Teacher workdays/school planning are ridiculous!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BTW the teachers union in NYC is amazingly powerful but even they don’t advocate for schedule disruptions/more “work days”

Perhaps they advocate for better conditions in other ways: teaching fewer classes, a cap on the number of total students, a reasonable retake/retest policy, more dedicated planning time, fewer non-teaching duties, fewer meetings.

There are many ways to show support to teachers.

And you’ve listed a few that aren’t at the expense of students. Pushing for more disruption and workdays, in addition to (clearly) alienating parents, also shows teachers as wholly out for themselves and not at all interested in whats best for their students— even when its things like missed meals, or whole days alone/unsupervised. Advocating a smaller classroom size at least has the appearance of recognizing that schools are supposed to care about students.

Smaller classroom size means more teachers, which means more funding, which means higher taxes. And the public already balks at that. So, direct your anger at those who deserve it - everyone.

The CBA isn’t making classroom size their issue, they’re making “planning time” their issue. They should focus on something that is better for students not clearly bad for students and families to benefit teachers.

Also, this schedule has higher costs for families. Higher costs spread across all of Fairfax is a lot saner than higher costs concentrated on households with children.

New Jersey has preferential hiring for residents into public jobs, that would be another change that would align teachers and parents better.

1- planning time benefits your child and you more than you think. Teachers can be trained in new techniques, or ways to identify disabilities or answer you emails with more planning time. They can grade papers and give more meaningful feedback etc, etc.

2- No teachers aren’t the ones pushing for this- it is coming from new curriculum initiatives and science of reading training.

3- If all you are concerned about is the amount you pay for camps, angle to get taxpayers to pay for school aged camp subsidies. ACPS used to sponsor minicamps. I”m going to bet you see that would be impossible, so instead you are choosing to pick on teachers who are the low hanging fruit for you. A group of women who don’t have much power and dedicated themselves to trying to teach your kids should be easy for you to steam roll. It is very maddening that you have to pay for camps and can’t tell them what to do.

You are hilarious if you think teachers in Greenwich don’t respond to emails, grade papers, etc. They just manage it without shutting down schools eight extra days every year. And their outcomes suggest their training is as good or better than what Fairfax gets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BTW the teachers union in NYC is amazingly powerful but even they don’t advocate for schedule disruptions/more “work days”

Perhaps they advocate for better conditions in other ways: teaching fewer classes, a cap on the number of total students, a reasonable retake/retest policy, more dedicated planning time, fewer non-teaching duties, fewer meetings.

There are many ways to show support to teachers.

And you’ve listed a few that aren’t at the expense of students. Pushing for more disruption and workdays, in addition to (clearly) alienating parents, also shows teachers as wholly out for themselves and not at all interested in whats best for their students— even when its things like missed meals, or whole days alone/unsupervised. Advocating a smaller classroom size at least has the appearance of recognizing that schools are supposed to care about students.

Smaller classroom size means more teachers, which means more funding, which means higher taxes. And the public already balks at that. So, direct your anger at those who deserve it - everyone.

The CBA isn’t making classroom size their issue, they’re making “planning time” their issue. They should focus on something that is better for students not clearly bad for students and families to benefit teachers.

Also, this schedule has higher costs for families. Higher costs spread across all of Fairfax is a lot saner than higher costs concentrated on households with children.

New Jersey has preferential hiring for residents into public jobs, that would be another change that would align teachers and parents better.

The CBA just reinforces the planning time polices that have been in place, but not necessarily adhered to, for years. Page 11. https://www.fairfaxeducationunions.org/_files/ugd/824c76_e8f50ce36b7e47eeb7184e0c4129826e.pdf

At the elementary level, for example, the 300 minutes/week can be covered by daily one hour specials. That’s what is done at my school and most others I know of.

No in Fairfax County that’s what the early dismissal of elementary school that everybody hates so much is allegedly bringing them into compliance with. Not one hour specials.

I’m a ES teacher. Where in the CBA does it state anything about the 3 hour early dismissals? The PP said the CBA is making “planning time the issue”. I only see the requirement for 300 minutes/week which, as I said, is achieved with a daily 60 minute special/planning period.

FCPS met the 300 minutes by adding early release, because teachers insist the 60 minutes daily is taken up with other things.

Was that before or after the CBA? FCPS obviously knows what was agreed to. If anything more than 60 out of the 300 minutes are taken up with other things, then that is violating the CBA and it needs to be brought up at the school level. If nothing is done to fix it, then they can contact either FCFT or FEA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BTW the teachers union in NYC is amazingly powerful but even they don’t advocate for schedule disruptions/more “work days”

Perhaps they advocate for better conditions in other ways: teaching fewer classes, a cap on the number of total students, a reasonable retake/retest policy, more dedicated planning time, fewer non-teaching duties, fewer meetings.

There are many ways to show support to teachers.

And you’ve listed a few that aren’t at the expense of students. Pushing for more disruption and workdays, in addition to (clearly) alienating parents, also shows teachers as wholly out for themselves and not at all interested in whats best for their students— even when its things like missed meals, or whole days alone/unsupervised. Advocating a smaller classroom size at least has the appearance of recognizing that schools are supposed to care about students.

I clearly don’t see this through the same lens you do. Teachers don’t make the rules. In fact, they often suffer just as much as you do from them. Remember: teachers are parents, too. They also have kids who are impacted from the disruptions. Do you seriously think teachers don’t see that? Or is it perhaps they can see on both sides of the curtain and therefore have perspective, something you don’t have.

I also don’t see advocating for planning as “hurting children.” As a teacher, I know that my ability to effectively plan and grade 100% benefits my students. I am an organized, prepared, and thoughtful teacher and that translates to student success. And since you are clearly interested in winners and losers, then perhaps you should know that my family loses every week because of my lack of work/life balance. You care about children. What about mine?

So, as you continue to villainize teachers, perhaps you should start to think about what you’re asking for. Should teachers have a reasonable expectation of a work/life balance? How do students benefit when you villainize, insult, and distrust teachers as much as you have been? If you want to support students, then perhaps there’s a more constructive way for you to do so.

[Anonymous]

Why can’t we go back to school after Labor Day? Wouldn’t that cut out all the days off every few weeks?

[Anonymous]

I’m a teacher and wish we had year round school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a teacher and wish we had year round school.

Another teacher here and I am 100% in favor of it.

That’s what’s lost in this conversation. The lack of 5-day weeks isn’t the actual problem. It’s the long summer and the need to spend the first month reteaching all that was lost and reorienting students to school again.

I’ve actually considered moving somewhere with the year-round schooling because I don’t see it ever happening here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a teacher and wish we had year round school.

Another teacher here and I am 100% in favor of it.

That’s what’s lost in this conversation. The lack of 5-day weeks isn’t the actual problem. It’s the long summer and the need to spend the first month reteaching all that was lost and reorienting students to school again.

I’ve actually considered moving somewhere with the year-round schooling because I don’t see it ever happening here.

They are both problems, and they are different problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a teacher and wish we had year round school.

Another teacher here and I am 100% in favor of it.

That’s what’s lost in this conversation. The lack of 5-day weeks isn’t the actual problem. It’s the long summer and the need to spend the first month reteaching all that was lost and reorienting students to school again.

I’ve actually considered moving somewhere with the year-round schooling because I don’t see it ever happening here.

They are both problems, and they are different problems.

And aren’t they both solved by year-round schooling? Doesn’t that achieve everything posters on this thread want?

More consistent, 5-day weeks. Check.
More routine and structure for students. Check.
Planning time for teachers can be built into the mini-breaks between quarters. No classroom time lost while teachers get to plan. Check.
More access to food and school support for populations in need. Check.

It answers all the concerns on this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a teacher and wish we had year round school.

Another teacher here and I am 100% in favor of it.

That’s what’s lost in this conversation. The lack of 5-day weeks isn’t the actual problem. It’s the long summer and the need to spend the first month reteaching all that was lost and reorienting students to school again.

I’ve actually considered moving somewhere with the year-round schooling because I don’t see it ever happening here.

They are both problems, and they are different problems.

And aren’t they both solved by year-round schooling? Doesn’t that achieve everything posters on this thread want?

More consistent, 5-day weeks. Check.
More routine and structure for students. Check.
Planning time for teachers can be built into the mini-breaks between quarters. No classroom time lost while teachers get to plan. Check.
More access to food and school support for populations in need. Check.

It answers all the concerns on this thread.

Planning time at breaks during quarters doesn’t help. Teachers need consistent weekly planning times to keep up with it all. They don’t want 5 day weeks without planning time!

[Anonymous]

The 180 school day requirement is built around 5.5 hour school days. Perhaps a solution could be to shorten the school day. FCPS is in the neighborhood of 6+ hour days. Shorten the day and teachers unlock more planning time throughout the week without taking away instruction days. Shaving off 30 minutes a day would make each school day leaner with less fluff. It would be preferable to the monthly 3 hour early releases.

The drawback is that FCPS would have to reevaluate how they handle weather closures. Many schools (including the covered northeast schools) defer to virtual learning after 3 snow days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The 180 school day requirement is built around 5.5 hour school days. Perhaps a solution could be to shorten the school day. FCPS is in the neighborhood of 6+ hour days. Shorten the day and teachers unlock more planning time throughout the week without taking away instruction days. Shaving off 30 minutes a day would make each school day leaner with less fluff. It would be preferable to the monthly 3 hour early releases.

The drawback is that FCPS would have to reevaluate how they handle weather closures. Many schools (including the covered northeast schools) defer to virtual learning after 3 snow days.

That would piss off working parents. They want the day more aligned with their work schedules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BTW the teachers union in NYC is amazingly powerful but even they don’t advocate for schedule disruptions/more “work days”

Perhaps they advocate for better conditions in other ways: teaching fewer classes, a cap on the number of total students, a reasonable retake/retest policy, more dedicated planning time, fewer non-teaching duties, fewer meetings.

There are many ways to show support to teachers.

And you’ve listed a few that aren’t at the expense of students. Pushing for more disruption and workdays, in addition to (clearly) alienating parents, also shows teachers as wholly out for themselves and not at all interested in whats best for their students— even when its things like missed meals, or whole days alone/unsupervised. Advocating a smaller classroom size at least has the appearance of recognizing that schools are supposed to care about students.

I clearly don’t see this through the same lens you do. Teachers don’t make the rules. In fact, they often suffer just as much as you do from them. Remember: teachers are parents, too. They also have kids who are impacted from the disruptions. Do you seriously think teachers don’t see that? Or is it perhaps they can see on both sides of the curtain and therefore have perspective, something you don’t have.

I also don’t see advocating for planning as “hurting children.” As a teacher, I know that my ability to effectively plan and grade 100% benefits my students. I am an organized, prepared, and thoughtful teacher and that translates to student success. And since you are clearly interested in winners and losers, then perhaps you should know that my family loses every week because of my lack of work/life balance. You care about children. What about mine?

So, as you continue to villainize teachers, perhaps you should start to think about what you’re asking for. Should teachers have a reasonable expectation of a work/life balance? How do students benefit when you villainize, insult, and distrust teachers as much as you have been? If you want to support students, then perhaps there’s a more constructive way for you to do so.

1. Some teachers are parents. Not all.

2. Many teachers in FCPS live outside FCPS and so benefit from school districts where kids have undisrupted schedules. This is why hiring preference should be given to County residents, which would both align student and parent interests and cut down on unnecessary closures and delays
motivated by “teachers commuting from out of the area”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a teacher and wish we had year round school.

Another teacher here and I am 100% in favor of it.

That’s what’s lost in this conversation. The lack of 5-day weeks isn’t the actual problem. It’s the long summer and the need to spend the first month reteaching all that was lost and reorienting students to school again.

I’ve actually considered moving somewhere with the year-round schooling because I don’t see it ever happening here.

Not a teacher but lived in Europe for a bit, where the school year was a hybrid. Summer was 6 weeks. 2 week fall break, 2 week winter, 2 week Feb, 2 week later spring break. Most breaks were a combination of 1 holiday week + teacher training/workdays week. Very few single day holidays and no standalone teacher training or workdays. This worked well for teachers, parents and families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BTW the teachers union in NYC is amazingly powerful but even they don’t advocate for schedule disruptions/more “work days”

Perhaps they advocate for better conditions in other ways: teaching fewer classes, a cap on the number of total students, a reasonable retake/retest policy, more dedicated planning time, fewer non-teaching duties, fewer meetings.

There are many ways to show support to teachers.

And you’ve listed a few that aren’t at the expense of students. Pushing for more disruption and workdays, in addition to (clearly) alienating parents, also shows teachers as wholly out for themselves and not at all interested in whats best for their students— even when its things like missed meals, or whole days alone/unsupervised. Advocating a smaller classroom size at least has the appearance of recognizing that schools are supposed to care about students.

Smaller classroom size means more teachers, which means more funding, which means higher taxes. And the public already balks at that. So, direct your anger at those who deserve it - everyone.

The CBA isn’t making classroom size their issue, they’re making “planning time” their issue. They should focus on something that is better for students not clearly bad for students and families to benefit teachers.

Also, this schedule has higher costs for families. Higher costs spread across all of Fairfax is a lot saner than higher costs concentrated on households with children.

New Jersey has preferential hiring for residents into public jobs, that would be another change that would align teachers and parents better.

1- planning time benefits your child and you more than you think. Teachers can be trained in new techniques, or ways to identify disabilities or answer you emails with more planning time. They can grade papers and give more meaningful feedback etc, etc.

2- No teachers aren’t the ones pushing for this- it is coming from new curriculum initiatives and science of reading training.

3- If all you are concerned about is the amount you pay for camps, angle to get taxpayers to pay for school aged camp subsidies. ACPS used to sponsor minicamps. I”m going to bet you see that would be impossible, so instead you are choosing to pick on teachers who are the low hanging fruit for you. A group of women who don’t have much power and dedicated themselves to trying to teach your kids should be easy for you to steam roll. It is very maddening that you have to pay for camps and can’t tell them what to do.

You are hilarious if you think teachers in Greenwich don’t respond to emails, grade papers, etc. They just manage it without shutting down schools eight extra days every year. And their outcomes suggest their training is as good or better than what Fairfax gets.

Their outcomes suggest they teach kids who were born on third base. I teach students who haven’t made it out of the dugout.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a teacher and wish we had year round school.

Another teacher here and I am 100% in favor of it.

That’s what’s lost in this conversation. The lack of 5-day weeks isn’t the actual problem. It’s the long summer and the need to spend the first month reteaching all that was lost and reorienting students to school again.

I’ve actually considered moving somewhere with the year-round schooling because I don’t see it ever happening here.

They are both problems, and they are different problems.

And aren’t they both solved by year-round schooling? Doesn’t that achieve everything posters on this thread want?

More consistent, 5-day weeks. Check.
More routine and structure for students. Check.
Planning time for teachers can be built into the mini-breaks between quarters. No classroom time lost while teachers get to plan. Check.
More access to food and school support for populations in need. Check.

It answers all the concerns on this thread.

FCPS doesn’t offer enough for year round school to be appealing. What year-round schooling misses is the opportunity for parents to meet their children’s needs that aren’t covered in school. Look how many people supplement in math and reading— plenty of kids get sent to STEM, engineering, robotics and language camps *because* what FCPS offers just isn’t that great.

You’re around schooling just bakes the worst of FCPS into the child’s education and limits the opportunities for better. No thanks. FCP can start delivering like a wealthy Northeast school District and then people might find it palatable.