“this is something unexpected”: Dumbing Down the U.S.A., April 2018

“The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.”-George Orwell (aka Eric Arthur Blair)

 Disappearing Students Syndrome (DSS): A phrase created by me to describe a phenomenon taking place across the United States, affecting both privately and publicly funded schools, from Kindergarten all the way through University levels.

Washington Post: Ten problems teachers did not have to deal with a decade ago

A BBC report reveals some U.S. teachers can’t read or write, they got through school by becoming great cheaters and bullshit artists!  “I was a teacher for 17 years, but I couldn’t read or write”

Incomplete (Tip-o-the-Iceberg) list of publicly announced education related layoffs, shutdowns and education crimes, April 2018:

Alabama: Pickens County High School being shutdown due to lack of students, however, some parents told local news media that other high schools in the area are actually overcrowded.

Arizona: Pima Community College eliminating 70 jobs by October and another 23 jobs by 2020.  Last year the college killed 1-hundred jobs!  It’s being blamed on a 35% crash in enrollments and the total loss of state level taxpayer funding.  The college has raised tuition fees.  Taxpayer funded teachers went on strike.   azcentral: “…about 730 Arizona educators left each year between 2014 and 2016, with California accounting for more than half of the defections. That migration was a nearly 37 percent increase from the eight preceding years, which saw an average of 534 educators leave Arizona for neighboring states each year, Census data shows.”

Arkansas: A Fayetteville Public Schools art teacher resigned after being arrested for intoxication, police say they found an illegal form of Ritalin in her car.  A now former Booneville teacher pled not guilty to recording girls in a school locker room.

California: An El Rancho High School history and government teacher was fired after school officials claim they found pics of naked women on his computer.  Who needs school shooters when you have teachers? A teacher (who is also a reserve policeman) with Monterey Peninsula Unified School District resigned after a big time fail teaching a ‘administration of justice’ gun safety class. The teacher/cop failed his own course by accidentally shooting off his gun in class!  Who needs guns when you have acid?   La Cumbre Junior High School was evacuated after a teacher burned herself with sulfuric acid and had to be hospitalized, school officials will not reveal the details of the incident.  Charter school Options For Youth issued layoff WARNs for three locations, 103 jobs gone by the end of June!

Colorado: Taxpayer funded teachers went on strike.

Connecticut: Montville High School substitute teacher accused of organizing a ‘fight club’ in which students beat each other up as other students recorded video of it. The Bridgeport Education Association announced they can’t afford to hire substitute teachers, starting in May.  The Stratford Education Association notified 59 teachers that they’re now unemployed.  The family of a teenager is suing school officials and mental health counselors for not reporting years of sex crimes by a teacher’s aide at Wooster Middle School, the sex crimes began in 2013 and were actually discovered by the teacher aide’s husband in 2015, the teacher’s aide was sentenced to only 18 months in prison in January this year.   Two former teachers at privately funded Greenwich Country Day School accused of sex crimes with students that went on for decades.  One of the former teachers is dead, the other denies the charges.    It’s been revealed that the biggest cost increase for taxpayer funded teachers is the state Teacher Retirement System, which has skyrocketed 145% in the past ten years, and the fact it’s being funded with debt! 

Florida:  The Lee County Sheriff’s Office arrested a teacher from god’s own Evangelical Christian School for having sex with a student, according to a notice posted by the school “…a female Upper School teacher admitted to sexual misconduct with a student.”  A teacher of the year charged with assaulting a student at Brookside Middle School, the teacher says he was trying to remove a student behaving suspiciously, but a school cop stated that security camera video shows the teacher attacking the student without any provocation by the student. It should be noted that official Sarasota County school policy does allow teachers to physically confront students if the teacher thinks there is a threat from the student.  Who needs school shooters when you have teachers? A Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School teacher accidentally left his loaded gun in a Deerfield Beach Pier toilet facility, police say an intoxicated person grabbed the gun and accidentally fired it.

Georgia: A 23 years old Harlem High School teacher on trial for having sex with a 19 years old student, Georgia laws basically states that as long as a person is a student in grade school they are considered a juvenile regardless of their age.  A now former teacher/cheer-leading coach at Northwest Whitfield High School arrested for possession of illegal opioids and having sex with students.   Three years after he went missing, the body of a Douglas County school teacher was found by children near I-20, police suspect a violent crime.  Who needs school shooters when you have teachers? A Dalton High School teacher indicted for firing off his gun in class.  The incident actually happened back in February, news reports claim the teacher fired a warning shot because students were trying to break into his classroom.

Hawaii: Nobody wants to work in paradise? The Aloha State facing a teacher shortage, so much so that a new Hawaii Teacher Stipend Program is being started, as well as plans to pay the college education of anybody who wants to be a teacher in Hawaii.

Idaho: After only 20 years of operation, non-profit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southeast Idaho shutting down due to lack of taxpayer funding and low local donations.  It was revealed that the New Plymouth Superintendent accused of being a bully was offered $400-thousand USD to resign.  He did resign on 25APR2018, but get this, not only did he take the $400-thousand, he’s also being paid $1-thousand-5-hundred per month as an adviser to the school district!!!   Once again, Idaho school districts report teacher shortages despite decent pay.  In fact, School District 93 is so desperate for substitute teachers that they’re offering free lunches as a bonus (that shows you how bad it is here in eastern Idaho): “We’ve decided that if you will come substitute in the Bonneville School District, we’ll treat you to lunch. So free lunch for every substitute every day that they’re here on us. How about that?”Charles Shackett, interviewed by KIFI

Illinois: After 17 years Bookworm Bookstore, in Carbondale, shutdown after a failed attempt to sell it.

Indiana: Public school teachers in this state can’t go on strike because it is illegal for taxpayer funded employees to do so. It’s just one of the many reasons the state is suffering from a teacher shortage.  Another reason is that the state’s licensing test is so tough that it has a high failure rate: “You hear horror stories and it got me thinking. I just spent 4 ½ years going through college and heard no one can pass the licensing test, and I was like, would I even be able to get a job? I don’t have the money to take the test a bunch of times, so I just decided to skip all that and go to Ohio where I’d only have to take it once.”-Alyssa Nobbe

Iowa: Parents are upset that a former teacher, convicted in the late 1990s of recording female students changing clothes, has just been allowed to volunteer with a school spelling bee program.   Taxpayer funded employees, like public school teachers, are not allowed to go on strike in Iowa.

Kansas: Pittsburg State University eliminating 19 jobs due to lack of taxpayer funding in response to lack of enrollments.  A music teacher at Caldwell Elementary facing possible criminal charges after video shows her lifting and shaking a six years old student by the neck.

Kentucky: Non-profit Richmond Child Care Center shutting down “Due to the increased cost of operations that have escalated at a rate that can’t be equaled through reasonable adjustments in tuition…”

Louisiana:  State Department of Education warning of teacher shortages as the number of people completing teacher preparation programs has steadily dropped since 2010.  The state Senate approved plans to allow taxpayer funded teachers to conduct ‘christian’ prayers in taxpayer funded schools.  A Hope Academy teacher,  and a teacher’s aide, fired after they were caught making fun of an autistic boy.  Hope Academy promotes itself as a school that specializes in students with learning problems.  The state’s Industrial Tax Exemption Program reduces property taxes for industries, which reduces funding for schools.

Maine: A now former Gardiner Area High School teacher accused of sex crimes with a 16 years old who is not a student at the school.  A pro-2nd Amendment high school teacher so concerned about retribution from anti-2nd Amendment teachers and students that he would talk to local news media only if his identity was concealed.

Maryland: Project Baltimore revealed that 131 teachers in the city are making at least $100-thousand USD per year, and that the starting pay for a new teacher is $45-thousand which is above the median income for people living in Baltimore. Despite that data many local news media are pushing for teachers to get even more money.  Montgomery County police accuse a former public school teacher of having sex on campus with a Rockville High School student, back in the 1980s, that teacher is now working at the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School.

Massachusetts: God powerless to stop the June shutdown of ‘his’ 61 years old Marian High School due to lack of students. Students have started a social media fundraising operation, hoping to raise enough money to keep the school open.

Michigan: After 26 years Aunt Agatha’s Mystery Bookshop shutting down by the end of August, due to expanding gentrification of the Ann Arbor area.  A five years old boy had his mouth taped shut and his school lunch thrown in the trash by a Crestwood School District substitute teacher’s assistant (who doesn’t deserve a penny of her taxpayer funded paycheck).  But wait there’s more! The taxpayer funded preschool program is being run out of the Cherry Hill Baptist Church, and that other substitute teachers have been violent with students, one even tried to bribe a student not to tell by giving him a bracelet.   

Minnesota: “We’ve had teachers leaving for years, and now it’s getting so bad students are leaving, too.”Brian Davis, teacher

Mississippi: A now former Forrest County ‘white’ female teacher accused of sex crimes and of running off with a teenaged ‘black’ male student, they’re still missing.

Montana: A now former teacher serving more than ten years in federal prison, and then the rest of his life under supervision, after pleading guilty to child pornography, news media did not report which school the teacher worked at.

Nebraska:  The results of unchecked immigrants and refugees is that more than 120 main languages are now spoken by families in The Cornhusker State, and school officials now want to get rid of ‘whitey’ teachers and replace them with teachers of ‘color’.   Four schools in Nebraska City were locked down on the same day due to two separate threats of shootings, after frightening students to near death police finally determined the threats were not credible, in fact some additional threats were phoned in from the very schools that were locked down.

Nevada:  9-hundred teachers face losing their jobs because they don’t have required ‘family engagement’ college courses now required by state law.

New Hampshire: Timberlane School District eliminated about 30 jobs due to lack of state-level taxpayer funding, and indirectly to the opioid crisis.

New Jersey: A teacher at Rising Star Academy arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement because his visa expired, he claims he will be killed if he is deported back to Egypt.  It’s been revealed that in 2017 at least 76 teachers had their license to teach revoked, for various reasons. 

New Mexico:  The West Las Vegas School Board considering making it mandatory for school employees and student athletes to be tested for drugs, including prescription drugs: “In light of the recent events of what’s happened at schools, I think that anybody, or any teacher, any administrator who may be using a prescription medication or may be using narcotics, poses a safety threat to the school.”-Ambrosio Castellano, board member

New York:  Fairport Central School District warning 51 employees that their jobs could go away, due to a 2% per year decline in enrollments, which is expected to continue to 2025.  Yonkers Public Schools eliminating 211 jobs due to being short $48-million USD, the district is also raising taxes on property owners!  Camden Central School District shutting down Annsville Elementary School due to being short $1.5-million.  The Mandell School issued a shutdown WARN for its preschool on Christopher Street in NYC, 58 jobs gone by the end of June.  In Brooklyn-NYC, New Hope Academy Charter School issued a shutdown WARN, 42 jobs gone by the end of June.  Also in Brooklyn-NYC, Invictus Preparatory Charter School issued a shutdown WARN, 45 jobs gone by the end of June.  CAMBA issued shutdown WARN for its high school-to-work program, 34 jobs gone by the end of June (if they can’t win a new contract). School bus contractor First Student issued a shutdown WARN for its ops in Pinebush, 166 jobs gone by the end of June!  Conduent Education Services issued a fourth phase shutdown WARN for its Utica operations, 183 jobs gone once the shutdown is complete!

North Carolina: Pitt Community College suddenly laid off 14 people due to a surprise 5% drop in enrollments: “…this is something unexpected for Pitt Community College because over the years we’ve had a steady increase in enrollment.”-Dennis Massey, president of PCC

North Dakota: One room schools still exist in The Peace Garden State.  A teacher at god’s own Saint Joseph Catholic School, in Williston, arrested last month for sex crimes, hit with even more charges of sex crimes this month.  He is now accused of having sex with at least five girls. He was also a coach with Williston Public School District.

Ohio: A Trotwood High School teacher facing unemployment because she took 50 students on an unapproved taxpayer funded trip to a college.  A now former substitute teacher sentenced to five years probation for getting caught having sex with two Kettering Fairmont High School students in local retail and apartment parking lots.  A teacher at Willow Creek Positive Education Program arrested for sex crimes.  Madison Local School District allowing teachers to carry guns in class.

Oklahoma:  Teachers declared victory with their nine days long walk -out, even though the state legislature approved pay raises before the teachers went on strike.

Oregon: Portland Public Schools eliminating 35 jobs due to a budget gap.

Pennsylvania:  Hand Middle School teacher suspended without pay for making students pancakes while they took state mandated tests, he was told making pancakes was an act of distraction during test taking. Millcreek Township School District armed 5-hundred teachers with small baseball bat-like truncheons. Who needs school shooters when you have teachers?  Lebanon Middle School teacher charged with having a gun on school property, after a janitor ratted him out.

Puerto Rico:  283 schools being shutdown due to the fact that thousands of children fled the island territory because of the bad local economy, made worse by two hurricane strikes.

South Carolina:  The state Board of Education reports a 75% increase in teacher crimes since 2011, many involving misconduct with students.  

South Dakota: In one of the U.S. states with the lowest teacher pay rates, state law prohibits teacher strikes.

Tennessee: A Dyersburg City Schools teacher charged with sex crimes, the teacher turned himself in when he heard he was under investigation.

Texas: Houston Independent School District eliminating as many as 250 jobs due to being short $115-million USD for the 2018-19 school year!

Utah: A supposedly popular Endeavor Hall Charter School teacher was suddenly arrested for homosexual crimes with students, the school’s principal said there were “….no red flags, nothing to indicate that he shouldn’t be hired.”

Vermont: A music and theater director at god’s own Rice Memorial High School (and former Mater Christi School teacher) arrested and accused of taking ‘surreptitious’ pics of female teenagers.

Virginia: Tidewater Community College eliminating 22 additional jobs, after eliminating jobs two months ago, due to a 28% crash in enrollments.

Washington: A now former Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences teacher pled guilty to child porn.  A new lawsuit accuses Grant Elementary School of failing to stop sexual abuse of students by other students.  A Grant Elementary School teacher was fired in 2014 for failing to stop sex crimes by students, but she claims the real reason she was fired is because she is ‘black’.  A Mead High School teacher under investigation for sex crimes, which supposedly took place last year.

Wisconsin: Glenwood City High School teacher arrested for having an online ‘relationship’ with a 15 years old in Missouri.
Wyoming:  Federal-level taxpayers are funding a free cybersecurity class through the University of Wyoming’s Department of Computer Science, the classes will be held in July at two GenCyber camps.

Dumbing Down U.S.A., March 2018: “A REFLECTION OF THE CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS”