No wonder there's a teacher shortage in FL

[OrlandoDem2]

Welcome to Rick Scott’s FL.

We have to get Gillum in office! Meantime, don’t even think about teaching in this state!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/Editorial-No-wonder-there-is-a-teacher-shortage-in-Florida_171056421%3ftemplate=amp

[radical noodle]

1. This is happening all over the nation

My advice is to not think about teaching anywhere unless you're independently wealthy.

[voteearlyvoteoften]

2. My daughter is a FL teacher

She’s all in for Gillum because she is not making what she is worth. And there is very little incentive to be excellent.

[flamingdem]

5. +1

[SWBTATTReg]

3. Who would teach under these conditions? OK had the same problem and I'm sure lots of...

other states have the same problem. That representatives (their own oftentimes) voted consistently not to give or include raises because they could, and then they claim that they've cut taxes etc. I'm sure that teaching is not the only profession impacted either. They (republicans) have taken their cut cut cut mentality too far, and somehow thought that these people could make a living off these meager salaries.

Things cost money, as we all know, and that they continue their spiral upwards seemingly, all of the time. Wages the same thing, haven't been on a upwards trend since the 1980s, with this 'we must help businesses' first mentality.

Pathetic. People must make a decent wage in order to buy stuff. People must have adequate schooling in order to get a decent job (instead, businesses are having to take up the slack, oftentimes having to send their trainees/new hires back to school to learn the basics again.

In the meantime, billionaires/millionaires and businesses are suffering!! I'm being sarcastic here. When is enough, enough?

[Sancho]

4. Career educator here (40 years)...ask me anything

...most of this article is old news...but the current shortage is very real.

The article doesn't really describe the issues in Florida very well. Why is teaching under attack? Why is there a problem now?

- Florida is rich state with LOTS of resources!
- The repubs HATE unions, and teachers here are organized!
- The repubs want to privatize education with "charter schools", so they can make money off the public! (Think private prisons.)
- The repubs do not want a highly educated public! (Really, they mostly want cheaper employees.)
- The citizens have voted to support schools, reduce class size, and put charters under school board control; the repubs keep trying to go against the will of the people.
- The best evidence that some of our DREs are hacked (in my opinion) is that in selected counties, voters will approve education support and vote for Democratic school board members and only vote republican on a few selected candidates (like Scott for Governor). In other words, only selected races are hacked when they are local and hard to program or manipulate!

https://www.tampabay.com/blogs/gradebook/2018/08/20/judge-orders-amendment-8-be-removed-from-florida-ballot-2/
https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Florida_Class_Size,_Amendment_8_(2010)
https://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/pinellas-school-tax-appears-headed-for-its-fourth-renewal/2302025
http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/docs/c/const/const09.htm

[Awsi Dooger]

6. My sister is a teacher in Florida

She had a long career gap while having 4 children and thought it might be tough to get hired, but it turned out she got offers from everywhere. Obviously the shortage helped.

The hours and demands are very high. Whenever I visit I can't believe how long she has to stay after the final bell, and how many basic things she has to pay for out of her own pocket.