Are teachers overworked and underpaid? Declining teacher retention rates.

[Anonymous]

I am a parent and have had kids in DCPS since 2012 (whoa) and there's been a huge swing in visibility into my kid's education in the last few years.

In the leadup to COVID days aka the Before Times, parents were in schools very frequently and then suddenly we couldn't see anything - except exactly how class was going with our kids' teachers.

Then afterwards, entry into schools has been way less frequent and parent interaction far more arms length/less personal.

So I hardly know my kids' teachers and how hard their jobs are. I can guess. I can presume. But I have way fewer direct relationships with teachers than in the past.

My thoughts on teachers and their pay and workloads based on a few years with this:

I think the pay is probably fine. Everybody wants more money and DC is a more expensive metro than many. I think there's probably more concern about whether teachers have a job next year or not. There's the stress of being managed/graded in ways that can lead to your termination. There's also a budgeting system that for no good reason seems set to fire at least some teachers at every school. Who wants that? Most of us in DC can do a middling job and expect longterm employment. Many teachers are young and feel like their jobs are on the line every year.

On the work: I have a thought about how teaching is as a job vs. other job opportunities. On the plus side, there's the daily interactivity that makes teaching like summer camp - fun, kid interaction, on your feet, etc. On the negative, if you like to work like a lot of college students and knowledge workers do - 30 minutes grinding, 15 minutes multitasking, 15 minutes checking your phone - this job is kind of not compatible with that.

I think teachers aren't able to work like their non-teacher friends, they have to be too 'present' and that is stressful in a way that I don't think people engage with/admit. That and they often have a lot of data-entering/time-marking drudgery.

And again, that their peers are just at-desks, grinding, checking out at 6 and that - it just gets to you.

So, more random thoughts from a guy who as stated above doesn't know much but has a lot of anonymous opinions.

[Anonymous]

why do parents who aren't teachers think they have any insight into this question? Shouldn't only teachers be answering? PP spent a lot of words to say "I don't know"

[Anonymous]

Because the OP asked for it, and might be writing those perceptions into her work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a parent and have had kids in DCPS since 2012 (whoa) and there's been a huge swing in visibility into my kid's education in the last few years.

In the leadup to COVID days aka the Before Times, parents were in schools very frequently and then suddenly we couldn't see anything - except exactly how class was going with our kids' teachers.

Then afterwards, entry into schools has been way less frequent and parent interaction far more arms length/less personal.

So I hardly know my kids' teachers and how hard their jobs are. I can guess. I can presume. But I have way fewer direct relationships with teachers than in the past.

My thoughts on teachers and their pay and workloads based on a few years with this:

I think the pay is probably fine. Everybody wants more money and DC is a more expensive metro than many. I think there's probably more concern about whether teachers have a job next year or not. There's the stress of being managed/graded in ways that can lead to your termination. There's also a budgeting system that for no good reason seems set to fire at least some teachers at every school. Who wants that? Most of us in DC can do a middling job and expect longterm employment. Many teachers are young and feel like their jobs are on the line every year.

On the work: I have a thought about how teaching is as a job vs. other job opportunities. On the plus side, there's the daily interactivity that makes teaching like summer camp - fun, kid interaction, on your feet, etc. On the negative, if you like to work like a lot of college students and knowledge workers do - 30 minutes grinding, 15 minutes multitasking, 15 minutes checking your phone - this job is kind of not compatible with that.

I think teachers aren't able to work like their non-teacher friends, they have to be too 'present' and that is stressful in a way that I don't think people engage with/admit. That and they often have a lot of data-entering/time-marking drudgery.

And again, that their peers are just at-desks, grinding, checking out at 6 and that - it just gets to you.

So, more random thoughts from a guy who as stated above doesn't know much but has a lot of anonymous opinions.

For a non teacher, I'm impressed at how well you put the bolded into words.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The city pays elementary school art teachers six figures to work eight months a year. Hard to say that’s underpaid

It’s actually 10.5 months.

[Anonymous]

If you are an actual student and not a troll, then I would highly recommend that you find more credible sources than DCUM.

[Anonymous]

In our experience the teacher’s are not top quality to begin with. There is no extra effort in pedagogy or methods. No teacher that our kids have seem to truly care about the students. They are average. They cover the ‘standards’ and not in any meaningful or thoughtful way. Creativity is lacking. Meh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:why do parents who aren't teachers think they have any insight into this question? Shouldn't only teachers be answering? PP spent a lot of words to say "I don't know"

"Overworked" and "underpaid" are relative terms. The comparison of teaching to other work matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In our experience the teacher’s are not top quality to begin with. There is no extra effort in pedagogy or methods. No teacher that our kids have seem to truly care about the students. They are average. They cover the ‘standards’ and not in any meaningful or thoughtful way. Creativity is lacking. Meh.

What does this have to do with retention? Why do parents have to find a way to denigrate teachers on any thread? This is the reason some teachers leave- they receive no respect even though they do their job, which is to cover the ‘standards’ (why that’s in quotes I have no idea, they are standards.)