$5k bonus for MCPS general educators to become special educators

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Just wanna give a shout-out to the parents in this community who did this. (You know their names.. the re-opening group from hell.. the same old, but never ending BOE testimony parents, the “this is my chance to get famous on Fox News and get my name in the post” parents…) this is all on you. Not admin. Not MCPS. You can deny it all you want. We quit because of you. You said we should, so we did. Good luck. You’re all probably happy because now you can still be angry about something and write endless op-Eds for your CVs, or beg Fox 5 for more airtime. Look in the mirror.

What are you even talking about? You're blaming the teacher shortage on people who wanted schools open for their children? You realize we were one of the last to open right?

The blame goes to the attitude of the loud, screaming tantruming, entitled parents who demanded that patents get in there and be their pandemic babysitters. Yes. That is correct.

+1000

[Anonymous]

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What good are teachers that aren't willing to do their jobs? If MCEA keeps up with its behavior, MCPS will contract out more and more positions. In the short run that could be more expensive, but the district will be better off in the long run.

Are you joking? Teachers are doing their jobs! It's just that the jobs are getting harder and harder with less overall respect/job satisfaction.

For many people teaching is no longer a good work/life balance compared to other careers that offer more pay, work from home, respect, etc.

And you are somehow assuming the contracted positions are somehow better than MCPS employees. That may be true in some personal situations, but overall I highly doubt it.

Most teachers have to even work 180 days (not including sick days) and even get a pension after something like 20 years.

Closer to 30 to 35 years in order to retire with a pension equal to 40% of final salary. Maryland follows the age plus work years equal 90 formula. So, most retire around age 60 with at least 30 years of MD state service. Theoretically, the earliest they can retire would be hired at age 22 and then working until 56 with 33 years of continuous service.

Teachers work 192 days plus two required days in the middle of summer. In order to keep out certs we also have to take grad school courses, so lets say on average that is one or two weeks a summer at minimum. Then we basically get furloughed without pay for 5 to 6 weeks every summer.

Just curious what this means?

Not much- just that she doesn’t understand her retirement benefits. She’s probably a social studies or english teacher.

English teacher here. I understand my benefits and I understand the PP’s explanation of the 90 formula. I’m not sure you do?

Keep the nastiness coming. I’m one ridiculous parent away from quitting. I know I can walk into other professions with my skills and make twice what I make now. I stay because I like teaching, but this type of horrendous behavior is old and tiresome. I suppose the current teacher shortage isn’t enough for the PP to grasp that you can’t treat teachers like we’re inept anymore.

Sure… Education majors are obviously highly in-demand outside of education...

I’m able to manage 130 people a day. I can collect and analyze a tremendous amount of ever-changing data. I can create and deliver engaging presentations, and I can be prepared to do it again the following day. I can determine how to change delivery of content based on audience. I can communicate effectively in person and online. I can lead teams. I can access and interpret information quickly and accurately, then clearly communicate its meaning to others. I write well. I come prepared, but I’m able to shift course immediately. I’m also able to work 8 hours with few breaks.

I know plenty of teachers who have left the profession in the past 3-4 years. All have gone on to higher pay and less stress. Trust me when I say teachers aren’t thinking that they are trapped in the classroom.

No, they’re not trapped. But the vast majority wouldn’t be able to get the same pay and benefits in another field.

I see at least 3 different posters whose experience states otherwise.

I’m the PP. I know my worth and I’m able to articulate it. The nice thing about teaching is that it requires continuing education. I now have two advanced degrees and a ton of proven success managing data and people.

Don’t bother telling teachers that we won’t find a better deal elsewhere. We have former coworkers who have already done it. Instead of talking down to teachers, perhaps it’s time to respect us for what we provide. A good teacher is worth far more than society thinks, in pay but also in respect.

A masters in education isn’t a meaningful “advanced degree” outside of teaching. But go ahead and figure that out for yourself.

Don’t underestimate the long-term impact your unions had on the reputation of teachers by trying to keep schools closed.

You can’t even read because I said my degrees had nothing to do with teaching aka nothing to do with education. You’re just so sad. Pathetic.

Then go ahead and find out what life outside of MCPS is like. Again, no one is begging you to stay.

DP but it’s absolutely insane you keep doubling down in the middle of an actual teacher shortage. You sound like you have some real issues. No wonder teachers are quitting.

There’s not a shortage. There’s a market failure because teachers unions won’t allow pay scales to float based on supply and demand for particular positions.

I’m just a fellow mcps parent and I’m infuriated with parents like you. You just give MoCo parents the worst rep while representing the bottom of the barrel. None of us think this way but we are unfortunately repped by the Re-Opening Fox News parents… Just stop. You aren’t helping anything. Your phd doesn’t mean anything to us. We think you’re awful human beings.

Yes, how horrible it would be to pay SpEd and STEM teachers more…

Slippery slope. I teach AP English and spend 60-70 hours a week grading the frequent essays students write. I provide a ton of feedback to help advance students’ skills. If you introduce a tiered pay system, I’m going to be pretty upset if I am not fairly compensated.

“Fair compensation” isn’t based on how hard you work. It’s based on how hard it is to find someone willing and able to do the job.

Do you think a lot of people can just walk in and teach AP or IB English? You have to be a very strong communicator and a brilliant writer. You also have to be able to transfer those skills and that knowledge to others. The fact you think I’m that easily replaceable is a huge part of the problem.

I have a valuable skill set. If I make less simply because society values effective communication so poorly, then I will also leave this profession. There are plenty of companies desperate for effective communicators and they will pay me more than teaching does.

(Scoring essays vs. grading Algebra 1 worksheets?)

If you think it would be hard for schools to recruit and retain staff capable of teaching AP English, then you should like the idea of floating pay scales. Again, it isn’t a matter of how much society values the job. It’s a matter of how rare capable teachers are.

How does one identify a “capable teacher”? What if the AP European History teacher is phenomenal and the Biology teacher is subpar? Should the Bio teacher still get higher pay simply for falling under STEM? The AP Euro teacher would be the one who is actually much harder to replace, even if Social Studies is an “easier” position to fill. Perhaps, then, pay should be based on competency and effectiveness instead of STEM or SpEd designation. But how would we do that? Plenty of school systems have tried, but then you get to the high FARMS vs. wealthy schools issue. How do you determine the effectiveness of a teacher? Simply put, there is no easy way to designate higher pay based on either discipline or effectiveness. Counties simply have to commit to raising pay across the board and treating teaching like a respected profession.

The concept of supply and demand is really that foreign to you? How do you think other goods and services are priced?

Supply and demand isn’t that complicated of a concept. I’m pretty sure we all understand. Guess what’s happening? The supply of qualified, strong teachers is drying up. Therefore, we’re going to be in very high demand. Too bad it is going to take me quitting, along with many of my colleagues, for the anti-teacher types to realize our worth. Teachers will eventually get better work conditions and pay. I would say it’s worth correcting NOW before schools are further emptied of strong teachers, but as humans we often have to see the consequences of our mistakes before we are willing to correct them.

[Anonymous]

Supply and demand doesn’t really apply to schools though. Schools are under extreme pressure to keep salaries low and push the sacrifice/martyr trope on teachers. They don’t want to give any excuse to give a higher salary because then they may be forced to give it to other staff as well. At best you can get a higher salary with some (but not all) extra after school duties or leadership positions. Even in red states/charters teachers can’t negotiate for salaries. They push the martyr trope even harder there.

Teachers can’t strike in most states so we don’t have any choice but to move to new areas/states or leave teaching entirely.

This situation is becoming more and more unviable given the costs of students loans for new teachers, inability to pay market rates for new experience hires/career changers, work conditions/respect, and now pandemic related concerns (great resignation, student/parent behavior, politics in many areas, health concerns for some staff).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Supply and demand doesn’t really apply to schools though. Schools are under extreme pressure to keep salaries low and push the sacrifice/martyr trope on teachers. They don’t want to give any excuse to give a higher salary because then they may be forced to give it to other staff as well. At best you can get a higher salary with some (but not all) extra after school duties or leadership positions. Even in red states/charters teachers can’t negotiate for salaries. They push the martyr trope even harder there.

Teachers can’t strike in most states so we don’t have any choice but to move to new areas/states or leave teaching entirely.

This situation is becoming more and more unviable given the costs of students loans for new teachers, inability to pay market rates for new experience hires/career changers, work conditions/respect, and now pandemic related concerns (great resignation, student/parent behavior, politics in many areas, health concerns for some staff).

Thank you! They absolutely push the martyr bs. And many of our colleagues feed right into it. I can’t stand it.
They need to come up with a plan now because I think this is our situation for the next few years. Do you think there’s a chance they will start offering retention bonuses for teachers who are eligible to retire? That is something they would need to start advertising soon. I know in MCPS you have to start retirement paperwork early in the year (October, maybe). I just think that in addition to trying to hire more teachers they also need to work on enticing some of us to stay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one is switching for $5k. It is a calling. Because there is no way in hell anyone would do the amount of paperwork required for a mere $5k (and much less after taxes). Not to mention the amount of bodily fluids involved

5k. Please. So like maybe 3k after taxes. Try again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just wanna give a shout-out to the parents in this community who did this. (You know their names.. the re-opening group from hell.. the same old, but never ending BOE testimony parents, the “this is my chance to get famous on Fox News and get my name in the post” parents…) this is all on you. Not admin. Not MCPS. You can deny it all you want. We quit because of you. You said we should, so we did. Good luck. You’re all probably happy because now you can still be angry about something and write endless op-Eds for your CVs, or beg Fox 5 for more airtime. Look in the mirror.

What are you even talking about? You're blaming the teacher shortage on people who wanted schools open for their children? You realize we were one of the last to open right?

The blame goes to the attitude of the loud, screaming tantruming, entitled parents who demanded that patents get in there and be their pandemic babysitters. Yes. That is correct.

This post is a good example of why it has gotten so hard to view teachers as respected professionals. There's a vocal minority that has their self-identity wrapped up in a victim complex that they didn't notice all the other essential and service workers doing their jobs while the teacher's unions fought to keep kids out of school.

As a non-teacher and someone who actually cares about education, please just shut up. Do you even hear yourself? Teachers if you have to deal with people like this, I urge you to quit. I have kids in MCPS too but my god.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every educator I know who left the profession early was offered a better job immediately. Their common reaction was "Why didn't I do this sooner?"

Of course they’re getting job offers. Unemployment is incredibly low, and presumably there’s a disproportionate number of teachers with other marketable skills leaving the profession.

But how many of those other jobs have pensions? Or retiree health benefits? Or job security that makes the employees nearly impossible to fire? Or summers off? Or pay rates between $80-100k

You might be able to check a couple of those boxes, but not all of them.

Is everything about yesterday to you? I am talking the past 20+ years. Most of them right into management positions. If you can handle a public school classroom, you can handle anything. A former teacher is the first person our HR hires.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just wanna give a shout-out to the parents in this community who did this. (You know their names.. the re-opening group from hell.. the same old, but never ending BOE testimony parents, the “this is my chance to get famous on Fox News and get my name in the post” parents…) this is all on you. Not admin. Not MCPS. You can deny it all you want. We quit because of you. You said we should, so we did. Good luck. You’re all probably happy because now you can still be angry about something and write endless op-Eds for your CVs, or beg Fox 5 for more airtime. Look in the mirror.

What are you even talking about? You're blaming the teacher shortage on people who wanted schools open for their children? You realize we were one of the last to open right?

The blame goes to the attitude of the loud, screaming tantruming, entitled parents who demanded that patents get in there and be their pandemic babysitters. Yes. That is correct.

This post is a good example of why it has gotten so hard to view teachers as respected professionals. There's a vocal minority that has their self-identity wrapped up in a victim complex that they didn't notice all the other essential and service workers doing their jobs while the teacher's unions fought to keep kids out of school.

Lol so you straight up just copied the person who said the reopening psychos had their identity wrapped up in being “saviors”… changed it a little and called it your own? Teachers don’t have a victim mentality. They don’t want kids to lose. They aren’t using kids failures as their next op-Ed opportunity. Try again.

[Anonymous]

I work in HR (16 years) and we love hiring former teachers. They are the most dependable and versatile employees. We dont care what their master's degree is in.

In my personal life I have known plenty of teachers who quit and found better employment I have never heard of a teacher going back to teaching after quitting. Never.

[Anonymous]

My sister taught in another state out west. Their school system paid all SPED teachers more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work in HR (16 years) and we love hiring former teachers. They are the most dependable and versatile employees. We dont care what their master's degree is in.

In my personal life I have known plenty of teachers who quit and found better employment I have never heard of a teacher going back to teaching after quitting. Never.

HR here too.. for all the vile, disgusting people on this thread who think teachers can’t find outside employment (with glee ugh) they absolutely can. We hire former teachers on a regular basis because they have unique skills that other people don’t. To everyone here being ugly, please stop. You are clearly stuck in a tiny world where you don’t know much about anything but pretend to. Welcome to America these days. You’re simply not helping your own cause, you’re just showing how insecure you are and it’s actually really sad and pathetic x

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just wanna give a shout-out to the parents in this community who did this. (You know their names.. the re-opening group from hell.. the same old, but never ending BOE testimony parents, the “this is my chance to get famous on Fox News and get my name in the post” parents…) this is all on you. Not admin. Not MCPS. You can deny it all you want. We quit because of you. You said we should, so we did. Good luck. You’re all probably happy because now you can still be angry about something and write endless op-Eds for your CVs, or beg Fox 5 for more airtime. Look in the mirror.

What are you even talking about? You're blaming the teacher shortage on people who wanted schools open for their children? You realize we were one of the last to open right?

The blame goes to the attitude of the loud, screaming tantruming, entitled parents who demanded that patents get in there and be their pandemic babysitters. Yes. That is correct.

This post is a good example of why it has gotten so hard to view teachers as respected professionals. There's a vocal minority that has their self-identity wrapped up in a victim complex that they didn't notice all the other essential and service workers doing their jobs while the teacher's unions fought to keep kids out of school.

Lol so you straight up just copied the person who said the reopening psychos had their identity wrapped up in being “saviors”… changed it a little and called it your own? Teachers don’t have a victim mentality. They don’t want kids to lose. They aren’t using kids failures as their next op-Ed opportunity. Try again.

They don’t want kids to lose? Where have you been for the last two years? First it was fighting school reopening. And now they’re fighting recruitment incentives for SpEd teachers!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in HR (16 years) and we love hiring former teachers. They are the most dependable and versatile employees. We dont care what their master's degree is in.

In my personal life I have known plenty of teachers who quit and found better employment I have never heard of a teacher going back to teaching after quitting. Never.

HR here too.. for all the vile, disgusting people on this thread who think teachers can’t find outside employment (with glee ugh) they absolutely can. We hire former teachers on a regular basis because they have unique skills that other people don’t. To everyone here being ugly, please stop. You are clearly stuck in a tiny world where you don’t know much about anything but pretend to. Welcome to America these days. You’re simply not helping your own cause, you’re just showing how insecure you are and it’s actually really sad and pathetic x

No one said they couldn’t find jobs. It’s that most (not all) wouldn’t be able to find jobs with similar pay and benefits to teaching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in HR (16 years) and we love hiring former teachers. They are the most dependable and versatile employees. We dont care what their master's degree is in.

In my personal life I have known plenty of teachers who quit and found better employment I have never heard of a teacher going back to teaching after quitting. Never.

HR here too.. for all the vile, disgusting people on this thread who think teachers can’t find outside employment (with glee ugh) they absolutely can. We hire former teachers on a regular basis because they have unique skills that other people don’t. To everyone here being ugly, please stop. You are clearly stuck in a tiny world where you don’t know much about anything but pretend to. Welcome to America these days. You’re simply not helping your own cause, you’re just showing how insecure you are and it’s actually really sad and pathetic x

No one said they couldn’t find jobs. It’s that most (not all) wouldn’t be able to find jobs with similar pay and benefits to teaching.

As far as I can tell, at least 2 HR reps said they like seeing teachers as applicants. At least 4 teachers have said their coworkers have gone on to jobs with higher pay. It’s time to face reality: teachers have other options. You can tell yourself we won’t find better deals, but you are wrong. (I’d also argue our deal isn’t that great. If I hear “but you get summers off” one more time after spending all summer planning and taking courses for recertification …)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work in HR (16 years) and we love hiring former teachers. They are the most dependable and versatile employees. We dont care what their master's degree is in.

In my personal life I have known plenty of teachers who quit and found better employment I have never heard of a teacher going back to teaching after quitting. Never.

HR here too.. for all the vile, disgusting people on this thread who think teachers can’t find outside employment (with glee ugh) they absolutely can. We hire former teachers on a regular basis because they have unique skills that other people don’t. To everyone here being ugly, please stop. You are clearly stuck in a tiny world where you don’t know much about anything but pretend to. Welcome to America these days. You’re simply not helping your own cause, you’re just showing how insecure you are and it’s actually really sad and pathetic x

No one said they couldn’t find jobs. It’s that most (not all) wouldn’t be able to find jobs with similar pay and benefits to teaching.

Nope. Again, you’re wrong. A starting salary at my company is 74k. Starting for teachers is around 52k here. We also offer work from home and PTO for two months (if you need more, you got it)… some of you are so stuck in being American and refusing to catch up with the rest of the world, you’re just ignorant to better options. So grateful our new CEO is from Europe, a place where people actual value human beings. You should try empathy cause whatever you’re doing is gross.