This from NPR:
Schools have been open for a couple of weeks across much of Florida, but not all of the students know who their teachers are yet. There's typically a lot of teacher turnover during the summer break, and schools can't always get vacant teaching positions filled by the time school starts.
NPR Audio:
At DeSoto County High School in southern Florida, math tutor Ronnie Padilla is filling in as the French teacher. There's only one problem: He doesn't speak any French. Across from his classroom, Alma Cendejas — the school's front-desk receptionist — is filling in as the Spanish teacher until the school can find one.
Principals across Florida say the summer break just isn't enough time to fill every open teaching position. Miami-Dade County Schools, for example, started about 100 teachers short. School officials say that's not unusual for large school districts with tens of thousands of teachers — Miami-Dade has 22,000.
Still, the vacancies mean that thousands of students are starting the school year without permanent teachers. In a school year that is only 180 days long and filled with high-stakes tests, these students are getting a late start...
2 comments:
THat's what happens when you only have teachers contracted for 187 or so days instead of a full year. Maybe we should consider teaching a full year job instead of continuing with this old agrarian based calendar or fearing to try to change the historic/cultural roots of the "summer break" which as far as I know everyone outside academia is able to endure.
If you treat your personnel like interchangable parts that can easily discarded and replaced, don't expect the staff to cultivate any sense of commitment or loyalty to the institution. If the school can justify by saying "its all about the kids," then I can say the same about my own children if a better opportunity arrises.
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