Received an email that DS teacher quit Friday.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Look-teaching is hard and there are good teachers and bad teachers, professional and skilled and unprofessional and unskilled. Like any profession! There’s a weird dynamic reminiscent of the gross police unions where any criticism of any teacher is taken as a shocking moral outrage. Suck it up buttercups-if you’re not a bad teacher no one’s talking abt you.

I'm not a teacher, but know the data-- there are an estimated currently .59 possible teachers (not just licensed, this includes provisional and alternately licensed etc.) available for every position (private, public, charter) in the US and the numbers are going down fast. This is SO much lower than it's ever been. As existing teachers have to cover 1.5x as much it's only going to accelerate. Add in the heightened vitriol. So I'm pretty sure it's going to be us parents who are going to have to "suck it up buttercup" as these teachers realize they don't have to put up with unreasonable job conditions. Excellent, highly experienced teachers are quitting ALL OVER and nobody wants to step in.

I don’t think anyone should stay year after year in a miserable job nor do I think parents need to act like each and every teacher is a hard-working, highly skilled saint.

No one has to act like every teacher is a hard-working, highly skilled saint. (That's part of the problem actually---teachers are put on a pedestal while often being denied basic professional treatment--and then the accountability that comes with that). We're just saying she can quit like anyone else can. She doesn't have to be professional in the ways you think she should if she doesn't want to be. You're free to criticize that, but saying that she's free to quit doesn't mean you're disrespecting teachers, just acknowledging they have the same agency as everyone else even though your kids are depending on them and it's really disappointing. And pointing out that she's in the power position here--there is a nationwide shortage that is a huge crisis. You don't actually employ her. People can elect a different school board, whine about taxes, complain about unions or the lack of unions, but the reality is that many skilled and unskilled, professional and unprofessional teachers are walking out across the whole country--whether schools stayed open or closed during the pandemic, whether they are in red or blue counties and states, rich and poor districts-- and we're all going to have to face this and figure out what to do.

You think you're right. And I think you're wrong. Some professions are different, including teaching. That's known by both teachers and non-teachers. The expectation of a teacher staying on until the end of the year is understood by all parties.

Maybe the pandemic has changed that. But I don't think that change will benefit teachers or anyone else.

The problem is in insisting that they aren't any different from anyone else but also expecting them to be different.

Teenagers give notice before quitting a fast food job. If you don’t want to be held to that high standard fair enough!

Wait, just to be sure -- you are claiming most teenagers give notice before quitting a fast food job?

Yes I am!

That's so cute.

Most just stop showing up.

That’s not been my experience. They become friendly with their coworkers and don’t want to screw them over on shifts usually.

I think your experience is likely with teenagers of a fairly narrow type and not representative of most teenage fast-food workers across the country, including those working in pretty slum conditions, those who are actively using substances of abuse, those who get pregnant and/or who are in domestic abuse situations, etc.

I think I have a family member who owns a franchise and I’ve heard more than most about the hr details of a fast food restaurant! But fine, let’s say MANY teens give notice rather than most. Is your point that it’s totally cool for teachers not to meet that standard?

No. My point is -- and has been during the entirety of this mini-discussion -- that people can't aggressively insist that teaching isn't special and also expect the teachers to act like it is.

I'm not a teacher. I'm just watching them leave the profession, and it seems that many are agreeing with those who were so very insistent that there was nothing special about them. Just a job does mean just a job, you know.

Or I guess we could treat it as a special kind of job that attracts and needs a special kind of person, but I'm sure that is crazy talk.

[Anonymous]

^^PS: And by that I mean offering compensation and benefits commensurate to the need and level of importance of the skills required.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:When my DS killed himself, I quit. I flat out quit teaching and admin told the families that I quit. I didn't care about my students at that point. Life happens to people. I knew I wouldn't be coming back anytime soon so it made more sense to quit so there wasn't the uncertainty of wondering when/if I was coming back.

I’m so sorry for your loss.

Me too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When my DS killed himself, I quit. I flat out quit teaching and admin told the families that I quit. I didn't care about my students at that point. Life happens to people. I knew I wouldn't be coming back anytime soon so it made more sense to quit so there wasn't the uncertainty of wondering when/if I was coming back.

I’m so sorry for your loss.

Me too.

Yes, and me, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really? 34 days left and she quits.

The email says they are looking for a permanent sub but they have been difficult to find.

So basically for the next month+ he'll just have a revolving door of subs it sounds like.

My favorite part of the email was actually for us to prepare the kids that their classroom will look different on Monday morning. I'm assuming because she took a bunch of decorations and furniture with her that she'd purchased.

He's so bummed and I'm bummed for him.

Yes, really. I’m a teacher with a decade of experience and would like to quit as well. This year has been awful.

[Anonymous]

And this is why you should care when teachers express opinions like why they want kids to wear masks or take COVID tests or have the right to open the windows or have upgraded air systems.

Because some teachers will get tired of Turing their lives at risk for this shit, and decide to leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes we had a teacher quit suddenly and it was a very toxic work environment after a serious incident happened with a coworker.

Another day in the life at FCPS! What else is new?

[Anonymous]

If I received a better job offer, I would quit tomorrow.

If you don't want to go back to teaching, it really doesn't matter when you quit.

[Anonymous]

The room looking different = finally someone might appreciate this teacher for what she (literally) brought to the classroom.

Without teachers, our schools would look like prisons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When my DS killed himself, I quit. I flat out quit teaching and admin told the families that I quit. I didn't care about my students at that point. Life happens to people. I knew I wouldn't be coming back anytime soon so it made more sense to quit so there wasn't the uncertainty of wondering when/if I was coming back.

This is horrible and I'm so sorry for your loss. I don't blame you a bit for quitting in this circumstance.

However, I somehow doubt that OP's child's situation is anything this serious. OP notes that the teacher took the time to collect personal items, including furniture, that she had purchased. I'll go out on a limb and bet that in your situation, PP, that is the last thing you would have been thinking about.

[Anonymous]

I don't know what FCPS is going to do next year. We had 4 open positions at my school all year that never got filled. Only one of them even got a permanent sub.

I know of 9 teachers who are done after this year at my school. Only 1 of those 9 is due to retirement age.

In all my years of teaching, we'd have 1-3 teachers leave each year but never in the middle of the year. Those who left were usually retiring or moving to a different school, so it's not like they fully left the profession. Other than the one retiring, the others are fully leaving the profession.

So we couldn't fill FOUR spots and now they're going to have to fill THIRTEEN at one school? Impossible. This year isn't even over and I'm already dreading next year because I know burden will follow on other teachers to fill the gaps. I used to be able to use the time when my students were in PE, art class, and music classes to get things done but now I (and other teachers) have to use that time to pop into a class without a permanent teacher to help out and reteach lessons that the sub may not be great at teaching to the kids.

From a teacher: if your kid get assigned to a classroom without a permanent teacher, I'd do everything in my power to get that kid moved out. They honestly are not learning as much as their peers and the school system is failing them big time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When my DS killed himself, I quit. I flat out quit teaching and admin told the families that I quit. I didn't care about my students at that point. Life happens to people. I knew I wouldn't be coming back anytime soon so it made more sense to quit so there wasn't the uncertainty of wondering when/if I was coming back.

This is horrible and I'm so sorry for your loss. I don't blame you a bit for quitting in this circumstance.

However, I somehow doubt that OP's child's situation is anything this serious. OP notes that the teacher took the time to collect personal items, including furniture, that she had purchased. I'll go out on a limb and bet that in your situation, PP, that is the last thing you would have been thinking about.

You can’t know what this teacher’s situation is, so maybe it’s just better to assume she had good reasons rather than rush to judgment, no?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And this is why you should care when teachers express opinions like why they want kids to wear masks or take COVID tests or have the right to open the windows or have upgraded air systems.

Because some teachers will get tired of Turing their lives at risk for this shit, and decide to leave.

I posted earlier to say I’m looking into retiring a few years early. Your examples haven’t even been on my radar. For me the top two reasons are workload and student behaviors. I’ve never thought my life was at risk. In response to the summer 2020 survey I said I wanted to teach in person. Distance instruction only hastened my desire to wrap this up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When my DS killed himself, I quit. I flat out quit teaching and admin told the families that I quit. I didn't care about my students at that point. Life happens to people. I knew I wouldn't be coming back anytime soon so it made more sense to quit so there wasn't the uncertainty of wondering when/if I was coming back.

This is horrible and I'm so sorry for your loss. I don't blame you a bit for quitting in this circumstance.

However, I somehow doubt that OP's child's situation is anything this serious. OP notes that the teacher took the time to collect personal items, including furniture, that she had purchased. I'll go out on a limb and bet that in your situation, PP, that is the last thing you would have been thinking about.

I did come back into school a few weeks later to box up my classroom. I left most of it to my colleagues and took a few boxes home. I came in one day a few weeks later and did it after most teachers had left for the day. I didn't want to leave that huge job for other people to have to do. I took my rocking chair home and some carts/small tables that I bought because I could use them at home. I was a good 8 yrs away from retirement and knew I would need everything I could. I ended up selling a few items too.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:That sucks, and I'm sorry. There must be something really difficult going on in that teacher's life right to make such a decision.

She probably got fed up with the a-hole parents.

Honestly, this is probably accurate.

I wouldn't blame her.

Not this late in the year. It’s unprofessional and rude. Anyone can work another 6 weeks. That’s a really $hitty thing to do to her students. Just finish the damn year and move on.

Nope, this is the problem with teaching. We are expected to “stay for the kids.” Not because the salary is good. Not because otherwise we would miss out on a good job offer. Not because we are treated with respect.

We are only expected to stay “for the kids.”

Because in our misogynistic society, the emotional appeal to be slandered as a horrible person who doesn’t care about children would be horrible. So “stay for the kids.’
Even if you are missing out on a much better offer.
Even if you have cancer.
Even if……….

“Stay for the kids.”