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Teachers have had to pay out of pocket for their own supplies from their meager salaries for decades. That’s nothing new. But on top of that they have to now de

Teachers have had to pay out of pocket for their own supplies from their meager salaries for decades. That’s nothing new. But on top of that they have to now deal with pandemic insanity, as well as gun violence insanity. Teachers are now on YouTube reviewing the latest bullet proof backpacks for kids. States are passing laws to arm teachers. Who the hell wants to deal with this? I just want to teach. Somewhere in my post history is a link to a school district in Georgia who had dozens of faculty/staff die from covid over a few short weeks last summer. The median age of deceased faculty was 40 something. Teachers live this reality, but if they request PPE and vaccination standards they are called satanist traitors to America and get death threats. This doesn’t even touch upon the moral panic currently sweeping certain parts of the country, where they are looking to criminalize teachers if they say the wrong thing to the wrong student. Literally they are calling teachers “groomers”. Do you have that straight? We teachers are unpatriotic, satanist, groomers who should simultaneously be armed to protect ourselves from gunmen, while our words are policed by the state. Oh and we are also expected to die for our classroom in case of a shooting. Teachers are looking over their shoulders from every direction, so it really won’t surprise me if this exodus comes. edit to the dead comment: my perspective comes from my own experience and that of my fellow teachers. And also that link I mentioned that I can't be bothered to dig up right now. edit2: here's that link I mentioned: https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/60-georgia-teachers-staff-lost-covid-19-since-start-school-year/SFURXQOXAJH25E3VGVZGTEU3HI/ https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/60-georgia-teachers... This kind of event went basically unnoticed in the larger scheme of things. But this kind of situation happened all across the country, without any time to grieve or even reflect on what was happening. Teachers were expected to be back to work, and worse we were told that it was perfectly fine and safe. Meanwhile many school districts were running short on substitute teachers to fill in for the covid deaths and hospitalizations within their ranks. GA had it worse than most -- average age of dead faculty that summer was just 46.

0daystock 4y ago
- delecti 4y ago
  - 0daystock 4y ago
    - delecti 4y ago
      You're the one who moved the goalposts to "forcing". The GP comment said "States are passing laws to arm teachers". Nobody needs to be "forced" to take up arms for "arming teachers" to be an accurate characterization of what lots of states are doing. And besides, my point was just how easy it is to find lots of examples, here's Texas [1], here's [2] an article from 2019 where lawmakers in 6 states (Florida, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Texas) were also trying to allow it. And I literally haven't even left the first page of google results for "arm the teachers". Lots of people would rather have teachers stepping right into the line of fire rather than address the root cause. > Boy you must be fun at parties. Not really, but "you're no fun" is hardly a rebuttal. [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/05/25/harden-schools-arm-teachers-uvalde/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/05/25/harden-s... [2] https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/lawmakers-in-6-states-push-to-arm-teachers https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/lawma...
      - 0daystock 4y ago
        Whatever, I'm not going to argue on HN. "passing laws to arm teachers" is hyperbolic and meant to rile up emotions and this effect couldn't be more obvious on GP.
    - dang 4y ago
      Would you please stop posting flamewar comments and using HN for ideological battle? You've unfortunately been doing it a lot lately, and we ban that sort of account. It's not what this site is for, and it destroys what it is for. We want curious conversation here. If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.
mishu2 4y ago
> Teachers are now on YouTube reviewing the latest bullet proof backpacks for kids. Reading this, my first thought was 'This must be a joke, surely'. But, sadly, it isn't.
- fma 4y ago
  My daughter is starting kindergarten this fall (was in daycare prior). Down the road from me, someone shot at a bus. I've accepted the fact that in the next 12 years of my daughter's life, she WILL be impacted directly or indirectly by a school shooting. They sell inserts you can put in a backpack, which I will def consider. They don't 100% stop all bullets by something is better than nothing. https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/police-investigating-report-of-someone-shooting-at-school-bus https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/police-investigating-report...

0daystock 4y ago

delecti 4y ago
- 0daystock 4y ago
  - delecti 4y ago
    You're the one who moved the goalposts to "forcing". The GP comment said "States are passing laws to arm teachers". Nobody needs to be "forced" to take up arms for "arming teachers" to be an accurate characterization of what lots of states are doing. And besides, my point was just how easy it is to find lots of examples, here's Texas [1], here's [2] an article from 2019 where lawmakers in 6 states (Florida, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Texas) were also trying to allow it. And I literally haven't even left the first page of google results for "arm the teachers". Lots of people would rather have teachers stepping right into the line of fire rather than address the root cause. > Boy you must be fun at parties. Not really, but "you're no fun" is hardly a rebuttal. [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/05/25/harden-schools-arm-teachers-uvalde/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/05/25/harden-s... [2] https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/lawmakers-in-6-states-push-to-arm-teachers https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/lawma...
    - 0daystock 4y ago
      Whatever, I'm not going to argue on HN. "passing laws to arm teachers" is hyperbolic and meant to rile up emotions and this effect couldn't be more obvious on GP.
  - dang 4y ago
    Would you please stop posting flamewar comments and using HN for ideological battle? You've unfortunately been doing it a lot lately, and we ban that sort of account. It's not what this site is for, and it destroys what it is for. We want curious conversation here. If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.

mishu2 4y ago

> Teachers are now on YouTube reviewing the latest bullet proof backpacks for kids. Reading this, my first thought was 'This must be a joke, surely'. But, sadly, it isn't.

fma 4y ago
My daughter is starting kindergarten this fall (was in daycare prior). Down the road from me, someone shot at a bus. I've accepted the fact that in the next 12 years of my daughter's life, she WILL be impacted directly or indirectly by a school shooting. They sell inserts you can put in a backpack, which I will def consider. They don't 100% stop all bullets by something is better than nothing. https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/police-investigating-report-of-someone-shooting-at-school-bus https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/police-investigating-report...