Money alone will not solve the teacher shortage
As a now-former special education teacher, I’ve read recent articles regarding the nationwide teacher shortage and efforts to retain current teachers and attract new ones.
Georgia state officials are even trying to lure retired teachers who taught for 30 years back to the classroom with the offer of retaining their state pension while receiving a salary.
If school districts are to address the teacher shortage problem, especially in high-stress concentrations like special education, thinking outside of the box and flexibility are required. For example, offer all interested retired teachers, not just those who taught for 30 years, the same opportunity to keep their state pension while receiving a salary. Also, offer them the option to job share or work half-days.
Retirees value their time, so offering them flexibility and additional compensation might be enough to entice some back to the classroom.
YVONNE REYNOLDS, ROSWELL
Republicans: wake up, stop pretending racism no longer exists
In this day and age, with such easy access to so much historical information, if you aren’t “woke,” then you’re blissfully ignorant.
Republican lawmakers want to sanitize history to the point where they erase any culpability that white people have when it comes to the way minorities are treated now and were treated in the past. Your God will judge you harshly if you choose to remain willfully ignorant. Centuries of racism, misogyny and bigotry have taken a huge toll on people on the receiving end of these evils.
Not confronting it won’t make it go away. It will only get worse. The more Republicans try to squelch the teaching of our true history, the more those being hurt will push back.
At this point, the future looks bleak. We need to wake up and stop pretending that racism doesn’t exist anymore. Just like “climate change,” we face a dire future when we choose to remain in a state of denial.
MICHAEL DE GIVE, DECATUR
