Teacher departures leave schools scrambling for substitutes......

PopsnTuff

PopsnTuff

Well-known Member
Location
Virginia USA
With many teachers opting out of returning to the classroom because of the coronavirus, schools around the U.S. are scrambling to find replacements and in some places lowering certification requirements to help get substitutes in the door.

Several states have seen surges in educators filing for retirement or taking leaves of absence. The departures are straining staff in places that were dealing with shortages of teachers and substitutes even before the pandemic created an education crisis.

Teachers in at least three states have died after bouts with the coronavirus since the start of the new school year. It’s unclear how many teachers in the U.S. have become ill with COVID-19, but Mississippi alone reported 604 cases among teachers and staff.....read on....

https://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/wi...icksource_4380645_6_heads_posts_headlines_hed

(This is so sad...they're scared and overwhelmed.....what a dilemma :( )
 

Doesn't at all surprise me, Pops.

I'd be looking for a new career if I were forced into going back into a school system right now.

From all that I'm seeing, reading, hearing, the world is in for one really long-term lesson in education with Covid-19, particularly those who balk at the severity of it. Considering we are learning more and more each day about it's far-reaching and in some cases, permanent and irreversible damage and side-effects it causes, I honestly don't think we've seen anything yet.

I'm waiting for the cold and flu to season to wind-up, and then with Covid running rampant and out of control in so many countries like it is, I believe we'll soon hear less and less from those wanting to party, travel, and mingle, because the next lock-down, which I firmly believe is coming, is going to be a real doozy compared to the last one.

People just thought they were hard done-by, by the last shutdown.

For those with their heads buried in the sand, my advice to them is, pull your heads out.
 
nj schools shut down in mid-March and went to remote learning. i'm a teacher aide with special needs students. i had NO training on Zoom and that became a major point of frustration. now i know schools were NOT prepared for this. also know that no school district wants to admit this.

one thing for sure... there's NO need to have "snow days" at all any more. if i ran the circus, the first thing teachers would have been doing would have been to prepare 8-10 days worth of lessons. they should be appropriate for time of year... like what is typically covered in October in history.

i fretted over this all summer... whether to go back. i would/will probably be the oldest person in the school... i can easily deal with that. but being the person MOST likely to get sick and MOST likely to get the sickest... not doing that.

teachers/staff went back this past Tuesday. on Friday, a teacher in the middle school (quick walk from HS) was confirmed positive for covid. NO KIDS in building yet. they return tomorrow, but only remotely. they won't actually be in the building. at the end of September admin will "reevaluate" the situation.
 

Schools where I live went into lockdown quite early and students were given lessons online. Students who could not access the remote lessons or whose parents were essential workers were allowed to attend the school. Teachers had the dual role of organising and online lessons and also supervising/teaching some children in the classrooms. It was a very challenging time.

Eventually schools re-opened on a part time basis. To accommodate social distancing students were allocated two days face to face and the rest of the time was spent at home, with the same exemptions as before for children unable to learn at home.

As of now in Sydney schools are fully open but if a member of staff or student is confirmed positive for coronavirus the school is immediately cleaned for deep cleaning, contact tracing is initiated and all contacts must go into 14 days quarantine at home. My granddaughter's husband is a member of the maintenance staff at a catholic school in Parramatta (western Sydney) and recently had to spend the fortnight at home. He and my GD have a 12 month baby but all three are OK.

The students who have been most disadvantaged are the final year students hoping to secure a university place in February next year. The universities have plans to look beyond the final exam results in 2020 to avoid capable students missing out.
 
Here in NJ, some public school districts are open a couple of days a week only. Otherwise it's still virtual classrooms. No the 16 yr. old boy who lives next door to my son attends a very exclusive and small private day school. It is open 5 days a week and since the number of students is so low and they have lots of room for social distancing, he told me yesterday, it's working out fine.
 
Warrigal said:
Schools where I live went into lockdown quite early and students were given lessons online. Students who could not access the remote lessons or whose parents were essential workers were allowed to attend the school. Teachers had the dual role of organising and online lessons and also supervising/teaching some children in the classrooms. It was a very challenging time.

Eventually schools re-opened on a part time basis. To accommodate social distancing students were allocated two days face to face and the rest of the time was spent at home, with the same exemptions as before for children unable to learn at home.

As of now in Sydney schools are fully open but if a member of staff or student is confirmed positive for coronavirus the school is immediately cleaned for deep cleaning, contact tracing is initiated and all contacts must go into 14 days quarantine at home. My granddaughter's husband is a member of the maintenance staff at a catholic school in Parramatta (western Sydney) and recently had to spend the fortnight at home. He and my GD have a 12 month baby but all three are OK.

The students who have been most disadvantaged are the final year students hoping to secure a university place in February next year. The universities have plans to look beyond the final exam results in 2020 to avoid capable students missing out.
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Australia is in so much better shape than the US when it comes to this virus. I only wish the US's numbers and response were close to yours.

Our patchwork of state and local regulations is more heavily weighted by local politicians' political affiliations than virus load. Not that it matters much because many of the mandates are routinely ignored by citizens and a low priority for law enforcement. Contact tracing is all but nonexistent because the virus is so widespread. Plus fewer people are being tested - or at least fewer tests are being reported.

I'm grateful to live in an area where people are wearing masks and following social distancing guidelines without prompting. If they weren't, I'd be living a hermit life.

All schools in our area are online only. None will open before November at the earliest, and it appears all will continue to offer online options through January. More probably, June.

It's tough on everyone, but as my daughter told me, "If one of my kids get COVID and end up with a lifelong condition from this illness, or infects a grandparent, what am I going to say? 'Bummer about this, but you have to understand my position. It was really hard for your dad and me to teach school online while you kids were learning online, plus you were both whining about not being able to see your friends, so we all returned to in-person school as soon as it opened.'

"That's like saying, 'Your ball went in the street while you were in the middle of a great game. We live in such a low-traffic neighborhood that I let you fetch it without looking both ways for oncoming cars. Sorry about those terrible scars, broken legs and internal injuries. It seemed safe at the time.'"

They'll will go back to in-person school when it's safe to do so. It's not easy on any of them, but it beats the alternative. How much risk are they willing to take with this virus? As close to zero as they can get.
 
One of our neighbors was a teacher for many years, but gave it up when she became a mother, and chose to stay at home to raise the kids. Now, her kids are pretty much grown, and with the increasing need for teachers, she has gone back to teaching at the local high school. There are minimal cases of this virus in our county, but the school, teachers, AND students are all taking it seriously, so hopefully everything will work out.

Health care workers are Also in short supply....many of the nurses, etc., have opted out because of this virus....and their potential exposure.
 
wcwbf said:
nj schools shut down in mid-March and went to remote learning. i'm a teacher aide with special needs students. i had NO training on Zoom and that became a major point of frustration. now i know schools were NOT prepared for this. also know that no school district wants to admit this.

one thing for sure... there's NO need to have "snow days" at all any more. if i ran the circus, the first thing teachers would have been doing would have been to prepare 8-10 days worth of lessons. they should be appropriate for time of year... like what is typically covered in October in history.

i fretted over this all summer... whether to go back. i would/will probably be the oldest person in the school... i can easily deal with that. but being the person MOST likely to get sick and MOST likely to get the sickest... not doing that.

teachers/staff went back this past Tuesday. on Friday, a teacher in the middle school (quick walk from HS) was confirmed positive for covid. NO KIDS in building yet. they return tomorrow, but only remotely. they won't actually be in the building. at the end of September admin will "reevaluate" the situation.
Click to expand...
Smart move on your part @wcwbf and your input makes alot of sense.....
 
A couple of our school districts in central Missouri are posting notices for the hiring of substitute teachers. They only need a HS diploma, and have to attend 20 hours of training. It appears that quite a few teachers are quitting for fear of catching this virus.
 

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