I'm an MCPS elementary school teacher...AMA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where are the MAP scores? (I realize you’re not responsible for the delay, but have you been told anything about it?)

OP here...

No one here knows why they haven't been posted yet. It's a Central Office issue.
Your teacher can view and tell you your child's MAP scores now. Email them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi Op, on the girls versus boys behavior issue. My son (5th grade) who is a very well behaved kid according to his teachers regularly tells me how unfair he thinks the teachers and in particular the teacher’s aides are, always being harsh on boys and very nice to girls.

He says “they never say anything when the girls say mean things, create drama, tattle tell etc..but boys get punished even when they just say - i am done I don’t want to deal with the girls group they are just too mean-. It is not fair. Teachers just prefer girls”.

I can actually see why thishappens. Boys are louder, take space, are annoying and that’s the key disruptive behavior to tackle. I get it and I try to explain that to my son. I have my son and my girl’s friends at home regularly and know the difference.

BUT, my question to you is : do you get the sense that boys generally tend to feel like they are indeed less favored by the teachers in school (fairly or unfairly)? It is a current political trope, and not one I want to believe. But it is a recurring complaint from my son (who again is a straight A student with no discipline issue himself, he comments on what he sees). Not sure if this is generalized or not

As the mom of the three boys I’ve heard this story in some form from all of mine and their friends over the years. You know when that changed? The year they had a male teacher. One of mine practically floated on air the year he had a male teacher. So much so my husband even remarked about how great that kid’s school year was going.

I love female teachers and know they do a wonderful job, but primary years would definitely benefit from an infusion of male teachers. Same as university levels benefits when female join the ranks.

OP here...

Absolutely true!!! We need more male teachers. My school at one point had 3 that were phenomenal. They have all left.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you teach in a school with a full language immersion program, have you ever done so, and if yes to either, what is your impression of how the dynamics discussed here do or do not show up in the same ways in the immersion programs you have observed?

OP here..

No I do not and I have not. So I can't comment on the dynamics there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And fyi the "we're so underpaid" is just false, I am sorry but it is. I don't think teachers are overpaid either. I think the compensation is well in line with those for other jobs requiring similar education (but no, it's not in line with inflated tech salaries - guess what you still have a job and thousands of them don't so joke's on them)

I’m a 2nd year teacher making 63k, and I work tons of overtime.

You think that’s paid well?

Um... yes! $63k is a great salary for a little over a year of experience and summers off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And fyi the "we're so underpaid" is just false, I am sorry but it is. I don't think teachers are overpaid either. I think the compensation is well in line with those for other jobs requiring similar education (but no, it's not in line with inflated tech salaries - guess what you still have a job and thousands of them don't so joke's on them)

I’m a 2nd year teacher making 63k, and I work tons of overtime.

You think that’s paid well?

Um... yes! $63k is a great salary for a little over a year of experience and summers off.

+1 These days entry level jobs for people without full time directly relevant job experience are few and far between. They'll often say they want a grad degree, but it doesn't give you more money. I went to grad school in different field 10 years ago and most people got around $50k out of school. I was closer to $40k. And these are very competitive jobs. Thankfully my salary grew quickly but in part because I performed well and my boss was empowered to promote me. My colleague who performed poorly never got promoted and was eventually let go. A few years ago 2 relatives who had no work experience still got just over $40k out of grad school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And fyi the "we're so underpaid" is just false, I am sorry but it is. I don't think teachers are overpaid either. I think the compensation is well in line with those for other jobs requiring similar education (but no, it's not in line with inflated tech salaries - guess what you still have a job and thousands of them don't so joke's on them)

I’m a 2nd year teacher making 63k, and I work tons of overtime.

You think that’s paid well?

Um... yes! $63k is a great salary for a little over a year of experience and summers off.

This person has more than two years of experience (and maybe quite a bit more, depending on whether they have a master’s)—time in student teaching is not nothing.

Let’s say teachers are working 50 hr weeks (which I think is a conservative estimate) and adjust to 42 weeks a year factoring in summer.

This person is being paid $30 an hour. They do also get benefits (though they are substantially degraded from even a few years ago) and the weeks off for winter and spring breaks.

If you insist on factoring in those weeks as “time off” (as though salaried professionals in other field don’t also get leave they take mostly in these periods), it’s $32.30 an hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And fyi the "we're so underpaid" is just false, I am sorry but it is. I don't think teachers are overpaid either. I think the compensation is well in line with those for other jobs requiring similar education (but no, it's not in line with inflated tech salaries - guess what you still have a job and thousands of them don't so joke's on them)

I’m a 2nd year teacher making 63k, and I work tons of overtime.

You think that’s paid well?

Do you think other people with masters start making that much with benefits? Most don't, unfortunately.

Yes they do. Education is a low paying field because it’s mostly women. My kid made more than that with just a four year degree.

Thanks for sharing your study of your sample of one. Look at the data from the Census Bureau yourself if you want. People wildly overestimate how much money most people (even those with advanced degrees) make. And that data doesn't account for pension benefits which as much as people complain about them, are quite significant.

+1. The pension benefits are enormous, and so are the healthcare benefits in retirement. Teachers start out low but overtime can make quite a bit of money especially if they're teaching summer school and taking on coaching. It's the type of compensation package that appears low but it is actually not bad at all

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And fyi the "we're so underpaid" is just false, I am sorry but it is. I don't think teachers are overpaid either. I think the compensation is well in line with those for other jobs requiring similar education (but no, it's not in line with inflated tech salaries - guess what you still have a job and thousands of them don't so joke's on them)

I’m a 2nd year teacher making 63k, and I work tons of overtime.

You think that’s paid well?

Um... yes! $63k is a great salary for a little over a year of experience and summers off.

This person has more than two years of experience (and maybe quite a bit more, depending on whether they have a master’s)—time in student teaching is not nothing.

Let’s say teachers are working 50 hr weeks (which I think is a conservative estimate) and adjust to 42 weeks a year factoring in summer.

This person is being paid $30 an hour. They do also get benefits (though they are substantially degraded from even a few years ago) and the weeks off for winter and spring breaks.

If you insist on factoring in those weeks as “time off” (as though salaried professionals in other field don’t also get leave they take mostly in these periods), it’s $32.30 an hour.

The problem is you think most people are making so much more, and they really aren't, especially straight out of grad school.

Btw there are about 260 work days in the year. Most full time salaried workers get 2-3 weeks of leave per year or 10-15 days. Meaning assuming they take those days, they are working for 245-250 days of the year for their contracted salary. You do the math about who has more work days before "overtime". Many salaried workers end up working nights and weekends.

[Anonymous]

Omg, stop with the benefits being downgraded.just a couple of years before they were downgraded they were significantly upgraded. Not to mention as life expectancy and medical technology increases, the value and cost of the benefits increases substantially. That's why compensation eats up a larger portion of the budget every year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And fyi the "we're so underpaid" is just false, I am sorry but it is. I don't think teachers are overpaid either. I think the compensation is well in line with those for other jobs requiring similar education (but no, it's not in line with inflated tech salaries - guess what you still have a job and thousands of them don't so joke's on them)

I’m a 2nd year teacher making 63k, and I work tons of overtime.

You think that’s paid well?

Um... yes! $63k is a great salary for a little over a year of experience and summers off.

This person has more than two years of experience (and maybe quite a bit more, depending on whether they have a master’s)—time in student teaching is not nothing.

Let’s say teachers are working 50 hr weeks (which I think is a conservative estimate) and adjust to 42 weeks a year factoring in summer.

This person is being paid $30 an hour. They do also get benefits (though they are substantially degraded from even a few years ago) and the weeks off for winter and spring breaks.

If you insist on factoring in those weeks as “time off” (as though salaried professionals in other field don’t also get leave they take mostly in these periods), it’s $32.30 an hour.

The pension won’t pay my bills now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And fyi the "we're so underpaid" is just false, I am sorry but it is. I don't think teachers are overpaid either. I think the compensation is well in line with those for other jobs requiring similar education (but no, it's not in line with inflated tech salaries - guess what you still have a job and thousands of them don't so joke's on them)

I’m a 2nd year teacher making 63k, and I work tons of overtime.

You think that’s paid well?

Um... yes! $63k is a great salary for a little over a year of experience and summers off.

Are you ten years old? Summers aren’t “off.” We aren’t paid. We have ten month contracts. Try and keep up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And fyi the "we're so underpaid" is just false, I am sorry but it is. I don't think teachers are overpaid either. I think the compensation is well in line with those for other jobs requiring similar education (but no, it's not in line with inflated tech salaries - guess what you still have a job and thousands of them don't so joke's on them)

I’m a 2nd year teacher making 63k, and I work tons of overtime.

You think that’s paid well?

Um... yes! $63k is a great salary for a little over a year of experience and summers off.

Are you ten years old? Summers aren’t “off.” We aren’t paid. We have ten month contracts. Try and keep up.

Most salaried workers do not have the option to not work during the summer. We work or we lose our jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And fyi the "we're so underpaid" is just false, I am sorry but it is. I don't think teachers are overpaid either. I think the compensation is well in line with those for other jobs requiring similar education (but no, it's not in line with inflated tech salaries - guess what you still have a job and thousands of them don't so joke's on them)

I’m a 2nd year teacher making 63k, and I work tons of overtime.

You think that’s paid well?

Um... yes! $63k is a great salary for a little over a year of experience and summers off.

This person has more than two years of experience (and maybe quite a bit more, depending on whether they have a master’s)—time in student teaching is not nothing.

Let’s say teachers are working 50 hr weeks (which I think is a conservative estimate) and adjust to 42 weeks a year factoring in summer.

This person is being paid $30 an hour. They do also get benefits (though they are substantially degraded from even a few years ago) and the weeks off for winter and spring breaks.

If you insist on factoring in those weeks as “time off” (as though salaried professionals in other field don’t also get leave they take mostly in these periods), it’s $32.30 an hour.

The pension won’t pay my bills now.

By all means lobby against the massive amount of money that is being invested to pay your benefits when you retire. Don't pretend it is free.

[Anonymous]

I'm a teacher nearing retirement. I am extremely happy with my pay right now. Back when I was a 3rd year teacher working on my masters, in the late 90's I worked for a Catholic school making 18K a year. I did what EVERY other young teacher I know did. I worked two other jobs on top of teaching full time. I taught during the day, I worked the after school program some days and I tutored the other days. Yes, it was exhausting. But, I had no kids and I wasn't married. I also lived with a roommate and didn't have a car and only used public transport.

So, yes, to the teacher making 63K now, I get that really doesn't add up to much after taxes, etc. I don't know if you have children or not. But you might need to do what every other generation has done and get at least one other part time job, maybe two. And work summers. It sucks, but this is teaching. It will NEVER change. Or, get out now while you can and go back to grad school to get your degree in something where you can make more money. Fwiw, 30+ years in? I STILL work a second job. Why? Even though I'm happy with my pay I have kids in college. And that tuition isn't cheap. Plus, I just like making money. If I had to do it over I would have chosen something else, but it's too late for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for reaffirming our decision to move DD from a W-area elementary to an all-girls private. It's costing us $50k+/year, but she's in a class of 18 kids and no behavioral issues.

BS BS BS BS

Every school has behavioral issues
And privates do not have good counselors in case there are bigger problems.

All girls private LOL bullying and mean girls hello

As OP stated in this thread, most of the behavioral issues she sees at elem level are from boys. An all-girls school addresses that.

Our private has a good counselor at elementary level, but I can't state that's the same for all privates.

Oh, yeah, total BS. You would not believe the issues we have at our school that get swept under the rug because no one wants to upset parents and perhaps lose that tuition money.