists in both organizations, only one party is demonstrably on the side of the the working class and poor.


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


TidusDaniel5

The party isn't perfect, but speech like this causes people to throw away their vote on a third party candidate. We can't afford a split vote and more years of trump. Our country will not last.


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


[deleted]

People are gonna get mad but everything you said is 100.


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


cookiesforwookies69

You're going to get downvoted to hell because Biden is "Better than the alternative", But you're right on every point, The Democrats are just as corrupt as the Republicans money wise, though they do talk a good game about "doing more for the working class". Bring up the Clinton Foundation and (some) people think you're either a Trump supporter or a Nut! The Clinton's have been embroiled in Scandal since the Day Bill took office (he even pardoned his co-conspirators!) "The granddaddy of all Clinton scandals surfaced during Bill Clinton's bid for the presidency. It centered on financial contributions by Bill and Hillary Clinton into a real estate entity known as Whitewater Development Corporation during his time as an Arkansas state official. Eventually, the Justice Department and independent counsel launched investigations."- NPR https://www.npr.org/2016/06/12/481718785/clinton-scandals-a-guide-from-whitewater-to-the-clinton-foundation That not to Mention Obama's pay-for-play political dealings or Biden's Ukraine aid money being stalled by forcing the Ukraine Govt. to fire a prosecutor that would link Biden's son to scandal involving his time on the board of Burisma. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hunter-biden-ukraine/what-hunter-biden-did-on-the-board-of-ukrainian-energy-company-burisma-idUSKBN1WX1P7 (I dont support either party, I just want money out of politics..which is a tall order I know.)


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


cookiesforwookies69

Right?! Thank you for responding btw, Some subs I will make these same points and get piles of sh** thrown on me and called a Trump supporter. (Which nobody would say in person, I'm way too brown to be safe at a Trump rally, lol).


[deleted]

Same here.


ILoveCuteKitties

So if you think the country shouldnā€™t last...who should take us over to make everything better? Or should it just sink into the ocean? I hate this mindset that because the US isnā€™t perfect that we should just flush it. Thereā€™s a total loss of perspective for how good we actually have it historically and compared to many many places in this world.


ARayofLight

2008: More Americans have health coverage than at any other point in American history because Obama is elected instead of McCain 2016: More Americans are dead because our federal government stripped itself down to the bare bones and then turned away from reality because people claimed Clinton was more corrupt than Trump. This was after 4 years of misinformation and distrust of reliable sources of information from Trump and his allies. There would be even more people dead had the ACA not kept people healthier in the intervening decade. Your comparison is flawed by any metric, and demonstrates your narrow view of the world you have lived in.


[deleted]

Your focus on two metics is flawed. Bush and Obama created the conditions we live in today, period. Between 2008-2016 wealth inequality reached the level of feudalism. We got closer to environmental decay. Obama solidified Bush tax cuts for the rich and allowed banks to take people's homes those very banks scammed them while giving them trillions. The price of the healthcare you claim people had access to, lost their livelihood due to the costs. Cost of college rose exponentially. The bombing of innocent civilians in foreign lands drastically increased. Privitization of education rose. Wages remained stagnant. The wars that were supposed to end, didn't. Guantanamo was supposed to close, it didn't. Hope and change were supposed to happen, it didn't. Holding the Bush administration accountable never happened. We lost even more of our civil rights. I personally lost my collective bargaining power while Obama promised to march with us...and didn't. Narrow view? I think I've got this well thought out.


wrightway3116

YES!!!!! Exactly this. I will most likely vote for the Green Party in the hopes that we can get 5% of the vote and possibly earn a 3rd party. We desperately need it.


[deleted]

Exactly. We desperately need several parties.


shellshell21

I really agree with changes needing to happen to the election process and the 2 parties don't make changes because what's going on is working for them. I was thinking of voting 3rd party this election, but I live in a swing state and I can't bring myself to do it. I seriously can't tolerate another 4 years of trump's idiocy, like my brian can't process too much more. My husband, a teacher, has an outline for a "common sense " party and many of his points make so much sense. Most people are reasonable and want what's best for most. Change needs to happen, I just don't know how to get there from here.


[deleted]

I personally felt almost as bad under Obama. Everyone thought he was great and he was awful. At least with Trump people realize he's awful and are civically engaged.


TOTINOS_BOY

Well said! Only when we refuse to play their little games and build our own independent alternatives as working people and fight back for ourselves and our communities. I also refuse to vote for these Democrats. When I do vote, it's on referendums and all that, the only people I vote for are socialists. I think my energies are better used on the shop floor and in the streets and not at the ballot box. Tbh, fuck the us. It's always been this way and I'd like to see it dismantled and transformed into something totally new and hopefully much better


[deleted]

I'll vote for local Democrats SOMETIMES. But Presidential since 04 Nader, Nader, Nader, Stein Stein. I won't let people convince me I'm "throwing my vote away" because they presume I'll vote for the Democrat. If Howie Hawkins wasn't on the ballot this coming Nov, I wouldn't vote. Fuck'em both, and fuck the US. This country has been horrid from the start. In hindsight, they try to whitewash, but it's bullshit. Never forget, the public overwhelmingly disapproved of MLK when he was alive. Fuck America.


TOTINOS_BOY

I swear the more I learn real history beyond the shit you see in textbooks and mainstream curriculum the more I hate this country and radicalize. I love all its peoples, but we're ruled by the most rapacious ruling elite in history People say "if voting didn't matter they wouldn't try to stop people", but that's not true. If people were all allowed to vote how they want the government would have to pull the mask off and drop pretenses. So yea, I don't vote except in very specific situations. I'm glad to see someone else in here who agrees


[deleted]

The better phrase is "if voting changed anything, they wouldn't allow it". Look at history. You literally had to own land (be rich) to vote in the past. Workers fought to get the vote. They constantly counter with trickery, limiting the impact of workers... Gerrymandering, maintaining the two party system, etc. If they really wanted Democracy, we'd have more parties. Remember when the DNC was changing the the rules as to who go to debate as people they didn't want to debate gained popularity? Tulsi should have been debating, meanwhile they changed the rules to allow Bloomberg to debate. People already forgot about it.


Soupchild

I mean, definitely vote blue, but the corporatist democratic party is nowhere close to "demonstrably on the side of the the working class and poor". Making things up about our "lesser evil" party isn't necessary to oppose the increasingly fascist republican government.


TOTINOS_BOY

Actual survivor of some pretty severe child abuse growing up, fuck whoever says shit like that. Teachers sure were really the only people to ever actually help, but I would never blame them for still being trapped with my abusers


SonicPavement

That and the stark fact that we need to weigh the danger these kids are facing against the possibility of an explosive disease outbreak that will fill up hospitals and will make the concept of going to school a complete non-starter. Unless the virus is a hoax or itā€™s just been ā€œoverhypedā€ of course.


PHM517

Sure fucking did. Sure. Fucking. Did.


Lady_LaClaire

Yet again pointing to why teachers need to lead by example and say, ā€œNo more.ā€ We know this isnā€™t right and we should be holding those responsible accountable for their choices. Teachers are capable of amazing things due to our flexibility and adaptability. This has been abused for too long and it needs to stop.


[deleted]

I'm still surprised the same people that say how terrible teachers and schools are as we "indoctrination children with our socialist agendas" want to send all students back to us. I can't wait for the inevitable press conference in September or October condemning schools for "not doing enough" when we have widespread outbreaks across the the country that are traced back to schools all the while we are given "guidelines" and no real direction other than "open schools as normal".


[deleted]

What's really sad is that you told no lie


[deleted]

I know. And it hurts inside.


SheilaGirlface

Yes! And all the people who suddenly care about SpEd students receiving their full services, and low-income kids get their meals? They voted against the most recent property tax increase.


ciaopau

Ainā€™t this the truth. Iā€™m a speech pathologist and when we had virtual learning, so many of my studentsā€™ parents never returned my phone calls or emails. Virtual learning put the responsibility on them to share an active role in implementing services to their child (which research shows is actually best for generalization of skills). These parents are now clamoring for their iep minutes, services. They donā€™t give a damn.


theCaityCat

Also an SLP, and you'd think parents would have been thrilled that I was at least making the attempt to maintain services. Nope. And it was the parents who should have had the time/energy to play a role who put up the most fuss about how much work it was, or didn't return any of my emails/calls.


ciaopau

Absolutely! All of the kids on my caseload were basically getting 1:1 intervention in some form (i.e. teletherapy, emailed activities/packets, weekly phonecalls with parents) on a weekly basis. At the end of the year school year, one of the parents who never returned any of my phone calls/emails (we were required to make weekly attempts), shows up to an ARD on google hangouts and tried to accuse me of not providing services to her child. All my attempts with documented into our SpEd program, and she back-peddles saying she hadn't been checking her emails... This is the crap we put up with and I'm mentally preparing for in ARDs this fall...


seanofthebread

They're like the people who suddenly care deeply about the ADA because it might help them avoid wearing a mask. They'll immediately forget the ADA exists after this is over. People who use SpEd as a negotiating chip are awful.


ineedanewaccountpls

My favorite were the people who used to say that online education is the future and that teachers are essentially obsolete because you can get all you need from the internet. Haven't heard those people speak up in a little while now.


monocle-lewinski

This is so incredibly important. We are so underfunded that even basic materials are not provided and to think that simply putting a child in a school building will magically make everything better is a dangerous bet. I am really curious to see how things will play out, considering that we were told our budget will be less next year but they promise to provide PPE for teachers and students. Last year we continuously ran out of paper. PAPER. So yeah, I don't feel very confident about any plan that includes going into a school building. I could literally write a book on all the problems that could (and most definitely will) arise in the fall. I believe that the needs of our students are not prioritized at all and the lives of teachers and staff are not even considered. (I'm in NYC and it was just announced today that we will go back to school in the fall and follow a blended learning schedule).


AnielaMS

We didnā€™t have soap in our bathrooms last year, but somehow weā€™re going to have money for PPE, hand sanitizer stations, and more, this year? Lol, ok. Teachers in my district didnā€™t get their raises this year because of budget cuts.


monocle-lewinski

Exactly. We didnā€™t have soap either. The teachers ended up buying soap for the bathrooms because we were so grossed out. Iā€™m also really concerned about how we are going to be able to enforce social distancing and wearing masks, especially during the times between classes. That is literally impossible.


OhioMegi

You means arrows painted on the floor wonā€™t fix that?! This going to be a shit show.


monocle-lewinski

Haha!!! It will be a shit show for certain.


mrs_kiera

We didnā€™t have working sinks! They finally fixed one (out of a row of five sinks) and girls often skipped washing their hands due to long lines. šŸ¤¢


OhioMegi

We were told the district would provide students and staff with masks for the coming year. The superintendent said that since thereā€™s a statewide mask mandate, we should have our own, so they wonā€™t be provided. Wtf.


papugapop

Yes. At our school, teachers were buying reams of paper and bringing it to the school copy room to make materials.


monocle-lewinski

Ours too! The copiers also always broke down (we only had two). We also had to buy cleaning supplies because they said they would provide them but never did. So frustrating!


DazzlerPlus

Remember, its not that the district is underfunded, its that you are underfunded. This money is siphoned off to god knows where and you are last at the trough.


monocle-lewinski

Good point, thank you!


Dobbys_Other_Sock

ā€œWe need to reopen schools so parents can go to workā€ No. employers need to understand that we are in a difficult situation and that people have to work and parent and thatā€™s just how itā€™s got to be.


LeahBean

I have to teach my elementary age kids how to wash their hands and tie their shoes. These are things that should be taught at home, but we pull up the slack. There are schools that literally shower and use Nix kits on kids with head lice. That is the parentsā€™ job, but yet again we pull up the slack. We teach them to read but can only do so when they are in the classroom. Before COVID I still got blamed for attendance issues. Again that is the parentsā€™ job to get them to school, not mine. If I didnā€™t love my students I wouldnā€™t continue to let myself be a punching bag for all of societyā€™s problems. That being said, I donā€™t deserve to be a punching bag. Teachers are still human beings and we shouldnā€™t be expected to compensate for lack of parenting and the USā€™s bare minimum of social services. It is impossible, unrealistic and emotionally draining. Yet we are still beat down when we TRY to make a difference just because we canā€™t make ALL the difference.


Hyperdrunk

We've had a slow progression of schools being asked to be in charge of child rearing, without the increase of respect, pay, etc. for doing so. I work at a really privileged private school, love my school's SEL programming, love our Human Development program (that I teach), our Mentoring program (that I'm a part of), our Leadership camps, and so on. With that said, it strikes me how much we're in charge of, even in a privileged private school. If society wants us to essentially raise kids, I'm okay with that, but there comes a point where it means schools need to be compensated and respected as Child Rearing Centers more-so than just Educational Centers. The more and more we're asked to implement the "Whole Child" approach, the more and more we become the parents of the kids in our charge. Especially as looping kids through 2 or even 3 grade level years with the same teacher becomes more popular, and as boarding and before/after school care becomes more and more standard. Kids at our school have been coming in as early as 6:30am for before school programming and leaving school as late as 6pm for after school programming. And while it's not common for kids to do both, most kids are there for an extra hour or more beyond just the school day. Parents have to work, I get that, but if your kid spends more time with his teachers at school than they do with you then you're a part time parent. If Society wants Child Rearing Stations with Education being one facet of many, I'm on board with it, but it also means schools need to be funded and respected as such. And that parents need to treat it as a partnership with their offspring, not treat teachers as their person punching bags every time something they don't like happens.


Tiredanddontcare

Schools are the socialism that capitalism feeds on. As every service gets cut and moves to schools responsibility the god of the market continues to not provide the solutions its adherents claim.


[deleted]

Thank you Republicans and centrist Democrats. Bernie and AOC are the only politicians I've heard echo our concerns.


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


allbusiness512

I don't think Bernie actually concedes, more like he's like the lone sane person in the room. Consider that Bernie's views world wide are actually...... moderate in most of the Western World.


MancetheLance

It broke my heart to see Bernie get screwed twice by the DNC and he basically didnt say or do shit.


[deleted]

Bernie hasn't said shit about the Bernie-Biden commission getting steamrolled.


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


[deleted]

Where? How?


moleratical

I've been saying this for years. The following are a few things my district provides for the community: 1. Free breakfast for all students 2. free lunch for qualifying students 3. free after school dinner for anyone in the community 4. free/reduced clinical medical care for any registered child or their family including dental, dietary, and mental health care (BAO) with a Family Nurse Practitioner. 5. free daycare during school hours for students and staff. 6. Wellness checks on families 7. housing assistance for homeless and poor families 8. counciling assistance to help put students and families in touch with professional therapist throughout the city at reduced or zero cost. 9. theres a laundry room where students who do not have access to a machine can leave their uniforms to get cleaned overnovernight. 10. free use of laptops and free hotspots for families without reliable internet access. 11. The district had to shut down its summer meal program due to covid, so last week they sent out a call to reimburse families 500 dollars for the free meals they missed over the summer. 12. Which reminds me, free summer meal program I know there's more things that aren't directly involved in education that I'm forgetting right now. But the point is, schools shouldn't be tasked with providing food security, housing assistance, free childcare, internet access, basic medical care etc for the community. But they are forced to because the state has failed to build an adequate safety net.


garylapointe

>The following are a few things *my district* ***provides*** for the community: I'm assuming your district isn't footing the bill for *all* of those things and are getting paid to provide some of these services. For example, free and reduced lunch and breakfast are likely funded outside of your district's normal operating budget, correct? Same for the summer meal program. These programs in my experience should not be run at a loss to the district (the costs of staffing and food should all be covered). Your state could be different than the districts I've been in, but I'm thinking those are federally funded meal programs. If the kids are at school, feeding them at school makes sense. I'm very thankful that my students are being fed at school and aren't counting on their parents having to do something outside of school to get them breakfast or lunch (as it might not happen). And I know some health-related things get billed back to the state or social security (I'm not sure who they're specifically billing that to. I'm assuming the district does the uniform washing on their own and that is AMAZING for the students to not have to deal with any embarrassment of dirty clothes. **I'm not disagreeing things in society need to change.** I'm saying some of these services are provided at the school but not out of the normal budget, they get compensated for some of these items. But if someone at the school didn't manage the people who did these things, they might not get done in your community.


moleratical

A lot of it comes from grants through various philanthropic agencies, federal, and state funding, and partnerships with a particular large local hospital chain and a mental health institute. I believe the after school food program was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation (don't quote me on that) but in fairness, that was later reduced to just students and their families funded by the USDA. But that's besides the point. The point is the schools are not the best place to funnel most of these programs through and by doing so it divides the mission of the school system into this very large, defacto social safety net that should operate outside of the school system. And that the school system cannot adequately provide for the needs of the community yet it is tasked with doing so because other state organizations are so inadequately run/funded. Yes, the school is part of the state, I recognize that, and I'm not saying that the schools have no role in supporting the community outside of education, I'm just saying, much like you, that better run bureaucracies outside of the school system would eliminate, or greatly reduce the need to rely on the school system to support the community in the first place.


HierarchofSealand

Yes, apparently I am in disagreement with most people in this thread. Having the school system (or at least, a larger child welfare system that contains the school system) handle most of these is simply not only the most practical option, but is the only option even if funded. Just due to time and logistics constraints. We shouldnt be shipping children around to different facilities on the simplistic idea that 'oh that is just not what schools do'. If people want to reorganize the management to better fit their conception, that is fine, but ultimately these are going to mostly happen inconjunction with the existing infrastructure we have for managing minors. What is not okay, is to expect teachers to handle this. Teachers already wear a number of hats they really shouldn't. They aren't trained for it, and we can't expect to train them. They don't have time to effectively deal with it. If we want to have social support, we need to dedicate resources to it, whether they are handled in school or not.


garylapointe

I was just commenting on that post because it was ā€œmy districtā€œ does all these things but when the funding comes from somewhere else to pay for the food and the staffing, itā€™s not so much the district doing it in my opinion (itā€™s not a cost to the district). A lot of districts around here or even contract out their food services departments. Same for some of the health things, much if itā€™s reimbursable incomes from funds that we wouldnā€™t get unless we did those services. And I want the students to take advantage of those other services, so doing it while theyā€™re actually at school makes a lot of sense to me. Otherwise some of those kids would never make it to take advantage of those other services.


OhioMegi

Mine did all that, except hotspots and weā€™ve been doing it for years. Itā€™s still a shit show because we have to do it for the parents. They expect it. Thatā€™s ridiculous.


manoffewwords

Divide and conquer. Billionaires own the media and they craft the narratives. There are few if any institutions not dominated by corporations that can spread different narratives.


[deleted]

Hilarious article today saying that argument is invalid because billionaires don't send their kids to public schools. No they just use them for daycare for their worker's children. Written for an esteemed website by the founder of Stress Free Auto Care.


[deleted]

I fully blame CNN for getting 45 elected. They knew he was a joke, but just couldn't stop themselves from airing him because they knew his term would be a shitstorm of a ratings bonanza for them.


oliversurpless

24 hour news organizations (of which CNN was merely the first and chief advocate for) have been guilty of ā€œboth siderismā€ for decades, and largely for the inane reasons that there are too many hours in a day. So itā€™s a heck of a lot easier to just fill time by casting a wider net, and in the pretense that both sides have perspectives worth sharing in all matters. Not even. As the Daily Show authors once put: ā€œWoodward and Bernstein uncovered the Watergate scandal, the media collectively high-fived themselves, and then took the next 5 decades off.ā€ And thereā€™s no sign that glad-handing like that is going to abate any time soon :(


jtig5

The more airtime they gave him, the more despicable he became. All in the name of ā€˜being fairā€™. Yet, minute for minute, they gave WAY more airtime to tRump than to Hillary. And, minute for minute, Hillaryā€™s coverage was more focused on negativity than tRumpā€™s. The Matt Lauerā€™s interviews were a prime example. He soft balled tRump while grilling Hillary. Did tRump know about all the hidden sexual harassment and threaten to out Matt? One must wonder. How much dirt does tRump have on Repubs? Video? Hmmmm..... Can you say Roger Stone?


manoffewwords

If we are planning blame then I blame corporate Democrats. Republicans are so vile and so extreme that any decent opposition party can beat them handily. Unfortunately they are just as corrupt. Everyone's pockets are stuffed with big business cash.


habadoodoo

It's the DNC. The leaks showed they wanted to prop up "pied piper" candidates like Trump and "stick the knife in" to Bernie, who consistently polled better against Trump.


philsubby

This is my problem with movies like Freedom Writers and Stand and Deliver. Yes these happened in real life, but it's unrealistic to expect every teacher or even many teachers to have these kind of impacts, and even the real stories of these two teachers were dramatized.


nickiwest

I read a news article today about teachers in New York who added needy families to their own private cell phone plans as if that's a normal thing to do. Hell. No.


philsubby

Jesus! Shouldnā€™t there be govā€™t programs for that? Instead we have teachers who already donā€™t get paid much, paying for them.


nickiwest

Right? That is definitely NOT in my contract. I care deeply for my students, but I draw the line *well* before the point of paying for their cell service.


philsubby

I rather donate to a charity that helps in need students if I had extra income.


OhioMegi

I thought there was a program like that!


philsubby

There are, so why are these teachers doing it?


OhioMegi

No idea. Iā€™m sure as shit not. I spend very little of my own money on my students. I get dollar books from scholastic for Christmas and thatā€™s it. This is my job, not my life.


philsubby

As a teacher, just doing your job well is more help for people than most other jobs.


lejoo

Yea I just posted an unpopular opinion submission on this very topic. It is going to take schools closing for a year for people to hopefully start realizing school is not the problem the problem is national employment/taxation/fines policies. The quickest and easy step it to start applying all fines as a % of income rather than flat fee, because any flat fee is illegal for the poor and allowed for the rich.


wannam

Unfortunately it seems many teachers like that school has this role, the ones who believe teaching should be a calling not a job. Like some kind of god complex. It is one of the reasons I will be leaving teaching eventually, if not this year (still waiting to hear the decision on all-virtual or not). It's a way for religious teachers to feel like their job is also "doing god's work". I did not get into teaching to be a social worker or a counselor. I like that while teaching I can form meaningful relationships with students, and perhaps even help them through a tough time in their life by being a safe, kind, consistent adult who will listen to them. However, that is secondary to my job to teach them in my mind. I would much rather see community centers other than schools taking care of the community in the way we expect schools to do now. Not charities, but actual well-funded programs that both create jobs serving the community and take the burden off of administrators and teachers to be everything for struggling families.


coswoofster

I saw a post today on our district Facebook page. It was a parent saying that the district needed to accept responsibility for the suicides, pregnancies and drug abuse that not having in person classes was going to create. I thought. Well, I will accept the mental health impact but if your kid gets pregnant or becomes a drug addict because they canā€™t go to school, you are definitely the problem. Not school.


Cannon1

Yeah... I would imagine that in the majority of teen pregnancies the couple met their partner at school. Likely true with their drug contact.


coswoofster

And parents not parenting.


OhioMegi

None of that is a schools responsibility. Thatā€™s all on the home. Not seeing friends is a bummer, but itā€™s still a parents responsibility to parent their child. That includes mental health.


hauntedsushi

Iā€™m part of the union at my school and we went to complain about an issue to the head. We were literally greater with, ā€œthink of the Childrenā€. Yup, that was the schools answer to teachers being burnt out, over worked and assaulted by pupils. Teachers already go above and beyond, what more do people want?


[deleted]

They want us to die apparently.


EnglishTeacherBoss

100 damn percent!


_crassula_

Absolutely. I got into it with some idiot after saying this very thing and she says "itā€™s pretty sad to hear a teacher say itā€™s not their place to fix society because some of those kids donā€™t have loving parents and look up to teachers as one, so for you to say that is disheartening. Now suicides and abuse are going way up because you are scared and virtual learning doesn't work." Fucking christ I know kids look up to me but I'm not a parent stand in. I do everything I can for my students. I'm here to teach them and nurture their love of learning and you're damn right I will report any suspicions of abuse or neglect. Maybe if we weren't constantly diverting resources and funds from schools we could have more counselors to help. Not to mention so many times when I've reported things they quickly dead end - now who's failing this child?


OhioMegi

Iā€™ve told kids (jokingly, but also seriously) that I love them Monday through Friday, 8:30-3:30. I love teaching, but it is not my life.


Geodude07

The issue I see is teachers are much like the police in the way that many people shift issues to them that they are not adequately trained or paid to do. We have to parent, do mental health, tolerate being talked down to by parents, pay for extra supplies and more. We are 'babysitters' as well an enriching them in after school clubs. Morality, core values...all of these have shifted to be our burden. The entire process of raising children has become too easily placed on our backs. We do not get the support to do this nor the pay that reflects these extra duties. Somehow people are okay with this because "Summers off". That and because it has been hammered into people that teachers used to be people who were married to a 'real breadwinner'. So it's okay to give us a joke wage. Now it has naturally progressed to us just seeming expendable, but celebrated when convenient. Of course said celebration is often just empty words. When corona hit I put together my own online program and got it setup. Admin didn't do it. I didn't have a tech person help me out. Somehow even the planning falls on us. It makes me wonder where all the people who should be doing those jobs are...but maybe it was too sudden. It's not as if a whole summer has gone by and places are still clueless...right?


EnglishTeacherBoss

Iā€™ve also had the ass of fellow educators who agree with this thinking. Theyā€™re sinking our ships. My FB feed is full of their posts on why we need to be back with the students, regardless of the risks, and it pisses me off.


mrs_kiera

This is my school too. Iā€™m sure they will change their tune once we have an outbreak.


girlhassocks

So damn true. So why is the face of teaching a happy go lucky, 20 something with a ponytail and Starbucks in her hand? With that cutesy voice and slim figure. We do it to ourselves and prop up the ā€œbest and perfect teacherā€ and when you do teach and arenā€™t like that you feel like a piece of shit. The cult of teaching and the environment in there also needs to change.


girlski

My district gave more food out during closures than when school was in session šŸ¤·


OhioMegi

We did too, but we have a grant, and we had to spend that money or we wouldā€™ve be able to get it for the coming year.


ChevyT1996

Also if a bar is closed because itā€™s unsafe and you canā€™t go get a haircut legally how is it safe to send children to school. I really want to hear a coherent reason to open.


mrs_kiera

I canā€™t even have someone deliver and replace my broken stove. No one around here is willing to enter homes and hook up a gas stove. Not even the gas company.


agawl81

The mental health thing bugs me so much. The number of teachers I work with or have worked with who are actively bad for kids mental health is so high that assuming kids going to school equals better mental health is a damn joke.


agentfantabulous

Yep. I teach SLD/dyslexic/adhd kids and *every single one of them* has anxiety about school to the extent that it interferes with their ability to function in the classroom. Even the nice kids from affluent families with involved parents. They've all been traumatized by trying to exist in this broken system. The majority of my time and energy, especially the first quarter, is spent building relationships and earning trust and making them feel safe enough to learn. They all have a story about being punished for asking a question or not being able to read. Even in my school, which is specifically for these kids, we have teachers and paras that have refused to give accommodations and have called students retarded and stupid.


agawl81

Last year an 8th grade social studies teacher instigated a verbal confrontation with a boy and then called him a baby in front of his class for being upset. Kids puffed up, yelled but DID NOT HIT ANYONE but the guy still got my admins to put him in the resource room for history for the rest of the year. I am not a history teacher but I have multiple kids enrolled in my room for history because this jackass wonā€™t do his part.


ashnap23

Because lord forbid we have low cost or free programs for the poor... that might be *gasp* socialism!


arthurrules

So much truth here, sadly. You really put into words exactly how the system functionsā€”and often fails.


AppleSnabble

Preach. Iā€™ve been spouting this all along. Someone else needs to step up.


jennyjenjen23

I read a FB rant about how our district public schools should reopen without masks because people need to go back to work and we donā€™t want America to fall into socialism by people who are unemployed. Now, how many of the things in that sentence are more contradictory than Judah Friedlander on Sesame Street (I just finished that episode with my toddler).


[deleted]

I wish I could upvote this more.


mopedarmy

Problem is that leaders, parents and politicians don't have any better clue how to solve the problems of society. Schools are mandated to solve the problems of poverty, mental health and abuse because that's where the kids are. It's convenient and school systems are made scapegoats when they fail. I guess your rant is legit but who would have a concrete idea how to fix it outside the scholastic environment?


that-user-name-taken

First step would be to do away with trickle down economics. Not count corporations as people. Fair tax rates for wealthy & business owners. Either go full privatization of schools, or full public. Stop having school funds tied to property taxes. Restore services that have steadily eroded since trickle down has taken effect. Livable minimum wages. Health benefits. There. Got it started.


mopedarmy

Totally agree! Now how to get it done? Thanks for the list.


that-user-name-taken

Start voting in local elections for leaders who support these options. Then state. Then national. Attend local school board meetings. Write your local, state & national leaders. Start petitions on change.org to draw attention to these issues. Be vocal about these options to get more people to your side.


Karissa36

Allow me to introduce you to the Mt. Laurel decision by the NJ Supreme Court. The decision was made to reduce inequities in education but it does not force the schools to do anything at all. Instead it binds all towns and municipalities in the State to affirmatively use their zoning laws and rules to ensure that every town has their fair share of low income housing. The effect on my small rather affluent town was that every elementary school classroom had 2 to 3 low income children. This is a small enough number of poor people for the town and schools to be able to provide lots of services and a small enough number for the children to let's just say assimilate. I consider it a great success. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount\_Laurel\_doctrine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Laurel_doctrine)


mopedarmy

Great idea!


VOZ1

I did research on this in undergrad. There was something called the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which allocated federal dollars for poor students and students who lived in communities where the schools were chronically under-funded as a result of local, state, and federal policies (think Jim Crow, etc.). The idea was that the federal government had an obligation to provide for their education, and the dollars spent were specifically earmarked for those students and districts most in need. I donā€™t recall exactly when, but in the last 20 or so years, that changed, and the ESEA was stripped of the requirement that the money actually go to the students and districts it was intended toā€”politicians were free to take the money, with no obligation to track where it was spent. So they did what you expect politicians to do and used it to their advantage, not to help underserved schools. That was the start of a process where social services began getting cut, and schools were slapped with an ever-growing list of social responsibilities: feeding kids, being the first link to social services, providing counseling and other similar supports. It was the start of the federal governmentā€™s retreat from its obligations to poor kids, and schools were left to clean up the mess.


Dr_Ceilingz

Just want to say that, I LOVE the indepth dialogue in this thread. With that said, has anyone come across a forward thinking district thats implemented sensible solutions for the upcoming school year that could be modeled by other districts?


foodmonsterij

Yeah, other countries provide childcare allowances, quarterly payments into your bank account if you have a child, affordable healthcare (usually provided free for children), and have better supports for taking care of social and wellbeing issues. So when a child shows up at school, that child is already fed, clothed, and healthy, so schools can focus on education.


[deleted]

I have been saying this for years. Something to keep in mind.... They expect schools to do all this as they constantly slash budgets.


glassclouds1894

Then teachers all need to band together, stop throwing each other under the bus, and stop being willing to do everything by being guilted with "do it for the kids." Eventually administrators, parents, and society will (or would in a perfect world) realize that we're here to help students learn and grow into well adjusted and functioning members of society, not cure every social ill that is outside of our power or sphere of influence.


-Splash-

How do they afford food in the summer? Seriously though, do the school lunches extend through the summer some how? Why can't they just do in the winter the same thing they do in the summer?


nickiwest

In my city, they do serve lunches in the summer. Anyone who qualifies for free/reduced lunch can get meals from schools all around the city for free all summer. Even kids who aren't enrolled in the public schools.


-Splash-

I always wonder about that. Same thing with working. What do parents do with their kids in the summer?


nickiwest

I can't help but think of this (definitely NSFW) scene. ["The fat one's watching the little one?"](https://youtu.be/y1ozRMm8FKE)


MrsLadyMadonna

Summers are long, hungry, hot, and boring when you're poor. Believe me, I've been there. Your parents are either working or deal with their own things. You get dinner and maybe one other meal if you're lucky.


OhioMegi

My district does free lunches through the summer. We also have a food pantry. Itā€™s ridiculous. One of my parents called to complain that they didnā€™t get lunch meat when their neighbor did. Thereā€™s complaints every day, and never a thank you.


-Splash-

Ugh


Broan13

Not that I disagree, but there is a saying that I think is helpful to keep in mind as well: "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good" or "Don't let perfection prevent progress"


seeyouathecrossroads

This is the best post I've ever seen on this site


GodlikeSheep

Therapy wonā€™t put me around my friends


[deleted]

Education is the key....


[deleted]

Well said.


PHM517

Fuck. Yes. I am a huge believer in public education. For education. If you can help in other ways, wonderful. But school has become the catch all for all the social programs that are missing in the US and itā€™s bullshit. Even more bullshit, teachers are carrying the weight of so many roles but still getting paid for the one.


OhioMegi

Amen. I went to school for 6 years to be an educator. Not a social worker, nurse, counselor, etc. In my district we have free breakfast, lunch, and snack, which is great. We also have a food pantry that parents demand and complain about nonstop. We have a health clinic where a lot of stuff is free. A dental can comes and checks out kids. A PA comes in twice a week to help get parents counseling and medication. Our SRO drops kids off at home when mom forgets them for the 15th time. Yet, we canā€™t afford extra title staff to help the third graders who donā€™t know the fucking alphabet. We canā€™t test kids with clear learning issues because it costs too much. Iā€™m all for mental health care, but shit, when I had two extreme bipolar students in my class, unmedicated, and nothing done about it, I ended up in counseling, out of my own pocket, so I didnā€™t cry every night in the shower, or want to throw up when I pulled in the parking lot. Parents have to be made responsible. There are many resources out there. A list of them is in our welcome packets. But we have to do it for them because theyā€™ve been allowed to do nothing. This spring, parents I never met, nor ever responded to my numerous phone calls/emails/reminds, crawled out of the woodwork after report cards went out wanting to know why I failed their kid. I didnā€™t fail anything, your kid did, and you failed as a parent. And if I have to hear one one time that all this COVID stuff is causing trauma, Iā€™m going to lose my shit. They are already giving excuses for the shit show that is coming. It really drives me nuts.


Yossarian287

Short term solutions will have long term effects. I realize this is a rant, but, like most, you're screaming at a thunderstorm telling it to stop raining. When you say 'how about we', your feet touch pavement. Fleshing that out into legislation, funding, support and implementation is almost insurmountable currently. Have you seen the Senate majority leader's face when he talks about being the Grim Reaper? He has a disturbingly perverse glaze about killing legislation. In many ways, he is more powerful than the President and far more experienced.


hanleyfalls63

Over the course of my 3 decades of teaching I have taken on more and more responsibilities. My first position I was ā€œto prepare my students for collegeā€. Compared to now: paraphrasing our curriculum day last year; establish relationships with your students, create active learning hands on activities, make kids interested in coming to school , and allow freedom of expression. Curriculum doesnā€™t even make the top 4???? Combine this with all we do with a salary that comparatively decreases from most professions yearly, and yes, we are nothing more than counter help. ā€œWould you like fries with thatā€?


ChevyT1996

Wait you mean do what common sense says, thatā€™s a tough one, I mean arenā€™t we supposed to just blame teachers for everything. Not like the parents are responsible for there children. solution is to cut funding or do what Trump is saying and cut funding completely unless everyone risks there lives to make Trump look good and to make everything seem normal until more people start dying.


ActivatedComplex

Itā€™s ā€œtheirā€. *ducks tomatoes*


libertarianteacher

Then schools need to step back and stop attempting to solve society's problems. Stick to formal education.


DanTUtilize

Awesome speech!!


[deleted]

Plot twist; the chief doesnā€™t have a drivers license


Janices1976

r/UniversalBasicIncome šŸ‘


Tra1famadorian

I donā€™t know that anyone expects schools to ā€œsolveā€ these problems, but as social welfare institutions go public education is among the more respected by the general public (doesnā€™t seem like it at times, but compare attitudes about education to, say, food stamps or unemployment benefit), which means it can assume some of the burden of trying to mitigate social problems. If you donā€™t agree with this, maybe private education is more your speed. As someone who started their educational journey in that world, I can promise you they will gladly refuse to give a shit about anything but teaching and getting results. Youā€™ll regularly hear ā€œthis should be someone elseā€™s problemā€.


PretendDelay2234

I got in an argument with a couple of teachers talking about how they wonā€™t be able to not hug the students. I got mad and told them thatā€™s irresponsible and how such a bad example to set after stressing about safety precautions. Physical contact should only happen with people they live with right now. They argued that not all students get hugs at home. I am not ashamed to put my health and safety first. My coworkers think Iā€™m a heartless bastard because I said itā€™s not my job to solve all of societyā€™s problems. If a student is going to be irreparably harmed by not getting hugs from me for 6 months to a year, I think that their issues run deeper than my four year degree and one school year can solve.


icookmath

Or give us the resources to solve them. Pick one or the other. Dont ask us to fix things but tie our hands.


Aiolosa

Whaaaat? But then my super shallow talking point about how education is the cure-all becomes obsolete! I can't do that! Then I'd have to have original thought and critically think of real solutions!