skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, October 3, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Biden discusses Middle East conflict; FBI reveals Trump used Twitter during Capitol riot, memo unsealed; Michigan voters urged not to overlook local races, focus on school boards in rural areas; National Drive Electric Week in Arizona highlights electric and hybrid vehicle benefits.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Special prosecutors say Trump "resorted to crimes" after losing the 2020 election, Democrats say Project 2025 threatens reproductive freedom, and voters in several states consider nonpartisan primary elections.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Cheap milk comes at a cost for residents of Washington's Lower Yakima Valley, Indigenous language learning is promoted in Wisconsin as experts warn half the world's languages face extinction, and Montana's public lands are going to the dogs!

Ohio teachers voice concern over educator stress, burnout

play audio
Play

Tuesday, July 23, 2024   

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, is arguing for the continued role of unions in addressing economic inequality and social challenges.

Speaking in Houston at the national convention of the union representing teachers, higher education and health care professionals, she stressed the need for collective action and solidarity among workers in Ohio and across the country to improve working conditions for those in education.

"It's how the U of T negotiated groundbreaking paid parental leave and lower class sizes," Weingarten recounted. "It's how Cleveland got their new policy prohibiting students from using cellphones during the school day."

Delegates representing the union's nearly 2 million members voted to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris's bid to become the Democratic presidential nominee.

The Ohio Federation of Teachers is a union representing 20,000 members in 55 locals across the state.

Melissa Cropper, its president, said teachers are struggling with unprecedented levels of stress and poor mental health, noting a recent union survey, which found around 65% of Ohio teachers were considering leaving the profession altogether.

"Teachers feel a real lack of respect and a lack of autonomy in the classroom, and that's having an impact on them," Cropper pointed out. "We know that they're fed up with the over testing and unfunded mandates."

Nationwide, 77% of teachers said their job was frequently stressful and 68% said it was overwhelming, according to a survey released earlier this year by the Pew Research Center.

Cropper added Ohio and other states are seeing a rise in discipline issues among students, made worse by the pandemic.

"We have problems with severe behaviors in the classroom, and how to deal with that," Cropper noted. "And again, a lot of that has to do with lack of resources, the lack of having mental health experts in our schools."

A report by Children's Defense Fund Ohio found statewide, out-of-school suspensions and expulsions increased in every grade from the 2021-22 school year to the 2022-23 school year.

Disclosure: The American Federation of Teachers contributes to our fund for reporting on Education, Health Issues, Livable Wages/Working Families, and Social Justice. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
Georgia has the fourth-largest prison population in the country, with approximately 50,000 incarcerated people in state custody. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

The U.S. Department of Justice has released a report on the state of Georgia's prisons, citing horrific conditions and extreme violence. The …


Health and Wellness

play sound

A 2024 study showed almost 26% of Nebraskans reported having a mental-health illness in the past year -- nearly 3% higher than the national average…

Health and Wellness

play sound

Experts warn health insurance premiums could rise an average of $1,000 a year for more than 2 million Californians who buy coverage on the individual …


About 6,500 South Dakotans are in state or federal prisons, local jails and other kinds of facilities, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. (Wikimedia Commons)

Social Issues

play sound

Recent problems in South Dakota prisons have concerned lawmakers, corrections commission members and family members of those incarcerated, who formed …

Environment

play sound

By Jennifer Oldham for Sierra.Broadcast version by Eric Galatas for Colorado News Connection reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public New…

A rendering depicts the proposed entryway for Teague Park in Longview, Texas. (Photo courtesy City of Longview)

Environment

play sound

The City of Longview, in east Texas, will use a $1.3 million federal grant to make upgrades to one of its largest parks. Teague Park sits in the …

Social Issues

play sound

Social behavior experts said teens have fewer safe spaces to gather, with technology-driven isolation complicating matters. It is more pronounced in …

Environment

play sound

This week, federal officials announced a new round of funding for passenger rail projects. It is part of a larger push to expand and restore service…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021