Stand with Us!

Our teachers need champions inside and outside of the schoolhouse. They need citizens who are willing to stand up for them and for children, and who will stand against the baseless criticism leveled by those who seek to undermine trust and confidence in public education.l

— From an editorial in the (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot

Lunch Money

More than 50 million public school students had their school lunches covered by emergency government aid during the pandemic, but now that many of those programs have shut down, student lunch debt is back, to the tune of $19 million so far this school year at press time, according to the School Nutrition Association.

Some families who are eligible for continuing help aren’t getting it because they don’t understand the government’s application process; others who got the help before no longer qualify because they make more than the about $36,000 limit for a family of four to receive free school lunches.

Community organizations and national nonprofits are among groups trying to reduce lunch debt, and some states have chosen to continue to fund free lunch programs. Virginia is not among those states; in the 2023 General Assembly session, a bill that would have made lunches free in all public schools failed.l

As Seen On Twitter

TOUCHING BASE WITH…

What do you like about your job?

Being a librarian is one of the best gigs in education. Everything teach—research skills, source evaluation, avoiding plagiarism—has real-life applications that will remain relevant throughout students’ adult lives. My focus is on helping them to go out into the world and be functioning humans, which is pretty cool. I also get the side benefit of connecting kids with books they love. One of my favorite things is when a student tells me “I don’t like to read,” because, internally, I’m thinking “challenge accepted.” It’s just a matter of finding them the right book.

How has being in the union helped you?

Being a SVEA/VEA member has helped me find my voice. I’m incredibly passionate about advocacy, and find working with my union to be very fulfilling. I know the union has my back. We’re a community, and there’s no substitute for that solidarity. SEA has secured mental health days, pay raises, and better working conditions through union advocacy, and I’m so proud to have a part in that. l

Percent of people consider it at least somewhat important that public schools “have a mix of students from different racial/ethnic backgrounds.” (Just under half found it “extremely” or “very” important.)l

Source: The Century Foundation

An Eye-Opening (and Life-Changing) Experience

My first Black male teacher was Mr. Larry Thomas, my eighth grade math teacher at Langston Middle School in Oberlin. And the one thing that I always tell my audience is that I can’t necessarily recall the information Mr. Thomas taught me. I can’t recall if it was algebra or geometry. But the one thing that I truly remember is how he treated me, and treated other students in his classroom. And his persona, his disposition, the way he carried himself was truly like a professional, someone who I had never seen before in that particular role. When I saw Mr. Thomas in front of the classroom, having the attention of students, Black students, White students, boys and girls, I said to myself, ‘Wow, this must be a very cool profession…’ and from there, I just fell in love with being a teacher.l

— 2022 National Teacher of the Year Kurt Russell

School Counselors: We’re Making Headway

Kids need school counselors, for a variety of reasons. For one, research shows a link between such counselors and better student outcomes. And educators and families know that school counselors are trained, certified professionals who play a vital role in helping students succeed both in school and beyond.

The American School Counselor Association has long recommended a ratio of 250 students per counselor and, while we’re still a long way from meeting that recommendation as a nation, we are definitely making some progress: After the 2021-22 school year, the national ratio was 408 to 1, the lowest it’s been since ASCA began keeping track in 1986. The previous year, the ratio was 415 to 1, and that figure has been decreasing every year since 2013-14.

ASCA puts Virginia’s current standing at an even better 307 to 1.l

Not a Fair Fight

Talk about an uneven match. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy describes it like this: “a child against the world’s greatest product designers.”

“Where is autocorrect when you really need it?”

That’s what it’s like to be 13, an early adolescent, and be deemed able to monitor your own use of social media, he says. And many social media apps— including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram—allow people as young as 13 to sign up. Murthy is concerned about, among other factors, children who are just figuring out their identity and sense of self being unable to withstand the marketing abilities of professionals whose goal is for users to spend as much time as possible on their particular form of social media. “Our kids need help,” he says.l