Teachers Resigning Like Crazy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not in Fairfax, so feel free to disregard my post if you'd like.
I am in the Chicago area. I am sped certified and no joke, I'm getting emails and texts every single day, multiple times a day, asking me to interview for one of the thousands of sped positions that are open. I already have a job in gen ed. I think we're seeing the collapse of special ed and at some point, either the government is going to have to take over sped or it is going to have to be completely outsourced to private companies. Already, private companies are hiring "contract teachers" for these positions (paying them more, but they typically don't get a pension then).

SPED as a career is in a weird place. It's the kind of job that really shouldn't command a high amount of education. Certainly not an MS. I truly think the licensure can be achieved through an Associate's level education. That would help solve some of the problems with qualified people.

You think someone with an associates level of education should be able to address learning disabilities in math and reading? Design instruction, track data, and implement Orton Gillingham or Wilson Reading? What about working with students that are nonverbal and require assistive technology and AT instruction to communicate? You have no idea.

Definitely no idea. You can’t even be trained in Orton Gillingham without a masters degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not in Fairfax, so feel free to disregard my post if you'd like.
I am in the Chicago area. I am sped certified and no joke, I'm getting emails and texts every single day, multiple times a day, asking me to interview for one of the thousands of sped positions that are open. I already have a job in gen ed. I think we're seeing the collapse of special ed and at some point, either the government is going to have to take over sped or it is going to have to be completely outsourced to private companies. Already, private companies are hiring "contract teachers" for these positions (paying them more, but they typically don't get a pension then).

SPED as a career is in a weird place. It's the kind of job that really shouldn't command a high amount of education. Certainly not an MS. I truly think the licensure can be achieved through an Associate's level education. That would help solve some of the problems with qualified people.

This is a person who thinks my kid, who calls himself stupid as he struggles to read, actually is stupid/lazy/not trying hard enough and therefore should have the commiserate level of education/services.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not in Fairfax, so feel free to disregard my post if you'd like.
I am in the Chicago area. I am sped certified and no joke, I'm getting emails and texts every single day, multiple times a day, asking me to interview for one of the thousands of sped positions that are open. I already have a job in gen ed. I think we're seeing the collapse of special ed and at some point, either the government is going to have to take over sped or it is going to have to be completely outsourced to private companies. Already, private companies are hiring "contract teachers" for these positions (paying them more, but they typically don't get a pension then).

SPED as a career is in a weird place. It's the kind of job that really shouldn't command a high amount of education. Certainly not an MS. I truly think the licensure can be achieved through an Associate's level education. That would help solve some of the problems with qualified people.

Garbage. It should command more education, not less! It’s highly specialized. To be good at it, you would need to be able to read people, emotions, learning challenges, behaviors, and have a whole arsenal of helpful coping mechanisms, tactics, special learning techniques, etc.

None of those skills require a degree, let alone several. If we're being honest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS is now recruiting overseas.

Great idea. Baltimore city schools have been hiring Filipino teachers for years in order to fill their teaching vacancies!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not in Fairfax, so feel free to disregard my post if you'd like.
I am in the Chicago area. I am sped certified and no joke, I'm getting emails and texts every single day, multiple times a day, asking me to interview for one of the thousands of sped positions that are open. I already have a job in gen ed. I think we're seeing the collapse of special ed and at some point, either the government is going to have to take over sped or it is going to have to be completely outsourced to private companies. Already, private companies are hiring "contract teachers" for these positions (paying them more, but they typically don't get a pension then).

SPED as a career is in a weird place. It's the kind of job that really shouldn't command a high amount of education. Certainly not an MS. I truly think the licensure can be achieved through an Associate's level education. That would help solve some of the problems with qualified people.

No. Sped teachers need MORE education, not less. The amount of methods, types of interventions, techniques and more they have to know is insane.

At UVA, the coursework specific to the BS Ed in SPED licensure begins in Year 3, and Year 4 is 75% field internships 25% classes. We all know the first two years of college are mostly gen ed fluff. So I stand by what I said. In general, SPED could creatively be compressed into two-year, highly targeted certificate and field experience programs.

I'm a teacher, I'm not attacking other teachers. Just being very realistic here. If career switchers can go into the hard subjects like math and science taking minimal teaching electives, there have to be creative avenues for SPED too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not in Fairfax, so feel free to disregard my post if you'd like.
I am in the Chicago area. I am sped certified and no joke, I'm getting emails and texts every single day, multiple times a day, asking me to interview for one of the thousands of sped positions that are open. I already have a job in gen ed. I think we're seeing the collapse of special ed and at some point, either the government is going to have to take over sped or it is going to have to be completely outsourced to private companies. Already, private companies are hiring "contract teachers" for these positions (paying them more, but they typically don't get a pension then).

SPED as a career is in a weird place. It's the kind of job that really shouldn't command a high amount of education. Certainly not an MS. I truly think the licensure can be achieved through an Associate's level education. That would help solve some of the problems with qualified people.

No. Sped teachers need MORE education, not less. The amount of methods, types of interventions, techniques and more they have to know is insane.

At UVA, the coursework specific to the BS Ed in SPED licensure begins in Year 3, and Year 4 is 75% field internships 25% classes. We all know the first two years of college are mostly gen ed fluff. So I stand by what I said. In general, SPED could creatively be compressed into two-year, highly targeted certificate and field experience programs.

I'm a teacher, I'm not attacking other teachers. Just being very realistic here. If career switchers can go into the hard subjects like math and science taking minimal teaching electives, there have to be creative avenues for SPED too.

Sure. And nurses really don't need more than 2 years of school. Heck, I'm fine with seeing a doctor who just did a 4 year undergrad. It's fine, all fine.

[Anonymous]

SPED has massive amounts of paperwork and the constant threat of legal action that some parents hold over them.

[Anonymous]

I'm a SPED teacher. It's basically two jobs but you're only paid for one. The first job is the actual teaching, and everything that goes along with that such as classroom management, lesson planning, grading, and CT meetings. The second job is all the paperwork, data collection, IEP meetings, re-eval meetings, eligibility meetings, progress reports, IEP writing, drafting goals, back and forth with parents, and collaboration with other SPED and gen ed teachers.

Reducing the "training" to two years is probably not possible if you're still expected to deliver grade level content, and it wouldn't necessarily attract more people to the field because you're still paid the same as a gen ed teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS is now recruiting overseas.

Great idea. Baltimore city schools have been hiring Filipino teachers for years in order to fill their teaching vacancies!

Baltimore City teacher here. Our best math teachers have been Filipino if they can adjust to the poor behavior of many students here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS is now recruiting overseas.

Great idea. Baltimore city schools have been hiring Filipino teachers for years in order to fill their teaching vacancies!

Baltimore City teacher here. Our best math teachers have been Filipino if they can adjust to the poor behavior of many students here.

Out of curiosity, has this been a big struggle from what you've seen? There was an article in the Washington Post about some district in Arizona that recruited overseas teachers to work in tough schools and the teachers were largely unable to hack it.

[Anonymous]

My impression is that overseas school across different countries do not allow escalated behaviors go without consequences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not in Fairfax, so feel free to disregard my post if you'd like.
I am in the Chicago area. I am sped certified and no joke, I'm getting emails and texts every single day, multiple times a day, asking me to interview for one of the thousands of sped positions that are open. I already have a job in gen ed. I think we're seeing the collapse of special ed and at some point, either the government is going to have to take over sped or it is going to have to be completely outsourced to private companies. Already, private companies are hiring "contract teachers" for these positions (paying them more, but they typically don't get a pension then).

SPED as a career is in a weird place. It's the kind of job that really shouldn't command a high amount of education. Certainly not an MS. I truly think the licensure can be achieved through an Associate's level education. That would help solve some of the problems with qualified people.

No. Sped teachers need MORE education, not less. The amount of methods, types of interventions, techniques and more they have to know is insane.

But the problem is that a significant portion of the additional skills that you need to be good in SPED is not book-learning or class learned skills. They are skills at reading and analyzing situations and children with unique needs, learning to help them cope and learning how to provide them a good environment for their particular needs. These are not skills that you will learn from a master's in education. A good SPED teacher does not need additional coursework, but internships and hands-on environmental training. Yes, additional methods, interventions and techniques can be taught, but you can learn those from seminars and training sessions that do not require college or post-graduate enrollment or degrees. SPED teachers do not need a second degree, whether college level or graduate level.

The problem is that requiring higher criteria for hiring SPED teachers, culls the field down, when you are in desparate need of additional teachers. Much of what is taught in master's education programs will no be appropriate nor make a SPED teacher better at their job. So, you would do better to open up the SPED positions to teachers will your basic education degrees and look for candidates with the right personality. You want empathy and patience. You want problem solvers and self-starters.

By restricting the candidate pool, you are limiting the number of applicants and creating more vacancies. And those vacancies are being filled by long-term subs, teaching assistants and administrative staff who have fewer qualifications for this work than the candidates with education and teaching backgrounds, but not the advanced degrees. Talk about biting one's nose to spite one's face.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not in Fairfax, so feel free to disregard my post if you'd like.
I am in the Chicago area. I am sped certified and no joke, I'm getting emails and texts every single day, multiple times a day, asking me to interview for one of the thousands of sped positions that are open. I already have a job in gen ed. I think we're seeing the collapse of special ed and at some point, either the government is going to have to take over sped or it is going to have to be completely outsourced to private companies. Already, private companies are hiring "contract teachers" for these positions (paying them more, but they typically don't get a pension then).

SPED as a career is in a weird place. It's the kind of job that really shouldn't command a high amount of education. Certainly not an MS. I truly think the licensure can be achieved through an Associate's level education. That would help solve some of the problems with qualified people.

Garbage. It should command more education, not less! It’s highly specialized. To be good at it, you would need to be able to read people, emotions, learning challenges, behaviors, and have a whole arsenal of helpful coping mechanisms, tactics, special learning techniques, etc.

None of those skills require a degree, let alone several. If we're being honest.

Very few jobs in the real world require one or more degrees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCPS is now recruiting overseas.

Great idea. Baltimore city schools have been hiring Filipino teachers for years in order to fill their teaching vacancies!

Baltimore City teacher here. Our best math teachers have been Filipino if they can adjust to the poor behavior of many students here.

Out of curiosity, has this been a big struggle from what you've seen? There was an article in the Washington Post about some district in Arizona that recruited overseas teachers to work in tough schools and the teachers were largely unable to hack it.

Yes. There is a documentary about the first wave of Filipino teachers coming to Baltimore City years ago.

https://youtu.be/GXz-zzEm2OM

The behavior has just gotten worse since the pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not in Fairfax, so feel free to disregard my post if you'd like.
I am in the Chicago area. I am sped certified and no joke, I'm getting emails and texts every single day, multiple times a day, asking me to interview for one of the thousands of sped positions that are open. I already have a job in gen ed. I think we're seeing the collapse of special ed and at some point, either the government is going to have to take over sped or it is going to have to be completely outsourced to private companies. Already, private companies are hiring "contract teachers" for these positions (paying them more, but they typically don't get a pension then).

SPED as a career is in a weird place. It's the kind of job that really shouldn't command a high amount of education. Certainly not an MS. I truly think the licensure can be achieved through an Associate's level education. That would help solve some of the problems with qualified people.

No. Sped teachers need MORE education, not less. The amount of methods, types of interventions, techniques and more they have to know is insane.

But the problem is that a significant portion of the additional skills that you need to be good in SPED is not book-learning or class learned skills. They are skills at reading and analyzing situations and children with unique needs, learning to help them cope and learning how to provide them a good environment for their particular needs. These are not skills that you will learn from a master's in education. A good SPED teacher does not need additional coursework, but internships and hands-on environmental training. Yes, additional methods, interventions and techniques can be taught, but you can learn those from seminars and training sessions that do not require college or post-graduate enrollment or degrees. SPED teachers do not need a second degree, whether college level or graduate level.

The problem is that requiring higher criteria for hiring SPED teachers, culls the field down, when you are in desparate need of additional teachers. Much of what is taught in master's education programs will no be appropriate nor make a SPED teacher better at their job. So, you would do better to open up the SPED positions to teachers will your basic education degrees and look for candidates with the right personality. You want empathy and patience. You want problem solvers and self-starters.

By restricting the candidate pool, you are limiting the number of applicants and creating more vacancies. And those vacancies are being filled by long-term subs, teaching assistants and administrative staff who have fewer qualifications for this work than the candidates with education and teaching backgrounds, but not the advanced degrees. Talk about biting one's nose to spite one's face.

The gold standard for dyslexia right now is Orton Gillingham. You cannot be trained in Orton Gillingham without a masters. You need knowledge of child development, psychology, reading disabilities, reading instruction, and assessment, to name just a few things. You also need knowledge of IEP procedures, special education law, IEP development and progress monitoring. You can’t give (and interpret) an individualized, normed assessment without an advanced degree in most cases. I imagine your child doesn’t have a reading disability. I’ll take the highly educated teacher who can assess and remediate my child’s needs over your guy or gal with no degree. Thanks!