Enough already

[Anonymous]

Maybe she's sick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people, and teachers, are truly selfless and that is an amazing and wonderful thing... but no one is obligated to be, and that is totally okay. How exactly would you enforce 'not being allowed to quit?' Chain them to a desk? Everyone is free, and that is even more important than how you or your child feel about it. Turn it into a life lesson opportunity, OP

At one time, people took pride in their professions, and contracts were written in a way to enforce that for those who didn't. Getting blacklisted was a real threat and deterrent. But over the past recent decades, companies have demonstrated their lack of loyalty to their employees and employees have learned to have no loyalty in return. It has taken additional time but the same shift has now finally happened in teaching. Professionalism is no longer the norm, in either direction, blacklisting is no longer a threat, and now contracts are no longer sacrosanct. They're breakable. And getting broken.

Specific to teaching: Public school teaching now requires more paperwork and meetings than actual teaching. There is very little time allotted to course prep or grading, which means teachers have to do both on their time, which decreases the quality of instruction, OR decreases the teacher's quality of life. On top of that, being a teacher is not a respected profession anymore. Parents yell at teachers, demand special treatment for their kids, bully them to change a B to an A because entry to private high school or entry to college has gotten cut-throat competitive...

... so teachers can't win. They are asked to do the impossible, every day. And during the 2020 lockdowns, on this very board, teachers were excoriated by a good number of you, called all sorts of names, and generally reviled and despised, because they were afraid for their lives before vaccines were distributed. As a result of aggressive parental pressure, so many fled the profession that there is now a dire nationwide teacher shortage.

OP, shame on you.

Oh no no no no no no. Teachers were some of the first to get vaccinated - they jumped the line and bumped grandma. They got their vaccines and then still chose to stay home and teach virtually. They did not want to come back the rest of that year, which was absolute bs.

Teachers didn’t jump the line. They were told to go get vaccinated and in some cases, told they could not return to work if they didn’t and would then be fired.

How quickly you forget. Yes they did. In January of 2021 when vaccines first came out, it was going by age groups (eldest first). Teacher unions complained and then suddenly they were made a priority. Teachers got to go earlier than my elderly parents. Then, schools still didn’t open up, and when they did, our kids were subjected to this 2 days in, 2 days out virtual hybrid nonsense bs. And many teachers didn’t come in to teach in person for the rest of the year, despite being fully vaccinated in January. Shameful.

I got my first shot at the end of January and the second at the beginning of March right when schools reopened. Not sure what you're talking about.

There were about 5 dates that BOTH teachers and parents were given to return to school. They weren’t the ones pushing the dates back, it was the superintendent and the school board.

[Anonymous]

I thought teachers were lazy and incompetent and anybody can do their job based on what parents heard being taught in zoom sessions. OP can quit her job and the end of her company’s fiscal year and sign up to be a substitute teacher; the profession needs people with the rate at which it’s losing teachers.

[Anonymous]

It's reassuring to see at least some ppl on this message board are understanding of this (and other) teacher(s).

It's laughable everyone else with zero ability to think about the society they participate in and think "we are so close, everything is almost perfect, it's just those damn teachers ruining the perfection!" Like k12 public education in this country isn't a giant mirror on how F'd up this American culture is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought teachers were lazy and incompetent and anybody can do their job based on what parents heard being taught in zoom sessions. OP can quit her job and the end of her company’s fiscal year and sign up to be a substitute teacher; the profession needs people with the rate at which it’s losing teachers.

Overpaid, don’t do any work and get summers off! Every know-it-all parent should be quitting their jobs to become teachers!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a principal. I spent most of December giving gifts, having fun events, visiting with teachers and doing everything possible to show the love. Basically it was a please-don’t-quit-over-break campaign. It’s a hard time to be a teacher.

Please tell your higher ups to get rid of both the minimum 50% policy and of open enrollment. My entire department is besides themselves about the 50%. I'm really tired of being expected to get students to pass SOLs and AP tests and being told at the same time that I have to "meet students where they're at." That sometimes means they're two or more years behind. We're passing kids who know next to nothing by inflating their grades with the 50% and they pay for it later.
About open enrollment, if you're worried about racists preventing a student from going into a class they deserve to be in, there's a simple and fair solution: a blind placement test. Students are assigned an identifier that corresponds to their ID number and is stored in a centralized database with no other identifiers of any kind and not accessible outside of Gatehouse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a principal. I spent most of December giving gifts, having fun events, visiting with teachers and doing everything possible to show the love. Basically it was a please-don’t-quit-over-break campaign. It’s a hard time to be a teacher.

Please tell your higher ups to get rid of both the minimum 50% policy and of open enrollment. My entire department is besides themselves about the 50%. I'm really tired of being expected to get students to pass SOLs and AP tests and being told at the same time that I have to "meet students where they're at." That sometimes means they're two or more years behind. We're passing kids who know next to nothing by inflating their grades with the 50% and they pay for it later.
About open enrollment, if you're worried about racists preventing a student from going into a class they deserve to be in, there's a simple and fair solution: a blind placement test. Students are assigned an identifier that corresponds to their ID number and is stored in a centralized database with no other identifiers of any kind and not accessible outside of Gatehouse.

You lost me on the 50% policy. The impact of a zero on a class average is inappropriate. Students should be graded on what they do in class. If they get a 30% on work done in class, then so be it. But a zero for not turning in some homework? No. Even worse are those teachers that don’t take late work. Late work should be accepted with a deduction. When they don’t, that’s where you lose me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a principal. I spent most of December giving gifts, having fun events, visiting with teachers and doing everything possible to show the love. Basically it was a please-don’t-quit-over-break campaign. It’s a hard time to be a teacher.

Please tell your higher ups to get rid of both the minimum 50% policy and of open enrollment. My entire department is besides themselves about the 50%. I'm really tired of being expected to get students to pass SOLs and AP tests and being told at the same time that I have to "meet students where they're at." That sometimes means they're two or more years behind. We're passing kids who know next to nothing by inflating their grades with the 50% and they pay for it later.
About open enrollment, if you're worried about racists preventing a student from going into a class they deserve to be in, there's a simple and fair solution: a blind placement test. Students are assigned an identifier that corresponds to their ID number and is stored in a centralized database with no other identifiers of any kind and not accessible outside of Gatehouse.

You lost me on the 50% policy. The impact of a zero on a class average is inappropriate. Students should be graded on what they do in class. If they get a 30% on work done in class, then so be it. But a zero for not turning in some homework? No. Even worse are those teachers that don’t take late work. Late work should be accepted with a deduction. When they don’t, that’s where you lose me.

Should college professors take late work with no penalty too? By high school, students should be preparing for college. If you get a 30% on a test, that’s what you get. No retakes. No wonder so many students aren’t prepared for college. Their mommies and daddies are fighting for them to be coddled all of the way through school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a principal. I spent most of December giving gifts, having fun events, visiting with teachers and doing everything possible to show the love. Basically it was a please-don’t-quit-over-break campaign. It’s a hard time to be a teacher.

Please tell your higher ups to get rid of both the minimum 50% policy and of open enrollment. My entire department is besides themselves about the 50%. I'm really tired of being expected to get students to pass SOLs and AP tests and being told at the same time that I have to "meet students where they're at." That sometimes means they're two or more years behind. We're passing kids who know next to nothing by inflating their grades with the 50% and they pay for it later.
About open enrollment, if you're worried about racists preventing a student from going into a class they deserve to be in, there's a simple and fair solution: a blind placement test. Students are assigned an identifier that corresponds to their ID number and is stored in a centralized database with no other identifiers of any kind and not accessible outside of Gatehouse.

You lost me on the 50% policy. The impact of a zero on a class average is inappropriate. Students should be graded on what they do in class. If they get a 30% on work done in class, then so be it. But a zero for not turning in some homework? No. Even worse are those teachers that don’t take late work. Late work should be accepted with a deduction. When they don’t, that’s where you lose me.

So what grade should they get for not doing their homework? Or for only doing 20% of it? If you only do half of your homework assigned (assuming all homework has equal weight) and is just graded for completion, you can skate by with a 75% on homework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people, and teachers, are truly selfless and that is an amazing and wonderful thing... but no one is obligated to be, and that is totally okay. How exactly would you enforce 'not being allowed to quit?' Chain them to a desk? Everyone is free, and that is even more important than how you or your child feel about it. Turn it into a life lesson opportunity, OP

At one time, people took pride in their professions, and contracts were written in a way to enforce that for those who didn't. Getting blacklisted was a real threat and deterrent. But over the past recent decades, companies have demonstrated their lack of loyalty to their employees and employees have learned to have no loyalty in return. It has taken additional time but the same shift has now finally happened in teaching. Professionalism is no longer the norm, in either direction, blacklisting is no longer a threat, and now contracts are no longer sacrosanct. They're breakable. And getting broken.

Specific to teaching: Public school teaching now requires more paperwork and meetings than actual teaching. There is very little time allotted to course prep or grading, which means teachers have to do both on their time, which decreases the quality of instruction, OR decreases the teacher's quality of life. On top of that, being a teacher is not a respected profession anymore. Parents yell at teachers, demand special treatment for their kids, bully them to change a B to an A because entry to private high school or entry to college has gotten cut-throat competitive...

... so teachers can't win. They are asked to do the impossible, every day. And during the 2020 lockdowns, on this very board, teachers were excoriated by a good number of you, called all sorts of names, and generally reviled and despised, because they were afraid for their lives before vaccines were distributed. As a result of aggressive parental pressure, so many fled the profession that there is now a dire nationwide teacher shortage.

OP, shame on you.

No, OP is not doing anything wrong by saying that her DC is being hurt by the decision of a teacher to quit midyear. The teacher has made her decision, for whatever good or bad reason, and there are consequences. Is that teacher reading this board, will that teacher be hurt by this post? Probably not. If so, so be it.

+1 As we model resilience for our kids, we should not be denying the negative impact of events in their lives. Gaslighting parents by telling them it's wrong to be concerned that their kids aren't receiving the instruction they deserve serves no purpose. It is appropriate for parents to make administrators aware of their concerns about not having consistent instruction. In addition, parents can brainstorm with their kids about how to cope with the departure and, if possible, discuss supplementing the subject matter outside of school.

Can we also add to show appreciation for the teachers that are remaining/replacing? Maybe assume positive intent from teachers and not threaten to raise petty issues to the administration? Reinforce the importance of respecting teachers with your children?

I was the PP. Of course. That's part of it. I've been through this three times with my kids, including this year. When we talk about it, I don't deny that the departure is less than ideal, but reinforce that being upset about a teacher leaving reflects just how important that teacher was. I don't know if they get to the departing teachers, but I've had my kids write notes of appreciation to the departing teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a principal. I spent most of December giving gifts, having fun events, visiting with teachers and doing everything possible to show the love. Basically it was a please-don’t-quit-over-break campaign. It’s a hard time to be a teacher.

Please tell your higher ups to get rid of both the minimum 50% policy and of open enrollment. My entire department is besides themselves about the 50%. I'm really tired of being expected to get students to pass SOLs and AP tests and being told at the same time that I have to "meet students where they're at." That sometimes means they're two or more years behind. We're passing kids who know next to nothing by inflating their grades with the 50% and they pay for it later.
About open enrollment, if you're worried about racists preventing a student from going into a class they deserve to be in, there's a simple and fair solution: a blind placement test. Students are assigned an identifier that corresponds to their ID number and is stored in a centralized database with no other identifiers of any kind and not accessible outside of Gatehouse.

Agree. While you're at it, tell your higher ups that if multiple experienced special education teachers are telling you a student needs a change of placement, they're not wrong. My school is about to lose two experienced teachers and a great IA because they're expected to deal with behavior issues that cannot be properly addressed in an IEP at a mainstream school.

[Anonymous]

SOOOO HAPPY MY CHILD IS IN PRIVATE SCHOOL NOW. I loved FCPS, but the overbearing parents are killing the district....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a principal. I spent most of December giving gifts, having fun events, visiting with teachers and doing everything possible to show the love. Basically it was a please-don’t-quit-over-break campaign. It’s a hard time to be a teacher.

Please tell your higher ups to get rid of both the minimum 50% policy and of open enrollment. My entire department is besides themselves about the 50%. I'm really tired of being expected to get students to pass SOLs and AP tests and being told at the same time that I have to "meet students where they're at." That sometimes means they're two or more years behind. We're passing kids who know next to nothing by inflating their grades with the 50% and they pay for it later.
About open enrollment, if you're worried about racists preventing a student from going into a class they deserve to be in, there's a simple and fair solution: a blind placement test. Students are assigned an identifier that corresponds to their ID number and is stored in a centralized database with no other identifiers of any kind and not accessible outside of Gatehouse.

As a parent, I think the 50 percent policy is good for Gen Ed classes but, if you want to kill two birds with one stone and discourage kids from taking honors classes, then remove the 50 percent policy from honors classes.

For kids in Gen Ed and those who are getting special Ed support, the 50 percent policy means that one bad grade/missed assignment doesn’t tank their average and gives them motivation to keep working in that class. But I agree that if a student chooses honors or AP classes, the standard should be higher and kids shouldn’t be gaming the system (especially with how competitive college admission is for high achieving students). BTW, the 50 percent rule is likely keeping some kids from getting IEPs because “they aren’t failing”, so I don’t think it only helps students; it preserves resources (for better or worse).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCUM 2020: "Just put any warm and able bodied adult in the classroom to get kids in school!"

monkey paw curls

Yup I also remember "if you don't like teaching just leave".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SOOOO HAPPY MY CHILD IS IN PRIVATE SCHOOL NOW. I loved FCPS, but the overbearing parents are killing the district....

+1