Connect with us

US News

North Texas Seeing Massive Shortages In Education: No Teachers, No Subs, No Cafeteria Workers

Published

on

North Texas Seeing Massive Shortages In Education: No Teachers, No Subs, No Cafeteria Workers

Some schools are combining classrooms with double the number of students. Students are seeing more of their teachers, and coaches, driving buses. And, office staff workers and administrators are pulling double duty subbing in classes.

The teacher shortage is partially due to the pandemic, but it’s much more. And, it’s a much bigger problem- it’s a shortage of employees in education across the board.

“It’s not just a Texas thing. It is a nationwide problem,” says Mary Randall who is the Assistant Superintendent of Personnel Services in Mesquite ISD. “We have a shortage of care professional employees and teaching assistants, clerical people. There’s a shortage of cafeteria workers, custodians, you name it.”

Randall says MISD is addressing the problem in many ways. The district is working with long term subs trying to certify them as teachers quickly. It is offering bonuses to several potential hirees. It is developing a program to promote within. And, the district is constantly confirming its pay is comparable to other districts.

On the day the I-Team met with Randall, she was calling other counties just to make sure her salaries compared.

“We might go to a college or university and there might be eight or 10 candidates available and you’ve got 30 to 50 recruiters there… from different districts… vying for these candidates,” says Randall explaining the shortage of new teachers available.

Just 10-miles away, Dr. Kishawna Wiggins is the Recruiting Coordinator at Garland ISD.

“I don’t want to say it’s comforting but it is the comforting to know that everybody is feeling the same thing,” explains Wiggins. “We’re noticing teacher shortages, instructional aides, bus drivers, even mechanics.”

Dr. Wiggins says, with a shortage in substitutes, her central office staff and campus administrators are working one day a week in the classroom. “Until we can get someone there part or full time, we step in where we have to.”

Read more on CBS Dallas Fort-Worth

Local News

Concerns Grow Over Non-Citizen Voting in Arizona

Published

on

Concerns Grow Over Non-Citizen Voting in Arizona

In Arizona, to vote in federal elections (President, the House, and the Senate) you are required to swear (under penalty of perjury) that you are a U.S. citizen…

But there is no proof requirement.

Official Arizona Secretary of State Citizenship Requirements for Voting:

Source: https://azsos.gov/elections/voters/registering-vote/registration-requirements/proof-citizenship-requirements

The federal government relies on the attestation of the individual, the penalties for false statements, and the states’ efforts to cross-check information to maintain the integrity of the voter registration process (Source).

The process is largely based on the honor system.

The Associated Press recently reported this fact:

Source: https://apnews.com/article/arizona-voting-laws-citizenship-proof-50dafd68f8dd4af5cf669afa62efdf19

Currently, there is no national database or system that verifies the citizenship of voters directly. There is no guaranteed audit at the federal level specifically targeting “federal only” voters who have not provided proof of citizenship.

What about election audits? Wouldn’t non-citizen voters get caught?

Non-citizens in the country on parole awaiting an asylum hearing could potentially be identifiable in databases used for post-election audits, such as the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, which is designed to verify the immigration status of individuals (Source).

As for “gotaway” illegal immigrants who evaded entering in a documented fashion, it would be significantly more challenging to identify them in databases for the purposes of a post-election audit.

Since they have not been processed through official immigration channels, they would not have records in the same databases that document legal entries and immigration statuses. Therefore, they would not be easily identifiable through the standard verification processes used in post-election audits.

I’ve seen studies that claim non-citizen and Illegal Immigrant voting is extremely rare… What about those?

Studies such as those from the Brennan Center for Justice (link), indicate that non-citizen voting is extremely rare based on available data and the significant legal risks involved.

However, these studies rely on the analysis of documented cases and official records, which would not include undocumented individuals who evaded detection entirely.

For “gotaway” illegal immigrants, since they lack official records, there would be no straightforward method to audit their voting activity after an election. This is a limitation of the current verification systems, which are designed to prevent ineligible voting using the records available. The rarity of non-citizen voting cited in studies is based on the assumption that the risk of severe penalties, including deportation and imprisonment, serves as a strong deterrent against such actions.

In summary, while there are robust systems in place to deter and detect ineligible voting, the nature of undocumented entry into the country creates a gap in the ability to audit post-election voting activity for those individuals. The extent to which this occurs is unknown, and the studies available do not account for individuals without any official records.

All things considered, voting is only a small fraction of the overall concerns that Americans are expressing related to illegal immigration and asylum into the United States.

Gallup recently reported:

Quote from Gallup:

“For the third month in a row, immigration is the problem Americans name more than any other as the most important facing the U.S. While immigration has not ranked as the top problem often in Gallup’s monthly trend, it stands alone as the most politically polarizing issue in the past 25 years of Gallup’s measurement.

The record surge of migrants at the southern U.S. border in December brought even more focus on the issue — and while attempted crossings have eased slightly since then, they are expected to increase as spring continues. President Joe Biden’s approval rating for his handling of immigration has been persistently poor. With the presidential election about six months away and immigration top of mind, the issue remains a significant vulnerability for Biden as he seeks reelection.”

Source: https://news.gallup.com/poll/644570/immigration-named-top-problem-third-straight-month.aspx

Continue Reading

US News

Illegal Immigration Massively Surges in 2024

Published

on

Illegal Immigration Massively Surges in 2024

Continue Reading

Health

Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, Has Been Diagnosed with Terminal Cancer

This follows his transfer to a medical facility in December

Published

on

The new comes from a letter he wrote:

Continue Reading

Trending