$5k bonus for MCPS general educators to become special educators

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:My sister used to teach for a school district that decided not to open schools on Fridays to save money running the buildings and on school buses. The students stayed an extra hour each day for the other 4 days. Morale soared and the district saw the fewest departures from employees on record. No drop in academic success.

My sister was a SPED teacher and yes, she was paid a bit more than General Ed. Not enough to make anyone switch careers.

Work-life balance, people.

Morale soared for the teachers, but not the working parents who suddenly needed to spend thousands of dollars a year on child care on Fridays.

How much support would there be for public schools if you tried that here?

Teachers and schools are not day-care providers. Responsibility of the parents. It was the first argument that got knocked down when the system changed to 4-days per week. Overwhelming support for the change. Great business opportunity for daycare providers. Do you see how capitalism works? Do you see how parenting works?

+1. Everything will adapt. If more school districts did this, business and camps would adjust to the new normal. Daycares, camps, activity providers would expand or spring up to accommodate. If/When parents couldn’t afford, it would put pressure on community and government to adapt and take care of its citizens either with salaries that keep up or with reduced cost/taxes/etc.

It might work for ES, but it would be very difficult on older kids with after school activities.

Those would adapt as well. You do realize there are places in the world with school schedules vastly different than ours(year round, modified year read, trimesters, 4 day weeks, etc.)

The disdain some DCUMers have for working parents is really quite amazing.

Teachers are working parents. I give you 7am-3pm, which is more time than I get paid for.

Non working hours are for my family, not yours. Get used to it. Failing kids? That's on parents. Sit with them in the evenings when they do their homework. Check that it is done. Get it turned in on time. Those failing kids are yours, not mine. I spend my evening energy on my kids, do you?

And you’re going to have to come to terms with the fact that Fridays are going to remain working days, for you and everyone else.

Not a problem. One poster suggested a 4-day school week. That’s all. It’s not like we are all rioting for one.

The point is you now get me only 5 days a week instead of 7. Gone are the days I will spent absurd hours at work for unappreciative admins and parents.

Totally fine with me.


I don’t think there’s a problem with overall teacher pay being too low (except for certain positions, like SPED, where it is particularly part to recruit), but I do think they need to make adjustments to provide for more prep/grading time.

[Anonymous]

After all that drama, only one gen ed teacher agreed to a transfer to special ed:

https://bethesdamagazine.com/2022/09/07/one-teacher-transferred-to-special-education-program-after-mcps-last-minute-request/

[Anonymous]

I know special ed teachers who are long-term subs and don't get the bonus. Long term subs are keeping MCPS afloat this year. They should all get the bonus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know special ed teachers who are long-term subs and don't get the bonus. Long term subs are keeping MCPS afloat this year. They should all get the bonus.

If MCEA fought against a $5K bonus for its own members to become special educators, they certainly would have fought a $5K signing bonus for new special educator hires.

[Anonymous]

$5k is chump change for the increased workload - both instructional and paperwork - special ed requires.

[Anonymous]

ONE teacher did this. See today's Bethesda Beat article for more info. What the article doesn't say is how many long term subs have taken the place of an actual teacher.

https://bethesdamagazine.com/2022/09/07/one-teacher-transferred-to-special-education-program-after-mcps-last-minute-request/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ONE teacher did this. See today's Bethesda Beat article for more info. What the article doesn't say is how many long term subs have taken the place of an actual teacher.

https://bethesdamagazine.com/2022/09/07/one-teacher-transferred-to-special-education-program-after-mcps-last-minute-request/

Gonna miss Caitlynn!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ONE teacher did this. See today's Bethesda Beat article for more info. What the article doesn't say is how many long term subs have taken the place of an actual teacher.

https://bethesdamagazine.com/2022/09/07/one-teacher-transferred-to-special-education-program-after-mcps-last-minute-request/

Gonna miss Caitlynn!

Yes, her authenticity was refreshing. I hope she took good notes and writes an expose for EdWeek about why public education is broken, and how students lose. She had a lot of moles giving her intel from inside the system. And I bet she got more juicy information from staff who left in recent months. There are so many former MCPS staffers floating around the region who have nothing to lose now by talking but plenty of bitterness about the state of the system and the reasons behind their departures. If I were Dr. MM, I would be much nicer to departing staff. It’s always surprising to me how much leaders underestimate the importance of maintaining good relations with former staff and being gracious. It will come back to bite her that they leave feeling hostile. She’s giving them the cold shoulder. She doesn’t seem to show up for goodbye parties. She doesn’t wish people well. She doesn’t even greet staff who left if she passes them out in the world after they’ve left. To say the least, it’s quite short sighted.