How big a deal are the recent teacher involuntary transfers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If anything, this is a good time to remind teachers to read their contract carefully. I never knew that, and I worked in the county for years. I actually left because I didn’t want to be involuntarily transferred, and I had the sort of position that’s vulnerable to being transferred. It happened to me twice, and that was it for me. I’ve happily been teaching (not in MCPS) in the same school for several years now without fear of being moved. What happened to the Sherwood guy is unusual but an example of why the policy hurts teacher retention.

You never knew which part?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If anything, this is a good time to remind teachers to read their contract carefully. I never knew that, and I worked in the county for years. I actually left because I didn’t want to be involuntarily transferred, and I had the sort of position that’s vulnerable to being transferred. It happened to me twice, and that was it for me. I’ve happily been teaching (not in MCPS) in the same school for several years now without fear of being moved. What happened to the Sherwood guy is unusual but an example of why the policy hurts teacher retention.

You never knew which part?

I have been a teacher in MCPS as well and had never heard of teachers being shuffled around in July/August. There is nothing in contract allowing it. My impression is that it has only ever been used in the past perhaps when k numbers are unexpectedly low or to move specialized positions from one school to another for operational reasons.

[Anonymous]

This is the price paid for bad leadership and decision-making. They should have just focused on filling positions, not switching staff around. You can't treat people like cattle. There comes a point where the teachers won't put up with it anymore.

[Anonymous]

The teachers are beyond ticked. They’re not getting reimbursed for work they did or trainings they should have been reimbursed for from last year. They’ve just been told that going forward, they will be paid $19 to cover a class and lose their planning period. The union is saying that MCPS is refusing to even sit down and discuss the MOU with any of the three unions, meaning teacher, administrator and SEIU unions. Meanwhile, all signs point to horrible understaffing issues. No one knows the plan. Few are going to be willing to give up leave for Covid positivity if they’re asymptomatic, now that Covid leave isn’t covered anymore, and they’re feeling incredibly disrespected as they’re moved around willy nilly to plug holes that are not of their making. Teachers don’t appreciate the change in their health plan, either. All indications are that central office is in complete chaos as the few competent people in central flee. There are so many new principals which means there’s a lot of lost institutional knowledge too. I could go on, but you get the point. Frankly, I blame the BOE as much as I blame Dr. McKnight and central leadership. The Board has shirked its responsibility to supervise the system. Meanwhile, I know of many good principals and other leaders who are leaving, and the attitude from the top is “my way or the highway.” There has been no attempt to keep talent. None. So if you don’t successfully recruit and you don't try to retain the talent you’ve got, I think we can see the problem will continue to get worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The teachers are beyond ticked. They’re not getting reimbursed for work they did or trainings they should have been reimbursed for from last year. They’ve just been told that going forward, they will be paid $19 to cover a class and lose their planning period. The union is saying that MCPS is refusing to even sit down and discuss the MOU with any of the three unions, meaning teacher, administrator and SEIU unions. Meanwhile, all signs point to horrible understaffing issues. No one knows the plan. Few are going to be willing to give up leave for Covid positivity if they’re asymptomatic, now that Covid leave isn’t covered anymore, and they’re feeling incredibly disrespected as they’re moved around willy nilly to plug holes that are not of their making. Teachers don’t appreciate the change in their health plan, either. All indications are that central office is in complete chaos as the few competent people in central flee. There are so many new principals which means there’s a lot of lost institutional knowledge too. I could go on, but you get the point. Frankly, I blame the BOE as much as I blame Dr. McKnight and central leadership. The Board has shirked its responsibility to supervise the system. Meanwhile, I know of many good principals and other leaders who are leaving, and the attitude from the top is “my way or the highway.” There has been no attempt to keep talent. None. So if you don’t successfully recruit and you don't try to retain the talent you’ve got, I think we can see the problem will continue to get worse.

I am an MCPS teacher. Where are you hearing this? Since the Facebook postings got shut down it’s been hard to get answers to a lot of basic questions in a changing environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is the price paid for bad leadership and decision-making. They should have just focused on filling positions, not switching staff around. You can't treat people like cattle. There comes a point where the teachers won't put up with it anymore.

If you believe this, you really haven't been paying attention to what's been going on in the world, but it's more likely you don't believe it and just have an axe to grind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The teachers are beyond ticked. They’re not getting reimbursed for work they did or trainings they should have been reimbursed for from last year. They’ve just been told that going forward, they will be paid $19 to cover a class and lose their planning period. The union is saying that MCPS is refusing to even sit down and discuss the MOU with any of the three unions, meaning teacher, administrator and SEIU unions. Meanwhile, all signs point to horrible understaffing issues. No one knows the plan. Few are going to be willing to give up leave for Covid positivity if they’re asymptomatic, now that Covid leave isn’t covered anymore, and they’re feeling incredibly disrespected as they’re moved around willy nilly to plug holes that are not of their making. Teachers don’t appreciate the change in their health plan, either. All indications are that central office is in complete chaos as the few competent people in central flee. There are so many new principals which means there’s a lot of lost institutional knowledge too. I could go on, but you get the point. Frankly, I blame the BOE as much as I blame Dr. McKnight and central leadership. The Board has shirked its responsibility to supervise the system. Meanwhile, I know of many good principals and other leaders who are leaving, and the attitude from the top is “my way or the highway.” There has been no attempt to keep talent. None. So if you don’t successfully recruit and you don't try to retain the talent you’ve got, I think we can see the problem will continue to get worse.

I'm a teacher also, and this is not my experience at all. In fact, this reads like fiction to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The teachers are beyond ticked. They’re not getting reimbursed for work they did or trainings they should have been reimbursed for from last year. They’ve just been told that going forward, they will be paid $19 to cover a class and lose their planning period. The union is saying that MCPS is refusing to even sit down and discuss the MOU with any of the three unions, meaning teacher, administrator and SEIU unions. Meanwhile, all signs point to horrible understaffing issues. No one knows the plan. Few are going to be willing to give up leave for Covid positivity if they’re asymptomatic, now that Covid leave isn’t covered anymore, and they’re feeling incredibly disrespected as they’re moved around willy nilly to plug holes that are not of their making. Teachers don’t appreciate the change in their health plan, either. All indications are that central office is in complete chaos as the few competent people in central flee. There are so many new principals which means there’s a lot of lost institutional knowledge too. I could go on, but you get the point. Frankly, I blame the BOE as much as I blame Dr. McKnight and central leadership. The Board has shirked its responsibility to supervise the system. Meanwhile, I know of many good principals and other leaders who are leaving, and the attitude from the top is “my way or the highway.” There has been no attempt to keep talent. None. So if you don’t successfully recruit and you don't try to retain the talent you’ve got, I think we can see the problem will continue to get worse.

I am an MCPS teacher. Where are you hearing this? Since the Facebook postings got shut down it’s been hard to get answers to a lot of basic questions in a changing environment.

I agree. I feel I have no clue what is going on without that MCPS teacher Facebook group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The teachers are beyond ticked. They’re not getting reimbursed for work they did or trainings they should have been reimbursed for from last year. They’ve just been told that going forward, they will be paid $19 to cover a class and lose their planning period. The union is saying that MCPS is refusing to even sit down and discuss the MOU with any of the three unions, meaning teacher, administrator and SEIU unions. Meanwhile, all signs point to horrible understaffing issues. No one knows the plan. Few are going to be willing to give up leave for Covid positivity if they’re asymptomatic, now that Covid leave isn’t covered anymore, and they’re feeling incredibly disrespected as they’re moved around willy nilly to plug holes that are not of their making. Teachers don’t appreciate the change in their health plan, either. All indications are that central office is in complete chaos as the few competent people in central flee. There are so many new principals which means there’s a lot of lost institutional knowledge too. I could go on, but you get the point. Frankly, I blame the BOE as much as I blame Dr. McKnight and central leadership. The Board has shirked its responsibility to supervise the system. Meanwhile, I know of many good principals and other leaders who are leaving, and the attitude from the top is “my way or the highway.” There has been no attempt to keep talent. None. So if you don’t successfully recruit and you don't try to retain the talent you’ve got, I think we can see the problem will continue to get worse.

I am an MCPS teacher. Where are you hearing this? Since the Facebook postings got shut down it’s been hard to get answers to a lot of basic questions in a changing environment.

I agree. I feel I have no clue what is going on without that MCPS teacher Facebook group.

I only know what is happening at my school and my school was a mess. We had a brand new principal which was part of the issue. Kids were off the rails. I’m hoping this year is better

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The teachers are beyond ticked. They’re not getting reimbursed for work they did or trainings they should have been reimbursed for from last year. They’ve just been told that going forward, they will be paid $19 to cover a class and lose their planning period. The union is saying that MCPS is refusing to even sit down and discuss the MOU with any of the three unions, meaning teacher, administrator and SEIU unions. Meanwhile, all signs point to horrible understaffing issues. No one knows the plan. Few are going to be willing to give up leave for Covid positivity if they’re asymptomatic, now that Covid leave isn’t covered anymore, and they’re feeling incredibly disrespected as they’re moved around willy nilly to plug holes that are not of their making. Teachers don’t appreciate the change in their health plan, either. All indications are that central office is in complete chaos as the few competent people in central flee. There are so many new principals which means there’s a lot of lost institutional knowledge too. I could go on, but you get the point. Frankly, I blame the BOE as much as I blame Dr. McKnight and central leadership. The Board has shirked its responsibility to supervise the system. Meanwhile, I know of many good principals and other leaders who are leaving, and the attitude from the top is “my way or the highway.” There has been no attempt to keep talent. None. So if you don’t successfully recruit and you don't try to retain the talent you’ve got, I think we can see the problem will continue to get worse.

I am an MCPS teacher. Where are you hearing this? Since the Facebook postings got shut down it’s been hard to get answers to a lot of basic questions in a changing environment.

I agree. I feel I have no clue what is going on without that MCPS teacher Facebook group.

I only know what is happening at my school, and my school was a mess. We had a brand new principal which was part of the issue. Kids were off the rails. I’m hoping this year is better

We had a brand new principal too, but school seemed the same as any year with the understanding there were staffing shortages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The teachers are beyond ticked. They’re not getting reimbursed for work they did or trainings they should have been reimbursed for from last year. They’ve just been told that going forward, they will be paid $19 to cover a class and lose their planning period. The union is saying that MCPS is refusing to even sit down and discuss the MOU with any of the three unions, meaning teacher, administrator and SEIU unions. Meanwhile, all signs point to horrible understaffing issues. No one knows the plan. Few are going to be willing to give up leave for Covid positivity if they’re asymptomatic, now that Covid leave isn’t covered anymore, and they’re feeling incredibly disrespected as they’re moved around willy nilly to plug holes that are not of their making. Teachers don’t appreciate the change in their health plan, either. All indications are that central office is in complete chaos as the few competent people in central flee. There are so many new principals which means there’s a lot of lost institutional knowledge too. I could go on, but you get the point. Frankly, I blame the BOE as much as I blame Dr. McKnight and central leadership. The Board has shirked its responsibility to supervise the system. Meanwhile, I know of many good principals and other leaders who are leaving, and the attitude from the top is “my way or the highway.” There has been no attempt to keep talent. None. So if you don’t successfully recruit and you don't try to retain the talent you’ve got, I think we can see the problem will continue to get worse.

I'm a teacher also, and this is not my experience at all. In fact, this reads like fiction to me.

Another MCPS teacher- if you’re experience doesn’t match the above, I encourage you to reach out to others, in particular those teaching summer school
, who had done summer trainings, or who teach special Education. All 3 groups have many teachers who are missing pay in their paychecks for work already completed. As far as the $19/hr for class coverage, that’s 100% true. Prior to COVID MOU that’s what the coverage rate was, and it wasn’t something required of teachers frequently. In the MOU it was negotiated up to 55/hr because so many staff were losing their planning periods, or being asked to combine their class with another class due to teacher absence/lack of coverage/lack of subs. The MOU expired, and as someone else noted, MCPS is refusing to meet with unions, so the rate reverted back to the 19/hour. Which would be understandable if the issues surrounding coverage had been dealt with, but as we know, there are still staffing and coverage issues that will impact teachers in a larger that typical way this coming year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Involuntary doesn’t mean “against the strong wishes of the teacher.” It just means the system initiated it. It happened to my spouse a few years ago and he was slightly bummed but nothing more - he had to learn a new building/community but got a slightly shorter commute, and it’s worked out fine. I wouldn’t assume a bunch of people would quit over this or anything dramatic.

It happened to me years ago (“surplused” due to low enrollment) and I wish I’d just been slightly bummed. The transfer was impactful in many ways. I went from teaching one middle school prep with a 10 minute commute to teaching three high school courses with a 45 min commute. Plus the high school report time was 30 min earlier so I had to pay for more hours of beforecare. I was grateful that I still had a job, but I knew I would transfer out of there at the end of the year. Nonetheless, I spent many long nights and weekends teaching myself three courses just ahead of students and prepping materials. I figured some symptoms I experienced were due to stress and lack of rest so I ignored them. When summer finally rolled around, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition. I’d flared non-stop for months and attributed it to my sucky post-involuntary transfer situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The teachers are beyond ticked. They’re not getting reimbursed for work they did or trainings they should have been reimbursed for from last year. They’ve just been told that going forward, they will be paid $19 to cover a class and lose their planning period. The union is saying that MCPS is refusing to even sit down and discuss the MOU with any of the three unions, meaning teacher, administrator and SEIU unions. Meanwhile, all signs point to horrible understaffing issues. No one knows the plan. Few are going to be willing to give up leave for Covid positivity if they’re asymptomatic, now that Covid leave isn’t covered anymore, and they’re feeling incredibly disrespected as they’re moved around willy nilly to plug holes that are not of their making. Teachers don’t appreciate the change in their health plan, either. All indications are that central office is in complete chaos as the few competent people in central flee. There are so many new principals which means there’s a lot of lost institutional knowledge too. I could go on, but you get the point. Frankly, I blame the BOE as much as I blame Dr. McKnight and central leadership. The Board has shirked its responsibility to supervise the system. Meanwhile, I know of many good principals and other leaders who are leaving, and the attitude from the top is “my way or the highway.” There has been no attempt to keep talent. None. So if you don’t successfully recruit and you don't try to retain the talent you’ve got, I think we can see the problem will continue to get worse.

I'm a teacher also, and this is not my experience at all. In fact, this reads like fiction to me.

Fiction? In the Facebook group that wasn't shut down, plenty of people are corroborating this experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The teachers are beyond ticked. They’re not getting reimbursed for work they did or trainings they should have been reimbursed for from last year. They’ve just been told that going forward, they will be paid $19 to cover a class and lose their planning period. The union is saying that MCPS is refusing to even sit down and discuss the MOU with any of the three unions, meaning teacher, administrator and SEIU unions. Meanwhile, all signs point to horrible understaffing issues. No one knows the plan. Few are going to be willing to give up leave for Covid positivity if they’re asymptomatic, now that Covid leave isn’t covered anymore, and they’re feeling incredibly disrespected as they’re moved around willy nilly to plug holes that are not of their making. Teachers don’t appreciate the change in their health plan, either. All indications are that central office is in complete chaos as the few competent people in central flee. There are so many new principals which means there’s a lot of lost institutional knowledge too. I could go on, but you get the point. Frankly, I blame the BOE as much as I blame Dr. McKnight and central leadership. The Board has shirked its responsibility to supervise the system. Meanwhile, I know of many good principals and other leaders who are leaving, and the attitude from the top is “my way or the highway.” There has been no attempt to keep talent. None. So if you don’t successfully recruit and you don't try to retain the talent you’ve got, I think we can see the problem will continue to get worse.

I'm a teacher also, and this is not my experience at all. In fact, this reads like fiction to me.

Fiction? In the Facebook group that wasn't shut down, plenty of people are corroborating this experience.

Link?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The teachers are beyond ticked. They’re not getting reimbursed for work they did or trainings they should have been reimbursed for from last year. They’ve just been told that going forward, they will be paid $19 to cover a class and lose their planning period. The union is saying that MCPS is refusing to even sit down and discuss the MOU with any of the three unions, meaning teacher, administrator and SEIU unions. Meanwhile, all signs point to horrible understaffing issues. No one knows the plan. Few are going to be willing to give up leave for Covid positivity if they’re asymptomatic, now that Covid leave isn’t covered anymore, and they’re feeling incredibly disrespected as they’re moved around willy nilly to plug holes that are not of their making. Teachers don’t appreciate the change in their health plan, either. All indications are that central office is in complete chaos as the few competent people in central flee. There are so many new principals which means there’s a lot of lost institutional knowledge too. I could go on, but you get the point. Frankly, I blame the BOE as much as I blame Dr. McKnight and central leadership. The Board has shirked its responsibility to supervise the system. Meanwhile, I know of many good principals and other leaders who are leaving, and the attitude from the top is “my way or the highway.” There has been no attempt to keep talent. None. So if you don’t successfully recruit and you don't try to retain the talent you’ve got, I think we can see the problem will continue to get worse.

I'm a teacher also, and this is not my experience at all. In fact, this reads like fiction to me.

Fiction? In the Facebook group that wasn't shut down, plenty of people are corroborating this experience.

Link?

I wouldn't post if you want to keep Central Office staff out of it.