Teacher workdays/school planning are ridiculous!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m of two thoughts:

Yes, the calendar is too disjointed and it needs to be fixed.

But teachers need work days. If we want teachers to stay in the profession, they need to be granted time during the work week (even just occasionally) to get their work done. It shouldn’t be the expectation that nights and weekends belong to their jobs, too.

I have a demanding job. It has me on calls for a good portion of the day. This means I have to work outside of work hours to get my work done.

Teachers need to also use their time more efficiently. FCPS ES and MS have very little grading to do.

You sound ignorant. You don't have a clue what's asked of teachers. Also school isn't daycare figure out your parenting.

Shouldn’t you be grading some papers instead of arguing with parents on here? Since you’re so overloaded and all?

I'm a DP, but I am also a teacher.

Let's be honest: if you don't teach, you ARE ignorant of the demands of teaching. That's not an insult. Ignorance is literally defined as lacking knowledge or awareness about a particular subject. Therefore, if you haven't taught you DON'T actually know what is demanded of teachers. And again: that's not an insult.

But is IS insulting when you come here and belittle a job you know little about.

So when teachers try to explain to you why we need planning time, this is an opportunity for you to learn about something you're unfamiliar with. Unfortunately, posters on this site label comments from teachers as "complaining" or "arguing" when it's simply "explaining." I see it all the time. It's why teachers become defensive, because their words are misconstrued and dismissed at almost every turn by people who are ignorant. (Again: not an insult.)

So, I'll take your advice and go grade papers. That's far more productive than posting here considering these trends.

I am not going to out myself on here, but rest assured, I know the demands of your job because I used to live in a household with a teacher and my own job carries some of the same demands. I also know the demands of other people’s jobs where they are under tremendous pressure to show consistently excellent performance or they will be fired. Being a great teacher is really hard. It’s a thankless job and you have to bring a lot of work home with you if you’re doing it right. But it’s also true that it comes with a lot of job security. Mediocre and lazy teachers can sit in their jobs for years and the worst thing that happens to them is they get moved to a different school. Right now there are a lot of parents who feel like they are barely hanging onto their jobs and this calendar is really not helping.

The majority of those parents get paid considerably more than teachers. Enough with the false equivalence. Hire a f—king babysitter.

I'd prefer better pay for teachers, particuarly when FCPS salaries are compared to surrounding jurisdictions but....

Teacher pay is for a less than full year so its not an apples to apples comparasion. Scale it for an equivlent amount of time and the ~60k starting salary in FCPS jumps much closer to entry level engineering pay.

Nope. That’s not how salaries work.

(Also, I made that as an entry level engineer in the area over 20 GD years ago. It’s laughable to defend these miserly salaries for professionals in one of the wealthiest areas of the country.)

You are paid based off a set of contracted hours for 195 days which occur over a 10 month period. Yes, you are salaried, and yes you have had the option in prior years to be paid 10 months or 12 months out of the year. You are not however working the same number of days per year as a full time employee in most other professions given both the 2 months off for summer + 30 holidays this year (not including 14 sick with 6 as regular leave days) which accounts for some of the pay differential unless you are on the 260 day scale.

A starting salary of 61k with a BS.
https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/fy26-teacher-195-day.pdf

If other professional jobs have 260 days worked (including 10 federal holidays so a 260 day calendar), then we can scale a starting engineering salary of 72k by 75%(195/260) and we get 54k. Meaning that starting teacher pay is inline with starting engineering pay for an equivlent number of days worked and in fact higher.

Now if we look at FCPS teacher pay for260 days its actually lines up nearly to starting engineering pay at 74.4k.
https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/fy26-teacher-260-day.pdf

Okay, your math is adorable, but teachers aren’t actually making that higher salary. So how does that help anyone?

FCPS parents need to get a grip. Teachers are overworked, in part because class sizes are too large and in part because kids’ behavior is out of control.

Imagine if parents and teachers actually worked together to improve the school district instead of constantly fighting online. And think about whose interests are served by the constant bickering.

- not a teacher; parent of a senior in FCPS and sophomore not in FCPS

I think you have to look at in the eyes of hourly pay. Teachers could work all year and thus would make more money. Teachers earn more than me.

Wrong. School isn’t year-round, so they can’t simply choose to work all year.

The existence of 260 day contracts means that some can and of course others could work a 2nd job for 2 months.

The fact that somrone is complaining about getting paid a monthly salary to not work for 2 months and 30 holidays seems a bit odd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m of two thoughts:

Yes, the calendar is too disjointed and it needs to be fixed.

But teachers need work days. If we want teachers to stay in the profession, they need to be granted time during the work week (even just occasionally) to get their work done. It shouldn’t be the expectation that nights and weekends belong to their jobs, too.

I have a demanding job. It has me on calls for a good portion of the day. This means I have to work outside of work hours to get my work done.

Teachers need to also use their time more efficiently. FCPS ES and MS have very little grading to do.

You sound ignorant. You don't have a clue what's asked of teachers. Also school isn't daycare figure out your parenting.

Shouldn’t you be grading some papers instead of arguing with parents on here? Since you’re so overloaded and all?

I'm a DP, but I am also a teacher.

Let's be honest: if you don't teach, you ARE ignorant of the demands of teaching. That's not an insult. Ignorance is literally defined as lacking knowledge or awareness about a particular subject. Therefore, if you haven't taught you DON'T actually know what is demanded of teachers. And again: that's not an insult.

But is IS insulting when you come here and belittle a job you know little about.

So when teachers try to explain to you why we need planning time, this is an opportunity for you to learn about something you're unfamiliar with. Unfortunately, posters on this site label comments from teachers as "complaining" or "arguing" when it's simply "explaining." I see it all the time. It's why teachers become defensive, because their words are misconstrued and dismissed at almost every turn by people who are ignorant. (Again: not an insult.)

So, I'll take your advice and go grade papers. That's far more productive than posting here considering these trends.

I am not going to out myself on here, but rest assured, I know the demands of your job because I used to live in a household with a teacher and my own job carries some of the same demands. I also know the demands of other people’s jobs where they are under tremendous pressure to show consistently excellent performance or they will be fired. Being a great teacher is really hard. It’s a thankless job and you have to bring a lot of work home with you if you’re doing it right. But it’s also true that it comes with a lot of job security. Mediocre and lazy teachers can sit in their jobs for years and the worst thing that happens to them is they get moved to a different school. Right now there are a lot of parents who feel like they are barely hanging onto their jobs and this calendar is really not helping.

The majority of those parents get paid considerably more than teachers. Enough with the false equivalence. Hire a f—king babysitter.

I'd prefer better pay for teachers, particuarly when FCPS salaries are compared to surrounding jurisdictions but....

Teacher pay is for a less than full year so its not an apples to apples comparasion. Scale it for an equivlent amount of time and the ~60k starting salary in FCPS jumps much closer to entry level engineering pay.

Nope. That’s not how salaries work.

(Also, I made that as an entry level engineer in the area over 20 GD years ago. It’s laughable to defend these miserly salaries for professionals in one of the wealthiest areas of the country.)

You are paid based off a set of contracted hours for 195 days which occur over a 10 month period. Yes, you are salaried, and yes you have had the option in prior years to be paid 10 months or 12 months out of the year. You are not however working the same number of days per year as a full time employee in most other professions given both the 2 months off for summer + 30 holidays this year (not including 14 sick with 6 as regular leave days) which accounts for some of the pay differential unless you are on the 260 day scale.

A starting salary of 61k with a BS.
https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/fy26-teacher-195-day.pdf

If other professional jobs have 260 days worked (including 10 federal holidays so a 260 day calendar), then we can scale a starting engineering salary of 72k by 75%(195/260) and we get 54k. Meaning that starting teacher pay is inline with starting engineering pay for an equivlent number of days worked and in fact higher.

Now if we look at FCPS teacher pay for260 days its actually lines up nearly to starting engineering pay at 74.4k.
https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/fy26-teacher-260-day.pdf

Okay, your math is adorable, but teachers aren’t actually making that higher salary. So how does that help anyone?

FCPS parents need to get a grip. Teachers are overworked, in part because class sizes are too large and in part because kids’ behavior is out of control.

Imagine if parents and teachers actually worked together to improve the school district instead of constantly fighting online. And think about whose interests are served by the constant bickering.

- not a teacher; parent of a senior in FCPS and sophomore not in FCPS

I think you have to look at in the eyes of hourly pay. Teachers could work all year and thus would make more money. Teachers earn more than me.

Wrong. School isn’t year-round, so they can’t simply choose to work all year.

The existence of 260 day contracts means that some can and of course others could work a 2nd job for 2 months.

The fact that somrone is complaining about getting paid a monthly salary to not work for 2 months and 30 holidays seems a bit odd.

The genuinely excellent teachers have lucrative summer positions that pay way more on an hourly basis than their teaching work. It’s the mediocre whiners who are complaining and wanting full time salary for part time jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What kind of education/training do sanitation workers need? Minimal training. What education/training do teachers need? A lot. I student taught for an entire school year and still didn’t feel totally prepared for my own class. We are paid more because we pay for the education/training to teach.

You don’t go to more school than social workers, RNs, family case workers, etc. but those jobs don’t whine like you do. You also get paid a lot less than plumbers who don’t pay as much for their schooling as you so. Every job above is as or more vital than teaching but none of them write DCUM screeds demanding a sticker for waking up early.

The only whining on this thread is coming from entitled, wealthy parents like you. NOT teachers.

Send your snowflakes to private, homeschool, hire a tutor, or kindly STFU.

End don’t need Master’s degrees and teachers in my state do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What kind of education/training do sanitation workers need? Minimal training. What education/training do teachers need? A lot. I student taught for an entire school year and still didn’t feel totally prepared for my own class. We are paid more because we pay for the education/training to teach.

You don’t go to more school than social workers, RNs, family case workers, etc. but those jobs don’t whine like you do. You also get paid a lot less than plumbers who don’t pay as much for their schooling as you so. Every job above is as or more vital than teaching but none of them write DCUM screeds demanding a sticker for waking up early.

The only whining on this thread is coming from entitled, wealthy parents like you. NOT teachers.

Send your snowflakes to private, homeschool, hire a tutor, or kindly STFU.

Every post on the forum is created by a complaining parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What kind of education/training do sanitation workers need? Minimal training. What education/training do teachers need? A lot. I student taught for an entire school year and still didn’t feel totally prepared for my own class. We are paid more because we pay for the education/training to teach.

You don’t go to more school than social workers, RNs, family case workers, etc. but those jobs don’t whine like you do. You also get paid a lot less than plumbers who don’t pay as much for their schooling as you so. Every job above is as or more vital than teaching but none of them write DCUM screeds demanding a sticker for waking up early.

The only whining on this thread is coming from entitled, wealthy parents like you. NOT teachers.

Send your snowflakes to private, homeschool, hire a tutor, or kindly STFU.

Every post on the forum is created by a complaining parent.

Ugh I'm so over FCPS all of it. It's teachers, parents, administrators and gatehouse-horrible. Nothing but whining and complaining all the time. The kids lose out with all the nonsense in this broken county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What kind of education/training do sanitation workers need? Minimal training. What education/training do teachers need? A lot. I student taught for an entire school year and still didn’t feel totally prepared for my own class. We are paid more because we pay for the education/training to teach.

You don’t go to more school than social workers, RNs, family case workers, etc. but those jobs don’t whine like you do. You also get paid a lot less than plumbers who don’t pay as much for their schooling as you so. Every job above is as or more vital than teaching but none of them write DCUM screeds demanding a sticker for waking up early.

The only whining on this thread is coming from entitled, wealthy parents like you. NOT teachers.

Send your snowflakes to private, homeschool, hire a tutor, or kindly STFU.

Are you this vulgar because you had to wake up early?

Vulgar? Clutch your pearls harder over language while you disparage an entire group of hardworking professionals who have a major influence over your children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m of two thoughts:

Yes, the calendar is too disjointed and it needs to be fixed.

But teachers need work days. If we want teachers to stay in the profession, they need to be granted time during the work week (even just occasionally) to get their work done. It shouldn’t be the expectation that nights and weekends belong to their jobs, too.

I have a demanding job. It has me on calls for a good portion of the day. This means I have to work outside of work hours to get my work done.

Teachers need to also use their time more efficiently. FCPS ES and MS have very little grading to do.

You sound ignorant. You don't have a clue what's asked of teachers. Also school isn't daycare figure out your parenting.

Shouldn’t you be grading some papers instead of arguing with parents on here? Since you’re so overloaded and all?

I'm a DP, but I am also a teacher.

Let's be honest: if you don't teach, you ARE ignorant of the demands of teaching. That's not an insult. Ignorance is literally defined as lacking knowledge or awareness about a particular subject. Therefore, if you haven't taught you DON'T actually know what is demanded of teachers. And again: that's not an insult.

But is IS insulting when you come here and belittle a job you know little about.

So when teachers try to explain to you why we need planning time, this is an opportunity for you to learn about something you're unfamiliar with. Unfortunately, posters on this site label comments from teachers as "complaining" or "arguing" when it's simply "explaining." I see it all the time. It's why teachers become defensive, because their words are misconstrued and dismissed at almost every turn by people who are ignorant. (Again: not an insult.)

So, I'll take your advice and go grade papers. That's far more productive than posting here considering these trends.

I am not going to out myself on here, but rest assured, I know the demands of your job because I used to live in a household with a teacher and my own job carries some of the same demands. I also know the demands of other people’s jobs where they are under tremendous pressure to show consistently excellent performance or they will be fired. Being a great teacher is really hard. It’s a thankless job and you have to bring a lot of work home with you if you’re doing it right. But it’s also true that it comes with a lot of job security. Mediocre and lazy teachers can sit in their jobs for years and the worst thing that happens to them is they get moved to a different school. Right now there are a lot of parents who feel like they are barely hanging onto their jobs and this calendar is really not helping.

The majority of those parents get paid considerably more than teachers. Enough with the false equivalence. Hire a f—king babysitter.

I'd prefer better pay for teachers, particuarly when FCPS salaries are compared to surrounding jurisdictions but....

Teacher pay is for a less than full year so its not an apples to apples comparasion. Scale it for an equivlent amount of time and the ~60k starting salary in FCPS jumps much closer to entry level engineering pay.

Nope. That’s not how salaries work.

(Also, I made that as an entry level engineer in the area over 20 GD years ago. It’s laughable to defend these miserly salaries for professionals in one of the wealthiest areas of the country.)

You are paid based off a set of contracted hours for 195 days which occur over a 10 month period. Yes, you are salaried, and yes you have had the option in prior years to be paid 10 months or 12 months out of the year. You are not however working the same number of days per year as a full time employee in most other professions given both the 2 months off for summer + 30 holidays this year (not including 14 sick with 6 as regular leave days) which accounts for some of the pay differential unless you are on the 260 day scale.

A starting salary of 61k with a BS.
https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/fy26-teacher-195-day.pdf

If other professional jobs have 260 days worked (including 10 federal holidays so a 260 day calendar), then we can scale a starting engineering salary of 72k by 75%(195/260) and we get 54k. Meaning that starting teacher pay is inline with starting engineering pay for an equivlent number of days worked and in fact higher.

Now if we look at FCPS teacher pay for260 days its actually lines up nearly to starting engineering pay at 74.4k.
https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/fy26-teacher-260-day.pdf

Teaching is a generously compensated part-time job. Teachers who want to feel like they are “equal“ in some way to other professionals, rarely think that they should work the same hours and time as those other professions.

Part time jobs are classified as being 20 hours or less a week. We are contracted 40 hours and often work more than that like many other salaries people. Claiming this is part time idiotic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m of two thoughts:

Yes, the calendar is too disjointed and it needs to be fixed.

But teachers need work days. If we want teachers to stay in the profession, they need to be granted time during the work week (even just occasionally) to get their work done. It shouldn’t be the expectation that nights and weekends belong to their jobs, too.

I have a demanding job. It has me on calls for a good portion of the day. This means I have to work outside of work hours to get my work done.

Teachers need to also use their time more efficiently. FCPS ES and MS have very little grading to do.

You sound ignorant. You don't have a clue what's asked of teachers. Also school isn't daycare figure out your parenting.

Shouldn’t you be grading some papers instead of arguing with parents on here? Since you’re so overloaded and all?

I'm a DP, but I am also a teacher.

Let's be honest: if you don't teach, you ARE ignorant of the demands of teaching. That's not an insult. Ignorance is literally defined as lacking knowledge or awareness about a particular subject. Therefore, if you haven't taught you DON'T actually know what is demanded of teachers. And again: that's not an insult.

But is IS insulting when you come here and belittle a job you know little about.

So when teachers try to explain to you why we need planning time, this is an opportunity for you to learn about something you're unfamiliar with. Unfortunately, posters on this site label comments from teachers as "complaining" or "arguing" when it's simply "explaining." I see it all the time. It's why teachers become defensive, because their words are misconstrued and dismissed at almost every turn by people who are ignorant. (Again: not an insult.)

So, I'll take your advice and go grade papers. That's far more productive than posting here considering these trends.

I am not going to out myself on here, but rest assured, I know the demands of your job because I used to live in a household with a teacher and my own job carries some of the same demands. I also know the demands of other people’s jobs where they are under tremendous pressure to show consistently excellent performance or they will be fired. Being a great teacher is really hard. It’s a thankless job and you have to bring a lot of work home with you if you’re doing it right. But it’s also true that it comes with a lot of job security. Mediocre and lazy teachers can sit in their jobs for years and the worst thing that happens to them is they get moved to a different school. Right now there are a lot of parents who feel like they are barely hanging onto their jobs and this calendar is really not helping.

The majority of those parents get paid considerably more than teachers. Enough with the false equivalence. Hire a f—king babysitter.

You don’t by any chance teach math?

Look at the FARMS eligibility in FCPS. No, the majority doesn’t make “considerably more” than teachers or their kids wouldn’t be getting free meals.

Sorry, dummy, I should have clarified: the majority of the “professionals with demanding jobs” who b—ch and moan about teachers on DCUM are paid considerably more than that.

The majority of folks who aren’t paid as much as teachers are certainly not working at jobs where they’re expected to be on calls all day and then take work home with them. Don’t be absurd.

Plenty of people making less than teachers are bringing work home, interacting with customers all day, and not on DCUM sniveling about the unfairness of doing the job they signed up for.

Examples, please. We’ll wait.

Social workers.
Healthcare workers with charting responsibilities.

This really shows how much of a bubble you’re in if you think less well compensated jobs are somehow easier. You should go work in a group home for a couple years.

What are their salaries and how many hours are they working from home. Be specific, otherwise we’ll assume you’re talking out of your @$$.

Is your google broken? Fairfax entry level social work gets $60,300 for 12 months. Less than teachers. Casework at home is constant in social work. Go volunteer in a teens shelter and get some perspective.

And you know this because you… googled it?

Thanks for confirming you’re talking out of your @$$!

I know it because my mother was an elder-care social worker. Who didn’t complain about her pay and hours because her job was serving the best interests of WWII veterans, even if that meant doing some work at home.

And here is the crux of the matter: people like you expect teachers to work for peanuts out of the goodness of their hearts “FoR tHe KiDs!!” This misogynistic mindset is why traditionally womens’ work has been and continues to be severely undervalued (financially, not horn honking, coffee mug displays of “thanks”) in our society.

Congratulations! You’re part of the problem!

Now please remind us all what YOU do for a living and how much you get paid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What kind of education/training do sanitation workers need? Minimal training. What education/training do teachers need? A lot. I student taught for an entire school year and still didn’t feel totally prepared for my own class. We are paid more because we pay for the education/training to teach.

You don’t go to more school than social workers, RNs, family case workers, etc. but those jobs don’t whine like you do. You also get paid a lot less than plumbers who don’t pay as much for their schooling as you so. Every job above is as or more vital than teaching but none of them write DCUM screeds demanding a sticker for waking up early.

The only whining on this thread is coming from entitled, wealthy parents like you. NOT teachers.

Send your snowflakes to private, homeschool, hire a tutor, or kindly STFU.

Are you this vulgar because you had to wake up early?

Vulgar? Clutch your pearls harder over language while you disparage an entire group of hardworking professionals who have a major influence over your children.

The good ones do. The bad ones we wait out, while paying others to do their job, and using as object lessons about discipline and laziness.

But then again the good ones don’t believe waking up early is a heroic feat. That is truly a sign of mediocrity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What kind of education/training do sanitation workers need? Minimal training. What education/training do teachers need? A lot. I student taught for an entire school year and still didn’t feel totally prepared for my own class. We are paid more because we pay for the education/training to teach.

You don’t go to more school than social workers, RNs, family case workers, etc. but those jobs don’t whine like you do. You also get paid a lot less than plumbers who don’t pay as much for their schooling as you so. Every job above is as or more vital than teaching but none of them write DCUM screeds demanding a sticker for waking up early.

The only whining on this thread is coming from entitled, wealthy parents like you. NOT teachers.

Send your snowflakes to private, homeschool, hire a tutor, or kindly STFU.

Are you this vulgar because you had to wake up early?

Vulgar? Clutch your pearls harder over language while you disparage an entire group of hardworking professionals who have a major influence over your children.

The good ones do. The bad ones we wait out, while paying others to do their job, and using as object lessons about discipline and laziness.

But then again the good ones don’t believe waking up early is a heroic feat. That is truly a sign of mediocrity.

The bad and mediocre ones influence your kids, too, doofus.

Maybe you need more sleep so your brain can function properly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m of two thoughts:

Yes, the calendar is too disjointed and it needs to be fixed.

But teachers need work days. If we want teachers to stay in the profession, they need to be granted time during the work week (even just occasionally) to get their work done. It shouldn’t be the expectation that nights and weekends belong to their jobs, too.

I have a demanding job. It has me on calls for a good portion of the day. This means I have to work outside of work hours to get my work done.

Teachers need to also use their time more efficiently. FCPS ES and MS have very little grading to do.

You sound ignorant. You don't have a clue what's asked of teachers. Also school isn't daycare figure out your parenting.

Shouldn’t you be grading some papers instead of arguing with parents on here? Since you’re so overloaded and all?

I'm a DP, but I am also a teacher.

Let's be honest: if you don't teach, you ARE ignorant of the demands of teaching. That's not an insult. Ignorance is literally defined as lacking knowledge or awareness about a particular subject. Therefore, if you haven't taught you DON'T actually know what is demanded of teachers. And again: that's not an insult.

But is IS insulting when you come here and belittle a job you know little about.

So when teachers try to explain to you why we need planning time, this is an opportunity for you to learn about something you're unfamiliar with. Unfortunately, posters on this site label comments from teachers as "complaining" or "arguing" when it's simply "explaining." I see it all the time. It's why teachers become defensive, because their words are misconstrued and dismissed at almost every turn by people who are ignorant. (Again: not an insult.)

So, I'll take your advice and go grade papers. That's far more productive than posting here considering these trends.

I am not going to out myself on here, but rest assured, I know the demands of your job because I used to live in a household with a teacher and my own job carries some of the same demands. I also know the demands of other people’s jobs where they are under tremendous pressure to show consistently excellent performance or they will be fired. Being a great teacher is really hard. It’s a thankless job and you have to bring a lot of work home with you if you’re doing it right. But it’s also true that it comes with a lot of job security. Mediocre and lazy teachers can sit in their jobs for years and the worst thing that happens to them is they get moved to a different school. Right now there are a lot of parents who feel like they are barely hanging onto their jobs and this calendar is really not helping.

The majority of those parents get paid considerably more than teachers. Enough with the false equivalence. Hire a f—king babysitter.

You don’t by any chance teach math?

Look at the FARMS eligibility in FCPS. No, the majority doesn’t make “considerably more” than teachers or their kids wouldn’t be getting free meals.

Sorry, dummy, I should have clarified: the majority of the “professionals with demanding jobs” who b—ch and moan about teachers on DCUM are paid considerably more than that.

The majority of folks who aren’t paid as much as teachers are certainly not working at jobs where they’re expected to be on calls all day and then take work home with them. Don’t be absurd.

Plenty of people making less than teachers are bringing work home, interacting with customers all day, and not on DCUM sniveling about the unfairness of doing the job they signed up for.

Examples, please. We’ll wait.

Social workers.
Healthcare workers with charting responsibilities.

This really shows how much of a bubble you’re in if you think less well compensated jobs are somehow easier. You should go work in a group home for a couple years.

What are their salaries and how many hours are they working from home. Be specific, otherwise we’ll assume you’re talking out of your @$$.

Is your google broken? Fairfax entry level social work gets $60,300 for 12 months. Less than teachers. Casework at home is constant in social work. Go volunteer in a teens shelter and get some perspective.

And you know this because you… googled it?

Thanks for confirming you’re talking out of your @$$!

I know it because my mother was an elder-care social worker. Who didn’t complain about her pay and hours because her job was serving the best interests of WWII veterans, even if that meant doing some work at home.

And here is the crux of the matter: people like you expect teachers to work for peanuts out of the goodness of their hearts “FoR tHe KiDs!!” This misogynistic mindset is why traditionally womens’ work has been and continues to be severely undervalued (financially, not horn honking, coffee mug displays of “thanks”) in our society.

Congratulations! You’re part of the problem!

Now please remind us all what YOU do for a living and how much you get paid.

If you don’t want to provide a public service to the children mandated by law to be there, find a profession that you feel recognizes your true value. You aren’t undervalued because you’re a woman, you’re undervalued because literally showing up at work on time isn’t impressive.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:What kind of education/training do sanitation workers need? Minimal training. What education/training do teachers need? A lot. I student taught for an entire school year and still didn’t feel totally prepared for my own class. We are paid more because we pay for the education/training to teach.

You don’t go to more school than social workers, RNs, family case workers, etc. but those jobs don’t whine like you do. You also get paid a lot less than plumbers who don’t pay as much for their schooling as you so. Every job above is as or more vital than teaching but none of them write DCUM screeds demanding a sticker for waking up early.

The only whining on this thread is coming from entitled, wealthy parents like you. NOT teachers.

Send your snowflakes to private, homeschool, hire a tutor, or kindly STFU.

Are you this vulgar because you had to wake up early?

Vulgar? Clutch your pearls harder over language while you disparage an entire group of hardworking professionals who have a major influence over your children.

The good ones do. The bad ones we wait out, while paying others to do their job, and using as object lessons about discipline and laziness.

But then again the good ones don’t believe waking up early is a heroic feat. That is truly a sign of mediocrity.

The bad and mediocre ones influence your kids, too, doofus.

Maybe you need more sleep so your brain can function properly?

Bad and mediocre teachers who resort to name calling, for example? Yes, as I said above, they are a great lesson to our children in what a lack of discipline in a profession can do, and in how to work around mediocre people to minimize their impact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What kind of education/training do sanitation workers need? Minimal training. What education/training do teachers need? A lot. I student taught for an entire school year and still didn’t feel totally prepared for my own class. We are paid more because we pay for the education/training to teach.

You don’t go to more school than social workers, RNs, family case workers, etc. but those jobs don’t whine like you do. You also get paid a lot less than plumbers who don’t pay as much for their schooling as you so. Every job above is as or more vital than teaching but none of them write DCUM screeds demanding a sticker for waking up early.

The only whining on this thread is coming from entitled, wealthy parents like you. NOT teachers.

Send your snowflakes to private, homeschool, hire a tutor, or kindly STFU.

Are you this vulgar because you had to wake up early?

Vulgar? Clutch your pearls harder over language while you disparage an entire group of hardworking professionals who have a major influence over your children.

The good ones do. The bad ones we wait out, while paying others to do their job, and using as object lessons about discipline and laziness.

But then again the good ones don’t believe waking up early is a heroic feat. That is truly a sign of mediocrity.

The bad and mediocre ones influence your kids, too, doofus.

Maybe you need more sleep so your brain can function properly?

Bad and mediocre teachers who resort to name calling, for example? Yes, as I said above, they are a great lesson to our children in what a lack of discipline in a profession can do, and in how to work around mediocre people to minimize their impact.

I’m not a teacher, dum dum. Just a fellow parent who is sick of your BS.

Now go spend time with your kids instead of whining about it!

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I’m of two thoughts:

Yes, the calendar is too disjointed and it needs to be fixed.

But teachers need work days. If we want teachers to stay in the profession, they need to be granted time during the work week (even just occasionally) to get their work done. It shouldn’t be the expectation that nights and weekends belong to their jobs, too.

I have a demanding job. It has me on calls for a good portion of the day. This means I have to work outside of work hours to get my work done.

Teachers need to also use their time more efficiently. FCPS ES and MS have very little grading to do.

You sound ignorant. You don't have a clue what's asked of teachers. Also school isn't daycare figure out your parenting.

Shouldn’t you be grading some papers instead of arguing with parents on here? Since you’re so overloaded and all?

I'm a DP, but I am also a teacher.

Let's be honest: if you don't teach, you ARE ignorant of the demands of teaching. That's not an insult. Ignorance is literally defined as lacking knowledge or awareness about a particular subject. Therefore, if you haven't taught you DON'T actually know what is demanded of teachers. And again: that's not an insult.

But is IS insulting when you come here and belittle a job you know little about.

So when teachers try to explain to you why we need planning time, this is an opportunity for you to learn about something you're unfamiliar with. Unfortunately, posters on this site label comments from teachers as "complaining" or "arguing" when it's simply "explaining." I see it all the time. It's why teachers become defensive, because their words are misconstrued and dismissed at almost every turn by people who are ignorant. (Again: not an insult.)

So, I'll take your advice and go grade papers. That's far more productive than posting here considering these trends.

I am not going to out myself on here, but rest assured, I know the demands of your job because I used to live in a household with a teacher and my own job carries some of the same demands. I also know the demands of other people’s jobs where they are under tremendous pressure to show consistently excellent performance or they will be fired. Being a great teacher is really hard. It’s a thankless job and you have to bring a lot of work home with you if you’re doing it right. But it’s also true that it comes with a lot of job security. Mediocre and lazy teachers can sit in their jobs for years and the worst thing that happens to them is they get moved to a different school. Right now there are a lot of parents who feel like they are barely hanging onto their jobs and this calendar is really not helping.

The majority of those parents get paid considerably more than teachers. Enough with the false equivalence. Hire a f—king babysitter.

I'd prefer better pay for teachers, particuarly when FCPS salaries are compared to surrounding jurisdictions but....

Teacher pay is for a less than full year so its not an apples to apples comparasion. Scale it for an equivlent amount of time and the ~60k starting salary in FCPS jumps much closer to entry level engineering pay.

Nope. That’s not how salaries work.

(Also, I made that as an entry level engineer in the area over 20 GD years ago. It’s laughable to defend these miserly salaries for professionals in one of the wealthiest areas of the country.)

You are paid based off a set of contracted hours for 195 days which occur over a 10 month period. Yes, you are salaried, and yes you have had the option in prior years to be paid 10 months or 12 months out of the year. You are not however working the same number of days per year as a full time employee in most other professions given both the 2 months off for summer + 30 holidays this year (not including 14 sick with 6 as regular leave days) which accounts for some of the pay differential unless you are on the 260 day scale.

A starting salary of 61k with a BS.
https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/fy26-teacher-195-day.pdf

If other professional jobs have 260 days worked (including 10 federal holidays so a 260 day calendar), then we can scale a starting engineering salary of 72k by 75%(195/260) and we get 54k. Meaning that starting teacher pay is inline with starting engineering pay for an equivlent number of days worked and in fact higher.

Now if we look at FCPS teacher pay for260 days its actually lines up nearly to starting engineering pay at 74.4k.
https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/fy26-teacher-260-day.pdf

Okay, your math is adorable, but teachers aren’t actually making that higher salary. So how does that help anyone?

FCPS parents need to get a grip. Teachers are overworked, in part because class sizes are too large and in part because kids’ behavior is out of control.

Imagine if parents and teachers actually worked together to improve the school district instead of constantly fighting online. And think about whose interests are served by the constant bickering.

- not a teacher; parent of a senior in FCPS and sophomore not in FCPS

Thank you, PP. Thank you for listening and thank you for seeing part of the problem. This teacher appreciates you.

The good news is I think parents and teachers DO work together off this site. I've talked to four different parents this week alone. The conversations have been respectful and collaborative. In all four cases, parents were concerned about their high schoolers' progress. We talked, came up with plans, and I've followed through. This is how it most often works.

The vitriol you see on this site isn't reality. I don't have parents screaming at me that I'm a "part time" employee. In fact, a parent thanked me this week for getting essays back so quickly, acknowledging I must have given up my weekend to do so. (I had.) I don't have parents screaming at me that I don't deserve planning time and that "I knew what I was signing up for." Instead, I had thanked me for the individual plan I created for her child, knowing that it was taking from my limited time. I told the parents I appreciated the dialogue and the insight they were able to give me about their children. Teamwork.

Those are the real parent / teacher interactions. This ridiculous nonsense? It stems from attacks on teachers, often when a non-teaching poster perceives a benign comment as a "complaint" or "whining." And then the hardworking, passionate teacher fires back in defense. Rinse. Repeat. Nothing improves. Nothing changes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What kind of education/training do sanitation workers need? Minimal training. What education/training do teachers need? A lot. I student taught for an entire school year and still didn’t feel totally prepared for my own class. We are paid more because we pay for the education/training to teach.

You don’t go to more school than social workers, RNs, family case workers, etc. but those jobs don’t whine like you do. You also get paid a lot less than plumbers who don’t pay as much for their schooling as you so. Every job above is as or more vital than teaching but none of them write DCUM screeds demanding a sticker for waking up early.

The only whining on this thread is coming from entitled, wealthy parents like you. NOT teachers.

Send your snowflakes to private, homeschool, hire a tutor, or kindly STFU.

Are you this vulgar because you had to wake up early?

Vulgar? Clutch your pearls harder over language while you disparage an entire group of hardworking professionals who have a major influence over your children.

The good ones do. The bad ones we wait out, while paying others to do their job, and using as object lessons about discipline and laziness.

But then again the good ones don’t believe waking up early is a heroic feat. That is truly a sign of mediocrity.

The bad and mediocre ones influence your kids, too, doofus.

Maybe you need more sleep so your brain can function properly?

Bad and mediocre teachers who resort to name calling, for example? Yes, as I said above, they are a great lesson to our children in what a lack of discipline in a profession can do, and in how to work around mediocre people to minimize their impact.

I’m not a teacher, dum dum. Just a fellow parent who is sick of your BS.

Now go spend time with your kids instead of whining about it!

If you teach your children vulgarity and to call names when they lose an argument, it may be in their best interest that you’re not spending time with them.