With the current labor shortage in pretty much all areas, never before have teachers had the ability to demand more pay and better working conditions and I hope they realize and understand this.
Todays WaPo:
The stress of working at a job that’s understaffed is playing a big role in workers’ demands, which often revolve around staffing — or lack of it. Seattle teachers wanted better special education teacher-to-student ratios. Railroad conductors and engineers were asking for sick leave.
“If you look at sectors like nursing homes, local schools, railroads — employment has fallen like a stone,” said Lisa Lynch, an economics professor at Brandeis University and former Labor Department chief economist. “And with that, you see a marked increase in labor action and strike activity. People are tired and overworked.”
Public schools are missing nearly 360,000 workers and health care has yet to recover 37,000 positions. Rail transportation, meanwhile, is down 12,500 jobs.
After months of juggling extra duties, Sabrina Montijo quit her $19-an-hour teacher’s aide job in the Bay Area in August. She now cares for her two young children full-time and says she isn’t sure when she’ll return to the workforce.
“Ever since the pandemic started, we were incredibly short-staffed,” Montijo, 33, said. “I had to work off-the-clock because there was nobody there. We couldn’t find staff and if we did, we were constantly having to train someone, always having to start over.”
“It got to the point where I didn’t feel like I had a choice,” she said. “I was having to set up arts and crafts, do science projects, make phone calls and talk to parents — all at the same time. There’s only so much one person can do.”
For $19 an hour!