Reblogged from NANCY BAILEY’S EDUCATION WEBSITE
Those in charge of public schools and politicians are hypocrites when it comes to the rhetoric surrounding a teacher shortage!
School districts around the country are describing hundreds of classrooms they can’t seem to fill with qualified teachers. This has been a manipulated ploy to get rid of veteran teachers and employ alternative, revolving door unqualified teachers who will settle for smaller salaries.
For example, in Orlando they are crying that they are short 300 teachers. It is a similar story in the rest of the state. Yet, Orlando signed on to Teach for America in 2015, instead of trying to address the problem of teacher retention.
The State of Florida began courting TFA in 2010. They were not alone, following the lead of the U.S. Department of Education which chipped in with a competitive $50 million grant. This was part of a larger piece of the privatization pie.