Do HS teachers prefer certain schools in FCPS (i.e. higher SES schools)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher my preference would be to teach in a solidly middle class school, but not upper middle class. Honestly, dealing with demanding parents can be just as much of a headache as dealing with the student behavior issues you deal with in low ses schools. And no, I don't care about the "treats" that the parents n the high SES schools dish out.

My teacher DH would agree with this 100%, with the caveat that DH doesn't consider any school in FFX to be truly "low SES;" the lower SES FFX schools are to him more "solidly middle class," to use your vernacular. (He did his student and first year of teaching in a much more difficult, much lower SES environment than any school in FFX.) In addition to not having to deal with so many PITA parents, he finds it more rewarding to work with kids who don't have so many life advantages.

^^I fear I didn't explain very well. What I mean is that DH would prefer a high SES school over a school where the vast majority of students are impoverished. As a PP noted, it is incredibly challenging to teach in that environment, for a number of different reasons. But DH doesn't think any high schools in FFX (where he has taught in several different high schools over 25 years) fall into this category. IOW, he'd rather teach at West Potomac or Edison than at Langley or McLean.

[Anonymous]

The overall teacher satisfaction ratings at McLean in the last county-wide teacher survey were the highest in the county. Good mix of kids from the less affluent half of McLean south of 123, Falls Church, and Vienna.

[Anonymous]

what do you think it means when a much lower percentage of teachers even fill out the survey?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:what do you think it means when a much lower percentage of teachers even fill out the survey?

It means we get a zillion surveys and don't have time for it. Don't over think it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher my preference would be to teach in a solidly middle class school, but not upper middle class. Honestly, dealing with demanding parents can be just as much of a headache as dealing with the student behavior issues you deal with in low ses schools. And no, I don't care about the "treats" that the parents n the high SES schools dish out.

x10000

No bribe is enough to get me to teach at a high SES school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what do you think it means when a much lower percentage of teachers even fill out the survey?

It means we get a zillion surveys and don't have time for it. Don't over think it.

Really? That's good to hear. I keep hearing that teachers complain they aren't heard. Good to know they are at least asked to give feedback often.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher my preference would be to teach in a solidly middle class school, but not upper middle class. Honestly, dealing with demanding parents can be just as much of a headache as dealing with the student behavior issues you deal with in low ses schools. And no, I don't care about the "treats" that the parents n the high SES schools dish out.

x10000

No bribe is enough to get me to teach at a high SES school.

If you can't deal with parents at a high SES school, it's unlikely you can deal effectively with students at lower SES schools. Glad you aren't at our school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher my preference would be to teach in a solidly middle class school, but not upper middle class. Honestly, dealing with demanding parents can be just as much of a headache as dealing with the student behavior issues you deal with in low ses schools. And no, I don't care about the "treats" that the parents n the high SES schools dish out.

x10000

No bribe is enough to get me to teach at a high SES school.

If you can't deal with parents at a high SES school, it's unlikely you can deal effectively with students at lower SES schools. Glad you aren't at our school.

Trust me, your kid's teachers hate you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher my preference would be to teach in a solidly middle class school, but not upper middle class. Honestly, dealing with demanding parents can be just as much of a headache as dealing with the student behavior issues you deal with in low ses schools. And no, I don't care about the "treats" that the parents n the high SES schools dish out.

x10000

No bribe is enough to get me to teach at a high SES school.

If you can't deal with parents at a high SES school, it's unlikely you can deal effectively with students at lower SES schools. Glad you aren't at our school.

Trust me, your kid's teachers hate you.

Not at all. But, then, we had good students and good teachers, not slackers like you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher my preference would be to teach in a solidly middle class school, but not upper middle class. Honestly, dealing with demanding parents can be just as much of a headache as dealing with the student behavior issues you deal with in low ses schools. And no, I don't care about the "treats" that the parents n the high SES schools dish out.

x10000

No bribe is enough to get me to teach at a high SES school.

If you can't deal with parents at a high SES school, it's unlikely you can deal effectively with students at lower SES schools. Glad you aren't at our school.

Trust me, your kid's teachers hate you.

+1 THE OTHER PARENTS HATE YOU TOO! Possibly your kid as well. And your co workers. Let me sum up. You're terrible and everyone hates you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher my preference would be to teach in a solidly middle class school, but not upper middle class. Honestly, dealing with demanding parents can be just as much of a headache as dealing with the student behavior issues you deal with in low ses schools. And no, I don't care about the "treats" that the parents n the high SES schools dish out.

x10000

No bribe is enough to get me to teach at a high SES school.

If you can't deal with parents at a high SES school, it's unlikely you can deal effectively with students at lower SES schools. Glad you aren't at our school.

Trust me, your kid's teachers hate you.

+1 THE OTHER PARENTS HATE YOU TOO! Possibly your kid as well. And your co workers. Let me sum up. You're terrible and everyone hates you.

You're quite the (typical for lower-SES) trash talker. No wonder your school sucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher my preference would be to teach in a solidly middle class school, but not upper middle class. Honestly, dealing with demanding parents can be just as much of a headache as dealing with the student behavior issues you deal with in low ses schools. And no, I don't care about the "treats" that the parents n the high SES schools dish out.

x10000

No bribe is enough to get me to teach at a high SES school.

If you can't deal with parents at a high SES school, it's unlikely you can deal effectively with students at lower SES schools. Glad you aren't at our school.

+100
The teachers at our school (high SES) tell the parents every year how happy they are to be teaching there, rather than at some of the schools (low SES) they taught at previously. And we're very happy to have them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher my preference would be to teach in a solidly middle class school, but not upper middle class. Honestly, dealing with demanding parents can be just as much of a headache as dealing with the student behavior issues you deal with in low ses schools. And no, I don't care about the "treats" that the parents n the high SES schools dish out.

x10000

No bribe is enough to get me to teach at a high SES school.

If you can't deal with parents at a high SES school, it's unlikely you can deal effectively with students at lower SES schools. Glad you aren't at our school.

Trust me, your kid's teachers hate you.

Not the PP, but no - they don't. We're happy to have them, and they're happy to be there. We make sure to treat them very, very well and let them know that they are appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Do teachers look for the higher SES schools when deciding where to teach? On the one hand, you might not have to deal with kids who don't see the point of school (bad behavior, disruptive, disrespectful)... on the other hand, you might have very high demands from students or parents at the higher SES schools. My kid is in a MS that is higher SES and very supportive PTA and parents (i.e. constantly feeding and treating the teachers, parents volunteer or donate to everything). We moved from a zone where (according to several sources), their kids have been in classes where the teacher either separated out the 5 kids who "wanted to learn" from the rest of the class b/c the rest was so disruptive or the teachers actually told the kids that they were quitting (and did) b/c the kids were so awful.

I would imagine as a teacher, I'd want to be in the school where they are constantly treating me. But, I don't know if teachers really care about that or if there are a certain percentage of kids who just make teachers' lives hard no matter where you go. And how much control does the teacher have over the level of classes that s/he teaches (i.e. can they just teach the higher level classes, thereby avoiding certain groups of kids)?

How much does the student population play into the teachers' decisions to teach at a particular school? (Does that mean that on the whole the better teachers work themselves into jobs at higher SES schools -- on the whole -- I know there are some good teachers even at the lower SES schools -- what makes them stay?)

Dude. It's a JOB. People teach where they can make the most money and have the least headaches. That might very week be a low SES school. Whatever.

Are you a teacher? I doubt it. Teachers understand that teaching is a calling, not just a job. Teachers do not make a lot of money anywhere, so your suggestion that money drives it is pretty silly.

To the OP, teachers rarely have control over which classes they teach. That is the administrator's decision, but, as in any field, people with more experience and seniority often have better choices. Also, some teachers want to stay in low SES schools because they feel they can make a genuine difference there. Parents at high SES schools can be vicious and demanding, and no amount of "treats" are going to paper that over.

That's why you aren't respected as a profession. You act like a martyr and others will be happy to go along.

Seriously. Calling. Jesus, it's not the priesthood. It's a job with pros and cons just like everyone else's. And give me a fucking break on the pay. Starting teacher pay in FCPS are pushing $50K for a 10-month work year. I know plenty of entry level professionals who don't make that AND have to work year-round. Is managing a class of pushing-30 kids all day easy? Nope. But, hey, good retirement, it's nearly impossible to get fired, and summers/holidays off. Don't like it? Climb down off the cross and get another job.

One of my kid's teachers retired this year after putting in her 30 years, and pretty much told us when we had her a few years ago that she was just marking the years to retirement and wasn't that interested in parent/teacher conferences unless your kid was setting the room on fire -- and that was one of the better ones, at least she taught and could bribe the class to behave with candy. Much better than the one who ignored the kid's IEP or actively disliked my child and made no secret of it. Guess they didn't get the memo about the "calling".

[Anonymous]

I've taught in a variety of schools. In a large public school system like FCPS, it is definitely easier to teach at a school where most students come from middle or upper middle-class backgrounds. The students come to class prepared, the parents make sure the children arrive with full stomachs, and there is far less pressure from the cluster/region administrators to teach to the SOLs. It can be rewarding to mentor students from lower-income backgrounds, many of whom are very sweet, but there are also more kids who are years behind and barely literate in their native language. Teachers burn out quickly in those environments and seek out less stressful positions.