Across the country, some teachers are deciding not to return to the classroom this September. The pandemic didn't create the problem of teacher burnout, but it made a bad situation worse. Fed up with low pay, hampered by partisan politics intruding in the classroom, and shaken by the recent Uvalde shooting, many say they have reached their breaking point.
Teacher vacancies have left school districts across the U.S. scrambling to find enough qualified faculty for the fall. In some areas, competition for teachers is fierce, and schools are finding creative ways to hold on to existing teachers and attract new talent.
Host Don Gonyea speaks with John Kuhn, Superintendent of Mineral Wells Independent School District in Texas, about the bold changes he made to retain teachers.
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Planet Money - Wake up and smell the fraud
Sometimes online shopping can feel a little unsavory. There are the listings that make you question if you'll really be getting exactly what's advertised. And there's no worse feeling than paying for something and then not getting it. But when Nina Kollars ordered coffee pods and got WAY more than she asked for, it made her feel just as uneasy. Her quest for answers and what it teaches us about a new generation of online fraud. | Subscribe to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.
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Consider This from NPR - What You Need To Know About Biden’s Plan to Forgive Student Loan Debt
President Biden's plan to forgive federal student loan debt – up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 for others who qualify – leaves millions of borrowers with unanswered questions.
NPR's Sequoia Carrillo and Carolina Rodriguez of the Education Debt Consumer Assistance Program in New York, examine the new plan and help answer some of the frequently asked questions about how it would work.
This episode features reporting from NPR's Scott Horsley.
In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community.
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NPR's Sequoia Carrillo and Carolina Rodriguez of the Education Debt Consumer Assistance Program in New York, examine the new plan and help answer some of the frequently asked questions about how it would work.
This episode features reporting from NPR's Scott Horsley.
In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
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State of the World from NPR - Why the U.S. cares about the war in Ukraine
Six months into the war in Ukraine, why should the U.S. continue to care and spend billions of dollars on the war when Europe is so ambivalent? And what do U.S. officials see as the end game?
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Short Wave - Experience The Quietest Place On Earth
In a crater at the top of a dormant volcano lies a place so quiet, the ambient sound is right near the threshold of human hearing. Visitors to the crater say they can hear their own heartbeats. This spot, in Haleakalā National Park, has been nicknamed the "quietest place on Earth."
Getting there is no small feat--the ascent involves hiking upward through five different climate zones. But the reward is an experience of natural silence that is increasingly difficult to find.
Conservationists, park scientists, and communities all over the United States are working to conserve their pristine soundscapes while noise pollution from planes, vehicles, and other human sources increases. Today, Regina G Barber talks with producer Margaret Cirino about the history, culture, and sound of the Haleakalā crater, and why it should matter to all of us.
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Getting there is no small feat--the ascent involves hiking upward through five different climate zones. But the reward is an experience of natural silence that is increasingly difficult to find.
Conservationists, park scientists, and communities all over the United States are working to conserve their pristine soundscapes while noise pollution from planes, vehicles, and other human sources increases. Today, Regina G Barber talks with producer Margaret Cirino about the history, culture, and sound of the Haleakalā crater, and why it should matter to all of us.
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NPR's Book of the Day - Paula Hawkins and Amanda Jayatissa highlight class inequality via mystery
The two books in this episode are thrillers that center class as the theme of the narrative. First up is A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins that the author says, in an interview with Mary Louise Kelly, is a crime-murder-mystery in a setting where "the powerful and the powerless" are right next to each other. Next is You're Invited, authored by Amanda Jayatissa, about a wedding invite gone wrong – but, as Jayatissa shared with Ayesha Roscoe, is actually a backdrop to highlight Sri Lanka's present inequalities.
Consider This from NPR - Dr. Anthony Fauci Steps Away
For nearly four decades, Dr. Anthony Fauci has been leading the fight against infectious diseases in America - including AIDS and COVID-19. Now, he's stepping away.
Earlier this week, Dr. Fauci announced he would retire as the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the end of the year. In this episode, we'll talk with Dr. Fauci about his decision to leave, and take a look at the twists and turns of his long - and sometimes controversial - career.
In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
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Earlier this week, Dr. Fauci announced he would retire as the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the end of the year. In this episode, we'll talk with Dr. Fauci about his decision to leave, and take a look at the twists and turns of his long - and sometimes controversial - career.
In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
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State of the World from NPR - What are the longterm implications of the U.S. sending military supplies to Ukraine?
The Pentagon is ramping up its support of Ukraine in its war against Russia. The Defense Department is sending another $3 billion to Ukraine. That brings total U.S. aid to more than $13 billion.
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Short Wave - Artemis: NASA’s New Chapter In Space
Humans haven't set foot on the moon in 50 years, but NASA hopes to take one step closer with the launch of a new rocket and space capsule on Monday. Today, science correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce joins Scientist in Residence Regina G. Barber to talk about what NASA hopes to learn from this test flight and why it might be difficult to justify the program's cost.
Planning to tune in for Monday's launch? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.
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Planning to tune in for Monday's launch? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.
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NPR's Book of the Day - Sidik Fofana addresses how complicated gentrification is in debut story collection
Sidik Fofana's short story collection can be best described as "addressing the notion that gentrification is complicated." Those were Fofana's words to NPR's Daniel Estrin as they talked about his debut book, Stories from the Tenants Downstairs. Fofana, who's also a public school teacher, uses the emotions he's felt growing up and situations of other people he's known, to ask: "How would I feel if this happened to me?" He writes them down in his collection as distinct voices and characters struggling to get by in a fictional high rise building in Harlem.