MCPS is closing Wed 11/24, day before Thanksgiving

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCEA President at their press conference today demanding more early dismissal days like what Howard County has done. Welcome back weekend Wednesdays! She said ‘the day before thanksgiving being off is just the start’.

So sad that the teachers union pushed for schools to remain closed, and now using the poor outcomes and mental health of students as the reason why they need less teaching time due to their ‘burnout’. Come on- they get the whole summer off. Want to talk about burnout- talk to health care professionals. We stick with it though… we don’t take advantage of a bad situation to advance our own position.

So pathetic.

Summers are not off." They are unpaid time not part of teachers' contracts. But hey, if their gig is soooooo easy, join them! Enjoy that sweet, sweet salary cut of a first year teacher.

+1500000....I'm a government contracter for part of the year. I do not work the other 6 months because to be honest, I don't need to. I re-up every six months. No one has EVER accused me of the bs they accuse teachers of because most people understand how CONTRACTS work. Teachers are contracted for ten months a year. Try to keep up.

Funny- I always assumed teachers kept their health care subsidies over the summer. I didn't realize their contracts ended and had to go on COBRA.

Hm. Your assumption is not quite right. Teachers do keep their healthcare over the summer…because they’ve already paid for it through deductions from their ten months of biweekly paychecks! Funny how that works…

Thanks-beat me to it. I love when people think they are owning an argument and are just so very wrong. Embarrassing.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My high schooler is thrilled to get the day off. Kids need a break just as much as teachers do. Teachers can’t teach anything that day anyway because half the kids are missing. It is a pointless babysitting day. Many districts give the week off.

m


I agree with this. High schoolers are exhausted. MCPS still clings to their archaic practice of starting HS way too early in the morning. I wish kids had a half day once a week ideally where the high school kids went in the afternoon rather than the morning

Put your kids to bed earlier. Simple.

Yes, PP “put your (high schoolers) to bed earlier.”

ROFL

If they cannot be responsible, yes, put them to bed.

Awww, you're precious. Never change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank goodness school is closed on Wednesday. MCPS was stupid not to schedule the day off from the beginning. They are not tethered to reality. My other kid is at private and has two days off this week and the whole week of thanksgiving off.

I agree it was stupid to have the half day. But it is even worse to change the calendar with only 2 weeks notice. If they wanted to do this, they should have done it at the start of the school year.

This is my point. I respect teachers, which means I think they have a "real" job. In a "real" job, sometimes you are not allowed to take vacation on a given day because your presence is required to fulfill your obligations to the client. In this case, MCPS had the opportunity to say no, as I have to sometimes as a manager, but they chose to just close school instead.

What do you do, as a manager, when you deny leave, and instead of working that day, your report quits?

Find a better employee while being thankful we won't get hit with higher unemployment insurance costs.

Well, it's nice that you are able to find a better employee so quickly and easily, but surely you can understand that's not how things work with classroom teachers - right? There is no pool of better classroom teachers just waiting for a middle-of-the-year opportunity to get hired.

Similarly, there aren't a lot of jobs willing to pay ~$100k over 10 months, with a pension and remarkably good health benefits, to someone with a masters of education degree.

Teachers can and do quit, but they're not going to quit because you wouldn't let them take a day off.

No. They'll just call in and use a sick day and STILL not be there. Next idea?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCEA President at their press conference today demanding more early dismissal days like what Howard County has done. Welcome back weekend Wednesdays! She said ‘the day before thanksgiving being off is just the start’.

So sad that the teachers union pushed for schools to remain closed, and now using the poor outcomes and mental health of students as the reason why they need less teaching time due to their ‘burnout’. Come on- they get the whole summer off. Want to talk about burnout- talk to health care professionals. We stick with it though… we don’t take advantage of a bad situation to advance our own position.

So pathetic.

Summers are not off." They are unpaid time not part of teachers' contracts. But hey, if their gig is soooooo easy, join them! Enjoy that sweet, sweet salary cut of a first year teacher.

+1500000....I'm a government contracter for part of the year. I do not work the other 6 months because to be honest, I don't need to. I re-up every six months. No one has EVER accused me of the bs they accuse teachers of because most people understand how CONTRACTS work. Teachers are contracted for ten months a year. Try to keep up.

Funny- I always assumed teachers kept their health care subsidies over the summer. I didn't realize their contracts ended and had to go on COBRA.

Hm. Your assumption is not quite right. Teachers do keep their healthcare over the summer…because they’ve already paid for it through deductions from their ten months of biweekly paychecks! Funny how that works…

Thanks-beat me to it. I love when people think they are owning an argument and are just so very wrong. Embarrassing.

+1

Right- you've paid for your share of 12 months of premiums, and MCPS has paid for 12 months of premiums. For 10 months of work.

I don't know about the other posters here, but my employer stops paying their share of the premiums if I stop working.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank goodness school is closed on Wednesday. MCPS was stupid not to schedule the day off from the beginning. They are not tethered to reality. My other kid is at private and has two days off this week and the whole week of thanksgiving off.

I agree it was stupid to have the half day. But it is even worse to change the calendar with only 2 weeks notice. If they wanted to do this, they should have done it at the start of the school year.

This is my point. I respect teachers, which means I think they have a "real" job. In a "real" job, sometimes you are not allowed to take vacation on a given day because your presence is required to fulfill your obligations to the client. In this case, MCPS had the opportunity to say no, as I have to sometimes as a manager, but they chose to just close school instead.

What do you do, as a manager, when you deny leave, and instead of working that day, your report quits?

Find a better employee while being thankful we won't get hit with higher unemployment insurance costs.

Well, it's nice that you are able to find a better employee so quickly and easily, but surely you can understand that's not how things work with classroom teachers - right? There is no pool of better classroom teachers just waiting for a middle-of-the-year opportunity to get hired.

Similarly, there aren't a lot of jobs willing to pay ~$100k over 10 months, with a pension and remarkably good health benefits, to someone with a masters of education degree.

Teachers can and do quit, but they're not going to quit because you wouldn't let them take a day off.

No. They'll just call in and use a sick day and STILL not be there. Next idea?

Isn't it great when MCEA members openly advocate for fraud? At least someone is being honest about what's really behind this last-minute change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, it's nice that you are able to find a better employee so quickly and easily, but surely you can understand that's not how things work with classroom teachers - right? There is no pool of better classroom teachers just waiting for a middle-of-the-year opportunity to get hired.

Similarly, there aren't a lot of jobs willing to pay ~$100k over 10 months, with a pension and remarkably good health benefits, to someone with a masters of education degree.

Teachers can and do quit, but they're not going to quit because you wouldn't let them take a day off.

This year an MCPS teacher with an MA couldn't make $100K unless they had 17 years under their belt. This article says the average teacher tenure is 14 years. A 14th year MCPS teacher year would make $89K. It also says that 44% of teachers quit within the first five years. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/5-things-to-know-about-todays-teaching-force/2018/10

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because those conferences should happening right now, like they have every other year. These kids are basically getting a full week off of school. I thought they were really concerned about catching kids up from last year. That week is now a wash.

Right now they should be more concerned with teacher burnout. It's real. And while other surrounding counties are doing things to accommodate the mental health and well-being of their teachers, MCPS is piling on more responsibility.

DP

Is this for real? What do you think burnout is like in other professions? Nurses, truck drivers, law enforcement, retail, restaurant workers? Anyone who has been working in person during this pandemic. Are teachers somehow more ‘special’?

Teachers worked from home for over a year.

Goes to a restaurant: waits 3 hours for a meal because they cannot get and keep staff
Goes to a hospital: Waited 7 hours because they were inundated and short staffed
Went shopping at Macy's: Waited in a VERY long line as there were only 4 registers open in the whole store
Truck drivers: Look at the grocery store shelves in a lot of areas. Supply chain is NOT there unless you are Amazon
Law enforcement: Major attrition
There is nothing special about teacher's. This cuts across all industries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because those conferences should happening right now, like they have every other year. These kids are basically getting a full week off of school. I thought they were really concerned about catching kids up from last year. That week is now a wash.

Right now they should be more concerned with teacher burnout. It's real. And while other surrounding counties are doing things to accommodate the mental health and well-being of their teachers, MCPS is piling on more responsibility.

DP

Is this for real? What do you think burnout is like in other professions? Nurses, truck drivers, law enforcement, retail, restaurant workers? Anyone who has been working in person during this pandemic. Are teachers somehow more ‘special’?

Teachers worked from home for over a year.

Goes to a restaurant: waits 3 hours for a meal because they cannot get and keep staff
Goes to a hospital: Waited 7 hours because they were inundated and short staffed
Went shopping at Macy's: Waited in a VERY long line as there were only 4 registers open in the whole store
Truck drivers: Look at the grocery store shelves in a lot of areas. Supply chain is NOT there unless you are Amazon
Law enforcement: Major attrition
There is nothing special about teacher's. This cuts across all industries.

Even Tom Brady is complaining about having to work that 17th game of the season. In all seriousness, we're all burnt out. People need PTO. Corporations across industries have been working cycles of layoffs and never re-hiring appropriately. We're all working multiple roles, with little PTO, not enough staff and lots of stress. Can't we just be nicer to each other. Even here??? I mean, what's so controversial about that Wednesday being off??? Most of you are fine for childcare, right? This is purely about why those lazy teachers (women) are getting something they don't deserve??? Are people here serious???

[Anonymous]

I’m surprised they haven’t cancelled Thanksgiving yet myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Right- you've paid for your share of 12 months of premiums, and MCPS has paid for 12 months of premiums. For 10 months of work.

I don't know about the other posters here, but my employer stops paying their share of the premiums if I stop working.

Yet another person who doesn't understand how contracts work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCEA President at their press conference today demanding more early dismissal days like what Howard County has done. Welcome back weekend Wednesdays! She said ‘the day before thanksgiving being off is just the start’.

So sad that the teachers union pushed for schools to remain closed, and now using the poor outcomes and mental health of students as the reason why they need less teaching time due to their ‘burnout’. Come on- they get the whole summer off. Want to talk about burnout- talk to health care professionals. We stick with it though… we don’t take advantage of a bad situation to advance our own position.

So pathetic.

Summers are not off." They are unpaid time not part of teachers' contracts. But hey, if their gig is soooooo easy, join them! Enjoy that sweet, sweet salary cut of a first year teacher.

+1500000....I'm a government contracter for part of the year. I do not work the other 6 months because to be honest, I don't need to. I re-up every six months. No one has EVER accused me of the bs they accuse teachers of because most people understand how CONTRACTS work. Teachers are contracted for ten months a year. Try to keep up.

Funny- I always assumed teachers kept their health care subsidies over the summer. I didn't realize their contracts ended and had to go on COBRA.

Hm. Your assumption is not quite right. Teachers do keep their healthcare over the summer…because they’ve already paid for it through deductions from their ten months of biweekly paychecks! Funny how that works…

Thanks-beat me to it. I love when people think they are owning an argument and are just so very wrong. Embarrassing.

+1

Right- you've paid for your share of 12 months of premiums, and MCPS has paid for 12 months of premiums. For 10 months of work.

I don't know about the other posters here, but my employer stops paying their share of the premiums if I stop working.

Teachers pay for all 12 months of premiums, but spread out over fewer months of pay checks. We do the same thing for our auto insurance with USAA. I pay for 6 months of insurance but do it in 4 rather than 6 payments. I’m not getting two free months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because those conferences should happening right now, like they have every other year. These kids are basically getting a full week off of school. I thought they were really concerned about catching kids up from last year. That week is now a wash.

Right now they should be more concerned with teacher burnout. It's real. And while other surrounding counties are doing things to accommodate the mental health and well-being of their teachers, MCPS is piling on more responsibility.

DP

Is this for real? What do you think burnout is like in other professions? Nurses, truck drivers, law enforcement, retail, restaurant workers? Anyone who has been working in person during this pandemic. Are teachers somehow more ‘special’?

Teachers worked from home for over a year.

Goes to a restaurant: waits 3 hours for a meal because they cannot get and keep staff
Goes to a hospital: Waited 7 hours because they were inundated and short staffed
Went shopping at Macy's: Waited in a VERY long line as there were only 4 registers open in the whole store
Truck drivers: Look at the grocery store shelves in a lot of areas. Supply chain is NOT there unless you are Amazon
Law enforcement: Major attrition
There is nothing special about teacher's. This cuts across all industries.

Even Tom Brady is complaining about having to work that 17th game of the season. In all seriousness, we're all burnt out. People need PTO. Corporations across industries have been working cycles of layoffs and never re-hiring appropriately. We're all working multiple roles, with little PTO, not enough staff and lots of stress. Can't we just be nicer to each other. Even here??? I mean, what's so controversial about that Wednesday being off??? Most of you are fine for childcare, right? This is purely about why those lazy teachers (women) are getting something they don't deserve??? Are people here serious???

DP, but if you think the primary group of concern is DCUM posters, I don't know where to even begin. It's not so much about the day off as it is not giving many families adequate time to prepare. Kids don't need yet another unsupervised day at home, FFS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because those conferences should happening right now, like they have every other year. These kids are basically getting a full week off of school. I thought they were really concerned about catching kids up from last year. That week is now a wash.

Right now they should be more concerned with teacher burnout. It's real. And while other surrounding counties are doing things to accommodate the mental health and well-being of their teachers, MCPS is piling on more responsibility.

DP

Is this for real? What do you think burnout is like in other professions? Nurses, truck drivers, law enforcement, retail, restaurant workers? Anyone who has been working in person during this pandemic. Are teachers somehow more ‘special’?

Teachers worked from home for over a year.

Goes to a restaurant: waits 3 hours for a meal because they cannot get and keep staff
Goes to a hospital: Waited 7 hours because they were inundated and short staffed
Went shopping at Macy's: Waited in a VERY long line as there were only 4 registers open in the whole store
Truck drivers: Look at the grocery store shelves in a lot of areas. Supply chain is NOT there unless you are Amazon
Law enforcement: Major attrition
There is nothing special about teacher's. This cuts across all industries.

I can tell you are not a teacher. You can't even spell a simple plural. You would be fired in my company.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCEA President at their press conference today demanding more early dismissal days like what Howard County has done. Welcome back weekend Wednesdays! She said ‘the day before thanksgiving being off is just the start’.

So sad that the teachers union pushed for schools to remain closed, and now using the poor outcomes and mental health of students as the reason why they need less teaching time due to their ‘burnout’. Come on- they get the whole summer off. Want to talk about burnout- talk to health care professionals. We stick with it though… we don’t take advantage of a bad situation to advance our own position.

So pathetic.

Summers are not off." They are unpaid time not part of teachers' contracts. But hey, if their gig is soooooo easy, join them! Enjoy that sweet, sweet salary cut of a first year teacher.

+1500000....I'm a government contracter for part of the year. I do not work the other 6 months because to be honest, I don't need to. I re-up every six months. No one has EVER accused me of the bs they accuse teachers of because most people understand how CONTRACTS work. Teachers are contracted for ten months a year. Try to keep up.

Funny- I always assumed teachers kept their health care subsidies over the summer. I didn't realize their contracts ended and had to go on COBRA.

Hm. Your assumption is not quite right. Teachers do keep their healthcare over the summer…because they’ve already paid for it through deductions from their ten months of biweekly paychecks! Funny how that works…

Thanks-beat me to it. I love when people think they are owning an argument and are just so very wrong. Embarrassing.

+1

Right- you've paid for your share of 12 months of premiums, and MCPS has paid for 12 months of premiums. For 10 months of work.

I don't know about the other posters here, but my employer stops paying their share of the premiums if I stop working.

Teachers pay for all 12 months of premiums, but spread out over fewer months of pay checks. We do the same thing for our auto insurance with USAA. I pay for 6 months of insurance but do it in 4 rather than 6 payments. I’m not getting two free months.

I really wonder whether you all don't understand health insurance premiums work. Your contributions pay for only a very small portion of the insurance premiums, which MCPS paying for most of them (the specific percentage varies by HMO vs PPO plan, and whether your family is covered.)

Yes, you pay for 12 months of premiums, regardless of what pay plan you're under. And MCPS is similarly its large portion during the summer months you have off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCEA President at their press conference today demanding more early dismissal days like what Howard County has done. Welcome back weekend Wednesdays! She said ‘the day before thanksgiving being off is just the start’.

So sad that the teachers union pushed for schools to remain closed, and now using the poor outcomes and mental health of students as the reason why they need less teaching time due to their ‘burnout’. Come on- they get the whole summer off. Want to talk about burnout- talk to health care professionals. We stick with it though… we don’t take advantage of a bad situation to advance our own position.

So pathetic.

Summers are not off." They are unpaid time not part of teachers' contracts. But hey, if their gig is soooooo easy, join them! Enjoy that sweet, sweet salary cut of a first year teacher.

+1500000....I'm a government contracter for part of the year. I do not work the other 6 months because to be honest, I don't need to. I re-up every six months. No one has EVER accused me of the bs they accuse teachers of because most people understand how CONTRACTS work. Teachers are contracted for ten months a year. Try to keep up.

Funny- I always assumed teachers kept their health care subsidies over the summer. I didn't realize their contracts ended and had to go on COBRA.

Hm. Your assumption is not quite right. Teachers do keep their healthcare over the summer…because they’ve already paid for it through deductions from their ten months of biweekly paychecks! Funny how that works…

Thanks-beat me to it. I love when people think they are owning an argument and are just so very wrong. Embarrassing.

+1

Right- you've paid for your share of 12 months of premiums, and MCPS has paid for 12 months of premiums. For 10 months of work.

I don't know about the other posters here, but my employer stops paying their share of the premiums if I stop working.

Teachers pay for all 12 months of premiums, but spread out over fewer months of pay checks. We do the same thing for our auto insurance with USAA. I pay for 6 months of insurance but do it in 4 rather than 6 payments. I’m not getting two free months.

I really wonder whether you all don't understand health insurance premiums work. Your contributions pay for only a very small portion of the insurance premiums, which MCPS paying for most of them (the specific percentage varies by HMO vs PPO plan, and whether your family is covered.)

Yes, you pay for 12 months of premiums, regardless of what pay plan you're under. And MCPS is similarly its large portion during the summer months you have off.

MCPS employees know much better than you how their paychecks work. You know nothing about what goes on during pay periods, so I suggest you shut up. You're doubling down and making a fool out of yourself.