My daughter's suburban school district is short 60 special ed teachers and there are four weeks until teachers report for orientation. Similar districts in our area also have shortage. Yes, this is a tough job but somebody has to do it.
But the problem is that those special-ed teachers probably expect to get paid, and, well, "we" don't really feel like paying them. We're not exactly sure what we as a society should be doing with the wealth that our macro statistics tell us we have, but it seems like spending it on making people's lives better is somehow not the right thing to do.
The problem is the burnout rate is very high. My daughter was a special ed teacher at a Title One elementary school for eight years. She took leave to get a masters in school counseling and will be doing that this year. She is taking a 3% pay cut to do this.
Most of those outside the education system don't understand how demanding the job is. Many private schools and even some charter schools don't provide special ed resources.
I didn't know about the burnout rate, but it's not surprising.
I imagine that to some extent, the work is simply more challenging than regular classroom teaching.
But I would also guess that we could do a better job of supporting it, or reducing the loads each special-ed teacher is expected to carry.
That costs money, of course, but I'd be curious to see an estimate of a well-funded special-ed structure, in the context of other things we decide to spend money on.
"But similar fears have accompanied every wave of technological change, from the spreadsheet’s arrival in the 1980s (which, some predicted, would eliminate the need for accountants) to the earlier automation of switchboard operators and typists in the mid-20th century. The reality is that while some tasks are indeed automated away, new roles and new forms of work tend to emerge, though not always at the same pace or for the same people."
I agree.
From Thingy, the SF novel I'm almost done with:
"Before, if you changed one number in a calculation, you’d have to redo the whole thing. Like if interest rates were 3% vs 3.1%. Now, you just change one cell and the whole thing recalculates. You can afford to ‘what if’ your socks off.”
The continuing penetration of the rat race into childhood and schooling strikes me as a slow-motion cultural disaster.
My daughter's suburban school district is short 60 special ed teachers and there are four weeks until teachers report for orientation. Similar districts in our area also have shortage. Yes, this is a tough job but somebody has to do it.
But the problem is that those special-ed teachers probably expect to get paid, and, well, "we" don't really feel like paying them. We're not exactly sure what we as a society should be doing with the wealth that our macro statistics tell us we have, but it seems like spending it on making people's lives better is somehow not the right thing to do.
The vibes just aren't there for it, you know?
The problem is the burnout rate is very high. My daughter was a special ed teacher at a Title One elementary school for eight years. She took leave to get a masters in school counseling and will be doing that this year. She is taking a 3% pay cut to do this.
Most of those outside the education system don't understand how demanding the job is. Many private schools and even some charter schools don't provide special ed resources.
I didn't know about the burnout rate, but it's not surprising.
I imagine that to some extent, the work is simply more challenging than regular classroom teaching.
But I would also guess that we could do a better job of supporting it, or reducing the loads each special-ed teacher is expected to carry.
That costs money, of course, but I'd be curious to see an estimate of a well-funded special-ed structure, in the context of other things we decide to spend money on.
"But similar fears have accompanied every wave of technological change, from the spreadsheet’s arrival in the 1980s (which, some predicted, would eliminate the need for accountants) to the earlier automation of switchboard operators and typists in the mid-20th century. The reality is that while some tasks are indeed automated away, new roles and new forms of work tend to emerge, though not always at the same pace or for the same people."
I agree.
From Thingy, the SF novel I'm almost done with:
"Before, if you changed one number in a calculation, you’d have to redo the whole thing. Like if interest rates were 3% vs 3.1%. Now, you just change one cell and the whole thing recalculates. You can afford to ‘what if’ your socks off.”