Why in god’s name would anyone want to be a teacher? If there is any one group that has been demonized by the right it is teachers. I have read that there is an 8,000 teacher shortage here in Florida. We are not talking cold Wisconsin or Michigan. We are talking about fun and sun Florida. You would think that Florida would be the perfect place for a teacher coming out of college to work. So what is the problem?

Now I could say that it is all DeSantis but that would not be true. I think that it is a number of reasons but one is DeSantis. How would you like to hold a job where the public thinks that you should put your life in danger so they can have daycare? Yes like hospitals, schools are a germ factory. My wife historically would get sick right before Christmas. Now you have a pandemic and that just makes our schools a bigger germ factory than they already are. Did State of Florida do anything to make our schools safer? Here in Lee County I think the School administration did but I didn’t see any real guidance from our Governor’s Office. I feel that DeSantis was more of a hindrance. Every time I look at DeSantis I see the man that ordered a group of students to take their mask off. That is not a man that is worried about keeping children safe, that is a man that would be willing to sacrifice children to make political points.

Are our schools safe? Just across the State from where I live is Parkland, Florida where one of the most horrendous school shootings took place in our history. A funny thing happens when there is a school shooting; it seems that instead of trying to get guns off the streets we wind up with more guns on the streets. If that ain’t nuts I don’t know what is. Children die and we put more weapons on the streets that can kill more children. If guns make the world so safe why are they not allowed at the big Republican PAC conventions? Why are they not allowed at all the Trump rallies? They are not even allowed at the NRA conventions. We both know the answer to that but most will not say it. Guns really do not make our schools safer just like they don’t make any of us safer. Guns in the hands of professionals like the police may make us safer, guns in the hands of guy across the street maybe not. If you thought that the State was putting politics in front of your safety and your students would you spend 4 plus years working to get the education to become a teacher? By the way I am a gun owner that would protect my home but not carry one on the streets.

Let’s face it; teaching is not the most lucrative profession to go into. I have a brother in-law that worked in Finance and his bonus alone was more than what my wife made in an entire year and she had her Doctorate Degree and had been teaching for 20 years. The people that work in Education do not go into Education to get rich. Many go into it because they know the importance of education for the future of our nation and society in general. Really good Teachers are what I would call a special breed of people. In Florida I think that there are people working at Target get paid more than teachers. You hear stories about teachers having to hold down part time jobs just to make ends meet. This is not a State that values the educators of our children. In Southwest Florida where I live housing has been skyrocketing and we do not pay our teachers well enough to live even in modest lifestyle. DeSantis has made it sound like he has raised teacher’s wages. Well Ron, they still live like paupers.

Now what is the most serious problem with our education system in Florida is politics in the classroom. Politics in the classroom is a direct reflection on DeSantis and the racism and bigotry that DeSantis has brought to the classroom. Our teachers are being held under a microscope to teach not the truth but what DeSantis and his follower want people to believe as the truth. There are two bills that were signed into law by DeSantis that does not enhance our education system but stifles it. One is the “Don’t Say Gay” bill and the other is the “Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act” commonly called the “Woke Act”. These two acts have put a bull’s eye right on the backs of teachers. I have seen where people claim that teachers are grooming our children for homosexuality. Not teaching tolerance but grooming. Not acceptance, but grooming. I have met hundreds of teachers and not a single one was grooming people to be gay. I know many gay people and I have never met a gay person that groomed people to be gay. Why would DeSantis want a law like that? He is using our educational system to feed his supporter’s homophobia and hopes it converts to votes. The same with the “Woke Act” but with that he is feeding people’s racism and using our educational system again to get votes. There is not a single course that teaches Critical Race Theory but racism is part of our history whether anyone wants to admit it or not. The massacre at Rosewood Florida really happened and should be taught in our schools. The history of racism in America should be taught in our schools just like the Holocaust in taught in Germany. Why? First of all because it is the truth. Second, is so we do not continue to make the same mistakes over and over again. Teachers should not be threatened for teaching the truth.

So why is there a teacher shortage? Low pay is one. Safety in the work environment is another. Lack of community support. Being demonized by not only a portion of our society but also by the State. You are not going to attract dedicated educators with the attitude that the State of Florida and DeSantis has toward the education of our children. You can say privatize it but I think that you will only make it worse. I have seen the commercials where DeSantis acts like he has really enhanced our education. Nothing could be further from the truth.