Survey: Teachers Burning Out In California, Supply Down Everywhere Else In US
Recently UCLAs Center for the Transformation of Schools released findings from a survey that polled over 4000 California teachers of various backgrounds on their feelings towards their careers. One exceptional finding was that over one third of respondents currently teaching and not near retirement age admitted they were seriously considering leaving their professions in the next three years. At the same time, the data shows there was a slight increase in the total amount of teachers hired in California.
Notably, the survey purposefully overrepresented teachers of color in order to survey their responses on questions about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in-depth. Overall, California teachers cited a couple of reasons they were considering leaving education: an overall feeling of burnout and an increase in politically based retaliation against teachers. The findings follow an ongoing trend of surveys and studies measuring disappointment among the profession and a marked decrease interest in pursuing the field. Here to talk about ongoing trends in teacher burnout, the decrease in teaching students and the economics of teaching today are Kai Mathews, project director at the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools and Chad Aldeman, policy director at the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University.
The State Of California Prisons: Sentencing Reform
In 2020, the state Committee on Revision of the Penal Code was created to explore ways to reduce California’s incarceration rate. In 2021, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed six of the initial ten recommendations from the committee into law. Among other changes, the new laws ended mandatory sentencing minimums for nonviolent drug offenses and put limits on sentence enhancements for gang affiliation. While advocates have praised these pieces of legislation and past reforms, others have cited them as a reason for an uptick in certain crimes in California. Continuing our weeklong series looking at the California prison system, today we focus on efforts to reform sentencing in the state. We’ll look at recent and planned reform efforts, and their impact on both crime rates and recidivism as well as how restorative justice factors into the picture.
Joining guest host Kyle Stokes today is Heidi Rummel, professor of law at USC and director of the Post-Conviction Justice Project and Eric Siddall, Vice President of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys.
FilmWeek: ‘Bros,’ ‘God’s Creatures,’ ‘Nothing Compares,’ ‘Hocus Pocus 2’ And More
Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Lael Loewenstein and Claudia Puig review this weekend’s new movie releases on streaming and on demand platforms. Also on the show, John Horn interviews ‘The Woman King’ director Gina Prince-Bythewood.
John Horn’s Interview about ‘The Woman King’ with Director Gina Prince-Bythewood
The new film, ‘The Woman King’ is a rarity in Hollywood with a Black female studio head, a Black female director, and an overwhelmingly Black cast. The film is a fictionalized account of a group of 19th century African warriors who were all women. It stars Viola Davis and is directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood of ‘Love & Basketball,’ ‘The Secret Life of Bees,’ and ‘The Old Guard.’ In addition to strong reviews and word-of-mouth, ‘The Woman King’ has done quite well at the box office.
Today on FilmWeek, KPCC’s own John Horn sits down with Gina Prince-Bythewood to talk about bringing ‘The Woman King,’ to the screen.