Posts by Bryan Wells11

urbantinker8 said:but it's funny how those slimy characters always use every interview to drone on about how wages will rise or how nobody will lose their jobs, blah blah blah, just to distract everyone from what matters and shift the public's anger toward protesters for the umpteenth time:
man, look, we aren't even talking about our crappy, miserable, bottom-of-the-barrel wages here. This is about the fact that it's just not normal to keep kids stuck inside an institution for hours every single day, and to do it for gooooood years on end. It's about the fact that kids NEED to have a life outside of school. Anyone with even a shred of pedagogical understanding knows that. But he doesn't know the first thing about education; he's more of an expert on poultry pathology and cattle gynecology.
ABSOLUTELY NOT.

Exactly. And then we end up looking arrogant because, oh, our salaries will grow (as if anyone gives a shit, or as if we're too stupid to realize we won't jump through hoops for a tiny 2% raise. It's honestly disgusting how these blowhards elevate themselves in their positions and think a professor will immediately jump when they say 'hop' just because they toss around some peanuts. They assume we're so pathetic.) But yeah, they constantly pivot the narrative, saying stuff like, 'well, no one will lose their hourly slots' (by what magic math?), and then rambling that those who only want to fulfill their required hours can do that, while everyone else will have to deal with the fallout of 'World and I' (as if... does Grandpa even understand what a standard workload is, how schedules are made, or how many kids will actually be in that famous 'World and I' class and how teachers fulfilling their hours are supposed to teach them?? And those specialists? LOL. How did the Secretary even imagine this, or does he truly have no clue what he's talking about? And he says it with such condescension, too, claiming in that interview that 'World and I' is an 'easy subject'—what does that even mean, that it's easy to prepare so anyone could teach it??—and calling it 'lightly designed,' and claiming kids have been loitering around school while others were in religion class. He even mentioned a 'situation they were resolving' where a child was staying after school during religion class (not attending religion class), and I'm thinking: you guys were 'resolving a situation'? Hahaha, I've never heard anything more moronic. The SEC shouldn't even deign to handle things that minor, yet here is Fuksić 'resolving' who sits in religion class at some random school. He's so hands-on, it's unbelievable. At my school, there's no loitering; kids are always somewhere supervised (the library, for example), which also implies that we are considered pathetic and irresponsible for letting kids 'loiter' around. Man, we are responsible for their entire stay at school during instructional hours.
To reiterate, I DO NOT WANT my children sitting in school all day. I want them to have everything normal that they need during upbringing: being with their immediate and extended families, doing chores, seeing friends outside of school, having their own interests, lounging around, and enjoying sunny afternoons in the neighborhood.

rowdypanther12 said:https://www.nytimes.com/article/latest-news...new_updates

he's completely out of touch with reality

This senile retiree is just rambling on. I guess it doesn't matter to him since it isn't his job and he isn't the one dealing with the fallout for his kids' future. It’s honestly disgraceful.
I caught him on some radio program, and he kept condescendingly repeating how "certain individuals clearly failed to grasp" things, or how he was going to "explain it to THOSE INDIVIDUALS who dared to oppose" him. Does he—just like any self-important President—actually think there's some internal group of saboteurs working against this supposedly "benevolent" party that's trying to force through these "life-saving" reforms that would basically lock teachers and kids away in stables? These "certain individuals" he's talking about are actually thousands of teachers, professors, and parents who are absolutely disgusted by the massive bureaucratic nonsense the Republican party is trying to shove down our throats overnight.

What an absolute load of nonsense. Total disgrace.

This guy clearly hasn't the slightest clue about how schools actually function, the reality of modern life, or the actual state of our American education system—not to mention the struggles American families face today. Then again, he’s just a retired vet and part of that privileged inner circle, so I guess expectations should be low. But the worst part? Right out of the gate, he basically said public hearings shouldn't have even happened. He claimed they'd look at "constructive" feedback while dismissing anything negative as just "noted." Give me a break, Mr. Secretary. You can't just ignore the input of over 900 teachers, professors, parents, and psychologists—basically every stakeholder in the American school system—just because they don't fit your narrative. Instead, we get these bureaucratic fairy tales and partisan propaganda used to brush aside expert opinion. It seems the goal was to force this through without any real questions being asked. Honestly, it feels like they wanted to implement a very specific, very questionable way of thinking by sheer force. I still have no idea who the architects of this monstrous experiment even are.

There are over 700 comments on the online consultation portal, and I hope that number keeps climbing. But honestly, I have to wonder if the people actually drafting this mess are even reading them, let alone considering what action to take. So far, I haven’t seen a single positive comment there, nor have I heard anything encouraging from my colleagues in the teacher forums.

Let me repeat: why are the authors of this document hiding behind anonymity?

Why is the SEC going to the media before they even talk to education employees?

And why is the public being fed nothing but filtered, sanitized, and incomplete information?

Why did the Secretary claim that the feedback on the consultation was orchestrated? Are the folks in political leadership really that paranoid—that they can't believe people are just using common sense? Or are those office chairs just too comfortable to leave?

I'm telling you, they just aren't there.

In my opinion, this looks more like a group tasked with drafting new curricula rather than the actual brain trust behind the entire experiment.

The threat of mandatory group study sessions every single day is looming over us. It’s like you aren't even allowed to go home. Personally, I’d choose being at home, doing things my way, over spending the rest of my afternoon stuck with the entire class. Especially when that includes the group that spends their time undermining everything, sabotaging lessons, acting out just to get attention, or bullying other kids—it's a nightmare. But I guess the program will be "fair" and "equal" for everyone, just like it always is in our broken American education system: we all have to bend to the rules, especially the good, quiet, well-behaved kids, just so they don't have to deal with the bullies or the troublemakers.

Back in middle school, I used to study out loud while pacing around my room. For geography, I’d tape a map to my closet and pretend I was standing at the front of the classroom answering questions. I studied with music playing, sitting on my bed, using a massive pile of highlighters to mark things up. I just loved having music in my room and drawing constantly; my creativity really exploded during 7th and 8th grade, and it was a huge source of joy for me. So, I honestly don't understand what developmental psychologists concluded when they decided that forced socialization, all day, every day, is somehow beneficial for young teenagers, or how this is supposed to improve their cognitive performance. Ever since the pandemic, we've seen a surge in school phobias, anxiety, and self-harm among students during subject classes. How is this policy going to impact those trends?

Susan James said:If you look at the feedback on the e-consultation forums, people working in music schools are asking the exact same question: when are they actually going to be able to teach?

Since the elective after-school activities are scheduled for after 5:00 PM...
first of all, following the A2 program, even starting from 1st through 4th grade, they might be able to make it to music school around 2:30 or 3:00 PM (assuming they don't opt for the B programs at school, like Fuchs mentioned on your thread). But by 5th and 6th grade, and especially in 7th and 8th, it won't be possible before 5:00 PM.
(When you look at the regular schedule for mandatory subjects in both A1 and A2 programs—with two extra hours added every day—there is absolutely no way everything finishes before 4:30 PM.)
Even if the music school rents space within the elementary school or isn't located right next door, the kids will be limited to maybe one or two hours for both theory and instrument instruction. And they really should include time for practicing the instrument too. I guess they expect them to practice at 10:00 PM just to keep the neighbors happy! 😬

It seems like there’s no real plan for the arts schools. It feels like the expectation is for them to just die out naturally so the government can cut down on budget spending.
Then they can use that money to pay theologians and IT specialists instead.

I honestly cannot believe the team that drafted this document didn't account for these things, or maybe they’re just a group of total ignoramuses. But hey, anything is possible here.
Music, dance, and art schools are actual schools, with their own full schedules and specific subject requirements. I attended both my local school and a music school as a kid, meaning I had a schedule for ear training, instruments, and orchestra, all happening during the opposite shift from regular classes. It was pretty exhausting, but I loved it. How is a whole school expected to abandon its entire schedule just to move into an elementary school building? (And which one, even? Not all kids from one school attend the same music academy😵 😵, and there are separate classes for ear training; how are instrument teachers supposed to hold one-on-one lessons? Generally speaking—wtf were they thinking?? Or rather, were they thinking at all??) And all of this is meant for older students after 5:00 PM, once they've spent the entire damn day sitting in class? What motivation or energy will they possibly have left to pull that off?

Some bureaucrat has apparently decided to sneak a dangerous precedent into the official documentation by converting teaching hours into these so-called "solar hours." Once again, it’s glaringly obvious we are dealing with people who have zero practical experience in a classroom. It’s a sneaky way to force a mandatory 20+ hour instructional norm on everyone, which is physically impossible to execute without massive technological surpluses—and that isn't even just an issue for computer science teachers. Everything else people used to do within their full load—supplementary work, extra duties, hourly instructors, department heads, administrators—is all being pushed into those afternoon hours, outside the official norm.

I don't know; day by day, I find myself more discouraged and bewildered by the cowardice being shoved down our throats and why we even allow it.
About ten years ago, I actually loved coming into school. I found joy in the work, laughed and cried with my students, and stayed involved in everything. But then you sink into this filthy system like it's quicksand, and it breaks your heart to see what they are doing to people. When the skilled and motivated professionals finally leave, they will be replaced by the incompetent and the poorly trained, people who will lower the standards and turn children into mindless drones.

Here is the crowd deciding our educational fate: a bunch of partisan hacks, all of them deeply entrenched in corruption.
https://www.politico.com/news/how-they-stole-millions-of-dollars/

Paul Davis2 said:Look, you’re reading way too much into this—you’re overanalyzing instead of just seeing the core issue. The bottom line is simple: we have some of the lowest hourly pay rates in all of Europe, student competency is dropping, and everyone is miserable—the kids, the parents, and the teachers. It's a total stalemate where nobody wins.

We’re looking at a pilot program that comes with funding, infrastructure investment, and a framework designed to align with successful school systems worldwide—the kind where student outcomes and overall satisfaction actually trend upward. It isn't being shoved down anyone's throat as some magic fix; it's being presented as a flexible foundation. And yet, somehow, it's still hitting a wall.

Lowest hourly rates—not true.
Low student competency—really? I guess winning math and computer science medals counts as low competency. Having above-average proficiency in English is low competency? Being competitive in the global job market is low competency?
Unhappy parents—that's incredibly vague. Or is a "PARENT" one monolithic entity where everyone is identical and everyone is dissatisfied? In both my professional life and through my own kid's education, I've met plenty of satisfied people.
Teachers are unhappy because they're being suffocated by bureaucratic red tape, because nobody listens to what's actually happening on the ground, because they're working in crumbling schools while being promised the moon and stars—promises that have NEVER materialized. They're expected to just bend over and take it, and worst of all, they're being asked for nothing more than decent wages.

The proposed full-day school program DOES NOT OFFER money for any kind of infrastructure; therefore, schools WILL NOT be upgraded or new gymnasiums built with this money. What is 100% being offered is an immediate 25% raise for principals. A-ha! Now we're getting somewhere.

Michelle Nelson4 said:I’m just looking over the schedule in the planner again to be absolutely certain, so let me double-check my math here:
5th grade—that’s 5 sessions of 5 hours each per week.
7th grade—it’s 2 sessions of 6 hours and 3 sessions of 5 hours weekly.
That is the mandatory requirement. Period. It isn’t some marathon where they're stuck in class for 7 or 8 hours "every single day."

Honestly, when I come across claims like that, it really makes me wonder how much truth there actually is behind the other "facts" being tossed around by these same forum users...

Could you please list your pedagogical credentials? Just so I know which expert I am debating here, because—with all due respect—you sound like someone who is either frustrated with their own working hours or completely unacquainted with developmental psychology. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong, but just because you're "looking at PowerSchool" doesn't make you an expert.

Michelle Nelson4 said:Let me try to wrap my head around the logic here:
So, the idea is that today, when kids finish school at 1:05 PM, they go home, say they'll handle their homework and study for tests by 3:00 PM, and somehow they won't need to study over the weekend and won't have a ruined family life? But if they are expected to do that same homework and studying at school instead, they won't have time, so they'll end up doing it on the weekend and ruining family life anyway... because apparently, time moves slower at home? Is it assumed that you can't fit the same amount of work into 120 minutes at school as you can at home?

Another fascinating theory is that we can't "do everything in the same rooms with the same teachers." This implies that schools and teachers are incredibly incompetent; that even if we set up remedial classes for one subject at one time and advanced classes for another, they wouldn't be able to coordinate it. It suggests the entire class would be forced to stay together constantly and could never split up—like having some students attend advanced Math while others attend remedial English. Isn't that exactly how schools function right now?

Honestly, you clearly don't understand the concept at all.

Are we assuming all children learn in the exact same way, under identical conditions, and master the material optimally? Do auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learners not exist? Do you even grasp the difference between lecturing, reviewing, reinforcing, and assessing what has been learned? After five or six hours of classes, followed by lunch in a noisy cafeteria, do you really think kids want to sit down and keep cramming whatever was covered that day? Every single day? And do you honestly believe that cramming right after class is sufficient if, for instance, they have a test on that material next week? Or are they supposed to be enriching their knowledge across all subjects every single day? How exactly is this supposed to work?
As for remedial and advanced classes, they involve smaller groups of students, and for heaven's sake, most of them DON'T show up. Remedial classes should be attended by anyone the teacher deems needs more practice or a deeper dive into the material, but do you think they actually attend regularly? Or can they be/should they be forced to attend? Advanced classes are for those who are capable and/or want more, but even they don't show up much because they are overwhelmed. They give up on competitions because they simply DON'T HAVE THE TIME, especially if they excel in multiple areas. Now they'll be forced to go, so they will be just thrilled. And both the kids and the parents who get them out of the house for a larger portion of the day will be just overjoyed. Oh, yeah, what a happy family life where the child doesn't have to do homework at home—goodness, what a relief for everyone, because that was clearly what was destroying the family atmosphere.
And I won't even list the rest.

Jose Wells3 said:Look, I’m asking you one more time: where exactly did you find this data claiming we're at the bottom of Europe? Because when looking at Euridyc, from education standards to workload norms, we’re basically identical to Finland. Teachers in Finland probably spend the least amount of time in the classroom daily. Sure, they have 190 working days while we have 175—I can't be certain if all their days include professional development, but my eyes are crossing just trying to research this.

Their number of holidays is almost the same as ours; they enjoy very long summer breaks too.

We have the exact same percentage of highly educated professionals in our teaching force.

Our numbers regarding minimum and maximum workloads are practically identical (17/14), and they spend up to 21 hours in school—though total working hours (including prep time...) aren't explicitly listed for them. Then again, I saw some figure of 35.5 from another study. Also, our max load isn't 20 hours; for some subjects, it's 24 (likely outdated data). My load goes up to 22, with a minimum of 18. I personally work 19 subject hours, plus 4 hours for DOD, advisory roles, and ExxonMobil tasks.

Have you even looked at salary scales? Because if we're talking about pay, then yes, we are absolutely at the bottom.

And honestly, I don't know if you realize the nature of the document you're reading. The data is incomplete, missing, or simply unrecorded. Our teachers are buried under administrative mountains, whereas the Finnish Teacher Administration seemingly deals with the absolute bare minimum of paperwork.

Just look at their academic calendar, please.

Go ahead, give us another 15 days. I’m more than willing to work them. Just stop claiming we work the least in Europe. It's simply not true.

I’m convinced that teachers in the US spend their time drafting reports for specialists using data pulled straight from the New York Times, just so those same specialists can reinvent the wheel by making new spreadsheets. Then, they pass all that work along to City Hall—where, frankly, nobody knows what they're doing. Despite all this supposed "digitalization," they still haven't figured out how to access a single piece of data on their own. So, you end up sitting at home after your actual workday is over, clicking through endless spreadsheets.
So then you go through the motions: clicking through all the consent forms, dietary requirements, waivers, permissions, cultural activities, health data, field trip authorizations, reports, excursions, the DOD program, the general curriculum, designing the ExxonMobil initiatives, keeping physical paper trails, and archiving everything on paper like it's still the 21st century.
You’re just calling out John, Mark, and the American Statistical Association for their total lack of action, but I guess that’s just how you operate. You feel compelled to write these long-winded manifestos every single time an incident occurs, mostly because if some high-and-mighty inspector shows up, you need to make sure your paperwork is flawless. It's always about the bureaucracy with you—as if we can easily just overlook the victims and the perpetrators once the files are in order.
I’m fairly certain that back during COVID-19, teachers here in the US were also forced to track every single positive test result. We’d be stuck messaging entire classes about isolation at 10 PM on our own personal phones. Once the local doctors stopped being able to manage the chaos, we were suddenly expected to log seating charts, calculate exact social distancing measurements, and track recovery timelines. It was all done on our own time, at our own expense, and it was an absolute mental drain. And let’s not forget those ridiculous suggestions from City Hall—like telling kids to wash their hands with ash if they ran out of soap and water. Or have we already forgotten about Bandit's company, Lawrence, and that "transportation expert" who somehow ended up running the whole education department? It was just one absurdity after another.
I’m certain that even in the US, if you hold onto "too strict" grading standards for your subject, you'll end up with parents threatening you or being pressured to loosen up. Then, paradoxically, everyone acts shocked when they see straight-A students who don't actually know anything. It just keeps going around in circles.
Oh, sure, here we go again with another reform. It’s predictably headed in a direction that completely ignores the reality on the ground and does absolutely nothing for the actual needs of our schools or society. I suppose this is just how it works—so those political appointees don't feel like they're just sitting around in their comfy offices for no reason. Maybe, just maybe, they could actually manage to ensure there's toilet paper in the kids' restrooms? My daughter tells me her school is out most of the time, and she’s being polite about it compared to the school where I work, which is basically bursting at the seams.

nimblelynx7 said:If we actually wanted to protect kids, we’d abolish the Attorney General's office entirely instead of constantly asking for her input. Nothing is perfect, and we already have enough problems—she doesn't need to go inventing new ones.

Exactly. It’s always easy to toss out a few empty platitudes, but she’s nowhere to be found when it’s actually time to take decisive action.

shadowtiger0 said:I see you're quick on the uptake 😁

Not condescending at all—quite the opposite. It's hard work. The hardest kind. The fundamentals are always the toughest part of any subject. AND THAT IS NOT SARCASM—do you get it now? 😁

If you're going to quote someone, try quoting Far Coast instead of Mio Kekin. Oh, wait. He's just like you—a linguistics enthusiast.

"U'r" is slang, and clearly, you don't have much of a handle on it for someone claiming to be an English professor.

I lived in the States for a while, so I picked up a bit more than just the textbook stuff.

Why do you think my kids don't enter speech competitions?

Good grief, who am I even arguing with...🤦

Honestly, same here. I'm stuck in a debate with some wannabe alpha who showed up just to build a monument to himself under the guise of "education." Go ahead, go back to your faculty lounge and flex those muscles.

Susan James said:That same Europe, especially Northern Europe, has been graciously welcoming our workers for decades—everyone from ITech professionals and doctors to plumbers... it’s funny how they’re now offering us huge amounts of money to basically dumb down our own children so that neither we nor they have enough workers left.

What I really want to know is how, despite such short school hours, our kids manage to achieve top-tier results at international Olympiads. How is it that they enroll in and graduate from universities across Europe, and then, if they decide to move abroad, receive job offers that include not just great salaries, but often paid housing and language training for the whole family? How does that happen? Who was responsible for educating all those people?

Exactly.

shadowtiger0 said:No need for formalities here. We're on a forum.

Linguists work hard, especially with living languages like English and Italian. And it is a damn monotonous job because if you aren't in a prep school where everyone is actually speaking the language (in my school, we all spoke English with the professor), it's just "I am—you are" all day long. It's exhausting. Not sarcasm.

I am a homeroom teacher.

Male vs. female—there are massive differences. You know it, and I know it. We kinesiology majors learn about this stuff all the time...
I'm not being primitive. I'm just a normal dad whom my kids love, and my students love too.

As for men being pushovers today who are afraid of their own shadows—that's their problem. My wife and I are equals in everything except energy levels. I'm a high-energy tank, and that's just how it is.

P.S. I also work after hours. Mainly because I'm lucky enough to be in education and can afford to.

When I worked in the private sector, I didn't even have the drive or the energy (and I'm a former athlete).

Fine, let's use first names then. You certainly seem to love yourself. Very, very much.
I'm also a normal mom whom both my kids and students love, right? I just don't see that as a valid argument in a debate. Besides, that’s just a subjective impression based on how narcissistic a person happens to be.
I still have questions regarding these comparisons between men and women; what exactly is the point? Which "pushovers" are you talking about who are afraid of their shadows? You should probably write from your own experience, because it's unclear what the poet is trying to say here.
And yes, physical education is incomparable to, say, language studies, but it never occurred to me to judge others or try to divide us based on how complex our jobs are, though I see some people really enjoy doing exactly that.

Edit: Ah, I missed your condescending lecturing style, reminiscent of elementary school "I am - You are" lessons (you even misspelled the most basic foundation taught to first graders); but hey, if you're an "energy tank," everyone loves you, you're hilarious, and they're all lining up to meet you. You've once again proven you have absolutely no clue how much language proficiency we instill in children by the 8th grade, allowing them to enter top-tier high schools with pride, knowing they'll excel in English, making our population's language skills enviable compared to many other countries. But sure, "I am, You are," right?

hiddenseal14 said:My school is going to sign up for this. We are all in complete agreement on the move. Sure, a few teachers were grumbling because they won't be wrapping things up by 10:30 anymore, and the specialists are worried about the increased workload within the A2 and B1 curricula. There’s a bit of a shift happening in how subjects are taught—we’ve always operated on a single-shift schedule—and the students will have to adjust since their electives used to be baked right into the regular timetable. The silver lining? They’ll actually get longer breaks and a decent lunch period.

Anyway, don't go judging the situation based on fifty loud voices shouting in Facebook groups. Plenty of smaller schools that currently run on a single shift are going to step up and join in too.

I am not claiming that everything is perfectly designed; there will undoubtedly be growing pains. But that is exactly why we have an experimental phase—to identify what isn't working and fix it.

As for STEM, specifically math, biology, and chemistry, we've never really seen a shortage of talent in the Greater Los Angeles area. The only real gap has been in physics.

I believe you guys will enjoy it. Good luck. Maybe you'll even get a commendation from the Department.

shadowtiger0 said:Actually, quite the opposite.

The thing is, people in our field tend to complain way too much—and let's be real, we do get that legendary summer break and those holidays when the weather is actually decent. A lot of engineers, doctors, and other professionals with advanced degrees just don't get that luxury.

But the fact that so many other things are fundamentally broken here is a whole different conversation...
Where on earth did you get the idea of comparing us to the Netherlands? They’re one of the most developed nations on the planet...

We should be comparing ourselves to other Southern European countries, and unfortunately, the situation there is pretty much the same...

It’s obvious you weren't anyone's homeroom teacher. I see plenty of people, from the Social Democratic Party crowd (medical professionals) to those with advanced degrees, who definitely get more than their allotted vacation time during the summer. You're just getting hung up on that pathetic cliché about how we have "so many months off." Our collective break starts roughly in the second half of July and ends around August 20th. What, is that too much vacation?

Spot on, linguist. A perpetual homeroom teacher, on top of that. Competition coach and everything else required. It isn't hard work, but there is certainly plenty of it. Look—where I found the balance between what I put in (an English degree) and the compensation in the form of a peanuts salary (I honestly don't know where you see this pay as anything extra, colleague) is that I have a bit more free time. I use that free time to work another job in my field and to be with my family. If I am deprived of that time (which cannot be replaced by anything, least of all these percentages meant to pull the wool over our eyes), a huge argument for staying in education disappears. Some people love to scramble for crumbs from an GOP-affiliated table because, apparently, they value themselves that little; I say no thanks. They steal billions, and I'm supposed to say thank you? Oh, thank you, great leaders, for a 2.5% stipend for being a homeroom teacher? I'll leave that to the sycophants, the weaklings, and the spineless.

Second, 90% of my circle of friends and acquaintances are professionals with advanced degrees, and I have no idea where you're getting these losers who come home late and bring all their work with them, earning as much as teachers? It varies—sometimes more, sometimes less depending on the company, working for various agencies and boards, shuffling papers, and getting things done—but miraculously, many people with significantly less responsibility earn as much as or more than us; some even less educated than I am have surpassed me. Those who actually arrive home late and carry work home earn significantly more, if not double. What are you talking about? I would toil away at a school twice as long if I were paid twice as much.

This talk about men and women feels a bit shallow and primitive to me, so I won't bother addressing that part. As if you all discovered after COVID what it's like for us while we're menstruating and how it affects our work competencies? Good grief. 😵

I can't help but picture those poor kids stuck in a room from sunrise to sunset alongside students with behavioral issues, bullies, and total hooligans. Our educational safeguards are non-existent, the system is completely stagnant, and there’s zero accountability. I know kids who haven't been able to eat breakfast in peace since first grade because they’re constantly dodging fights or having food thrown at them. Now, the entire school is expected to survive lunch in just 40 minutes under the watchful eye of teachers who have already been lecturing all morning.

Furthermore, we’ve been hearing endless noise about the mental health of today's youth for years now. Everyone acts like they care deeply—you see these various experts popping up on every news network spouting profound wisdom—but in practice, it’s absolutely nothing. This Department of Education, these governing bodies, society as a whole... they have completely failed these children. How are we supposed to tackle rising anxiety, depression, suicidal tendencies, and peer violence? Oh, by locking kids up in institutions. Eureka! I guess the government thinks they’re managing livestock instead of people, so they’re just herding us all into the pen.

Where is the list of names, credentials, and professional experience for this brain trust responsible for designing this mess?

shadowtiger0 said:I can only say that from what I’ve noticed at my school, the subject teachers—the professors, if you will—don't say anything bad about this situation; in fact, they actually support it. Though, let's be real, the female teachers—or instructors, whatever you want to call them—are constant headaches.

Now, look, I’m not saying being a teacher is some easy ride. They have certain perks, they get home early, and it’s a decent enough career for a woman or a mother. But these days, the demands are skyrocketing, parents are getting increasingly difficult, and principals are constantly breathing down their necks for more and more.

Then again, I’ve seen how things operate in Northern European Union countries and—if we’re being honest here—all of us, myself included, are overpaid for the hours we actually put in (strictly speaking, regarding working hours). In England, for example, the shift is strictly 8 AM to 4 PM. No exceptions, no fluff. And the pay isn't exactly life-changing either—around 2,000 pounds net. That’s roughly equivalent to having $2000 here. Yet, most of us with full-time hours are pulling in significantly more than that.

Over in Sweden, the education system is kind of a mess; they overhauled the laws back in the 90s and since then, education has become extremely "decentralized." A lot of parents are unhappy, and people are losing interest in training to be teachers. Part of the issue is that once you finish high school, you make an average salary, while a professor's pay is only marginally higher—even though you have to grind through five years of college for it. They’re struggling to find teachers for humanities, let alone the STEM fields.

I don't know, I'm no genius. We'll just have to wait and see how this plays out in flight schools.

As a parent, I’m personally not a fan of the idea of my kid being stuck in school until 5 PM. Personally? I wouldn't mind staying until 4 PM. Besides, most of us aren't working nearly as hard as the rest of the educated workforce anyway.

Listen, in the United Kingdom, a massive exodus of teachers already started several years ago because of those "wonderful" conditions. People are literally moving to Thailand to teach English and live with drastically lower costs of living than in the UK.

I am a tenured professor working in an Elementary School, and I certainly deal with all the intense nonsense I've encountered since I started in education. It is tragic how moronic policies kill the motivation and desire of people who actually chose this profession. Anyone teaching a core subject—say, one of the three main ones—has plenty of work, aside from the physical presence required in school (for example, the requirement for a first foreign language is 23 hours, one of the highest). Then you drag yourself home to grade 130 exams, 130 essays, and so much other written work. All of that is extra work, done outside of school where there often isn't even a quiet corner to work in. The horrific classroom management duties and the level of engagement expected for just two measly hours of required instruction is a whole different story that is better left unmentioned.

Edit: and if you feel overpaid for what you actually do, I really don't know what to tell you; clearly, you aren't working that hard.