Posts by Larry Walker24

Brandon Foster7 said:Gear = cash

We’ve got federal grants, state funds, Bloomberg and fancy fountains, plus those lazy directors who won't lift a finger

It all comes down to how much gear you actually have

Check out what schools actually look like over in Finland

William Cooper11 said:She needs to get out of her cozy office in Saint Louis.

Hell yeah!

rowdypanther12 said:https://www.nasa.gov/news/space-exploration/
I guess it might actually be better if there weren't any replacements 😂

I'm just wondering what's going to happen to that biology advisor and his little school visit 🤦

I don't have any text to work with yet! Please provide the posts you want me to rewrite, and I'll get right on it. kaže:
What do you guys think about that decision from the State University to force anyone wanting to teach math or physics to go through a full five-year integrated program? It’s such a joke. Then they have the nerve to act all surprised when their enrollment numbers tank because nobody wants to commit half a decade to that grind. Total nonsense.

Honestly, I think a three-year degree should be plenty if you want to teach. If you’ve got enough brains to crush a three-year program, why wouldn't you just pivot straight into engineering? The career prospects and the paychecks are on a whole different level. If we made teaching a three-year deal, way more people would actually sign up for it. Especially if you could just tack on another two years later to bridge over into an engineering track with just a few tweaks. It just makes more sense.

I am 100% with you on this one!!

Look, getting people into college isn't the issue—it's actually getting them through the door to graduate. It’s a total joke. We've got like ten physics professors graduating in a single year? Give me a break.

And most importantly, you can find plenty of professors in big cities like NYC or Chicago, but who’s actually gonna move out to some tiny rural town where wolves are howling right outside your window?

urbantinker8 said:Actually, I'm not quite sure what you're referring to—like, what specific details or which subject we're talking about—but from what I've seen, it seems to align pretty closely with this article. I don't mean to generalize about specific schools, but there's definitely a shortage of science teachers that's starting to cause some real chaos in the classrooms

Look, I'm talking about those specific high schools mentioned in the article. Those places didn't even put out job postings for biologists or chemists, yet the article claims they can't find anyone to hire. They're straight-up lying.

I teach bio/chem myself.

I don't even know where to start with this one. Honestly, just looking at the thread makes my blood boil. People really think they can just say whatever they want without any consequences, and then act all surprised when things get heated. It’s exhausting. I'm sitting here trying to have a chill morning with my coffee, and I stumble into this mess? Give me a break. kaže:
Who's lying?🍿
We’ve got a massive, chronic shortage of mathematicians, physicists, software engineers, and chemists. It's getting ridiculous.
Look, this place is exactly as ridiculous as it sounds. Nobody in their right mind is going to choose a career in academia if they have the option to land a gig at a top-tier research institute, a major bank like JPMorgan, or some high-paying tech firm. It’s just common sense.
The whole reform is a complete train wreck. This "life skills" curriculum thing? It’s a joke. Nobody knows who’s calling the shots or who’s actually footing the bill. People are losing their minds out there.

Drop what you know right here.😉

I’m telling you, it is an absolute nightmare trying to find a decent naturalist—or if you want to sound trendy, a "STEM professional"—whenever we need a replacement. Whether it's for a quick fix or some long-term thing, finding someone who actually knows their stuff is basically impossible.
We’ve been struggling to keep our heads above water for months now. My colleagues over at the tech firms are constantly scrambling to cover shifts because you can't find a single decent entry-level grad to fill a gap, let alone a senior engineer or a professor. It's a joke.

Directors are full of it. None of them actually ran a public search for someone with, say, a biology or chemistry background, so everything they feed to the press is just pure fiction. They tell one story to the media and then there's the actual reality on the ground. It's a joke.

So they’re just straight-up lying. Typical.

I’m out here busting my ass and nobody wants to pick me up from Chicago. It doesn't even matter if it's a swap or whatever—it’s obvious I’ll just have to head back to Germany or the UK, only this time I'll be gone for a lot longer. Honestly, let the students take over the teaching, and maybe then the directors will actually start paying decent wages so they can find someone to do the job.

urbantinker8 said:so, here is a little look at the absolute chaos currently unfolding in our school districts

I suppose I find the whole thing somewhat entertaining, in a detached sort of way—just watching these self-proclaimed "visionaries" stumble blindly through their latest round of sweeping reforms. 🍿
I suspect we'll eventually see everyone nostalgic for the old public education system from back in the day, lamenting how much everything has shifted since then. 🤣🤣
They call it "education for life," but if you ask me, it feels more like schooling for corporate drones.

Since I work in STEM, I can tell you straight up—they're lying through their teeth!

I can give you the full breakdown in a private message.

Sign me up for both the vocational tracks and the summer programs. All this talk above about retraining is a different beast entirely—you don't even need English or biology for that kind of stuff.

But honestly, even kids going into those three-year trade schools should at least get some basic civics and economics tossed into the mix.

Take the USA, for example. They have a twelve-year school system where everyone stays in the standard track, and only then do you actually learn a trade like baking from a real pro who knows their stuff. You do a one-year intensive program, and boom, you're done.

Richard Perez3 said:As long as he can bake a communion wafer...

But yeah, I actually know someone who went through this exact thing. Was working mid-level waitressing, one year at HT, then enrolling in college. And that was over twenty years ago,

My old man went through something similar

He did vocational training, then a technical degree, then finally finished with an education major

Under this current system, my dad would basically just be stuck in that three-year vocational program forever.

Betty Chase74 said:It is to earn a credential specifically for a career in retail. 😉
Everyone seems to assume they can perform high-quality work regardless of their actual field of study. That is why customers end up satisfied with service from, say, a former theology professor who couldn't find a job in her specialty and was forced to work a cash register at a place like Gap or Old Navy.

🤦🤦
That isn't true. For the most part, these are just average, capable kids. Everyone has their own reasons for choosing a path, after all.

And what would a mechanical engineer need to know about Anna Karenina?
unknown

Why would Karenina be any more important than geography or chemistry?

Nicholas King said:What exactly constitutes a "disaster" here—aside from you being personally stressed about your job prospects?

Before you go throwing a million facepalms around, I suppose you might want to actually look into how these vocational apprenticeship programs work and what the training process involves in the US.

I'm in STEM. 😉

I mean, they already spent eight years grinding through American language classes, so why on earth are we dragging this out for another three? It makes zero sense.

What does a tailor need trigonometry for, and why on earth would a bricklayer be messing around with complex numbers?

Why don't we just scrap all the general education requirements? I mean, besides foreign languages, why are we even wasting time on them?

Does a salesman actually give a damn about Anna Karenina?

Robert Rodriguez9 said:The sad part is, nobody will.

sad news

American news outlets are blowing up today because students in some three-year vocational schools—the ones testing out this new "dual program" this year—are losing biology, history, chemistry, physics, and geography.

According to the Department, this currently only hits four specific trades: retail, cosmetology, chimney sweeps, and glassmakers. But give it two years, and they want this dual program rolled out to every single three-year vocational school in the country.

Some teachers are claiming they didn't even hear about this decision from the Department until late August. This is huge because it could mean their teaching hours get slashed or they end up out of a job entirely.

The Department, however, is pushing back, saying this dual program isn't anything new and they've been working on it for years. They're playing it down as just an experimental pilot in a handful of schools. They claim it aligns perfectly with the National Vocational Education Curriculum and was built by a bunch of experts. The whole idea is to lighten the load on general subjects that aren't "essential" to the trade, so kids can focus more on the actual jobs they'll be doing.

more info here:

TOTAL DISASTER!!!! 🤦🤦🤦🤦

It’s honestly depressing how they just keep flooding the market with these Asian movies from China🤦.

I could see this coming a mile away...

I'm guessing you've got your own dentist on speed dial, so you might as well hit them up first thing Monday morning

The European Health Insurance Card is basically a free card that lets us access necessary medical care while we're traveling through the European Union.

But look, don't get it twisted—this isn't some magic fix that replaces actual travel insurance. It won't pay for private doctors, it won't cover an emergency medevac if you wreck it on a ski trip, and it definitely won't help if your gear gets swiped or lost. You really need to grab proper travel insurance to go along with your card.

This card works throughout the European Union and anyone who’s properly covered under the standard American health insurance system can snag one.

What the card actually does is cover urgent medical stuff—you know, those situations where a doctor at a facility abroad tells you, "Look, you can't wait until you get back home to the States to deal with this." This includes managing chronic issues like high blood pressure if you aren't traveling specifically for treatment, or even pregnancy-related care if you're just visiting and not there to give birth.

It also covers things like dialysis, oxygen therapy, or asthma treatments, but you can't just show up expecting that. You have to coordinate with the medical facility in whatever country you're heading to beforehand.

Brandon Brown35 said:For the last few days, I’ve been waking up feeling this total unknown in my stomach. It goes away once I actually get out of bed, but if I try to lie back down, the feeling comes right back and I can't catch any sleep. On top of that, I have zero appetite. Eating feels like a chore and honestly, most food just sounds gross right now.

Could be gastritis, maybe even a stomach ulcer...

Let's talk about those elections in Canada: