What I want to know about the people who are posting GoFundMe campaigns for basic items is how many of them fall into this category.
1) Working a minimum of 40 hours a week.
2) Are not quite quitting or otherwise putting in the minimum effort
3) Are actually trying to do their best and excel at what they do.
4) Not spending 6 hours+ a day on their phone.
5) Prioritize their needs over their wants. If you have Netflix/AppleTV/Peacock, but are begging for grocery money, then you are doing it wrong.
6) Are kind and respectful.

I am sure there are people out there who really do have hard luck situations, but overall, I bet lifestyle choices play a big role. I see this in my own kids. A couple prioritize all the wrong things and struggle to make rent each month. Whereas I have one son who only has a high school diploma, has never passed a college class in his life (he tried taking two classes), is willing to do whatever it takes, and works really hard. He is in his early 20's, just bought his first home for $265k with 10% down, has 2 cheap (by anyone's standards) paid for cars, and his wife stays at home with their infant child. It can be done if you are willing to work hard and try to help other succeed - like your boss. All this and he lives in a city with a higher than average cost of living.

Sure, you have a limited data set.

My daughter-in-law was homeschooled and homeschools her children.

That is simply not true and has been debunked over and over. We homeschooled several kids and they were working at the age of 14 while going to school because they could get jobs during the normal school day and do their school work in a few hours in the afternoon. All of them excelled in the workplace. The main reason is we didn't give them a phone to sit on all day so they actually learned to communicate.

100%. This is so true.

I don't agree with the parent on may of their claims, but I want to ask about a few of yours.

You can't lump Republicans and Independents together because many independents lean Democrat. The parent poster specifically commented on Republican teachers which make up less than 35% and may be around 27%. You only get to 35% if you include independents that "lean right". The parent is still wrong, but your numbers misrepresent republican views in education too.

https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2024/04/04/teachers-views-on-the-state-of-public-k-12-education/

It really comes down to per-pupil education costs. Private schools have a higher per-pupil in the classroom cost and lower admin costs. That is just the nature of government vs private entities. Private entities tend to have leaner administrative structure. Spending per pupil is a very good metric if you compare apples-to-apples. So you are correct, it needs to be looked at district by district. Do you really think parents would spend massive amounts on private education if the administrative costs were high and spending per-pupil was low? Obviously not. For example, at the private school we send out grand-child. The classroom size is capped at 15. At our public school (in a very wealthy area), classrooms can reach 30 students. Which model do you think spends more per-pupil? Which model do you think give more individualized attention per student.

The other benefit to private schools are they tend to push students to the high end vs teach to the average. If the students can't cut it, they can always attend public school. Public schools don't have that option. Thus, and this is a hard truth, there are students that slow down the pace of the class. Teachers have to differentiate their strategies per student (or so we are told). What they do is differentiate to raise the low-performance students to just below average, and then lower the overall average performance of the other students so it aligns. Why? Because if you don't help a struggling kid out, you get in a lot of trouble. If you fail to differentiate for an excelling student, you don't get in trouble. Simple as that. Not to mention many school districts are doing away with "gifted and talented" - stupid way to name it - eliminating advanced classes.

Complete BS... No. I started teaching as a *Conservative* teacher in 2019-2020 (it was quite the year to start teaching.) I became a teacher to try to provide a neutral classroom in regards to politics. I honestly didn't push any major politically conservative views in the classroom. But I also didn't actively promote any liberal views, which was one of my goals to try to restore a balanced classroom that focused on education.

My starting salary was $41,500 a year. Mind you. I have a 4 year degree and 18 years of experience as a computer programmer. I taught math and computer science. I took a huge paycut to become a teacher, but I thought it was a worthy cause. That was $20,000 UNDER the state median income.

Yep, I think you nailed it. That is exactly what I was thinking too.

Are you reviewing the "official lesson plan" which has the learning objectives, materials, language, structure, etc. or are you reviewing your lesson notes?

Almost every teacher I know reviews their own personal notes and lesson materials but not the formal lesson plan. The formal lesson plan is just turned into school admin to fulfill that requirement and only loosely resembles what actually occurs in the classroom.

But do you update and review the actual lesson plan? I'm talking about the actual 1-3 page lesson plan that most school admin want for each lesson that has the learning objectives, materials, language, structure, etc. That is what I am picturing most teachers using AI for.

As a teacher, do you ever look at your lesson plans after they are written? And I mean the actual lesson plan, not your notes, slides, and other things you use to prepare your lesson. Most teachers I know either regurgitate the lesson plans that are provided by the book publisher or write something that is good enough to get school admin to stop complaining.

Exactly. Lesson plans are for admin. I don't know a single teachers that looks at it after it is written.

Teachers don't care if the lesson plans AI generates are good or not. They will never look at that plan again. Writing high-quality lesson plans that encompass what occurs in the classroom takes time. Time teachers don't get paid for. AI lesson plans allow teachers to quickly complete the busy work that admin requires but teachers never look at again. I don't know a single teachers who reads the lesson plan before teaching a lesson. They all look over their notes, review their slides, and honestly just know how to teach it from years of experience.

Here is an idea. If a district wants high quality lesson plans in all their courses, maybe they should have a curriculum planning and development team that provides the curriculum to teachers...

I struggle with articles like this. I have 7 children. They live in some of the largest cities in the U.S. I have helped them all find housing at some point or another. Here is what I have found.

1) I have found apartments for all of them for under $1000/month in safe/secure areas, many with pools and gyms included. This is for independent living. However, one son lives in a 4 bed/4 bath with a shared kitchen for only $650/month with full amenities, in a top 10 city.
2) Utilities are generally under $200/month. Except one child who keeps their apartment at 68 freaking degrees...
3) I have purchased cars for all of my children. Each car was under $12000, most under $8000, except for my pregnant daughter-in-law, in which case we bought them a $20,000 car. If they had to purchase these vehicles using a loan, they would be looking at about $300/month car loan on average.
4) Car insurance is under $300 month for comprehensive and under $200 for basic (for those kids with accidents).
5) I have purchased a months worth of groceries for them at various times. The last time was in August. We spent a total under $400 for one child and stocked his kitchen with everything he would need including pastas, meats, veggies, fruits, eggs, milk, ok, soda, etc.
6) No child has a cellphone plan that costs more than $45/month including unlimited data.
7) Almost all of them are still covered on our health insurance, so they have no expense there. Those who are not, are paying about $400/month.
8) None of my kids (all under 30, none with college degrees) all make over $15/hour. Some are making almost $30/hour. One is getting a job at a gas station that pays $20/hour starting with a shift differential bringing it to $23/hour. He isn't even 20 yet.

Total basic monthly expenses: ~$1645-$2000.

I really struggle when people say it is impossible to "make a living" or manage basic expenses. Do my kids live extravagant lives? No. But they all still go out to eat and hang out with friends. It isn't like they are social shut-ins. But the key is they meet their basic expenses first, save, and then spend.

Yes but IP address may be considered private data in regards to the law. Collect IP addresses and store them briefly to prevent brute force attacks? You need to get consent. Easiest way to do it, is usually a banner.

So the question remains. If we didn't have a permanent underclass in this country that is willing to do the work that is beneath us dignified free citizens, would the wages go up or would we just figure out how to automate those jobs so we wouldn't need basically a slave labor class? Or is there a third option?