WTU rallies for new contract

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you blaming the WTU? They are emit legally bound by IDEA- that’s DCPS. And when a meeting is planned for 10:30 am and there are 5-7 teachers who teach that kid there is just no way to get enough coverage for their classes. There are not enough subs. Or that means other teachers lose their planning for these IEP meetings. I agree that IEP meetings are important but I just don’t have two hours to devote to them and still do my job- which includes at least monitoring the students in my class. I really don’t know what the WTU could even bargain to alleviate this.

I am not blaming WTU. I am saying WTU needs to take IEP time into account when they bargain on planning time. WTU could obviously bargain for better or prioritized coverage for IEP. Instead, it sounds like they are bargaining to make planning time so rigid it could not be used for IEP meetings or to cover other teachers. That worries me immensely.

Having to cover other teachers actually makes people less willing to come and stay for iep meetings. The teachers never get a break and will say I can’t do this meeting. I’ll be there for 10 minutes because I haven’t had a break all week. You really don’t want teachers covering for other teachers.

Again, you are legally required to attend IEP meetings or be excused, in writing, in advance, with the parents consent. DCPS and WTU need to get together and figure out how to do this in a mutually acceptable way.

Wow I feel like 4-5 of us have been pretty patiently trying to explain to you for the last 24 hrs that the WTU has absolutely nothing to do with this. I’m personally done engaging this and am just going to start reporting your posts if you can’t move past

WTU is currently negotiating the conditions for planning time (which as I understand it, currently includes IEP meetings and covering for other teachers at IEP meetings). How can you say WTU has nothing to do with this? But yeah, thanks for demonstrating the organized WTU tactic of getting DCUM posts you dislike deleted.

Because, and I’ll do this one last time, even if they somehow got a clause in a contract that teachers had to always be covered during IEP meetings so that they could attend, there’s no guarantee that subs would be available to cover them. And when that happens teachers will have to go back to their rooms, because it’s a lot higher of a priority to make sure a room of 25-30 children is being attended to over being in a meeting. There’s no magic IEP time that the WTU can create that allows the teachers other responsibilities to disappear for the 45 minutes you have your meeting. A teachers role is complex and has many moving parts and that’s the reality of being an educator in 2022.

Of course they could write into their contract that IEP time be covered, or figure out a better way to manage the meetings. And then if DCPS fails to provide subs that’s a contract violation. They could also write in a FT SN coordinator at each school so that everything can be planned better. This is all attainable. If you care about it. Here’s one solution: https://www.uft.org/teaching/students-disabilities/individualized-education-programs/iep-teachers

IEP and SN services are a significant part of the working conditions at DCPS. Obviously you can bargain over them.

Other unions are very active in this! Eg: https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/teachers-union-files-grievance-over-special-ed-documentation-mandates/

"The school district told MCEA officials it would:

assign additional paraeducators to help with paperwork or provide support for special education students
assign secretarial staff to schedule meetings and help with documentation
hire substitute teachers to support teachers
provide additional hours for part-time teachers to help special educators"

Sounds great right?

The reality: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/01/22/substitute-teacher-shortage-dc/

"In October, the city announced that it had the funding to place a covid coordinator and a permanent substitute teacher in every school. In December, council member Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4) sent a letter to Chancellor Lewis D. Ferebee saying no school had received that staffing. On Tuesday, the D.C. Council passed legislation that if signed by the mayor would require the school system to take several coronavirus transparency measures, including updating the council each month on the status of that promise."

The WTU cannot policy their way through this. Mayoral Control has made everything run through Bowser, which means that nothing gets done.

Oh, DCPS getting found in violation? They don't care. There is no accountability.

Move on.

Hello? This is a thread about WTU negotiating its legally enforceable contract. If your view is that a union contract is pointless and you are powerless to enforce it … then that’s an interesting take I want to hear more about.

Then you can spend your morning looking at all the threads over the last two years where teachers would tell you that their rooms didn't have AC, that HVAC systems weren't updated as promised, that class sizes were over ratio, and read the responses teachers got. I'm not interested in that discussion anymore. If you want to advocate for teachers, we'd really appreciate the help, but we cannot do it alone.

Well, as we've been told by teachers in this thread, parents have no power. Aside from voting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you blaming the WTU? They are emit legally bound by IDEA- that’s DCPS. And when a meeting is planned for 10:30 am and there are 5-7 teachers who teach that kid there is just no way to get enough coverage for their classes. There are not enough subs. Or that means other teachers lose their planning for these IEP meetings. I agree that IEP meetings are important but I just don’t have two hours to devote to them and still do my job- which includes at least monitoring the students in my class. I really don’t know what the WTU could even bargain to alleviate this.

I am not blaming WTU. I am saying WTU needs to take IEP time into account when they bargain on planning time. WTU could obviously bargain for better or prioritized coverage for IEP. Instead, it sounds like they are bargaining to make planning time so rigid it could not be used for IEP meetings or to cover other teachers. That worries me immensely.

Having to cover other teachers actually makes people less willing to come and stay for iep meetings. The teachers never get a break and will say I can’t do this meeting. I’ll be there for 10 minutes because I haven’t had a break all week. You really don’t want teachers covering for other teachers.

Again, you are legally required to attend IEP meetings or be excused, in writing, in advance, with the parents consent. DCPS and WTU need to get together and figure out how to do this in a mutually acceptable way.

Wow I feel like 4-5 of us have been pretty patiently trying to explain to you for the last 24 hrs that the WTU has absolutely nothing to do with this. I’m personally done engaging this and am just going to start reporting your posts if you can’t move past

WTU is currently negotiating the conditions for planning time (which as I understand it, currently includes IEP meetings and covering for other teachers at IEP meetings). How can you say WTU has nothing to do with this? But yeah, thanks for demonstrating the organized WTU tactic of getting DCUM posts you dislike deleted.

Because, and I’ll do this one last time, even if they somehow got a clause in a contract that teachers had to always be covered during IEP meetings so that they could attend, there’s no guarantee that subs would be available to cover them. And when that happens teachers will have to go back to their rooms, because it’s a lot higher of a priority to make sure a room of 25-30 children is being attended to over being in a meeting. There’s no magic IEP time that the WTU can create that allows the teachers other responsibilities to disappear for the 45 minutes you have your meeting. A teachers role is complex and has many moving parts and that’s the reality of being an educator in 2022.

Of course they could write into their contract that IEP time be covered, or figure out a better way to manage the meetings. And then if DCPS fails to provide subs that’s a contract violation. They could also write in a FT SN coordinator at each school so that everything can be planned better. This is all attainable. If you care about it. Here’s one solution: https://www.uft.org/teaching/students-disabilities/individualized-education-programs/iep-teachers

IEP and SN services are a significant part of the working conditions at DCPS. Obviously you can bargain over them.

Other unions are very active in this! Eg: https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/teachers-union-files-grievance-over-special-ed-documentation-mandates/

"The school district told MCEA officials it would:

assign additional paraeducators to help with paperwork or provide support for special education students
assign secretarial staff to schedule meetings and help with documentation
hire substitute teachers to support teachers
provide additional hours for part-time teachers to help special educators"

Sounds great right?

The reality: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/01/22/substitute-teacher-shortage-dc/

"In October, the city announced that it had the funding to place a covid coordinator and a permanent substitute teacher in every school. In December, council member Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4) sent a letter to Chancellor Lewis D. Ferebee saying no school had received that staffing. On Tuesday, the D.C. Council passed legislation that if signed by the mayor would require the school system to take several coronavirus transparency measures, including updating the council each month on the status of that promise."

The WTU cannot policy their way through this. Mayoral Control has made everything run through Bowser, which means that nothing gets done.

Oh, DCPS getting found in violation? They don't care. There is no accountability.

Move on.

Hello? This is a thread about WTU negotiating its legally enforceable contract. If your view is that a union contract is pointless and you are powerless to enforce it … then that’s an interesting take I want to hear more about.

Then you can spend your morning looking at all the threads over the last two years where teachers would tell you that their rooms didn't have AC, that HVAC systems weren't updated as promised, that class sizes were over ratio, and read the responses teachers got. I'm not interested in that discussion anymore. If you want to advocate for teachers, we'd really appreciate the help, but we cannot do it alone.

Well, as we've been told by teachers in this thread, parents have no power. Aside from voting.

And you voted for the status quo, thus my disinterest in continuing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you blaming the WTU? They are emit legally bound by IDEA- that’s DCPS. And when a meeting is planned for 10:30 am and there are 5-7 teachers who teach that kid there is just no way to get enough coverage for their classes. There are not enough subs. Or that means other teachers lose their planning for these IEP meetings. I agree that IEP meetings are important but I just don’t have two hours to devote to them and still do my job- which includes at least monitoring the students in my class. I really don’t know what the WTU could even bargain to alleviate this.

I am not blaming WTU. I am saying WTU needs to take IEP time into account when they bargain on planning time. WTU could obviously bargain for better or prioritized coverage for IEP. Instead, it sounds like they are bargaining to make planning time so rigid it could not be used for IEP meetings or to cover other teachers. That worries me immensely.

Having to cover other teachers actually makes people less willing to come and stay for iep meetings. The teachers never get a break and will say I can’t do this meeting. I’ll be there for 10 minutes because I haven’t had a break all week. You really don’t want teachers covering for other teachers.

Again, you are legally required to attend IEP meetings or be excused, in writing, in advance, with the parents consent. DCPS and WTU need to get together and figure out how to do this in a mutually acceptable way.

Wow I feel like 4-5 of us have been pretty patiently trying to explain to you for the last 24 hrs that the WTU has absolutely nothing to do with this. I’m personally done engaging this and am just going to start reporting your posts if you can’t move past

WTU is currently negotiating the conditions for planning time (which as I understand it, currently includes IEP meetings and covering for other teachers at IEP meetings). How can you say WTU has nothing to do with this? But yeah, thanks for demonstrating the organized WTU tactic of getting DCUM posts you dislike deleted.

Because, and I’ll do this one last time, even if they somehow got a clause in a contract that teachers had to always be covered during IEP meetings so that they could attend, there’s no guarantee that subs would be available to cover them. And when that happens teachers will have to go back to their rooms, because it’s a lot higher of a priority to make sure a room of 25-30 children is being attended to over being in a meeting. There’s no magic IEP time that the WTU can create that allows the teachers other responsibilities to disappear for the 45 minutes you have your meeting. A teachers role is complex and has many moving parts and that’s the reality of being an educator in 2022.

Of course they could write into their contract that IEP time be covered, or figure out a better way to manage the meetings. And then if DCPS fails to provide subs that’s a contract violation. They could also write in a FT SN coordinator at each school so that everything can be planned better. This is all attainable. If you care about it. Here’s one solution: https://www.uft.org/teaching/students-disabilities/individualized-education-programs/iep-teachers

IEP and SN services are a significant part of the working conditions at DCPS. Obviously you can bargain over them.

Other unions are very active in this! Eg: https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/teachers-union-files-grievance-over-special-ed-documentation-mandates/

"The school district told MCEA officials it would:

assign additional paraeducators to help with paperwork or provide support for special education students
assign secretarial staff to schedule meetings and help with documentation
hire substitute teachers to support teachers
provide additional hours for part-time teachers to help special educators"

Sounds great right?

The reality: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/01/22/substitute-teacher-shortage-dc/

"In October, the city announced that it had the funding to place a covid coordinator and a permanent substitute teacher in every school. In December, council member Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4) sent a letter to Chancellor Lewis D. Ferebee saying no school had received that staffing. On Tuesday, the D.C. Council passed legislation that if signed by the mayor would require the school system to take several coronavirus transparency measures, including updating the council each month on the status of that promise."

The WTU cannot policy their way through this. Mayoral Control has made everything run through Bowser, which means that nothing gets done.

Oh, DCPS getting found in violation? They don't care. There is no accountability.

Move on.

Hello? This is a thread about WTU negotiating its legally enforceable contract. If your view is that a union contract is pointless and you are powerless to enforce it … then that’s an interesting take I want to hear more about.

Then you can spend your morning looking at all the threads over the last two years where teachers would tell you that their rooms didn't have AC, that HVAC systems weren't updated as promised, that class sizes were over ratio, and read the responses teachers got. I'm not interested in that discussion anymore. If you want to advocate for teachers, we'd really appreciate the help, but we cannot do it alone.

I'm so lost as to why you wouldn't want to negotiate better resources for covering IEP services. It seems like it impacts teachers' time, and given a population in DC with a lot of kids that are behind, you'd think maybe we have a fair share of IEP kids. Then, you have parents who would SUPPORT YOU if you do this thing that is helpful to children. And your response is..."too bad you get what you get! We can't do anything!"

Here is a place of commonality and you are rejecting it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you blaming the WTU? They are emit legally bound by IDEA- that’s DCPS. And when a meeting is planned for 10:30 am and there are 5-7 teachers who teach that kid there is just no way to get enough coverage for their classes. There are not enough subs. Or that means other teachers lose their planning for these IEP meetings. I agree that IEP meetings are important but I just don’t have two hours to devote to them and still do my job- which includes at least monitoring the students in my class. I really don’t know what the WTU could even bargain to alleviate this.

I am not blaming WTU. I am saying WTU needs to take IEP time into account when they bargain on planning time. WTU could obviously bargain for better or prioritized coverage for IEP. Instead, it sounds like they are bargaining to make planning time so rigid it could not be used for IEP meetings or to cover other teachers. That worries me immensely.

Having to cover other teachers actually makes people less willing to come and stay for iep meetings. The teachers never get a break and will say I can’t do this meeting. I’ll be there for 10 minutes because I haven’t had a break all week. You really don’t want teachers covering for other teachers.

Again, you are legally required to attend IEP meetings or be excused, in writing, in advance, with the parents consent. DCPS and WTU need to get together and figure out how to do this in a mutually acceptable way.

Wow I feel like 4-5 of us have been pretty patiently trying to explain to you for the last 24 hrs that the WTU has absolutely nothing to do with this. I’m personally done engaging this and am just going to start reporting your posts if you can’t move past

WTU is currently negotiating the conditions for planning time (which as I understand it, currently includes IEP meetings and covering for other teachers at IEP meetings). How can you say WTU has nothing to do with this? But yeah, thanks for demonstrating the organized WTU tactic of getting DCUM posts you dislike deleted.

Because, and I’ll do this one last time, even if they somehow got a clause in a contract that teachers had to always be covered during IEP meetings so that they could attend, there’s no guarantee that subs would be available to cover them. And when that happens teachers will have to go back to their rooms, because it’s a lot higher of a priority to make sure a room of 25-30 children is being attended to over being in a meeting. There’s no magic IEP time that the WTU can create that allows the teachers other responsibilities to disappear for the 45 minutes you have your meeting. A teachers role is complex and has many moving parts and that’s the reality of being an educator in 2022.

Of course they could write into their contract that IEP time be covered, or figure out a better way to manage the meetings. And then if DCPS fails to provide subs that’s a contract violation. They could also write in a FT SN coordinator at each school so that everything can be planned better. This is all attainable. If you care about it. Here’s one solution: https://www.uft.org/teaching/students-disabilities/individualized-education-programs/iep-teachers

IEP and SN services are a significant part of the working conditions at DCPS. Obviously you can bargain over them.

Other unions are very active in this! Eg: https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/teachers-union-files-grievance-over-special-ed-documentation-mandates/

"The school district told MCEA officials it would:

assign additional paraeducators to help with paperwork or provide support for special education students
assign secretarial staff to schedule meetings and help with documentation
hire substitute teachers to support teachers
provide additional hours for part-time teachers to help special educators"

Sounds great right?

The reality: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/01/22/substitute-teacher-shortage-dc/

"In October, the city announced that it had the funding to place a covid coordinator and a permanent substitute teacher in every school. In December, council member Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4) sent a letter to Chancellor Lewis D. Ferebee saying no school had received that staffing. On Tuesday, the D.C. Council passed legislation that if signed by the mayor would require the school system to take several coronavirus transparency measures, including updating the council each month on the status of that promise."

The WTU cannot policy their way through this. Mayoral Control has made everything run through Bowser, which means that nothing gets done.

Oh, DCPS getting found in violation? They don't care. There is no accountability.

Move on.

Hello? This is a thread about WTU negotiating its legally enforceable contract. If your view is that a union contract is pointless and you are powerless to enforce it … then that’s an interesting take I want to hear more about.

Then you can spend your morning looking at all the threads over the last two years where teachers would tell you that their rooms didn't have AC, that HVAC systems weren't updated as promised, that class sizes were over ratio, and read the responses teachers got. I'm not interested in that discussion anymore. If you want to advocate for teachers, we'd really appreciate the help, but we cannot do it alone.

I'm so lost as to why you wouldn't want to negotiate better resources for covering IEP services. It seems like it impacts teachers' time, and given a population in DC with a lot of kids that are behind, you'd think maybe we have a fair share of IEP kids. Then, you have parents who would SUPPORT YOU if you do this thing that is helpful to children. And your response is..."too bad you get what you get! We can't do anything!"

Here is a place of commonality and you are rejecting it.

You are choosing to read it that way. The point is we do negotiate for these things. You are telling us we haven’t done enough, when really we just aren’t able to enforce these things do the realities of day to day school. If you look in the MCPS forum (since you keep talking about the MCEA) you will find countless threads of people dissatisfied with services despite their stronger protections. Being with kids in the classroom comes first. Staffing in schools is underfunded to the point where there aren’t enough bodies to adequately cover meetings sometimes, despite what is on paper and what you want to be true. Idk maybe we’re just talking past each other at this point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I sure hope the union is also advocating for IEP time to be “protected.” Although my DS’s teachers are very good, they made every effort to shirk IEP meetings and otherwise demonstrate the meetings were their lowest priority. Our consultant who has experience in another (unionized) school district was always remarking on how crazy it was that nobody would show up, or show up late, or leave after 10 minutes.

This happens at my school quite a bit and it’s because other meetings are planned during the same time. A colleague got in trouble with admin for not going to a meeting about PARCC (which was only scheduled two days before ) because they went to an IEP meeting (scheduled two weeks in advance). It’s a lose/lose for teachers sometimes.

So, as for leaving early, I do understand that. If I’m the math teacher and we moved to the part of the meeting discussing ELA goals, there’s really no purpose to me being in that meeting. It’s not a rudeness thing, it’s trying to balance multiple tasks at one time and giving attention to all of them.

Except a lot of times discussion about accomodations and supports cuts across all subjects. You’re part of the team.

I’m aware and I contribute to that part of the discussion before leaving. When you’ve done this for a while, and have a good team you learn how to contribute to meetings and also be efficient with your time.

You’re supposed to be at the meeting. The meeting is the right of the child under federal law, not something you are volunteering for. This is a really bad attitude.

Look I’m just going to be honest you lecturing me here isn’t doing anything. The fact of the matter is it’s one of 20 items on my plate during my 45 minutes of getting things done and often eating lunch. It is what it is. Hopefully the new contract finds ways to be more respectful of teacher time so I can give more energy and attention to meetings but the reality it isn’t there.

Again, there’s a difference in theory and in practice. Our rights are constantly violated so miss me with federal law

Also, the meetings sometimes happen while the teacher is in class. If there is no sub, and admin says you have 10 minutes in this meeting while an AP covers your class, what are you supposed to do? Refuse to leave the meeting and then leave the kids unsupervised? Argue with admin, which would just lead to them hurting you on evaluations for "not being a team player"?

Why doesn’t WTU bargain for this? Making planning time more protected means that it will be even harder to get someone to cover the class. DCPS and WTU need to stop treating IEP meetings like optional extras. As I said, other districts don’t do this.

Why are you blaming the WTU for this? The lengths some parents go. I’m sure they have tried but again, water from a stone.

Somehow DCPS has done a masterful job of convincing upper middle class parents that all of the teachers in the district are out to destroy their children, that all the problems in the schools are entirely the fault of the teachers. Parents have so bought into the idea that there are no systemic issues on this city, or that what issues there are are caused by the WTU. I'm not going to defend WTU that hard - leadership of the WTU is horrible, uncoordinated, and seemingly only in it for themselves, and this does hurt the system and the kids. But WTU is not creating those systems, or the systemic issues inherent in them. They don't have enough organization in the leadership to run that massive of a con on DCPS. The systemic issues stem from the leadership of DCPS, and WTU aides and condones the failures, either directly, or at least tacitly.

WTU did a masterful job of losing UMC parents during the pandemic.

Yawn. Get a new song. This one is boring and stale.

More like losing truly RICH parents from elementary schools and Deal. The UMC parents in DCPS we know have almost all stuck around for lack of good alternatives. They don't want to move to the burbs, want to save for college and retirement and are mostly OK with their in-boundary schools in Upper NW or the tony areas of Ward 6.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you blaming the WTU? They are emit legally bound by IDEA- that’s DCPS. And when a meeting is planned for 10:30 am and there are 5-7 teachers who teach that kid there is just no way to get enough coverage for their classes. There are not enough subs. Or that means other teachers lose their planning for these IEP meetings. I agree that IEP meetings are important but I just don’t have two hours to devote to them and still do my job- which includes at least monitoring the students in my class. I really don’t know what the WTU could even bargain to alleviate this.

I am not blaming WTU. I am saying WTU needs to take IEP time into account when they bargain on planning time. WTU could obviously bargain for better or prioritized coverage for IEP. Instead, it sounds like they are bargaining to make planning time so rigid it could not be used for IEP meetings or to cover other teachers. That worries me immensely.

Having to cover other teachers actually makes people less willing to come and stay for iep meetings. The teachers never get a break and will say I can’t do this meeting. I’ll be there for 10 minutes because I haven’t had a break all week. You really don’t want teachers covering for other teachers.

Again, you are legally required to attend IEP meetings or be excused, in writing, in advance, with the parents consent. DCPS and WTU need to get together and figure out how to do this in a mutually acceptable way.

Wow I feel like 4-5 of us have been pretty patiently trying to explain to you for the last 24 hrs that the WTU has absolutely nothing to do with this. I’m personally done engaging this and am just going to start reporting your posts if you can’t move past

WTU is currently negotiating the conditions for planning time (which as I understand it, currently includes IEP meetings and covering for other teachers at IEP meetings). How can you say WTU has nothing to do with this? But yeah, thanks for demonstrating the organized WTU tactic of getting DCUM posts you dislike deleted.

Because, and I’ll do this one last time, even if they somehow got a clause in a contract that teachers had to always be covered during IEP meetings so that they could attend, there’s no guarantee that subs would be available to cover them. And when that happens teachers will have to go back to their rooms, because it’s a lot higher of a priority to make sure a room of 25-30 children is being attended to over being in a meeting. There’s no magic IEP time that the WTU can create that allows the teachers other responsibilities to disappear for the 45 minutes you have your meeting. A teachers role is complex and has many moving parts and that’s the reality of being an educator in 2022.

Of course they could write into their contract that IEP time be covered, or figure out a better way to manage the meetings. And then if DCPS fails to provide subs that’s a contract violation. They could also write in a FT SN coordinator at each school so that everything can be planned better. This is all attainable. If you care about it. Here’s one solution: https://www.uft.org/teaching/students-disabilities/individualized-education-programs/iep-teachers

IEP and SN services are a significant part of the working conditions at DCPS. Obviously you can bargain over them.

Other unions are very active in this! Eg: https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/teachers-union-files-grievance-over-special-ed-documentation-mandates/

"The school district told MCEA officials it would:

assign additional paraeducators to help with paperwork or provide support for special education students
assign secretarial staff to schedule meetings and help with documentation
hire substitute teachers to support teachers
provide additional hours for part-time teachers to help special educators"

Sounds great right?

The reality: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/01/22/substitute-teacher-shortage-dc/

"In October, the city announced that it had the funding to place a covid coordinator and a permanent substitute teacher in every school. In December, council member Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4) sent a letter to Chancellor Lewis D. Ferebee saying no school had received that staffing. On Tuesday, the D.C. Council passed legislation that if signed by the mayor would require the school system to take several coronavirus transparency measures, including updating the council each month on the status of that promise."

The WTU cannot policy their way through this. Mayoral Control has made everything run through Bowser, which means that nothing gets done.

Oh, DCPS getting found in violation? They don't care. There is no accountability.

Move on.

Hello? This is a thread about WTU negotiating its legally enforceable contract. If your view is that a union contract is pointless and you are powerless to enforce it … then that’s an interesting take I want to hear more about.

Then you can spend your morning looking at all the threads over the last two years where teachers would tell you that their rooms didn't have AC, that HVAC systems weren't updated as promised, that class sizes were over ratio, and read the responses teachers got. I'm not interested in that discussion anymore. If you want to advocate for teachers, we'd really appreciate the help, but we cannot do it alone.

I'm so lost as to why you wouldn't want to negotiate better resources for covering IEP services. It seems like it impacts teachers' time, and given a population in DC with a lot of kids that are behind, you'd think maybe we have a fair share of IEP kids. Then, you have parents who would SUPPORT YOU if you do this thing that is helpful to children. And your response is..."too bad you get what you get! We can't do anything!"

Here is a place of commonality and you are rejecting it.

You are choosing to read it that way. The point is we do negotiate for these things. You are telling us we haven’t done enough, when really we just aren’t able to enforce these things do the realities of day to day school. If you look in the MCPS forum (since you keep talking about the MCEA) you will find countless threads of people dissatisfied with services despite their stronger protections. Being with kids in the classroom comes first. Staffing in schools is underfunded to the point where there aren’t enough bodies to adequately cover meetings sometimes, despite what is on paper and what you want to be true. Idk maybe we’re just talking past each other at this point.

DP. Clearly WTU has not negotiated for IEP admin resources in the past. Compare the WTU contract to the MCEA contract.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you blaming the WTU? They are emit legally bound by IDEA- that’s DCPS. And when a meeting is planned for 10:30 am and there are 5-7 teachers who teach that kid there is just no way to get enough coverage for their classes. There are not enough subs. Or that means other teachers lose their planning for these IEP meetings. I agree that IEP meetings are important but I just don’t have two hours to devote to them and still do my job- which includes at least monitoring the students in my class. I really don’t know what the WTU could even bargain to alleviate this.

I am not blaming WTU. I am saying WTU needs to take IEP time into account when they bargain on planning time. WTU could obviously bargain for better or prioritized coverage for IEP. Instead, it sounds like they are bargaining to make planning time so rigid it could not be used for IEP meetings or to cover other teachers. That worries me immensely.

Having to cover other teachers actually makes people less willing to come and stay for iep meetings. The teachers never get a break and will say I can’t do this meeting. I’ll be there for 10 minutes because I haven’t had a break all week. You really don’t want teachers covering for other teachers.

Again, you are legally required to attend IEP meetings or be excused, in writing, in advance, with the parents consent. DCPS and WTU need to get together and figure out how to do this in a mutually acceptable way.

Wow I feel like 4-5 of us have been pretty patiently trying to explain to you for the last 24 hrs that the WTU has absolutely nothing to do with this. I’m personally done engaging this and am just going to start reporting your posts if you can’t move past

WTU is currently negotiating the conditions for planning time (which as I understand it, currently includes IEP meetings and covering for other teachers at IEP meetings). How can you say WTU has nothing to do with this? But yeah, thanks for demonstrating the organized WTU tactic of getting DCUM posts you dislike deleted.

Because, and I’ll do this one last time, even if they somehow got a clause in a contract that teachers had to always be covered during IEP meetings so that they could attend, there’s no guarantee that subs would be available to cover them. And when that happens teachers will have to go back to their rooms, because it’s a lot higher of a priority to make sure a room of 25-30 children is being attended to over being in a meeting. There’s no magic IEP time that the WTU can create that allows the teachers other responsibilities to disappear for the 45 minutes you have your meeting. A teachers role is complex and has many moving parts and that’s the reality of being an educator in 2022.

Of course they could write into their contract that IEP time be covered, or figure out a better way to manage the meetings. And then if DCPS fails to provide subs that’s a contract violation. They could also write in a FT SN coordinator at each school so that everything can be planned better. This is all attainable. If you care about it. Here’s one solution: https://www.uft.org/teaching/students-disabilities/individualized-education-programs/iep-teachers

IEP and SN services are a significant part of the working conditions at DCPS. Obviously you can bargain over them.

Other unions are very active in this! Eg: https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/teachers-union-files-grievance-over-special-ed-documentation-mandates/

"The school district told MCEA officials it would:

assign additional paraeducators to help with paperwork or provide support for special education students
assign secretarial staff to schedule meetings and help with documentation
hire substitute teachers to support teachers
provide additional hours for part-time teachers to help special educators"

Sounds great right?

The reality: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/01/22/substitute-teacher-shortage-dc/

"In October, the city announced that it had the funding to place a covid coordinator and a permanent substitute teacher in every school. In December, council member Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4) sent a letter to Chancellor Lewis D. Ferebee saying no school had received that staffing. On Tuesday, the D.C. Council passed legislation that if signed by the mayor would require the school system to take several coronavirus transparency measures, including updating the council each month on the status of that promise."

The WTU cannot policy their way through this. Mayoral Control has made everything run through Bowser, which means that nothing gets done.

Oh, DCPS getting found in violation? They don't care. There is no accountability.

Move on.

Hello? This is a thread about WTU negotiating its legally enforceable contract. If your view is that a union contract is pointless and you are powerless to enforce it … then that’s an interesting take I want to hear more about.

Then you can spend your morning looking at all the threads over the last two years where teachers would tell you that their rooms didn't have AC, that HVAC systems weren't updated as promised, that class sizes were over ratio, and read the responses teachers got. I'm not interested in that discussion anymore. If you want to advocate for teachers, we'd really appreciate the help, but we cannot do it alone.

I'm so lost as to why you wouldn't want to negotiate better resources for covering IEP services. It seems like it impacts teachers' time, and given a population in DC with a lot of kids that are behind, you'd think maybe we have a fair share of IEP kids. Then, you have parents who would SUPPORT YOU if you do this thing that is helpful to children. And your response is..."too bad you get what you get! We can't do anything!"

Here is a place of commonality and you are rejecting it.

You are choosing to read it that way. The point is we do negotiate for these things. You are telling us we haven’t done enough, when really we just aren’t able to enforce these things do the realities of day to day school. If you look in the MCPS forum (since you keep talking about the MCEA) you will find countless threads of people dissatisfied with services despite their stronger protections. Being with kids in the classroom comes first. Staffing in schools is underfunded to the point where there aren’t enough bodies to adequately cover meetings sometimes, despite what is on paper and what you want to be true. Idk maybe we’re just talking past each other at this point.

DP. Clearly WTU has not negotiated for IEP admin resources in the past. Compare the WTU contract to the MCEA contract.

Oh and as for MCPS SN services: yes, there are always going to be complaints, but MCPS has a MUCH richer set of support programs for kids, esp on the spectrum. Part of that is size so I am not going to blame DCPS. But a lot is just willpower. For example MCPS has been a nationwide leader in 2E programs. And the administsration, coordination and compliance are just worlds apart. DCPS is mindbogglingly unconcerned with following procedural rules (as this discussion about teachers entering & leaving meetings at will demonstrates). My consultant who works mainly in MCPS has been literally speechless about it at every single meeting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I sure hope the union is also advocating for IEP time to be “protected.” Although my DS’s teachers are very good, they made every effort to shirk IEP meetings and otherwise demonstrate the meetings were their lowest priority. Our consultant who has experience in another (unionized) school district was always remarking on how crazy it was that nobody would show up, or show up late, or leave after 10 minutes.

This happens at my school quite a bit and it’s because other meetings are planned during the same time. A colleague got in trouble with admin for not going to a meeting about PARCC (which was only scheduled two days before ) because they went to an IEP meeting (scheduled two weeks in advance). It’s a lose/lose for teachers sometimes.

So, as for leaving early, I do understand that. If I’m the math teacher and we moved to the part of the meeting discussing ELA goals, there’s really no purpose to me being in that meeting. It’s not a rudeness thing, it’s trying to balance multiple tasks at one time and giving attention to all of them.

Except a lot of times discussion about accomodations and supports cuts across all subjects. You’re part of the team.

I’m aware and I contribute to that part of the discussion before leaving. When you’ve done this for a while, and have a good team you learn how to contribute to meetings and also be efficient with your time.

You’re supposed to be at the meeting. The meeting is the right of the child under federal law, not something you are volunteering for. This is a really bad attitude.

Look I’m just going to be honest you lecturing me here isn’t doing anything. The fact of the matter is it’s one of 20 items on my plate during my 45 minutes of getting things done and often eating lunch. It is what it is. Hopefully the new contract finds ways to be more respectful of teacher time so I can give more energy and attention to meetings but the reality it isn’t there.

Again, there’s a difference in theory and in practice. Our rights are constantly violated so miss me with federal law

Also, the meetings sometimes happen while the teacher is in class. If there is no sub, and admin says you have 10 minutes in this meeting while an AP covers your class, what are you supposed to do? Refuse to leave the meeting and then leave the kids unsupervised? Argue with admin, which would just lead to them hurting you on evaluations for "not being a team player"?

Why doesn’t WTU bargain for this? Making planning time more protected means that it will be even harder to get someone to cover the class. DCPS and WTU need to stop treating IEP meetings like optional extras. As I said, other districts don’t do this.

Why are you blaming the WTU for this? The lengths some parents go. I’m sure they have tried but again, water from a stone.

Somehow DCPS has done a masterful job of convincing upper middle class parents that all of the teachers in the district are out to destroy their children, that all the problems in the schools are entirely the fault of the teachers. Parents have so bought into the idea that there are no systemic issues on this city, or that what issues there are are caused by the WTU. I'm not going to defend WTU that hard - leadership of the WTU is horrible, uncoordinated, and seemingly only in it for themselves, and this does hurt the system and the kids. But WTU is not creating those systems, or the systemic issues inherent in them. They don't have enough organization in the leadership to run that massive of a con on DCPS. The systemic issues stem from the leadership of DCPS, and WTU aides and condones the failures, either directly, or at least tacitly.

WTU did a masterful job of losing UMC parents during the pandemic.

Yawn. Get a new song. This one is boring and stale.

More like losing truly RICH parents from elementary schools and Deal. The UMC parents in DCPS we know have almost all stuck around for lack of good alternatives. They don't want to move to the burbs, want to save for college and retirement and are mostly OK with their in-boundary schools in Upper NW or the tony areas of Ward 6.

The PP was saying that the WTU lost UMC parents, in terms of their support. Not that DCPS lost UMC parents. Two different things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you blaming the WTU? They are emit legally bound by IDEA- that’s DCPS. And when a meeting is planned for 10:30 am and there are 5-7 teachers who teach that kid there is just no way to get enough coverage for their classes. There are not enough subs. Or that means other teachers lose their planning for these IEP meetings. I agree that IEP meetings are important but I just don’t have two hours to devote to them and still do my job- which includes at least monitoring the students in my class. I really don’t know what the WTU could even bargain to alleviate this.

I am not blaming WTU. I am saying WTU needs to take IEP time into account when they bargain on planning time. WTU could obviously bargain for better or prioritized coverage for IEP. Instead, it sounds like they are bargaining to make planning time so rigid it could not be used for IEP meetings or to cover other teachers. That worries me immensely.

Having to cover other teachers actually makes people less willing to come and stay for iep meetings. The teachers never get a break and will say I can’t do this meeting. I’ll be there for 10 minutes because I haven’t had a break all week. You really don’t want teachers covering for other teachers.

Again, you are legally required to attend IEP meetings or be excused, in writing, in advance, with the parents consent. DCPS and WTU need to get together and figure out how to do this in a mutually acceptable way.

Wow I feel like 4-5 of us have been pretty patiently trying to explain to you for the last 24 hrs that the WTU has absolutely nothing to do with this. I’m personally done engaging this and am just going to start reporting your posts if you can’t move past

WTU is currently negotiating the conditions for planning time (which as I understand it, currently includes IEP meetings and covering for other teachers at IEP meetings). How can you say WTU has nothing to do with this? But yeah, thanks for demonstrating the organized WTU tactic of getting DCUM posts you dislike deleted.

Because, and I’ll do this one last time, even if they somehow got a clause in a contract that teachers had to always be covered during IEP meetings so that they could attend, there’s no guarantee that subs would be available to cover them. And when that happens teachers will have to go back to their rooms, because it’s a lot higher of a priority to make sure a room of 25-30 children is being attended to over being in a meeting. There’s no magic IEP time that the WTU can create that allows the teachers other responsibilities to disappear for the 45 minutes you have your meeting. A teachers role is complex and has many moving parts and that’s the reality of being an educator in 2022.

Of course they could write into their contract that IEP time be covered, or figure out a better way to manage the meetings. And then if DCPS fails to provide subs that’s a contract violation. They could also write in a FT SN coordinator at each school so that everything can be planned better. This is all attainable. If you care about it. Here’s one solution: https://www.uft.org/teaching/students-disabilities/individualized-education-programs/iep-teachers

IEP and SN services are a significant part of the working conditions at DCPS. Obviously you can bargain over them.

Other unions are very active in this! Eg: https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/schools/teachers-union-files-grievance-over-special-ed-documentation-mandates/

"The school district told MCEA officials it would:

assign additional paraeducators to help with paperwork or provide support for special education students
assign secretarial staff to schedule meetings and help with documentation
hire substitute teachers to support teachers
provide additional hours for part-time teachers to help special educators"

Sounds great right?

The reality: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/01/22/substitute-teacher-shortage-dc/

"In October, the city announced that it had the funding to place a covid coordinator and a permanent substitute teacher in every school. In December, council member Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4) sent a letter to Chancellor Lewis D. Ferebee saying no school had received that staffing. On Tuesday, the D.C. Council passed legislation that if signed by the mayor would require the school system to take several coronavirus transparency measures, including updating the council each month on the status of that promise."

The WTU cannot policy their way through this. Mayoral Control has made everything run through Bowser, which means that nothing gets done.

Oh, DCPS getting found in violation? They don't care. There is no accountability.

Move on.

Hello? This is a thread about WTU negotiating its legally enforceable contract. If your view is that a union contract is pointless and you are powerless to enforce it … then that’s an interesting take I want to hear more about.

Then you can spend your morning looking at all the threads over the last two years where teachers would tell you that their rooms didn't have AC, that HVAC systems weren't updated as promised, that class sizes were over ratio, and read the responses teachers got. I'm not interested in that discussion anymore. If you want to advocate for teachers, we'd really appreciate the help, but we cannot do it alone.

I'm so lost as to why you wouldn't want to negotiate better resources for covering IEP services. It seems like it impacts teachers' time, and given a population in DC with a lot of kids that are behind, you'd think maybe we have a fair share of IEP kids. Then, you have parents who would SUPPORT YOU if you do this thing that is helpful to children. And your response is..."too bad you get what you get! We can't do anything!"

Here is a place of commonality and you are rejecting it.

You are choosing to read it that way. The point is we do negotiate for these things. You are telling us we haven’t done enough, when really we just aren’t able to enforce these things do the realities of day to day school. If you look in the MCPS forum (since you keep talking about the MCEA) you will find countless threads of people dissatisfied with services despite their stronger protections. Being with kids in the classroom comes first. Staffing in schools is underfunded to the point where there aren’t enough bodies to adequately cover meetings sometimes, despite what is on paper and what you want to be true. Idk maybe we’re just talking past each other at this point.

DP. Clearly WTU has not negotiated for IEP admin resources in the past. Compare the WTU contract to the MCEA contract.

Oh and as for MCPS SN services: yes, there are always going to be complaints, but MCPS has a MUCH richer set of support programs for kids, esp on the spectrum. Part of that is size so I am not going to blame DCPS. But a lot is just willpower. For example MCPS has been a nationwide leader in 2E programs. And the administsration, coordination and compliance are just worlds apart. DCPS is mindbogglingly unconcerned with following procedural rules (as this discussion about teachers entering & leaving meetings at will demonstrates). My consultant who works mainly in MCPS has been literally speechless about it at every single meeting.

How does anyone know WTU hasn’t tried to negotiate for more resources, support and time for IEP meetings and SN students? These negotiations are behind closed doors and the end result is just the contract. We don’t know what they asked for but it feels like posters on here keep blaming teachers for not negotiating more. But here is how things like this might go if they are in the contract:

Class coverage is supposed to go in a rotating fashion so that one teacher doesn’t cover every day. Admin asks first year teacher to cover. First year teacher says I’ve covered every day this week, it must be someone else’s turn to cover. Admin says we don’t have anyone else you are covering this class. The end. The teacher can file a grievance which takes a long time and in the mean time deal with hostile administrators for filing a grievance. This is how IEP meeting time would work as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I sure hope the union is also advocating for IEP time to be “protected.” Although my DS’s teachers are very good, they made every effort to shirk IEP meetings and otherwise demonstrate the meetings were their lowest priority. Our consultant who has experience in another (unionized) school district was always remarking on how crazy it was that nobody would show up, or show up late, or leave after 10 minutes.

This happens at my school quite a bit and it’s because other meetings are planned during the same time. A colleague got in trouble with admin for not going to a meeting about PARCC (which was only scheduled two days before ) because they went to an IEP meeting (scheduled two weeks in advance). It’s a lose/lose for teachers sometimes.

So, as for leaving early, I do understand that. If I’m the math teacher and we moved to the part of the meeting discussing ELA goals, there’s really no purpose to me being in that meeting. It’s not a rudeness thing, it’s trying to balance multiple tasks at one time and giving attention to all of them.

Except a lot of times discussion about accomodations and supports cuts across all subjects. You’re part of the team.

I’m aware and I contribute to that part of the discussion before leaving. When you’ve done this for a while, and have a good team you learn how to contribute to meetings and also be efficient with your time.

You’re supposed to be at the meeting. The meeting is the right of the child under federal law, not something you are volunteering for. This is a really bad attitude.

Look I’m just going to be honest you lecturing me here isn’t doing anything. The fact of the matter is it’s one of 20 items on my plate during my 45 minutes of getting things done and often eating lunch. It is what it is. Hopefully the new contract finds ways to be more respectful of teacher time so I can give more energy and attention to meetings but the reality it isn’t there.

Again, there’s a difference in theory and in practice. Our rights are constantly violated so miss me with federal law

Also, the meetings sometimes happen while the teacher is in class. If there is no sub, and admin says you have 10 minutes in this meeting while an AP covers your class, what are you supposed to do? Refuse to leave the meeting and then leave the kids unsupervised? Argue with admin, which would just lead to them hurting you on evaluations for "not being a team player"?

Why doesn’t WTU bargain for this? Making planning time more protected means that it will be even harder to get someone to cover the class. DCPS and WTU need to stop treating IEP meetings like optional extras. As I said, other districts don’t do this.

Why are you blaming the WTU for this? The lengths some parents go. I’m sure they have tried but again, water from a stone.

Somehow DCPS has done a masterful job of convincing upper middle class parents that all of the teachers in the district are out to destroy their children, that all the problems in the schools are entirely the fault of the teachers. Parents have so bought into the idea that there are no systemic issues on this city, or that what issues there are are caused by the WTU. I'm not going to defend WTU that hard - leadership of the WTU is horrible, uncoordinated, and seemingly only in it for themselves, and this does hurt the system and the kids. But WTU is not creating those systems, or the systemic issues inherent in them. They don't have enough organization in the leadership to run that massive of a con on DCPS. The systemic issues stem from the leadership of DCPS, and WTU aides and condones the failures, either directly, or at least tacitly.

WTU did a masterful job of losing UMC parents during the pandemic.

Yawn. Get a new song. This one is boring and stale.

More like losing truly RICH parents from elementary schools and Deal. The UMC parents in DCPS we know have almost all stuck around for lack of good alternatives. They don't want to move to the burbs, want to save for college and retirement and are mostly OK with their in-boundary schools in Upper NW or the tony areas of Ward 6.

The PP was saying that the WTU lost UMC parents, in terms of their support. Not that DCPS lost UMC parents. Two different things.

Relevance? You either vote with your feet out of DCPS or stay. Two outcomes, that's it. Your "support" is irrelevant in a city where UMC parents with children in public schools are a sliver of the electoral pie, other than perhaps in terms of your financial contribution to a PTA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I sure hope the union is also advocating for IEP time to be “protected.” Although my DS’s teachers are very good, they made every effort to shirk IEP meetings and otherwise demonstrate the meetings were their lowest priority. Our consultant who has experience in another (unionized) school district was always remarking on how crazy it was that nobody would show up, or show up late, or leave after 10 minutes.

This happens at my school quite a bit and it’s because other meetings are planned during the same time. A colleague got in trouble with admin for not going to a meeting about PARCC (which was only scheduled two days before ) because they went to an IEP meeting (scheduled two weeks in advance). It’s a lose/lose for teachers sometimes.

So, as for leaving early, I do understand that. If I’m the math teacher and we moved to the part of the meeting discussing ELA goals, there’s really no purpose to me being in that meeting. It’s not a rudeness thing, it’s trying to balance multiple tasks at one time and giving attention to all of them.

Except a lot of times discussion about accomodations and supports cuts across all subjects. You’re part of the team.

I’m aware and I contribute to that part of the discussion before leaving. When you’ve done this for a while, and have a good team you learn how to contribute to meetings and also be efficient with your time.

You’re supposed to be at the meeting. The meeting is the right of the child under federal law, not something you are volunteering for. This is a really bad attitude.

Look I’m just going to be honest you lecturing me here isn’t doing anything. The fact of the matter is it’s one of 20 items on my plate during my 45 minutes of getting things done and often eating lunch. It is what it is. Hopefully the new contract finds ways to be more respectful of teacher time so I can give more energy and attention to meetings but the reality it isn’t there.

Again, there’s a difference in theory and in practice. Our rights are constantly violated so miss me with federal law

Also, the meetings sometimes happen while the teacher is in class. If there is no sub, and admin says you have 10 minutes in this meeting while an AP covers your class, what are you supposed to do? Refuse to leave the meeting and then leave the kids unsupervised? Argue with admin, which would just lead to them hurting you on evaluations for "not being a team player"?

Why doesn’t WTU bargain for this? Making planning time more protected means that it will be even harder to get someone to cover the class. DCPS and WTU need to stop treating IEP meetings like optional extras. As I said, other districts don’t do this.

Why are you blaming the WTU for this? The lengths some parents go. I’m sure they have tried but again, water from a stone.

Somehow DCPS has done a masterful job of convincing upper middle class parents that all of the teachers in the district are out to destroy their children, that all the problems in the schools are entirely the fault of the teachers. Parents have so bought into the idea that there are no systemic issues on this city, or that what issues there are are caused by the WTU. I'm not going to defend WTU that hard - leadership of the WTU is horrible, uncoordinated, and seemingly only in it for themselves, and this does hurt the system and the kids. But WTU is not creating those systems, or the systemic issues inherent in them. They don't have enough organization in the leadership to run that massive of a con on DCPS. The systemic issues stem from the leadership of DCPS, and WTU aides and condones the failures, either directly, or at least tacitly.

WTU did a masterful job of losing UMC parents during the pandemic.

Yawn. Get a new song. This one is boring and stale.

More like losing truly RICH parents from elementary schools and Deal. The UMC parents in DCPS we know have almost all stuck around for lack of good alternatives. They don't want to move to the burbs, want to save for college and retirement and are mostly OK with their in-boundary schools in Upper NW or the tony areas of Ward 6.

The PP was saying that the WTU lost UMC parents, in terms of their support. Not that DCPS lost UMC parents. Two different things.

Relevance? You either vote with your feet out of DCPS or stay. Two outcomes, that's it. Your "support" is irrelevant in a city where UMC parents with children in public schools are a sliver of the electoral pie, other than perhaps in terms of your financial contribution to a PTA.

Uh, you can stay in DCPS but vote against the union-supported candidate. That's how those things can split. Staying in DCPS isn't supporting WTU, really. You can give money to your DCPS. That's not giving money to WTU.

The thread is about support for WTU's new contract. This is a parent board. It leans very heavily to UMC. Why did the OP ask UMC parents about their support for WTU's contract if it is irrelevant?

[Anonymous]

or more simply put, DCPS =/= WTU

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I sure hope the union is also advocating for IEP time to be “protected.” Although my DS’s teachers are very good, they made every effort to shirk IEP meetings and otherwise demonstrate the meetings were their lowest priority. Our consultant who has experience in another (unionized) school district was always remarking on how crazy it was that nobody would show up, or show up late, or leave after 10 minutes.

This happens at my school quite a bit and it’s because other meetings are planned during the same time. A colleague got in trouble with admin for not going to a meeting about PARCC (which was only scheduled two days before ) because they went to an IEP meeting (scheduled two weeks in advance). It’s a lose/lose for teachers sometimes.

So, as for leaving early, I do understand that. If I’m the math teacher and we moved to the part of the meeting discussing ELA goals, there’s really no purpose to me being in that meeting. It’s not a rudeness thing, it’s trying to balance multiple tasks at one time and giving attention to all of them.

Except a lot of times discussion about accomodations and supports cuts across all subjects. You’re part of the team.

I’m aware and I contribute to that part of the discussion before leaving. When you’ve done this for a while, and have a good team you learn how to contribute to meetings and also be efficient with your time.

You’re supposed to be at the meeting. The meeting is the right of the child under federal law, not something you are volunteering for. This is a really bad attitude.

Look I’m just going to be honest you lecturing me here isn’t doing anything. The fact of the matter is it’s one of 20 items on my plate during my 45 minutes of getting things done and often eating lunch. It is what it is. Hopefully the new contract finds ways to be more respectful of teacher time so I can give more energy and attention to meetings but the reality it isn’t there.

Again, there’s a difference in theory and in practice. Our rights are constantly violated so miss me with federal law

Also, the meetings sometimes happen while the teacher is in class. If there is no sub, and admin says you have 10 minutes in this meeting while an AP covers your class, what are you supposed to do? Refuse to leave the meeting and then leave the kids unsupervised? Argue with admin, which would just lead to them hurting you on evaluations for "not being a team player"?

Why doesn’t WTU bargain for this? Making planning time more protected means that it will be even harder to get someone to cover the class. DCPS and WTU need to stop treating IEP meetings like optional extras. As I said, other districts don’t do this.

Why are you blaming the WTU for this? The lengths some parents go. I’m sure they have tried but again, water from a stone.

Somehow DCPS has done a masterful job of convincing upper middle class parents that all of the teachers in the district are out to destroy their children, that all the problems in the schools are entirely the fault of the teachers. Parents have so bought into the idea that there are no systemic issues on this city, or that what issues there are are caused by the WTU. I'm not going to defend WTU that hard - leadership of the WTU is horrible, uncoordinated, and seemingly only in it for themselves, and this does hurt the system and the kids. But WTU is not creating those systems, or the systemic issues inherent in them. They don't have enough organization in the leadership to run that massive of a con on DCPS. The systemic issues stem from the leadership of DCPS, and WTU aides and condones the failures, either directly, or at least tacitly.

WTU did a masterful job of losing UMC parents during the pandemic.

Yawn. Get a new song. This one is boring and stale.

More like losing truly RICH parents from elementary schools and Deal. The UMC parents in DCPS we know have almost all stuck around for lack of good alternatives. They don't want to move to the burbs, want to save for college and retirement and are mostly OK with their in-boundary schools in Upper NW or the tony areas of Ward 6.

The PP was saying that the WTU lost UMC parents, in terms of their support. Not that DCPS lost UMC parents. Two different things.

Relevance? You either vote with your feet out of DCPS or stay. Two outcomes, that's it. Your "support" is irrelevant in a city where UMC parents with children in public schools are a sliver of the electoral pie, other than perhaps in terms of your financial contribution to a PTA.

The dynamic at play here illustrates much of the problem with these discussions (at least as they play out in anonymous forums). There is a difference between "I am unhappy with you and I am going to advocate for things to change" and "I am done with you." My impression (as a parent who grew up with privilege) is that many of the other parents in DCUM-land grew up with everyone chasing us and wanting us to participate in their school/coffee shop/store/social circle/college. We have lived our lives getting away with telling people they are dead to us and expecting them to beg us to come back or re-engage. What you don't learn when you grow up UMC and at the top of the food chain is people can live without you. When you declare yourself done/over, you aren't explaining your concerns or how to bridge a gap. You end the discussion and relationship and/or put it on the other side to do all the work going forward. In this case what's happening is the teachers are replying, "OK. If you are saying you are done with teachers and think we all suck then I am done trying to placate you. Either stay or leave." The parents who behave that way put themselves in a box because they have nowhere else to go from there. They aren't going to leave but they have no more dry powder because they already used it all when they declared "you lost me forever".

I used to work in an industry with lots of clients, all of whom thought they were REALLY important. The economic reality was that it was a scale business and only the largest accounts mattered on a one off basis. When clients would call and abuse the reps on the phones, all the while threatening to close accounts, we would sometimes tell the client that was probably for the best and give them 30 days to close their accounts and move their assets, or we would liquidate and send them a check (and the associated tax consequences). Those clients were shocked. Many would pivot mid-sentence from having threatened to close their accounts to (incorrectly) claiming we didn't have the right to close their accounts (we did). They didn't realize until it was too late that they overplayed their hand.

I am a parent. I am not now nor have I ever been a teacher. I do not like the WTU. I think they do a piss poor job protecting good teachers and spend a lot of time and energy defending and enabling the entrenched power structure that exists primarily to preserve their power. I think the WTU's comms teams are atrocious at what they do. They exhibit no ability to read a room and they antagonize parties who are natural allies (read: parents). I also think teaching is an insanely hard job. I think even when teachers fail they mean well; no one would teach "just for the glory and/or money". And I know that in any relationship, the moment I declare someone else dead to me or over or useless that there is a risk that they will reply "ok". So I don't do that unless I am truly removing myself from the relationship.

If our kid is in bein educated in DCPS schools then you are NOT "done with teachers" or "exiting the relationship". Declaring it to be so doesn't help you achieve better outcomes.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:All teacher's unions have enormous power now with teachers quitting, retiring, etc. I suspect a deal will get done fairly quickly. One side has all the leverage and it's not even close.

Then why no contract after over 3 years? If they have ‘enormous’ power.

Please, I encourage you to stop spreading misinformation. It only hurts us and ultimately the kids pay the price as they have been. And yes, covid was a part of that and the learning loss. I volunteered to go back in Jan 2021 but even still I understand the hurt parents feel for their babies’ loss.

But we can only move forward and we (teachers) need a better evaluation system, title 1 schools especially need more resources, we need to figure out how we can stop chronic absences and tardies, and yes teachers do need a raise. I know we are paid ‘well’ but I want to continue living in DC, I support better wages for literally almost everyone.

Seriously, dial down the absurd melodrama. It’s so cringeworthy.

I’m sorry you don’t love your child and do not know how to handle or accept emotions. Therapy is helpful for unpacking that.

You are laughably wrong. I'm sorry you're so insecure. Must be hard. Hugs.

What a strange comment.

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Anonymous wrote:I sure hope the union is also advocating for IEP time to be “protected.” Although my DS’s teachers are very good, they made every effort to shirk IEP meetings and otherwise demonstrate the meetings were their lowest priority. Our consultant who has experience in another (unionized) school district was always remarking on how crazy it was that nobody would show up, or show up late, or leave after 10 minutes.

This happens at my school quite a bit and it’s because other meetings are planned during the same time. A colleague got in trouble with admin for not going to a meeting about PARCC (which was only scheduled two days before ) because they went to an IEP meeting (scheduled two weeks in advance). It’s a lose/lose for teachers sometimes.

So, as for leaving early, I do understand that. If I’m the math teacher and we moved to the part of the meeting discussing ELA goals, there’s really no purpose to me being in that meeting. It’s not a rudeness thing, it’s trying to balance multiple tasks at one time and giving attention to all of them.

Except a lot of times discussion about accomodations and supports cuts across all subjects. You’re part of the team.

I’m aware and I contribute to that part of the discussion before leaving. When you’ve done this for a while, and have a good team you learn how to contribute to meetings and also be efficient with your time.

You’re supposed to be at the meeting. The meeting is the right of the child under federal law, not something you are volunteering for. This is a really bad attitude.

Look I’m just going to be honest you lecturing me here isn’t doing anything. The fact of the matter is it’s one of 20 items on my plate during my 45 minutes of getting things done and often eating lunch. It is what it is. Hopefully the new contract finds ways to be more respectful of teacher time so I can give more energy and attention to meetings but the reality it isn’t there.

Again, there’s a difference in theory and in practice. Our rights are constantly violated so miss me with federal law

Also, the meetings sometimes happen while the teacher is in class. If there is no sub, and admin says you have 10 minutes in this meeting while an AP covers your class, what are you supposed to do? Refuse to leave the meeting and then leave the kids unsupervised? Argue with admin, which would just lead to them hurting you on evaluations for "not being a team player"?

Why doesn’t WTU bargain for this? Making planning time more protected means that it will be even harder to get someone to cover the class. DCPS and WTU need to stop treating IEP meetings like optional extras. As I said, other districts don’t do this.

Why are you blaming the WTU for this? The lengths some parents go. I’m sure they have tried but again, water from a stone.

Somehow DCPS has done a masterful job of convincing upper middle class parents that all of the teachers in the district are out to destroy their children, that all the problems in the schools are entirely the fault of the teachers. Parents have so bought into the idea that there are no systemic issues on this city, or that what issues there are are caused by the WTU. I'm not going to defend WTU that hard - leadership of the WTU is horrible, uncoordinated, and seemingly only in it for themselves, and this does hurt the system and the kids. But WTU is not creating those systems, or the systemic issues inherent in them. They don't have enough organization in the leadership to run that massive of a con on DCPS. The systemic issues stem from the leadership of DCPS, and WTU aides and condones the failures, either directly, or at least tacitly.

WTU did a masterful job of losing UMC parents during the pandemic.

Yawn. Get a new song. This one is boring and stale.

More like losing truly RICH parents from elementary schools and Deal. The UMC parents in DCPS we know have almost all stuck around for lack of good alternatives. They don't want to move to the burbs, want to save for college and retirement and are mostly OK with their in-boundary schools in Upper NW or the tony areas of Ward 6.

The PP was saying that the WTU lost UMC parents, in terms of their support. Not that DCPS lost UMC parents. Two different things.

Relevance? You either vote with your feet out of DCPS or stay. Two outcomes, that's it. Your "support" is irrelevant in a city where UMC parents with children in public schools are a sliver of the electoral pie, other than perhaps in terms of your financial contribution to a PTA.

The dynamic at play here illustrates much of the problem with these discussions (at least as they play out in anonymous forums). There is a difference between "I am unhappy with you and I am going to advocate for things to change" and "I am done with you." My impression (as a parent who grew up with privilege) is that many of the other parents in DCUM-land grew up with everyone chasing us and wanting us to participate in their school/coffee shop/store/social circle/college. We have lived our lives getting away with telling people they are dead to us and expecting them to beg us to come back or re-engage. What you don't learn when you grow up UMC and at the top of the food chain is people can live without you. When you declare yourself done/over, you aren't explaining your concerns or how to bridge a gap. You end the discussion and relationship and/or put it on the other side to do all the work going forward. In this case what's happening is the teachers are replying, "OK. If you are saying you are done with teachers and think we all suck then I am done trying to placate you. Either stay or leave." The parents who behave that way put themselves in a box because they have nowhere else to go from there. They aren't going to leave but they have no more dry powder because they already used it all when they declared "you lost me forever".

I used to work in an industry with lots of clients, all of whom thought they were REALLY important. The economic reality was that it was a scale business and only the largest accounts mattered on a one off basis. When clients would call and abuse the reps on the phones, all the while threatening to close accounts, we would sometimes tell the client that was probably for the best and give them 30 days to close their accounts and move their assets, or we would liquidate and send them a check (and the associated tax consequences). Those clients were shocked. Many would pivot mid-sentence from having threatened to close their accounts to (incorrectly) claiming we didn't have the right to close their accounts (we did). They didn't realize until it was too late that they overplayed their hand.

I am a parent. I am not now nor have I ever been a teacher. I do not like the WTU. I think they do a piss poor job protecting good teachers and spend a lot of time and energy defending and enabling the entrenched power structure that exists primarily to preserve their power. I think the WTU's comms teams are atrocious at what they do. They exhibit no ability to read a room and they antagonize parties who are natural allies (read: parents). I also think teaching is an insanely hard job. I think even when teachers fail they mean well; no one would teach "just for the glory and/or money". And I know that in any relationship, the moment I declare someone else dead to me or over or useless that there is a risk that they will reply "ok". So I don't do that unless I am truly removing myself from the relationship.

If our kid is in bein educated in DCPS schools then you are NOT "done with teachers" or "exiting the relationship". Declaring it to be so doesn't help you achieve better outcomes.

Huh? DC parents (not just UMC) have options other than DCPS. This isn’t about what you imagine about the psyche of individuals. It’s about parents in significant numbers leaving DCPS - which will be a problem.