Alleged teacher shortage

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I teach students with severe disabilities and it’s disheartening how many people on here think it’s so undesirable. I love it. I don’t have to teach to the tests like the general education teachers do. I have a lot of flexibility with the curriculum. My class is small and I have IAs to support me. Whereas the gen ed students can be really unkind and disobedient, my kids are sweet and I have very strong bonds with them. I get to keep the same kids for three consecutive years, so I really connect with them and witness a lot of progress and growth. Yes, I do a considerable amount of work at home (paperwork, IEPs, data binders, individualized work for goals, differentiation, etc). There’s not enough time in the workday and there are certain things that can only get done in school. I would still much rather do this than work with the “regular” (DCUMs word, not mine) kids.

As you know there is a wide range of SPED classes. I also work with kids who are very sweet but many of there are also prone to extreme violence and my program often becomes a “catch all” where kids are placed when they don’t quite fit in other classes. Sometimes it’s relatively easy to adapt to all the needs, other years it feels impossible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why there are so many terrible special ed teachers and aides. They will take any warm body. It is really frustrating.

-A sped teacher

+1

Well what choice do they have? You can't make people want to work in Sped.

They could pay more and require more experience.

[Anonymous]

I'm just a parent but I have said for many years that there should be a special education teacher/aide pay scale separate from the general pay scale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many years do you have to work in the schools to have access to the healthcare when you retire? Is it the same as when you can access retirement or different?

LCPS is 20 years. My friend has 1 more year to go until she hits it and then she's done. She's going to retire and either go to a private or just do substitute teaching and tutoring. She teaches at a Title 1 school and is 90% burnt out. The distance learning over the past few months really did a number on her. It kills her watch her students struggling so much and have so many limits on what she can do.

Yeah not worth it. We are saving aggressively to retire early and our main concern is healthcare access. I'd consider working in a school for maybe 10 years to get us healthcare access but not 20, no way. Oh well, I guess will be stuck with the terrible exchange pricing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I teach students with severe disabilities and it’s disheartening how many people on here think it’s so undesirable. I love it. I don’t have to teach to the tests like the general education teachers do. I have a lot of flexibility with the curriculum. My class is small and I have IAs to support me. Whereas the gen ed students can be really unkind and disobedient, my kids are sweet and I have very strong bonds with them. I get to keep the same kids for three consecutive years, so I really connect with them and witness a lot of progress and growth. Yes, I do a considerable amount of work at home (paperwork, IEPs, data binders, individualized work for goals, differentiation, etc). There’s not enough time in the workday and there are certain things that can only get done in school. I would still much rather do this than work with the “regular” (DCUMs word, not mine) kids.

Our K-2 self contained teacher has been taken by ambulance to the hospital twice just in the last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach students with severe disabilities and it’s disheartening how many people on here think it’s so undesirable. I love it. I don’t have to teach to the tests like the general education teachers do. I have a lot of flexibility with the curriculum. My class is small and I have IAs to support me. Whereas the gen ed students can be really unkind and disobedient, my kids are sweet and I have very strong bonds with them. I get to keep the same kids for three consecutive years, so I really connect with them and witness a lot of progress and growth. Yes, I do a considerable amount of work at home (paperwork, IEPs, data binders, individualized work for goals, differentiation, etc). There’s not enough time in the workday and there are certain things that can only get done in school. I would still much rather do this than work with the “regular” (DCUMs word, not mine) kids.

As you know there is a wide range of SPED classes. I also work with kids who are very sweet but many of there are also prone to extreme violence and my program often becomes a “catch all” where kids are placed when they don’t quite fit in other classes. Sometimes it’s relatively easy to adapt to all the needs, other years it feels impossible.

I'm an IA and I work in a similar program. I love it but it's really tough. I already have a BS in a related field and have thought about enrolling in a program like the one described but am not sure it's worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach students with severe disabilities and it’s disheartening how many people on here think it’s so undesirable. I love it. I don’t have to teach to the tests like the general education teachers do. I have a lot of flexibility with the curriculum. My class is small and I have IAs to support me. Whereas the gen ed students can be really unkind and disobedient, my kids are sweet and I have very strong bonds with them. I get to keep the same kids for three consecutive years, so I really connect with them and witness a lot of progress and growth. Yes, I do a considerable amount of work at home (paperwork, IEPs, data binders, individualized work for goals, differentiation, etc). There’s not enough time in the workday and there are certain things that can only get done in school. I would still much rather do this than work with the “regular” (DCUMs word, not mine) kids.

Our K-2 self contained teacher has been taken by ambulance to the hospital twice just in the last year.

I have worked in Prek-5 self contained classes and I was injured the most in the pre-k classes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach students with severe disabilities and it’s disheartening how many people on here think it’s so undesirable. I love it. I don’t have to teach to the tests like the general education teachers do. I have a lot of flexibility with the curriculum. My class is small and I have IAs to support me. Whereas the gen ed students can be really unkind and disobedient, my kids are sweet and I have very strong bonds with them. I get to keep the same kids for three consecutive years, so I really connect with them and witness a lot of progress and growth. Yes, I do a considerable amount of work at home (paperwork, IEPs, data binders, individualized work for goals, differentiation, etc). There’s not enough time in the workday and there are certain things that can only get done in school. I would still much rather do this than work with the “regular” (DCUMs word, not mine) kids.

As you know there is a wide range of SPED classes. I also work with kids who are very sweet but many of there are also prone to extreme violence and my program often becomes a “catch all” where kids are placed when they don’t quite fit in other classes. Sometimes it’s relatively easy to adapt to all the needs, other years it feels impossible.

My first year was like that. Kids who could multiply and divide and kids who couldn’t count past two. Multiple nonverbal kids and kids who spoke two languages fluently and articulately. Kids with severe physical disabilities and kids who were emotionally disturbed. There was a lot of crying, and that was just me.
There are definitely different challenges and yes, violence is one of them. Biting, throwing desks and chairs, knocking over bookshelves, scratching, hitting and kicking, running away, etc. I will tell you that distance learning has been a welcome break from those elements of my job. And the screaming, which I don’t miss. I still can’t imagine doing anything else, but maybe in ten or twenty more years I’ll feel differently.

[Anonymous]

Just got an email that FTE will be impacted in our school. Doesn’t give specifics but it says teachers may face reduced or full separation employment.

I’m freaked out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just got an email that FTE will be impacted in our school. Doesn’t give specifics but it says teachers may face reduced or full separation employment.

I’m freaked out.

What school system?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why there are so many terrible special ed teachers and aides. They will take any warm body. It is really frustrating.

-A sped teacher

+1

Well what choice do they have? You can't make people want to work in Sped.

But the reason they need to keep hiring for sped is because most school systems aren’t attending to the reason for the high attrition rate. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle; insufficiently trained or inexperienced teachers are hired, little training or support is given (but heavy on the high pressure and criticism), the teacher burns out or gets overwhelmed and moves on, and another brand-new inexperienced teacher is hired in their stead. Rinse, repeat.

Ensuring that new sped teachers were not saddled with an overwhelming caseload and providing them enough support to learn the different aspects of their job would go a long way towards retention IME. (I’m not a sped teacher, but I have seen SO many cycle brought this way).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP here who mentioned Math. To get more math teachers, FCPS needs to advertise the way IN and make it reasonable. To teach Calculus and below, I don't understand why the teacher has to have coursework above Calculus, and be a Math major.

I agree! I'd be interested in a second career teaching math through Alegebra 1 or Geometry. I'm not interested in taking high level math classes to do it. I took Calculas AB in high school back in the day and passed. I got a 780 on the Math SAT. I think I could succeed as a middle school math teacher but right now it seems like too much work to get certfied.

I teach secondary math. I hear what you're saying. The calc requirement is a huge limiter for a lot of people. However, imo as a 20 year teacher, college calc I and II experience is absolutely necessary as a minimum.

You always need to know where your kids are going, the vertical skills. This is why I believe it is a huge mistake that elementary teachers teach math. They don't know what is required for Algebra I, having never taught it, and so they aren't able to understand the vertical skills that their students will need. It is a reason why things like the lattice method for multiplication was being taught in our school system. Fortunately now we've been able to stomp that out but for a while it was crazy.

I completely agree with you that we need a better pathway for getting more people math certified. I don't know what the answer is but I agree that the path we have now is too arduous and we are losing a lot of potentially great teachers because of that.

[Anonymous]

Experienced principal here. The teacher shortage is real. It keeps getting worse. Whoever is saying there is no shortage doesn’t know what they’re saying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just got an email that FTE will be impacted in our school. Doesn’t give specifics but it says teachers may face reduced or full separation employment.

I’m freaked out.

What school system?

LCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just got an email that FTE will be impacted in our school. Doesn’t give specifics but it says teachers may face reduced or full separation employment.

I’m freaked out.

What school system?

LCPS

Are you itinerant, specials, or IA? Or are you a classroom teacher? As a LCPS parent I find this curious.