John B. King Jr., Secretary of Education under President Obama, talks about the need to give students a fresh start.
“I worry about young people who are going through struggles; they lose a sense of hopefulness that it could be better, that it could be different,” says King.
Speaking from personal experience, King calls for educators to offer fresh starts to students: “I’m the first United States Secretary of Education that was kicked out of high school. But then there were teachers and a school counselor and family members who gave me a second chance, who were willing to see me as more than the sum of my mistakes. And that was hugely important.”
King also addresses the staffing shortages in schools, “Teachers feel overwhelmed because they can’t support their students and families in the way they would want, and they don’t have colleagues to work with them. I think education can sadly be quite isolating for some teachers where they feel like they have to do it all on their own, in their classroom.”
Then we’ll hear from Ed Matthews, principal of South Fort Myers High School in Fort Myers, Florida, discussing the impact of the BARR system on how teachers interact at South Fort Myers, eradicating the school’s staffing challenges.
Matthews says that prior to implementing the BARR Model, “South Fort Myers High School school used to have 12 to 15 teaching vacancies, like nonstop. We’ve been fully staffed all year. And in fact, a lot of our staff members have now been receiving promotions. And the only time that we’re really losing people is when they’re getting promoted.”
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