By Show of Hands...How Many of Your Schools Have Had Teachers Leave Already?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I'm
Sorry that you are having a hard time. However, can you step back and see how arrogant you (likely) were when you started just a few weeks ago? DCPS attracts/recruits urban teaching 'veterans' who assume that they can do what DCPS teachers cannot accomplish. It drives me nuts. Every year I see you all start the year with smug attitudes and then bail. Turns out that this is a tough as hell place to teach.

This is my first year teaching ever. I wasn't smug at all. I didn't assume much. I wanted to teach here, because I grew up here. I received a crappy education. My teachers used to turn on a video and walk out of the room. I wasn't prepared for college. Somehow I made it anyway. I wanted to help people who look like me see a world outside of the bubble that they know. I'm not leaving because it's "tough as hell." This place is hell.

I'm leaving because in the first week one teacher had his arm dislocated by a student while another suffered a broken hand. They threatened to rape a female teacher after work. One of my students was arrested in my classroom for fighting another student for "looking at him." That same day, another student was beaten unconscious in the classroom next door. The students intentionally threw laptops from the laptop cart to the ground, shattering them, because they "didn't feel like reading." All of these students are still enrolled. At most they received a two or three day suspension and returned with new shoes, new hairdos, and a new lore among their peers.

They sit in the classes on their phones, they gamble, they throw chairs and flip over tables in what our administration writes off as "attention seeking behavior" and all throughout this someone comes in to informally observe us and tell us how shitty of a job we're doing. They don't suspend or expel, because the goal is to reduce suspension numbers this year. I call parents everyday and, while a FEW apologize and say that they'll try to speak with their kids, the majority say something along the lines of "that's your problem," "I've washed my hands of my child," or "don't call me again."

My evaluation is based on their test scores, but 90% of my students are five or six years below grade level. They're working on learning basic subtraction in 10th grade Math. I don't fault them for that. The system failed them, but you can't put 28 of them in one class with one teacher and with these behaviors and expect any actual learning to occur. I have 34 in some classes despite union rules and the most I get is a stipend because it violates the agreement. I technically get a planning period each day, but I have meetings or am told to cover someone else's class 3-4 times a week. I leave the building around 5 after all of our after school meetings, then pick up my child. By the time I get home, it's after six. After my child is fed, then I get to grading and filling out paperwork for 215 kids. Then, I work on my lesson which is essentially a 90 minute presentation every single day.

Please don't lessen the experience by making it seem like we're just in a funk about kids who may be a little talkative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I'm
Sorry that you are having a hard time. However, can you step back and see how arrogant you (likely) were when you started just a few weeks ago? DCPS attracts/recruits urban teaching 'veterans' who assume that they can do what DCPS teachers cannot accomplish. It drives me nuts. Every year I see you all start the year with smug attitudes and then bail. Turns out that this is a tough as hell place to teach.

This is my first year teaching ever. I wasn't smug at all. I didn't assume much. I wanted to teach here, because I grew up here. I received a crappy education. My teachers used to turn on a video and walk out of the room. I wasn't prepared for college. Somehow I made it anyway. I wanted to help people who look like me see a world outside of the bubble that they know. I'm not leaving because it's "tough as hell." This place is hell.

I'm leaving because in the first week one teacher had his arm dislocated by a student while another suffered a broken hand. They threatened to rape a female teacher after work. One of my students was arrested in my classroom for fighting another student for "looking at him." That same day, another student was beaten unconscious in the classroom next door. The students intentionally threw laptops from the laptop cart to the ground, shattering them, because they "didn't feel like reading." All of these students are still enrolled. At most they received a two or three day suspension and returned with new shoes, new hairdos, and a new lore among their peers.

They sit in the classes on their phones, they gamble, they throw chairs and flip over tables in what our administration writes off as "attention seeking behavior" and all throughout this someone comes in to informally observe us and tell us how shitty of a job we're doing. They don't suspend or expel, because the goal is to reduce suspension numbers this year. I call parents everyday and, while a FEW apologize and say that they'll try to speak with their kids, the majority say something along the lines of "that's your problem," "I've washed my hands of my child," or "don't call me again."

My evaluation is based on their test scores, but 90% of my students are five or six years below grade level. They're working on learning basic subtraction in 10th grade Math. I don't fault them for that. The system failed them, but you can't put 28 of them in one class with one teacher and with these behaviors and expect any actual learning to occur. I have 34 in some classes despite union rules and the most I get is a stipend because it violates the agreement. I technically get a planning period each day, but I have meetings or am told to cover someone else's class 3-4 times a week. I leave the building around 5 after all of our after school meetings, then pick up my child. By the time I get home, it's after six. After my child is fed, then I get to grading and filling out paperwork for 215 kids. Then, I work on my lesson which is essentially a 90 minute presentation every single day.

Please don't lessen the experience by making it seem like we're just in a funk about kids who may be a little talkative.

What school is this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I'm
Sorry that you are having a hard time. However, can you step back and see how arrogant you (likely) were when you started just a few weeks ago? DCPS attracts/recruits urban teaching 'veterans' who assume that they can do what DCPS teachers cannot accomplish. It drives me nuts. Every year I see you all start the year with smug attitudes and then bail. Turns out that this is a tough as hell place to teach.

This is my first year teaching ever. I wasn't smug at all. I didn't assume much. I wanted to teach here, because I grew up here. I received a crappy education. My teachers used to turn on a video and walk out of the room. I wasn't prepared for college. Somehow I made it anyway. I wanted to help people who look like me see a world outside of the bubble that they know. I'm not leaving because it's "tough as hell." This place is hell.

I'm leaving because in the first week one teacher had his arm dislocated by a student while another suffered a broken hand. They threatened to rape a female teacher after work. One of my students was arrested in my classroom for fighting another student for "looking at him." That same day, another student was beaten unconscious in the classroom next door. The students intentionally threw laptops from the laptop cart to the ground, shattering them, because they "didn't feel like reading." All of these students are still enrolled. At most they received a two or three day suspension and returned with new shoes, new hairdos, and a new lore among their peers.

They sit in the classes on their phones, they gamble, they throw chairs and flip over tables in what our administration writes off as "attention seeking behavior" and all throughout this someone comes in to informally observe us and tell us how shitty of a job we're doing. They don't suspend or expel, because the goal is to reduce suspension numbers this year. I call parents everyday and, while a FEW apologize and say that they'll try to speak with their kids, the majority say something along the lines of "that's your problem," "I've washed my hands of my child," or "don't call me again."

My evaluation is based on their test scores, but 90% of my students are five or six years below grade level. They're working on learning basic subtraction in 10th grade Math. I don't fault them for that. The system failed them, but you can't put 28 of them in one class with one teacher and with these behaviors and expect any actual learning to occur. I have 34 in some classes despite union rules and the most I get is a stipend because it violates the agreement. I technically get a planning period each day, but I have meetings or am told to cover someone else's class 3-4 times a week. I leave the building around 5 after all of our after school meetings, then pick up my child. By the time I get home, it's after six. After my child is fed, then I get to grading and filling out paperwork for 215 kids. Then, I work on my lesson which is essentially a 90 minute presentation every single day.

Please don't lessen the experience by making it seem like we're just in a funk about kids who may be a little talkative.

PP - thanks for writing this. It is sobering but important.

Please stay safe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I'm
Sorry that you are having a hard time. However, can you step back and see how arrogant you (likely) were when you started just a few weeks ago? DCPS attracts/recruits urban teaching 'veterans' who assume that they can do what DCPS teachers cannot accomplish. It drives me nuts. Every year I see you all start the year with smug attitudes and then bail. Turns out that this is a tough as hell place to teach.

This is my first year teaching ever. I wasn't smug at all. I didn't assume much. I wanted to teach here, because I grew up here. I received a crappy education. My teachers used to turn on a video and walk out of the room. I wasn't prepared for college. Somehow I made it anyway. I wanted to help people who look like me see a world outside of the bubble that they know. I'm not leaving because it's "tough as hell." This place is hell.

I'm leaving because in the first week one teacher had his arm dislocated by a student while another suffered a broken hand. They threatened to rape a female teacher after work. One of my students was arrested in my classroom for fighting another student for "looking at him." That same day, another student was beaten unconscious in the classroom next door. The students intentionally threw laptops from the laptop cart to the ground, shattering them, because they "didn't feel like reading." All of these students are still enrolled. At most they received a two or three day suspension and returned with new shoes, new hairdos, and a new lore among their peers.

They sit in the classes on their phones, they gamble, they throw chairs and flip over tables in what our administration writes off as "attention seeking behavior" and all throughout this someone comes in to informally observe us and tell us how shitty of a job we're doing. They don't suspend or expel, because the goal is to reduce suspension numbers this year. I call parents everyday and, while a FEW apologize and say that they'll try to speak with their kids, the majority say something along the lines of "that's your problem," "I've washed my hands of my child," or "don't call me again."

My evaluation is based on their test scores, but 90% of my students are five or six years below grade level. They're working on learning basic subtraction in 10th grade Math. I don't fault them for that. The system failed them, but you can't put 28 of them in one class with one teacher and with these behaviors and expect any actual learning to occur. I have 34 in some classes despite union rules and the most I get is a stipend because it violates the agreement. I technically get a planning period each day, but I have meetings or am told to cover someone else's class 3-4 times a week. I leave the building around 5 after all of our after school meetings, then pick up my child. By the time I get home, it's after six. After my child is fed, then I get to grading and filling out paperwork for 215 kids. Then, I work on my lesson which is essentially a 90 minute presentation every single day.

Please don't lessen the experience by making it seem like we're just in a funk about kids who may be a little talkative.

PP - thanks for writing this. It is sobering but important.

Please stay safe.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I'm
Sorry that you are having a hard time. However, can you step back and see how arrogant you (likely) were when you started just a few weeks ago? DCPS attracts/recruits urban teaching 'veterans' who assume that they can do what DCPS teachers cannot accomplish. It drives me nuts. Every year I see you all start the year with smug attitudes and then bail. Turns out that this is a tough as hell place to teach.

This is my first year teaching ever. I wasn't smug at all. I didn't assume much. I wanted to teach here, because I grew up here. I received a crappy education. My teachers used to turn on a video and walk out of the room. I wasn't prepared for college. Somehow I made it anyway. I wanted to help people who look like me see a world outside of the bubble that they know. I'm not leaving because it's "tough as hell." This place is hell.

I'm leaving because in the first week one teacher had his arm dislocated by a student while another suffered a broken hand. They threatened to rape a female teacher after work. One of my students was arrested in my classroom for fighting another student for "looking at him." That same day, another student was beaten unconscious in the classroom next door. The students intentionally threw laptops from the laptop cart to the ground, shattering them, because they "didn't feel like reading." All of these students are still enrolled. At most they received a two or three day suspension and returned with new shoes, new hairdos, and a new lore among their peers.

They sit in the classes on their phones, they gamble, they throw chairs and flip over tables in what our administration writes off as "attention seeking behavior" and all throughout this someone comes in to informally observe us and tell us how shitty of a job we're doing. They don't suspend or expel, because the goal is to reduce suspension numbers this year. I call parents everyday and, while a FEW apologize and say that they'll try to speak with their kids, the majority say something along the lines of "that's your problem," "I've washed my hands of my child," or "don't call me again."

My evaluation is based on their test scores, but 90% of my students are five or six years below grade level. They're working on learning basic subtraction in 10th grade Math. I don't fault them for that. The system failed them, but you can't put 28 of them in one class with one teacher and with these behaviors and expect any actual learning to occur. I have 34 in some classes despite union rules and the most I get is a stipend because it violates the agreement. I technically get a planning period each day, but I have meetings or am told to cover someone else's class 3-4 times a week. I leave the building around 5 after all of our after school meetings, then pick up my child. By the time I get home, it's after six. After my child is fed, then I get to grading and filling out paperwork for 215 kids. Then, I work on my lesson which is essentially a 90 minute presentation every single day.

Please don't lessen the experience by making it seem like we're just in a funk about kids who may be a little talkative.

You've summed it up perfectly. THIS is why teachers leave in droves throughout the year. No amount of money is worth this.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I'm
Sorry that you are having a hard time. However, can you step back and see how arrogant you (likely) were when you started just a few weeks ago? DCPS attracts/recruits urban teaching 'veterans' who assume that they can do what DCPS teachers cannot accomplish. It drives me nuts. Every year I see you all start the year with smug attitudes and then bail. Turns out that this is a tough as hell place to teach.

This is my first year teaching ever. I wasn't smug at all. I didn't assume much. I wanted to teach here, because I grew up here. I received a crappy education. My teachers used to turn on a video and walk out of the room. I wasn't prepared for college. Somehow I made it anyway. I wanted to help people who look like me see a world outside of the bubble that they know. I'm not leaving because it's "tough as hell." This place is hell.

I'm leaving because in the first week one teacher had his arm dislocated by a student while another suffered a broken hand. They threatened to rape a female teacher after work. One of my students was arrested in my classroom for fighting another student for "looking at him." That same day, another student was beaten unconscious in the classroom next door. The students intentionally threw laptops from the laptop cart to the ground, shattering them, because they "didn't feel like reading." All of these students are still enrolled. At most they received a two or three day suspension and returned with new shoes, new hairdos, and a new lore among their peers.

They sit in the classes on their phones, they gamble, they throw chairs and flip over tables in what our administration writes off as "attention seeking behavior" and all throughout this someone comes in to informally observe us and tell us how shitty of a job we're doing. They don't suspend or expel, because the goal is to reduce suspension numbers this year. I call parents everyday and, while a FEW apologize and say that they'll try to speak with their kids, the majority say something along the lines of "that's your problem," "I've washed my hands of my child," or "don't call me again."

My evaluation is based on their test scores, but 90% of my students are five or six years below grade level. They're working on learning basic subtraction in 10th grade Math. I don't fault them for that. The system failed them, but you can't put 28 of them in one class with one teacher and with these behaviors and expect any actual learning to occur. I have 34 in some classes despite union rules and the most I get is a stipend because it violates the agreement. I technically get a planning period each day, but I have meetings or am told to cover someone else's class 3-4 times a week. I leave the building around 5 after all of our after school meetings, then pick up my child. By the time I get home, it's after six. After my child is fed, then I get to grading and filling out paperwork for 215 kids. Then, I work on my lesson which is essentially a 90 minute presentation every single day.

Please don't lessen the experience by making it seem like we're just in a funk about kids who may be a little talkative.

PP, would you consent to me reposting this on our home page as a blog article? I think your experience should get more exposure. It is a real wake-up call.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is teaching really that bad these days or is it just tough teaching in DC? I attended one of the worst high schools in the DC suburbs and I don't ever recall a teacher quitting during the school year.

I've been working for DCPS for more than 10 years, and every year we are asked to do more. I can only imagine what it's like for a new teacher to come on board and be faced with our to-do list. It must be overwhelming. I'm not sure how I've survived this long.

It's so disappointing to hear how much teachers dislike their jobs. How can parents help?

Teachers don't dislike their jobs. It's the conditions & lack of support that's unique to DC. Many of those teachers leave and find teaching jobs they love elsewhere. And on more than one occasion they've said they love being treated as a professional and talked to with respect. The fights, cussing, teacher assaults are all things teachers dislike about DCPS. In no other place can a student cuss out a teacher and have admin shrug and say "Oh well. That's how it is here."

I see teachers everywhere complaining about their profession, not just in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I'm
Sorry that you are having a hard time. However, can you step back and see how arrogant you (likely) were when you started just a few weeks ago? DCPS attracts/recruits urban teaching 'veterans' who assume that they can do what DCPS teachers cannot accomplish. It drives me nuts. Every year I see you all start the year with smug attitudes and then bail. Turns out that this is a tough as hell place to teach.

This is my first year teaching ever. I wasn't smug at all. I didn't assume much. I wanted to teach here, because I grew up here. I received a crappy education. My teachers used to turn on a video and walk out of the room. I wasn't prepared for college. Somehow I made it anyway. I wanted to help people who look like me see a world outside of the bubble that they know. I'm not leaving because it's "tough as hell." This place is hell.

I'm leaving because in the first week one teacher had his arm dislocated by a student while another suffered a broken hand. They threatened to rape a female teacher after work. One of my students was arrested in my classroom for fighting another student for "looking at him." That same day, another student was beaten unconscious in the classroom next door. The students intentionally threw laptops from the laptop cart to the ground, shattering them, because they "didn't feel like reading." All of these students are still enrolled. At most they received a two or three day suspension and returned with new shoes, new hairdos, and a new lore among their peers.

They sit in the classes on their phones, they gamble, they throw chairs and flip over tables in what our administration writes off as "attention seeking behavior" and all throughout this someone comes in to informally observe us and tell us how shitty of a job we're doing. They don't suspend or expel, because the goal is to reduce suspension numbers this year. I call parents everyday and, while a FEW apologize and say that they'll try to speak with their kids, the majority say something along the lines of "that's your problem," "I've washed my hands of my child," or "don't call me again."

My evaluation is based on their test scores, but 90% of my students are five or six years below grade level. They're working on learning basic subtraction in 10th grade Math. I don't fault them for that. The system failed them, but you can't put 28 of them in one class with one teacher and with these behaviors and expect any actual learning to occur. I have 34 in some classes despite union rules and the most I get is a stipend because it violates the agreement. I technically get a planning period each day, but I have meetings or am told to cover someone else's class 3-4 times a week. I leave the building around 5 after all of our after school meetings, then pick up my child. By the time I get home, it's after six. After my child is fed, then I get to grading and filling out paperwork for 215 kids. Then, I work on my lesson which is essentially a 90 minute presentation every single day.

Please don't lessen the experience by making it seem like we're just in a funk about kids who may be a little talkative.

PP, I applaud your dedication to your community (I also attended public schools with isolated incidents like this, but not to the level you've described). However, this seems to be a recipe for high stress and early burnout if not outright quitting. Can you make any changes that would reduce stress, such as working with younger kids or working at a different school with more of a mix of families (in terms of SES level)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is teaching really that bad these days or is it just tough teaching in DC? I attended one of the worst high schools in the DC suburbs and I don't ever recall a teacher quitting during the school year.

I've been working for DCPS for more than 10 years, and every year we are asked to do more. I can only imagine what it's like for a new teacher to come on board and be faced with our to-do list. It must be overwhelming. I'm not sure how I've survived this long.

It's so disappointing to hear how much teachers dislike their jobs. How can parents help?

Please visit the thread where parents are arguing that teaching is so easy and teachers are idiots. This is my life. I spent an hour today with a parent who was less concerned with her son's failure to study for an assessment than the fact that I called it a quiz rather than a test. She was very hung up on the idea that there was a test (gasp) in the third week of school and not at all worried that he hadn't done six preparatory assignments. But what do I know? I'm just a teacher.

Sorry to read this. Unfortunately, most of us have to deal with know-it-alls in the workplace, whether it's a colleague or a "customer". For those parents who want to help, how could we make your job easier?

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I'm
Sorry that you are having a hard time. However, can you step back and see how arrogant you (likely) were when you started just a few weeks ago? DCPS attracts/recruits urban teaching 'veterans' who assume that they can do what DCPS teachers cannot accomplish. It drives me nuts. Every year I see you all start the year with smug attitudes and then bail. Turns out that this is a tough as hell place to teach.

This is my first year teaching ever. I wasn't smug at all. I didn't assume much. I wanted to teach here, because I grew up here. I received a crappy education. My teachers used to turn on a video and walk out of the room. I wasn't prepared for college. Somehow I made it anyway. I wanted to help people who look like me see a world outside of the bubble that they know. I'm not leaving because it's "tough as hell." This place is hell.

I'm leaving because in the first week one teacher had his arm dislocated by a student while another suffered a broken hand. They threatened to rape a female teacher after work. One of my students was arrested in my classroom for fighting another student for "looking at him." That same day, another student was beaten unconscious in the classroom next door. The students intentionally threw laptops from the laptop cart to the ground, shattering them, because they "didn't feel like reading." All of these students are still enrolled. At most they received a two or three day suspension and returned with new shoes, new hairdos, and a new lore among their peers.

They sit in the classes on their phones, they gamble, they throw chairs and flip over tables in what our administration writes off as "attention seeking behavior" and all throughout this someone comes in to informally observe us and tell us how shitty of a job we're doing. They don't suspend or expel, because the goal is to reduce suspension numbers this year. I call parents everyday and, while a FEW apologize and say that they'll try to speak with their kids, the majority say something along the lines of "that's your problem," "I've washed my hands of my child," or "don't call me again."

My evaluation is based on their test scores, but 90% of my students are five or six years below grade level. They're working on learning basic subtraction in 10th grade Math. I don't fault them for that. The system failed them, but you can't put 28 of them in one class with one teacher and with these behaviors and expect any actual learning to occur. I have 34 in some classes despite union rules and the most I get is a stipend because it violates the agreement. I technically get a planning period each day, but I have meetings or am told to cover someone else's class 3-4 times a week. I leave the building around 5 after all of our after school meetings, then pick up my child. By the time I get home, it's after six. After my child is fed, then I get to grading and filling out paperwork for 215 kids. Then, I work on my lesson which is essentially a 90 minute presentation every single day.

Please don't lessen the experience by making it seem like we're just in a funk about kids who may be a little talkative.

PP, would you consent to me reposting this on our home page as a blog article? I think your experience should get more exposure. It is a real wake-up call.

Yes, you have my consent.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, you have my consent.

Thanks. Just added it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I'm
Sorry that you are having a hard time. However, can you step back and see how arrogant you (likely) were when you started just a few weeks ago? DCPS attracts/recruits urban teaching 'veterans' who assume that they can do what DCPS teachers cannot accomplish. It drives me nuts. Every year I see you all start the year with smug attitudes and then bail. Turns out that this is a tough as hell place to teach.

This is my first year teaching ever. I wasn't smug at all. I didn't assume much. I wanted to teach here, because I grew up here. I received a crappy education. My teachers used to turn on a video and walk out of the room. I wasn't prepared for college. Somehow I made it anyway. I wanted to help people who look like me see a world outside of the bubble that they know. I'm not leaving because it's "tough as hell." This place is hell.

I'm leaving because in the first week one teacher had his arm dislocated by a student while another suffered a broken hand. They threatened to rape a female teacher after work. One of my students was arrested in my classroom for fighting another student for "looking at him." That same day, another student was beaten unconscious in the classroom next door. The students intentionally threw laptops from the laptop cart to the ground, shattering them, because they "didn't feel like reading." All of these students are still enrolled. At most they received a two or three day suspension and returned with new shoes, new hairdos, and a new lore among their peers.

They sit in the classes on their phones, they gamble, they throw chairs and flip over tables in what our administration writes off as "attention seeking behavior" and all throughout this someone comes in to informally observe us and tell us how shitty of a job we're doing. They don't suspend or expel, because the goal is to reduce suspension numbers this year. I call parents everyday and, while a FEW apologize and say that they'll try to speak with their kids, the majority say something along the lines of "that's your problem," "I've washed my hands of my child," or "don't call me again."

My evaluation is based on their test scores, but 90% of my students are five or six years below grade level. They're working on learning basic subtraction in 10th grade Math. I don't fault them for that. The system failed them, but you can't put 28 of them in one class with one teacher and with these behaviors and expect any actual learning to occur. I have 34 in some classes despite union rules and the most I get is a stipend because it violates the agreement. I technically get a planning period each day, but I have meetings or am told to cover someone else's class 3-4 times a week. I leave the building around 5 after all of our after school meetings, then pick up my child. By the time I get home, it's after six. After my child is fed, then I get to grading and filling out paperwork for 215 kids. Then, I work on my lesson which is essentially a 90 minute presentation every single day.

Please don't lessen the experience by making it seem like we're just in a funk about kids who may be a little talkative.

PP, thank you for your candidness. This is sobering. I agree with the other posters...please stay safe and do what you have to for your own sanity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I'm
Sorry that you are having a hard time. However, can you step back and see how arrogant you (likely) were when you started just a few weeks ago? DCPS attracts/recruits urban teaching 'veterans' who assume that they can do what DCPS teachers cannot accomplish. It drives me nuts. Every year I see you all start the year with smug attitudes and then bail. Turns out that this is a tough as hell place to teach.

This is my first year teaching ever. I wasn't smug at all. I didn't assume much. I wanted to teach here, because I grew up here. I received a crappy education. My teachers used to turn on a video and walk out of the room. I wasn't prepared for college. Somehow I made it anyway. I wanted to help people who look like me see a world outside of the bubble that they know. I'm not leaving because it's "tough as hell." This place is hell.

I'm leaving because in the first week one teacher had his arm dislocated by a student while another suffered a broken hand. They threatened to rape a female teacher after work. One of my students was arrested in my classroom for fighting another student for "looking at him." That same day, another student was beaten unconscious in the classroom next door. The students intentionally threw laptops from the laptop cart to the ground, shattering them, because they "didn't feel like reading." All of these students are still enrolled. At most they received a two or three day suspension and returned with new shoes, new hairdos, and a new lore among their peers.

They sit in the classes on their phones, they gamble, they throw chairs and flip over tables in what our administration writes off as "attention seeking behavior" and all throughout this someone comes in to informally observe us and tell us how shitty of a job we're doing. They don't suspend or expel, because the goal is to reduce suspension numbers this year. I call parents everyday and, while a FEW apologize and say that they'll try to speak with their kids, the majority say something along the lines of "that's your problem," "I've washed my hands of my child," or "don't call me again."

My evaluation is based on their test scores, but 90% of my students are five or six years below grade level. They're working on learning basic subtraction in 10th grade Math. I don't fault them for that. The system failed them, but you can't put 28 of them in one class with one teacher and with these behaviors and expect any actual learning to occur. I have 34 in some classes despite union rules and the most I get is a stipend because it violates the agreement. I technically get a planning period each day, but I have meetings or am told to cover someone else's class 3-4 times a week. I leave the building around 5 after all of our after school meetings, then pick up my child. By the time I get home, it's after six. After my child is fed, then I get to grading and filling out paperwork for 215 kids. Then, I work on my lesson which is essentially a 90 minute presentation every single day.

Please don't lessen the experience by making it seem like we're just in a funk about kids who may be a little talkative.

I'm curious if any of the teachers reported any of the assault incidents to the police? If so, what was the police response? Have any of the teachers gone to non-union lawyers to consider filing suit against DCPS for negligence in creating an unsafe work environment? Have any of the teachers gone to DC council members interested in education? Have any of them talked to education reporters?

I feel about DCPS disciplining students for assault the same way I feel about colleges investigating rape. HS staff do not have the resources or training to deal with legal issues. They also have incentives to hide their own negligence in creating an unsafe environment. While I don't think one lawsuit is likely to change a system, it is not until multiple suits are filed resulting in large legal fees and damage payouts and the disclosures under discovery that problems are exposed and can begin to be addressed.

[Anonymous]

What do other cities do differently, with regards to punishment/expulsion?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is teaching really that bad these days or is it just tough teaching in DC? I attended one of the worst high schools in the DC suburbs and I don't ever recall a teacher quitting during the school year.

I've been working for DCPS for more than 10 years, and every year we are asked to do more. I can only imagine what it's like for a new teacher to come on board and be faced with our to-do list. It must be overwhelming. I'm not sure how I've survived this long.

It's so disappointing to hear how much teachers dislike their jobs. How can parents help?

Teachers don't dislike their jobs. It's the conditions & lack of support that's unique to DC. Many of those teachers leave and find teaching jobs they love elsewhere. And on more than one occasion they've said they love being treated as a professional and talked to with respect. The fights, cussing, teacher assaults are all things teachers dislike about DCPS. In no other place can a student cuss out a teacher and have admin shrug and say "Oh well. That's how it is here."

Where have you been, this happens in school districts all over the country. Youtube is full of videos of disrespectful kids.