Teacher absences

[Anonymous]

My DCPS middle schooler has had weeks without a math teacher - first in 6th and now again in 8th. Can someone explain why this happens? Does it happen in private school?

[Anonymous]

Sometimes it can be the culture of the school, sometimes it can be a bad apple and sometimes it’s entirely bad luck, because a good teacher at a school with a good culture & admin has a serious medical issue. Obviously there are more resource constraints on DCPS dealing with issues that arise than private schools.

[Anonymous]

Like they had a sub, or no adult at all?

I think in the best privates they get a sub in place quickly, but in less respected privates this totally does happen.

[Anonymous]

Teachers are human and things may come up… babies, illness, death in the family, etc.

[Anonymous]

No, it doesn't happen in private. If the math teacher is out, other math faculty will cover the class for the rest of the week and there will be a math-specific sub in place the following Monday and (if needed) a long-term hire in the works immediately. There is never any lag in instruction and this is what you pay for.

-DCPS and Sidwell parent.

[Anonymous]

Deal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, it doesn't happen in private. If the math teacher is out, other math faculty will cover the class for the rest of the week and there will be a math-specific sub in place the following Monday and (if needed) a long-term hire in the works immediately. There is never any lag in instruction and this is what you pay for.

-DCPS and Sidwell parent.

I agree that privates seem to get coverage quickly, but pause and think of how that happens: a teacher who already has a full load takes on the grading/planning/teaching for another class. It may look seamless, but there’s a ton of late-night work happening that burns people out. I think it’s important to recognize how many privates get this done.

- private school teacher

[Anonymous]

It depends on the situation. If the teacher quits mid year or for whatever reason isn’t coming back at all, they will try to fill the position immediately (this happened with my kid this year). There is an onboarding process so they had one sub (another teacher in the school who filled in) for about a month until the new full time teacher was ready to go. In other situations where the teacher needs to take a longer leave of absence for whatever reason, it’s a bit trickier because they can’t hire someone new and there may be bigger gaps or more rotation with subs etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, it doesn't happen in private. If the math teacher is out, other math faculty will cover the class for the rest of the week and there will be a math-specific sub in place the following Monday and (if needed) a long-term hire in the works immediately. There is never any lag in instruction and this is what you pay for.

-DCPS and Sidwell parent.

I agree that privates seem to get coverage quickly, but pause and think of how that happens: a teacher who already has a full load takes on the grading/planning/teaching for another class. It may look seamless, but there’s a ton of late-night work happening that burns people out. I think it’s important to recognize how many privates get this done.

- private school teacher

+1 but welcome to the DMV where there are so many entitled people lacking in empathy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Deal?

Could honestly be Hardy, too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, it doesn't happen in private. If the math teacher is out, other math faculty will cover the class for the rest of the week and there will be a math-specific sub in place the following Monday and (if needed) a long-term hire in the works immediately. There is never any lag in instruction and this is what you pay for.

-DCPS and Sidwell parent.

Sure, all private schools are as wealthy and well-managed as Sidwell. Okay.

[Anonymous]

DCPS doesn’t do separate contracts for long term subs so the school is stuck with the regular sub pool to cover long term absences. And subs are not paid well or have any job security so it is really hard to cover a longer medical absence or maternity leave well. —DCPS teacher

[Anonymous]

It happens when the duration of the teacher being out is uncertain. Like for example, they are dealing with a health crisis or last days of life of their own parent and it's ongoing. So the school can't offer any sub a longer term job. Sometimes it's easier to find a long term sub because that person is guaranteed employment for a while, not just one day at a time. Not always-- it just depends who applies and what they want.

Math teachers are in short supply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teachers are human and things may come up… babies, illness, death in the family, etc.

Absolutely, but this post seems to be more about why DCPS can’t get a teacher to replace the original teacher. The reason is low pay and poor working conditions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCPS doesn’t do separate contracts for long term subs so the school is stuck with the regular sub pool to cover long term absences. And subs are not paid well or have any job security so it is really hard to cover a longer medical absence or maternity leave well. —DCPS teacher

Agreed. Essential problem is DCPS does not treat long-term subs well or actively try to recruit those who would be a good fit. Kids and teacher were mostly appreciative and wonderful but the admin and DCPS Central not so much.

-- DCPS former long term substitute of sciences at high school leve