“It is not light that we need, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake.” - Frederick Douglass
Some possible small insight to the above. It may be people who have a bachelor's degree without teaching credentials or some other non-teaching credentials so they get paid less. A close friend of my middle aged daughter with a degree later in life in biology is teaching middle school science working on her teaching credentials. I'm sure many of them will be fine teachers, and many just needed a job. So dumbing down (waiving credentials) of the work force is part of the problem, although funding is the larger piece.
This may be a state to state issue, although I'm not sure. My son could only get his job teaching public school (middle school), unless he had a teaching credential. In the 80's, here in CA my wife worked on an emergency credential (there were not enough people with teaching credentials willing to work in poorer black and Hispanic areas) She did get her teaching credential after 1 year. She continued to work in much less affluent areas until she got a job working nearer the home we moved into. Another factor may have been her credential in Special Education which she taught for 25+years.
Yes, Special Ed helps a great deal. And yes, it is a state to state issue I realize. But the funding also plays in. If you can make more money making more than $40,000 a year, then why would you teach? (Sadly) I think I understand that you are in CA which would probably pay a bit better (just guessing). AZ starts at $46.000 or so.
One teacher friend who cleans houses and does craft shows to make ends meet has a master's degree, two certifications, and 19 years of experience. Part of her salary goes to buy classroom supplies, for which she holds a fundraiser every year.
The kids are watching. They see that the community doesn't care about education, so why should they?
“Their". True, but teaching is supposed to be a fulltime job. They love the work and the children. It's not unreasonable to ask that it sustain them adequately, since an investment in children is an investment in the future.
Your continued dedication to exposing the corruption and downright evil machinations of the Missouri lawmakers and associated cronies is so appreciated. The awareness you bring re the destruction of our public school system, legislative bigotry, and prejudicial cruelty is very welcome, but so painful to hear. However, awareness is the first necessary factor for changes to be made. I continue to follow your revealing posts and strive to do what I can in the equally complicit state of Florida.
Republicans attack public dust all levels, then want to claim public schools are failing because Republicans put public education in a no win situation. Public education allowed my husband and me to move up the ladder from our very modest rural childhoods. I didn’t have an indoor bathroom until we moved to town when I was in the first grade. I was a 3rd generation teacher from a family of educators. I loved teaching 1st and 2nd graders. I would not go into education today. No living wage and no respect for teachers’ contributions to society are a bad combination.
This education policy is in place in southeastern Arizona. This is a broad rural area southeast of Tucson that incorporates a great deal of old western history. I have been raising my granddaughter as her legal guardian since her Mom, my daughter, passed in 2010. My granddaughter is biracial, and I never thought that this would play a part in her education anywhere. I've had to move her out of two public schools due to overt racism - spoken out loud to me and her by the employees. I wanted to fight, wanted to be the biggest, loudest, most aggressive protestor ever - they were talking to me about the rejection of a child, an innocent child who was already a victim of life. I also spoke out about the curriculum which had been altered to a point of disbelief. That went over like a pregnant pole vaulter. The great news is that my granddaughter has overcome, worked hard to graduate early on her own. But here we are - fighting in the places where lives are overshadowed by cruelty put in place by the sick at heart, those broken in spirit looking for revenge and the power of the greedy. Thanks as always, Jess, for being a fighter for real change and powerful growth. We hear you and are proud and anxious to work alongside you in whatever way.
Where in southeastern AZ? I am in Tucson but have lived in Bisbee and Sierra Vista, albeit many years ago. I can believe that happening in Bisbee back in the day, but not as much now as it has become a bit of an artsy enclave and a blue dot in the sea of red Cochise which is why it got gerrymandered into an already very blue district next to it.
AZ is number 23 in starting teacher salaries and 32nd in average salaries. Averages can be distorted by people not saying long in the profession these days.
I used to live in Hereford and now live in Sierra Vista. I think if you lived here previously or brought up here, maybe it's hard to believe, however, sadly it has happened in both places - outspoken prejudice against a child suspect of being half black. Top that off with the quality of education sorely lacking to the point that graduating seniors are unable to read a mechanical clock or write and read cursive. It's sad and infuriating.
Interesting. I lived in Bisbee 50 years ago and Sierra Vista slightly less. Then the big discrimination was against Hispanics but SV was actually pretty race neutral because of Fort Huachuca. I actually taught in the school system. I cannot speak to the quality of education recently. But I will say that cursive in general is a lost art. Even in Tucson my four grandchildren were not too well grounded in it. However, mechanical clock reading was definitely taught. The more things change, the more they say the same.
Thank you for writing about your experiences. You included one sentence, which piques my interest and I'd love to ask you about it. You wrote about 'a curriculum which had been altered to a point of disbelief'. I cannot understand what you mean by this - apologies if this is clear to everyone else. I am sorry if it is a daft question, it is just that I am looking at this from a considerable distance and thus there are many things in America, especially in rural areas of which I am ignorant. Hence my question. Thank you.
I understand why this wouldn't be clear to you - it wasn't clear to me either because I couldn't believe it nor why or when textbooks had been rewritten. Some perspective is needed - I am 76 years old and had an outstanding public education many years ago that led to a college degree and a successful career - so this fresh look at public education was not understandable. Instructions and methods were delivered to the students in an unexplainably contrived manner confusing for students and parents. For sure it was a recipe for sabotage except for a few entitled who were singled out as "smart" and those excluded left to feel the sting. The ongoing assassination of public education in the U.S. alive and well, it's on critical hospice care now - a real sorrow for the United States. Thanks for asking, I think :o)
Thank you. Thank you for taking the time to respond.
I will go and think about it, I will think about your comment and my experiences of my own education.
I grew up in a small village, so small that it had no school. The primary school was in the next village, maybe a mile and a bit away. All secondary schools were further away, all of them involved travel by public bus. I went to a type of school, which was dedicated to high academic standards (other options were less academic and more technical in nature), there were four of them nearby. (Nearby is relative, they were approx an hour's bus ride away, two in one town and two in a different town.)
My own school was run by nuns, so technically they were a private school. But they were absolutely comparable to the other academic (public) schools in the area. Same regulations, same curriculum, same exams. And the same oversight by the authorities as the other academic schools.
This is my background, which is just very different from the experiences of most of the people taking part in the conversation here. Which makes me very grateful if people take the time to provide additional information. Thank you.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Claudia! I love to hear about the experiences in other countries and cultures. I know that a good education in many other countries is still considered vital. In the U.S. at this time, education has become a bargaining chip and a vehicle for discrimination and the ugliest hatred making our dear children and our society the ultimate victims. Hopefully we will continue the fight toward a better future for everyone.
I dont know how you can stay in Missouri! It has to drive you wild! It certainly proves the point that a poorly educated populace is good for Republicans. As a former teacher in Connecticut for 35 years, I can fully empathize with you- and we were quite well supported in this state.
I don’t know why you stay either but I’m glad you are doing so and can hopefully bring these issues front and center and make something happen to change the trajectory of education 8n Missouri.
I am from Missouri and was an educator in Texas for over 26 years. I went back to school around 1999 to get admin degree because I couldn’t make it paycheck to paycheck as a single mom. But at least I thought our state government supported public education. It has changed so dramatically in the last 15 years….
An excellent article, although to be honest, it made me a bit ill to read it. I spent my work life in public education. I’ve been retired about 20 years and it’s obvious that the situation has only gotten worse. Thank you for the work you keep doing.
Thank you for the continued exposure of who and what is killing my homeland. We will win as long as we have truth-tellers like you, Jess. (Also glad you didn’t say “Never” to running again. This country needs you in all the things!)
Question: What is the salary for teachers in that school that has been in business for 22 years? Do the non public schools perform better, pay better, and can they be selective in terms of who they admit? I think those are all "assumed" to be the case, but if these are not true, and proven to not be true, this would help to counter the case against public schools. As a former teacher educator in Chicago, I can attest to the fact that Chicago teachers' salaries are much higher than those in Missouri, but the demands of the job - post Pandemic - have increased, and the recruitment of teachers is a growing problem. Somehow, after years of hammering "education" at all levels by the growing right wing, the notion of a good public education has lost it value. Kids are more unruly, parents are less supportive, and "public education" has become a negative, a talking point to bash teachers, bash teachers' unions and to complain about "education" as though it is a burden to society. It is certainly from the Project 2025 playbook that seeks to downplay the importance of an educated public. Is this the democracy we want? An elected King and an under educated public, ill equipped to exert an intelligent voice? The answer seems to be yes. And not just in Missouri.
I love your posts so much Jess. But I literally cry reading every single one of them. I don’t even live in MO but my daughter goes to college in St Louis and my extended family is in KS. And I have friends and family who are educators. The way we fail to support our public education system here in the US tells the world all they need to know about our values. You are truly a hero for the work you are doing. Bless you.
Jess, I live in Europe, and my heart breaks for America.
The more educated the populace is, the healthier, wealthier and happier it, and the country as a whole, is. This has been proved in practise over and over.
The only problem with an educated population is that they tend to vote liberal, and disapprove of billionaires.
Jess - it’s a nationwide push to privatize education and dumb down the poor. Texas just crossed over to that also. If they would put that on a ballot for everyone to vote on, it would NOT have passed in Texas for sure.
And if it were voted on, would the Texas Legislature leave it alone? That seems to be an issue in Missouri and Arkansas, as you know if you follow Jess.
And tragically Missouri voters keep sending these GOP politicians back to NOT work for them!!! I keep wondering - WHAT is in the water in red states?! Or are racism and misogyny that sacred to them? It is baffling and tragic to watch this insanity. It is SO sad to read this. Keep up the Good Fight Jess.
Please look at what is happening in Arizona with the ESA Voucher Program - "Empowerment Scholarship Accounts". The Arizona republican party in 2022 created the largest school voucher program in the history of education. This is a model program to help defund and dismantle public education across the Country and is having a huge financial impact on the State. Cost were projected for fiscal year 2025 to exceed $800 million, far exceeding initial projections. Parents are reimbursed for expenses up to $7500 to educate their children however they see fit with few guardrails or restrictions. All this while not properly funding Public School Education. To make matters worse, the GOP is pushing a Ballot Initiative tying any increase in Public School Funding to putting ESA Vouchers as a State Constitutional Right. Primarily, families from wealthier areas are now getting reimbursed to send their children to private and religious schools that they were already paying for prior to ESA. Also, monies are being used to pay for backyard playground equipment, expensive Lego Sets, musical equipment, a golf simulator, ski lessons, electronic kitchen accessories....the unrestricted list goes on and on and on. The week of June 2nd, 2025 the local news station KPNX Arizona, 12NEWS did a fantastic deep dive of investigative reporting on the issue. Please take a look at their findings.
I don't know if you live in AZ, however I have read about this from people on Substack and in articles in The Guardian. AZ is the model for privatization of education. It's the Project 2025 playbook. The money is of no use to the families that most need it. People who can afford to send their children to private schools, are already doing it without the funds. There are few better private schools in areas that need them, and the families that need the money are still priced out.
You are correct! Yes the goal is to destroy Public Education and to allow its privatization. So much corruption and lack of oversite in many of these schools as well as how parents can use the monies. Many are enriching themselves by taking from our Public Schools. Currently reading: "Erasing History - How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future" by Jason Stanley Bestselling Author of "How Fascism Wins". A very timely read about the destruction of our Public School System in order control the narrative and ease us into Fascism. I feel that taking taxpayers monies from Public Schools to give to Religious Schools is in violation of Separation of Church and State.
I don't understand how they are able to take taxpayers monies from Public Schools to give to Religious Schools as this is a violation of Separation of Church and State.
Must stop them.
“It is not light that we need, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake.” - Frederick Douglass
Love him
Florida is 50th. I have teacher friends who clean houses and wait tables to make ends meet.
Teachers change lives. Apparently that's a subversive activity in Missouri. Watch out, America.
Can I ask you a question - why are those teachers staying in Florida? Surely if there's a teacher shortage, then the issue of pay will be addressed?
Or am I too naive?
Some possible small insight to the above. It may be people who have a bachelor's degree without teaching credentials or some other non-teaching credentials so they get paid less. A close friend of my middle aged daughter with a degree later in life in biology is teaching middle school science working on her teaching credentials. I'm sure many of them will be fine teachers, and many just needed a job. So dumbing down (waiving credentials) of the work force is part of the problem, although funding is the larger piece.
This may be a state to state issue, although I'm not sure. My son could only get his job teaching public school (middle school), unless he had a teaching credential. In the 80's, here in CA my wife worked on an emergency credential (there were not enough people with teaching credentials willing to work in poorer black and Hispanic areas) She did get her teaching credential after 1 year. She continued to work in much less affluent areas until she got a job working nearer the home we moved into. Another factor may have been her credential in Special Education which she taught for 25+years.
Yes, Special Ed helps a great deal. And yes, it is a state to state issue I realize. But the funding also plays in. If you can make more money making more than $40,000 a year, then why would you teach? (Sadly) I think I understand that you are in CA which would probably pay a bit better (just guessing). AZ starts at $46.000 or so.
One teacher friend who cleans houses and does craft shows to make ends meet has a master's degree, two certifications, and 19 years of experience. Part of her salary goes to buy classroom supplies, for which she holds a fundraiser every year.
The kids are watching. They see that the community doesn't care about education, so why should they?
Thank you. Your response is much appreciated.
It's a valid question. Like us all, they are attached to home, have family, parents, and children in Florida.
And inertia, I suppose, or lack of knowledge of other opportunities.
“Their". True, but teaching is supposed to be a fulltime job. They love the work and the children. It's not unreasonable to ask that it sustain them adequately, since an investment in children is an investment in the future.
Your continued dedication to exposing the corruption and downright evil machinations of the Missouri lawmakers and associated cronies is so appreciated. The awareness you bring re the destruction of our public school system, legislative bigotry, and prejudicial cruelty is very welcome, but so painful to hear. However, awareness is the first necessary factor for changes to be made. I continue to follow your revealing posts and strive to do what I can in the equally complicit state of Florida.
Republicans attack public dust all levels, then want to claim public schools are failing because Republicans put public education in a no win situation. Public education allowed my husband and me to move up the ladder from our very modest rural childhoods. I didn’t have an indoor bathroom until we moved to town when I was in the first grade. I was a 3rd generation teacher from a family of educators. I loved teaching 1st and 2nd graders. I would not go into education today. No living wage and no respect for teachers’ contributions to society are a bad combination.
Many of our government institutions are being underfunded and staffed and will look "failing" soon also.
This education policy is in place in southeastern Arizona. This is a broad rural area southeast of Tucson that incorporates a great deal of old western history. I have been raising my granddaughter as her legal guardian since her Mom, my daughter, passed in 2010. My granddaughter is biracial, and I never thought that this would play a part in her education anywhere. I've had to move her out of two public schools due to overt racism - spoken out loud to me and her by the employees. I wanted to fight, wanted to be the biggest, loudest, most aggressive protestor ever - they were talking to me about the rejection of a child, an innocent child who was already a victim of life. I also spoke out about the curriculum which had been altered to a point of disbelief. That went over like a pregnant pole vaulter. The great news is that my granddaughter has overcome, worked hard to graduate early on her own. But here we are - fighting in the places where lives are overshadowed by cruelty put in place by the sick at heart, those broken in spirit looking for revenge and the power of the greedy. Thanks as always, Jess, for being a fighter for real change and powerful growth. We hear you and are proud and anxious to work alongside you in whatever way.
May strength return to you as you work with & for your granddaughter (& All children who are marginalized). They will grow strong by your example 💙
Where in southeastern AZ? I am in Tucson but have lived in Bisbee and Sierra Vista, albeit many years ago. I can believe that happening in Bisbee back in the day, but not as much now as it has become a bit of an artsy enclave and a blue dot in the sea of red Cochise which is why it got gerrymandered into an already very blue district next to it.
AZ is number 23 in starting teacher salaries and 32nd in average salaries. Averages can be distorted by people not saying long in the profession these days.
I used to live in Hereford and now live in Sierra Vista. I think if you lived here previously or brought up here, maybe it's hard to believe, however, sadly it has happened in both places - outspoken prejudice against a child suspect of being half black. Top that off with the quality of education sorely lacking to the point that graduating seniors are unable to read a mechanical clock or write and read cursive. It's sad and infuriating.
Interesting. I lived in Bisbee 50 years ago and Sierra Vista slightly less. Then the big discrimination was against Hispanics but SV was actually pretty race neutral because of Fort Huachuca. I actually taught in the school system. I cannot speak to the quality of education recently. But I will say that cursive in general is a lost art. Even in Tucson my four grandchildren were not too well grounded in it. However, mechanical clock reading was definitely taught. The more things change, the more they say the same.
Just to clarify, these experiences in Cochise County have taken place over the past ten years in which I have been raising my granddaughter.
Thank you for writing about your experiences. You included one sentence, which piques my interest and I'd love to ask you about it. You wrote about 'a curriculum which had been altered to a point of disbelief'. I cannot understand what you mean by this - apologies if this is clear to everyone else. I am sorry if it is a daft question, it is just that I am looking at this from a considerable distance and thus there are many things in America, especially in rural areas of which I am ignorant. Hence my question. Thank you.
I understand why this wouldn't be clear to you - it wasn't clear to me either because I couldn't believe it nor why or when textbooks had been rewritten. Some perspective is needed - I am 76 years old and had an outstanding public education many years ago that led to a college degree and a successful career - so this fresh look at public education was not understandable. Instructions and methods were delivered to the students in an unexplainably contrived manner confusing for students and parents. For sure it was a recipe for sabotage except for a few entitled who were singled out as "smart" and those excluded left to feel the sting. The ongoing assassination of public education in the U.S. alive and well, it's on critical hospice care now - a real sorrow for the United States. Thanks for asking, I think :o)
Thank you. Thank you for taking the time to respond.
I will go and think about it, I will think about your comment and my experiences of my own education.
I grew up in a small village, so small that it had no school. The primary school was in the next village, maybe a mile and a bit away. All secondary schools were further away, all of them involved travel by public bus. I went to a type of school, which was dedicated to high academic standards (other options were less academic and more technical in nature), there were four of them nearby. (Nearby is relative, they were approx an hour's bus ride away, two in one town and two in a different town.)
My own school was run by nuns, so technically they were a private school. But they were absolutely comparable to the other academic (public) schools in the area. Same regulations, same curriculum, same exams. And the same oversight by the authorities as the other academic schools.
This is my background, which is just very different from the experiences of most of the people taking part in the conversation here. Which makes me very grateful if people take the time to provide additional information. Thank you.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Claudia! I love to hear about the experiences in other countries and cultures. I know that a good education in many other countries is still considered vital. In the U.S. at this time, education has become a bargaining chip and a vehicle for discrimination and the ugliest hatred making our dear children and our society the ultimate victims. Hopefully we will continue the fight toward a better future for everyone.
I dont know how you can stay in Missouri! It has to drive you wild! It certainly proves the point that a poorly educated populace is good for Republicans. As a former teacher in Connecticut for 35 years, I can fully empathize with you- and we were quite well supported in this state.
I don’t know why you stay either but I’m glad you are doing so and can hopefully bring these issues front and center and make something happen to change the trajectory of education 8n Missouri.
Connecticut sounds like Heaven.
I am from Missouri and was an educator in Texas for over 26 years. I went back to school around 1999 to get admin degree because I couldn’t make it paycheck to paycheck as a single mom. But at least I thought our state government supported public education. It has changed so dramatically in the last 15 years….
An excellent article, although to be honest, it made me a bit ill to read it. I spent my work life in public education. I’ve been retired about 20 years and it’s obvious that the situation has only gotten worse. Thank you for the work you keep doing.
Thank you for the continued exposure of who and what is killing my homeland. We will win as long as we have truth-tellers like you, Jess. (Also glad you didn’t say “Never” to running again. This country needs you in all the things!)
Question: What is the salary for teachers in that school that has been in business for 22 years? Do the non public schools perform better, pay better, and can they be selective in terms of who they admit? I think those are all "assumed" to be the case, but if these are not true, and proven to not be true, this would help to counter the case against public schools. As a former teacher educator in Chicago, I can attest to the fact that Chicago teachers' salaries are much higher than those in Missouri, but the demands of the job - post Pandemic - have increased, and the recruitment of teachers is a growing problem. Somehow, after years of hammering "education" at all levels by the growing right wing, the notion of a good public education has lost it value. Kids are more unruly, parents are less supportive, and "public education" has become a negative, a talking point to bash teachers, bash teachers' unions and to complain about "education" as though it is a burden to society. It is certainly from the Project 2025 playbook that seeks to downplay the importance of an educated public. Is this the democracy we want? An elected King and an under educated public, ill equipped to exert an intelligent voice? The answer seems to be yes. And not just in Missouri.
Show us how low you can go there and then go lower. The cruelty and greed are the points they aim and hit.
I love your posts so much Jess. But I literally cry reading every single one of them. I don’t even live in MO but my daughter goes to college in St Louis and my extended family is in KS. And I have friends and family who are educators. The way we fail to support our public education system here in the US tells the world all they need to know about our values. You are truly a hero for the work you are doing. Bless you.
❤️
Jess, I live in Europe, and my heart breaks for America.
The more educated the populace is, the healthier, wealthier and happier it, and the country as a whole, is. This has been proved in practise over and over.
The only problem with an educated population is that they tend to vote liberal, and disapprove of billionaires.
You nailed it right there.
Jess - it’s a nationwide push to privatize education and dumb down the poor. Texas just crossed over to that also. If they would put that on a ballot for everyone to vote on, it would NOT have passed in Texas for sure.
And if it were voted on, would the Texas Legislature leave it alone? That seems to be an issue in Missouri and Arkansas, as you know if you follow Jess.
I don’t know Stephen…
Republicans attack public education on all levels, not public dust. Damn predictive text.
Thanks. I couldnt figure out what youmeant.
That's what I thought you meant.
Although 'public dust' made me smile ....
And tragically Missouri voters keep sending these GOP politicians back to NOT work for them!!! I keep wondering - WHAT is in the water in red states?! Or are racism and misogyny that sacred to them? It is baffling and tragic to watch this insanity. It is SO sad to read this. Keep up the Good Fight Jess.
Please look at what is happening in Arizona with the ESA Voucher Program - "Empowerment Scholarship Accounts". The Arizona republican party in 2022 created the largest school voucher program in the history of education. This is a model program to help defund and dismantle public education across the Country and is having a huge financial impact on the State. Cost were projected for fiscal year 2025 to exceed $800 million, far exceeding initial projections. Parents are reimbursed for expenses up to $7500 to educate their children however they see fit with few guardrails or restrictions. All this while not properly funding Public School Education. To make matters worse, the GOP is pushing a Ballot Initiative tying any increase in Public School Funding to putting ESA Vouchers as a State Constitutional Right. Primarily, families from wealthier areas are now getting reimbursed to send their children to private and religious schools that they were already paying for prior to ESA. Also, monies are being used to pay for backyard playground equipment, expensive Lego Sets, musical equipment, a golf simulator, ski lessons, electronic kitchen accessories....the unrestricted list goes on and on and on. The week of June 2nd, 2025 the local news station KPNX Arizona, 12NEWS did a fantastic deep dive of investigative reporting on the issue. Please take a look at their findings.
And to think that Arizona is the model for Missouri lawmakers
I don't know if you live in AZ, however I have read about this from people on Substack and in articles in The Guardian. AZ is the model for privatization of education. It's the Project 2025 playbook. The money is of no use to the families that most need it. People who can afford to send their children to private schools, are already doing it without the funds. There are few better private schools in areas that need them, and the families that need the money are still priced out.
You are correct! Yes the goal is to destroy Public Education and to allow its privatization. So much corruption and lack of oversite in many of these schools as well as how parents can use the monies. Many are enriching themselves by taking from our Public Schools. Currently reading: "Erasing History - How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future" by Jason Stanley Bestselling Author of "How Fascism Wins". A very timely read about the destruction of our Public School System in order control the narrative and ease us into Fascism. I feel that taking taxpayers monies from Public Schools to give to Religious Schools is in violation of Separation of Church and State.
Yep. I'm in Tucson. I know what you are saying.
I don't understand how they are able to take taxpayers monies from Public Schools to give to Religious Schools as this is a violation of Separation of Church and State.