SARL Members and Alumni

Many schools across the country are struggling with a crippling teacher shortage. The number of students entering university-based teacher preparation programs has steadily declined and the number of teachers retiring or getting ready to retire is increasing; adding to this, current working conditions and public perceptions of the teaching profession have led to increased turnover rates — and according to some organizations, this growing shortage of teachers is at crisis level.This is especially true for rural communities, including in Colorado. [node:read-more:link]

State Rep. Tim Sneller, D-Burton, has owned dogs all his life, including his current rescue pet Oscar, a miniature Dachsund whose woof is always welcome. He wants to make sure that other pet owners appreciate that a dog’s bark is an essential multi-purpose signal —that they need to go out, eat or provide a warning of impending danger — and prohibit veterinarians from performing debarking procedures.He’s introduced a bill that bans the procedure of removing tissue from a pet’s vocal cords in order to reduce or soften a dog’s bark.“That’s the way the dog communicates with us,” he said. [node:read-more:link]

The Arizona Department of Education hopes to make changes to science standards, which will affect K-12 districts and charter schools. The changes include removing the word "evolution" in some areas and describing it as a "theory" in others. Some educators and scientists are outraged by the change. According to the department, the standards are not curriculum or instructional practices. The standards focus on 14 core ideas regarding science and engineering that teachers use to create their curriculum. [node:read-more:link]

With tax revenue from legal pot sales in California falling short of projections, a financial analysis firm estimated Tuesday that total sales this year will be $1.9 billion, significantly less than the $3.8 billion the company expected.The firm, New Frontier Data, had also estimated that total sales in California would reach $6.7 billion by 2025, but now says it is more likely the industry will generate $4.72 billion by then.Most cities in California have refused to allow pot businesses, and there are tough rules for those who want state licenses to grow, distribute and sell marijuana.  [node:read-more:link]

Even before the opioid crisis peaked here in 2016, Ohio was already spending about the same on opioid dependency statewide as it did kindergarten through high school education, according to a recently released study. The enormous price tag in 2015 of opioid dependency in the state was somewhere between $6.6 billion and $8.8 billion. During the same time, the state spent about $8.2 billion on public education, according to the study released by Ohio State University’s C. [node:read-more:link]

New York State will invest $12 million to help build the College of Veterinary Medicine at LIU Post in Brookville as part of the state's $72 million investment to support three transformative, economic developments on Long Island, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced. The funds will go towards a $40 million project to create a College of Veterinary Medicine at Long Island University to help fill a void in that academic area. There are only 30 schools of veterinary medicine in the United States and just three in the northeast. [node:read-more:link]

A week and a half after the earth split open in Puna and the hazards of Kilauea began devouring and toxifying everything in their path, 67-year-old Garuda Johnson looked out his window. Seeing through the sulfur dioxide-laced haze of vog — which has measured quantities of SO2 as high as 10 parts per million (ppm) on Johnson’s personal monitor — is nearly impossible at distance. [node:read-more:link]

A nonprofit group called the McLemore Cove Preservation Society is suing the government of Walker County, Georgia, claiming that government officials are secretly “conspiring to install a large-scale chicken slaughterhouse” in the area. The group claims county officials are in talks with Pilgrim’s Pride and is offering the company tax incentives to open a plant there. Walker County is located directly south of Chattanooga, Tennessee.However, those talks have never been confirmed by county officials or by Pilgrim’s Pride. [node:read-more:link]

A group of dairy farmers and experts argued Wednesday that to save family farms from going out of business, the U.S. needs to adopt some form of supply management like Canada has.Farmers across the country have experienced a drop in earnings from their milk in recent years as rising milk production across the U.S. and other countries has flooded domestic and international markets. Increased milk production has resulted in a market oversupply. [node:read-more:link]

Texas Tech University’s plans for a new veterinary college—the first new veterinary school in the U.S. in 40 years—took another step forward this week.The Amarillo City Council approved a 69-million dollar funding plan to ensure construction of the school in Amarillo. Work continues to line up state funding and private donations for the school, which is scheduled to open in the fall of 2021.Texas Tech officials say the school is needed to address a critical shortage of farm animal veterinarians in rural areas.The new school will be the 31st veterinary school in the country. [node:read-more:link]