“What’s up Doc? What’s Going on With Our Schools?”

Produced by KSQD90.7FM

KSQD 90.7FM “Be Bold America!” Sunday, August 28, 2022 at 5:00pm (PDT)

“It is universally admitted that a well-instructed people alone can be permanently a free people.” ~ James Madison

In states all over the country, classrooms have become culture war battlegrounds. The National Education Association stated that 55% of America's educators are considering leaving the profession (in Texas it is 70%!). Teachers experience less support from parents, must deal with political rhetoric, potential gun violence, diminishing respect and inferior pay.

Watch Florida. It is the canary in the coal mine. As one Florida teacher said of the new state curriculum: “There was this Christian Nationalism philosophy that was just baked into everything that was there.”

School teachers and school boards used to focus on educating children, drafting lesson plans, designing curriculum, working with large classroom sizes and dwindling budgets, and maintaining school classrooms and districts. In addition, they now contend with political ideology, gun violence, religion, book banning, taxpayer funded charter schools, dwindling respect, non-commensurate pay, and their peers quitting the profession and leaving those who stay with more to do.

As one high school teacher said about what is happening: “It is the biggest attack on freedom in a classroom that I have ever seen.”

Interview Guest (picture attached): Dr. Deneen Guss was elected and sworn in as the Monterey County Superintendent of Schools in January 2019 for her first term and will begin her second term of office in January 2023. Dr. Guss is a 35-year veteran educator with a doctorate degree in Educational Leadership.  She has been an administrator for over 25 years, and has received numerous awards for her service in education and her service to the community, including the 2021 Ruth Vreeland Memorial Public Official of the Year award. With a lens on community and equity, Dr. Guss is focused on strengthening community engagement and improving educational outcomes.