The most innovative and most equitable districts on gender disparity are creating policies offer adequate childcare, allow for more flexible work hours, foster a family-first culture and explicitly provide mentoring and networking.
Big bucks could be headed toward academic acceleration, special education and Title I schools in the 2024 education budget unveiled by President Joe Biden this week—but its outlook is dim in the face of a Republican-controlled House of Representatives and a sharply divided Congress.
As an academic coach, I've been working with teachers in Suwanee County School District for years to deliver foundational literacy instruction—and the science of reading is simply the best research available into how students learn to read.
ESSER funds have contributed to 66% of job openings since the height of the pandemic in 2020, yet hires have only risen by 38%. Districts are creating jobs faster than they can fill them.
"Who was I to think that I could tell them what they needed or wanted in their own community?" says Dr. Margaret Crespo, superintendent of Laramie County School District-1 in Wyoming. Using this mindset, she now has a living, adaptable strategic plan.
It helps to stand in your substitute teachers' shoes. Consider their uncertainty and worry from the moment they accept an assignment to the final bell of the day.
"The County likes to say that they are focused on recruiting and retaining quality educators to provide the best learning experience for our students," a news release from the teachers union states. "What they've proposed, however, will only drive existing teachers away to higher paying counties — and does nothing to make Baltimore County attractive to new teachers."
Despite a brighter outlook after three years of turbulence, superintendents are extremely concerned about staffing issues: "We're in a better place, but teacher shortages could stall progress."
When it comes to local schools, United Teachers Los Angeles wields significant influence. This week its members are deciding who will wield power within the union in an election sure to affect public education at a critical moment for students' academic recovery from the pandemic.
