NY times op ed on the teacher crisis

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's say everyone here is right: teaching has perks that outweigh the negatives, and if teachers are complaining it's just because they don't know what it's like in other jobs. Even if that's so, the shortage was grossly apparent in 2019 (https://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-shortage-is-real-large-and-growing-and-worse-than-we-thought-the-first-report-in-the-perfect-storm-in-the-teacher-labor-market-series/) and has only gotten worse.

So you say, "teachers shouldn't be complaining and they shouldn't be quitting because the job isn't that bad." But the reality is, they are. Experienced teachers are quitting, new teachers are quitting, and enrollment in teacher education programs is way down (https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/what-teacher-preparation-enrollment-looks-like-in-charts/2023/08#:~:text=Teacher%2Dprep%20enrollment%20over%20the%20past%20decade&text=From%202009%2D10%20through%202014,of%20the%20pandemic%2C%20Fuller%20said.).

Saying it shouldn't be happening doesn't make it not happen.

I agree we need to make sure teaching is a desirable profession, both in order to attract great people into teaching and also to ensure the people teaching our kids have high job satisfaction and like their jobs. Both are very important to me.

What I wish is that teachers and parents viewed each other as allies in making that happen, and in making schools great places to learn AND work. It is disheartening to see teachers saying that parents are the primary reason they are leaving the profession, or engaging in arguments about who works harder or has it tougher, parents or teachers. The truth is that most parents do not have high paying, easy, flexible jobs. They are also struggling in their own ways.

When we see each other as adversaries, we all lose.

Yes, which is why it was so disappointing that so many parents bullied and shat all over teachers during the pandemic.

-Parent

Politicians did a great job of exploiting animosity between teachers and parents during the pandemic. Teachers (and administrators, and teachers unions) did PLENTY of complaining, bullying, "$hitting" on parents during the pandemic, during a time when parents should have been viewed as true allies since they were mostly at home with kids facilitating virtual school. Instead parents were scolded for not wanting to spend time with their kids (that was never the issue, most parents I know relished the extra time with kids), told "school isn't childcare" (it explicitly is), gaslit that "school is open, it's just the building that's closed" (come ooooooon) and were expected to pivot constantly to adapt to virtual school, hybrid, masking policies, rolling quarantines, etc. I was also a big fan of "just get a nanny" and "whatever, it's not like you're actually working anyway" (actually, yes! we were).

If you can't see how that situation went both ways, then you obviously weren't a parent during the pandemic. Because yes, teachers took abuse during Covid closures and I'm not endorsing that, but being a parent was not some glorious vacation. Unless you think working at 2am every night for months because you spent half the day surprising virtual school and trying to meet your kids basic needs sounds like a beach retreat.

Bullcrap. Teachers were not "bullying" parents. There is no bOtH sIdEs here. I heard parents - during virtual school, with kids present(!) - actually scream and curse out teachers.

The pandemic was tough on a lot of people. That didn't give parents the right to crap on teachers.

NP.

When over 90% of FFX teachers had received the vaccine (after they put themselves first in line) the FCPS STILL refused to open schools, and kept kids virtual. That decision to kowtow to teachers groups by the extreme-progressive school board, hurt low SES kids and families the most, BTW.

And reasonable minds - such as the government of Sweden - differed on the claimed “need” to close school buildings.

The Swedes kept kids in school and avoided all the damage to children’s mental well being (not to mention learning loss) that we here in Fairfax needlessly inflicted on children (especially poor children). Kids and teachers in Sweden did not die off by the thousands as FFX school administrators claimed would happen if they stopped going virtual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's say everyone here is right: teaching has perks that outweigh the negatives, and if teachers are complaining it's just because they don't know what it's like in other jobs. Even if that's so, the shortage was grossly apparent in 2019 (https://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-shortage-is-real-large-and-growing-and-worse-than-we-thought-the-first-report-in-the-perfect-storm-in-the-teacher-labor-market-series/) and has only gotten worse.

So you say, "teachers shouldn't be complaining and they shouldn't be quitting because the job isn't that bad." But the reality is, they are. Experienced teachers are quitting, new teachers are quitting, and enrollment in teacher education programs is way down (https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/what-teacher-preparation-enrollment-looks-like-in-charts/2023/08#:~:text=Teacher%2Dprep%20enrollment%20over%20the%20past%20decade&text=From%202009%2D10%20through%202014,of%20the%20pandemic%2C%20Fuller%20said.).

Saying it shouldn't be happening doesn't make it not happen.

I agree we need to make sure teaching is a desirable profession, both in order to attract great people into teaching and also to ensure the people teaching our kids have high job satisfaction and like their jobs. Both are very important to me.

What I wish is that teachers and parents viewed each other as allies in making that happen, and in making schools great places to learn AND work. It is disheartening to see teachers saying that parents are the primary reason they are leaving the profession, or engaging in arguments about who works harder or has it tougher, parents or teachers. The truth is that most parents do not have high paying, easy, flexible jobs. They are also struggling in their own ways.

When we see each other as adversaries, we all lose.

Yes, which is why it was so disappointing that so many parents bullied and shat all over teachers during the pandemic.

-Parent

Politicians did a great job of exploiting animosity between teachers and parents during the pandemic. Teachers (and administrators, and teachers unions) did PLENTY of complaining, bullying, "$hitting" on parents during the pandemic, during a time when parents should have been viewed as true allies since they were mostly at home with kids facilitating virtual school. Instead parents were scolded for not wanting to spend time with their kids (that was never the issue, most parents I know relished the extra time with kids), told "school isn't childcare" (it explicitly is), gaslit that "school is open, it's just the building that's closed" (come ooooooon) and were expected to pivot constantly to adapt to virtual school, hybrid, masking policies, rolling quarantines, etc. I was also a big fan of "just get a nanny" and "whatever, it's not like you're actually working anyway" (actually, yes! we were).

If you can't see how that situation went both ways, then you obviously weren't a parent during the pandemic. Because yes, teachers took abuse during Covid closures and I'm not endorsing that, but being a parent was not some glorious vacation. Unless you think working at 2am every night for months because you spent half the day surprising virtual school and trying to meet your kids basic needs sounds like a beach retreat.

Bullcrap. Teachers were not "bullying" parents. There is no bOtH sIdEs here. I heard parents - during virtual school, with kids present(!) - actually scream and curse out teachers.

The pandemic was tough on a lot of people. That didn't give parents the right to crap on teachers.

NP.

When over 90% of FFX teachers had received the vaccine (after they put themselves first in line) the FCPS STILL refused to open schools, and kept kids virtual. That decision to kowtow to teachers groups by the extreme-progressive school board, hurt low SES kids and families the most, BTW.

And reasonable minds - such as the government of Sweden - differed on the claimed “need” to close school buildings.

The Swedes kept kids in school and avoided all the damage to children’s mental well being (not to mention learning loss) that we here in Fairfax needlessly inflicted on children (especially poor children). Kids and teachers in Sweden did not die off by the thousands as FFX school administrators claimed would happen if they stopped going virtual.

Such blatant LIES.

Let’s review the facts:
Jan 16, 2021 - Fairfax starts vaccinating teachers
https://www.wric.com/news/virginia-news/all-fairfax-county-public-school-employees-are-now-eligible-for-covid-19-vaccine/amp/

Jan 25, 2021 - vaccine shortages cause delays; 5k/40k employees have first dose
https://wjla.com/amp/news/local/vaccine-shortage-could-delay-some-fcps-staff-from-getting-first-dose

Jan 28, 2021 - Braband is targeting to start bringing kids back to the buildings on Feb 16; 7k/40k employees have first dose
https://wtop.com/coronavirus/2021/01/fairfax-county-resumes-covid-19-vaccination-for-educators-school-staff/

Feb 2, 2021 - school board approves plan to bring back kids starting Feb 16
https://www.fcps.edu/news/fairfax-county-school-board-unanimously-supports-superintendents-plan-bring-all-students-back

Feb 2, 2021 - vaccines continue, 7k/30k educators had first dose; teachers in the first round of vaccinations are eligible for second dose
https://www.wusa9.com/amp/article/news/education/fairfax-county-public-schools-return-to-in-person-learning-teachers-vaccines-covid/65-aabcf74d-05f4-4290-aba4-93858f7a969b

Feb 16 - FCPS starts bringing back kids to the buildings in phases. The very earliest that the first wave of teachers is protected by the vaccine (2 weeks following 2nd dose).
https://go.boarddocs.com/vsba/fairfax/Board.nsf/files/BZ5T9F7644C1/$file/SB%20Narrative%20Report_3-16-21.pdf

Most teachers weren’t fully vaccinated when kids started returning to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder to what degree Covid made more parents overprotective/obsessive about their kids. I have personally found the pivot from "Your kids are home with you 24/7, there's a pandemic and you are individually responsible for keeping your family safe from it, and you are also now supervising their entire schedule every day," to "just relax, stop hovering, let your kids figure it out, leave teachers alone." I'm not saying the shift is wrong, it's just giving me whiplash to some degree and I'm sure I sometimes come off as overprotective and helicopter-y, just as I'm also sure that during Covid I sometimes came off as insufficiently vigilant or whatever.

There are currently FCPS parents comparing grade book update times on their thread. It's out of control

That’s bc it is FCPS. That isn’t representative of the majority public schools. My middle schoolers’ teachers update their grades maybe weekly. A couple of the teachers will be go over a month before inputting grades or do a massive dump of all the grades the night before the trimester ends.

FCPS has major issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder to what degree Covid made more parents overprotective/obsessive about their kids. I have personally found the pivot from "Your kids are home with you 24/7, there's a pandemic and you are individually responsible for keeping your family safe from it, and you are also now supervising their entire schedule every day," to "just relax, stop hovering, let your kids figure it out, leave teachers alone." I'm not saying the shift is wrong, it's just giving me whiplash to some degree and I'm sure I sometimes come off as overprotective and helicopter-y, just as I'm also sure that during Covid I sometimes came off as insufficiently vigilant or whatever.

There are currently FCPS parents comparing grade book update times on their thread. It's out of control

That’s bc it is FCPS. That isn’t representative of the majority public schools. My middle schoolers’ teachers update their grades maybe weekly. A couple of the teachers will be go over a month before inputting grades or do a massive dump of all the grades the night before the trimester ends.

FCPS has major issues.

I think the are a handful of posters who live on DCUM and try to make everyone believe FCPS is in terrible shape. No one I know in real life ever expresses this; they are mainly happy with the schools, as are we. I come to this forum less and less though because the endless drumbeat of these posters. But I guess it's better if they are on here rather than harassing teachers or whatever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We can’t. Our admin requires us to use it.

I wonder how much of the teacher crisis is due to poor administration. I'm not a teacher but it seems like administration (and their bosses, to be fair) are requiring so many things of teachers like constant data collection, certain seating assignments, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder to what degree Covid made more parents overprotective/obsessive about their kids. I have personally found the pivot from "Your kids are home with you 24/7, there's a pandemic and you are individually responsible for keeping your family safe from it, and you are also now supervising their entire schedule every day," to "just relax, stop hovering, let your kids figure it out, leave teachers alone." I'm not saying the shift is wrong, it's just giving me whiplash to some degree and I'm sure I sometimes come off as overprotective and helicopter-y, just as I'm also sure that during Covid I sometimes came off as insufficiently vigilant or whatever.

There are currently FCPS parents comparing grade book update times on their thread. It's out of control

That’s bc it is FCPS. That isn’t representative of the majority public schools. My middle schoolers’ teachers update their grades maybe weekly. A couple of the teachers will be go over a month before inputting grades or do a massive dump of all the grades the night before the trimester ends.

FCPS has major issues.

I think the are a handful of posters who live on DCUM and try to make everyone believe FCPS is in terrible shape. No one I know in real life ever expresses this; they are mainly happy with the schools, as are we. I come to this forum less and less though because the endless drumbeat of these posters. But I guess it's better if they are on here rather than harassing teachers or whatever.

LOL.....so because your circle is happy the whole county is doing great. Open your eyes there are issues we all deal with it but there are issues and we do have a shortage of teachers which is a bigger issue than most parents want to admit. And no one cares of you come on this forum or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's say everyone here is right: teaching has perks that outweigh the negatives, and if teachers are complaining it's just because they don't know what it's like in other jobs. Even if that's so, the shortage was grossly apparent in 2019 (https://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-shortage-is-real-large-and-growing-and-worse-than-we-thought-the-first-report-in-the-perfect-storm-in-the-teacher-labor-market-series/) and has only gotten worse.

So you say, "teachers shouldn't be complaining and they shouldn't be quitting because the job isn't that bad." But the reality is, they are. Experienced teachers are quitting, new teachers are quitting, and enrollment in teacher education programs is way down (https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/what-teacher-preparation-enrollment-looks-like-in-charts/2023/08#:~:text=Teacher%2Dprep%20enrollment%20over%20the%20past%20decade&text=From%202009%2D10%20through%202014,of%20the%20pandemic%2C%20Fuller%20said.).

Saying it shouldn't be happening doesn't make it not happen.

I agree we need to make sure teaching is a desirable profession, both in order to attract great people into teaching and also to ensure the people teaching our kids have high job satisfaction and like their jobs. Both are very important to me.

What I wish is that teachers and parents viewed each other as allies in making that happen, and in making schools great places to learn AND work. It is disheartening to see teachers saying that parents are the primary reason they are leaving the profession, or engaging in arguments about who works harder or has it tougher, parents or teachers. The truth is that most parents do not have high paying, easy, flexible jobs. They are also struggling in their own ways.

When we see each other as adversaries, we all lose.

Agreed, but I have no idea how to solve this. The problem we are facing as teachers is that parents don’t want real life (it’s real ups and downs) to happen to their children. They are trying to protect their kids from all ills, not seeing that interacting with others brings about its own stress because kids make mistakes. Parents then try to hold teachers responsible for every slight, bruise and bump that happens during childhood because childhood should be so “protected.” It isn’t really about being allies because there is no way to keep life from happening to a kid.

Teaching the kids is really fun, but parents have an expectation that everything be “happy and positive” but that isn’t life. Life is about dealing with crap AND being happy and content too. So, I am looking for another job after 24 years. I’m not changing the attitude of parents, but it has definitely changed since I started teaching in 2000. I may make another 6 years, I am only 45, but I am looking to get away from parents and still work with kids (ESL maybe or interventionist).

These are solvable problems, but because you insist on viewing parents as your adversary, you avoid solutions.

WHY do some parents seek to protect their kids from any adversity? Is it because parents are selfish and stupid? No. It's because parents are under intense pressure to ensure their child succeeds, and we live in a culture that punishes people for mistakes forever.

Parents are afraid. They are afraid that if their child struggles in 2nd grade, they won't have the same opportunities in 6th or 9th or college, and they'll be limited and struggle in adulthood to. Parents are also under constant pressure to prove their kids are "thriving," Also, and this one is mom-specific, parents get blamed every day in ways big and small for anything that isn't perfect in their kids' lives. It leads to guilt and anxiety.

And finally, sometimes parents are right. Sometimes kids should be protected. Sometimes a kid is actually being bullied and the school needs to intervene. Sometimes that "quirky" kid actually has special needs that aren't being addressed. Sometimes a parent really does know better what their kid needs, because while you are the education expert, they know their child better. Sometimes listening to a parent could be a gift, not a burden.

I think maybe you don’t understand the scope of the problem. Here is an example from a colleague: Parent email: Larla has small bruise on her shin and we asked Larla 3 times what happened and the kid says I don’t know. (Please see the accompanying picture) And then the parents ask if we happened to see an incident on the playground with 120 Kindergartners that may have bruised their child’s shin when it was such a non issue the KID doesn’t even know, never told the teacher about it, etc. And could we please make sure Larla doesn’t fall on the playground.

I’m glad you think parents are right and children need to be protected, but protected from shin bruises?

I’m sure this will work itself out, but probably not by the time I leave. Go ahead and blame “parental anxiety” and the need for children to “thrive”. Sure blame me/my colleagues and our inability to write thoughtful emails to overly anxious parents in the 20 minutes of time we have. Or blame our inability to “view parents as partners.” It doesn’t really matter, I’m just telling you the problems we are facing. I’m sure I could be much more empathetic and follow the kids around on the playground with foam or put shin guards on all the kids before they play on the playground. I’m not a therapist so I am not qualified to deal with parental anxiety.

"The problems we are facing" = a couple overzealous parents who want to bubble wrap their child into adulthood. Annoying, but manageable and not new.

Part of teaching K, or any ECE level, is teaching parents how school works. It's just part of the job. If you teach PK/K and often even 1st, part of your skill set has to be working with parents who may be overprotective or simply not understand a lot of things. Yes it can be extremely irritating. In my school district, ECE teachers require extra certifications and get paid more than upper elementary teachers specifically because the job is harder. You have to interact with parents more, the kids need to be socialized into school, everything is new and you have to serve as their guide. It's hard. I think all teachers should make more than they do, and that ECE teachers in particular should be better compensated for the very important work they do. But these are not new or unreasonable job expectations. It's just literally what it is to be a teacher, especially in the early levels.

Sorry, you may have been out of the ECE level for a while, but this is now becoming the norm, not outliers. 20 years ago you never saw this kind of crazy, but now it happens all the time.

So, I guess that is my point: If this is the job, the job “expectations” have changed because more parents are overly anxious. I understand I need to find a new job and am looking to be part of the problem and move out of the classroom or career change. But the thing is most teachers are thinking like I am and the profession isn’t attracting new young teachers, so maybe the “reasonable expectations” aren’t so reasonable to most.

NP. Young teachers aren’t coming into the profession IN NOVA because of the parents.
And the cost of living.
When investigating job opportunities, our DD (who just graduated with her masters in teaching) laughed and said no one in her university’s education school recommended northern Virginia and in fact advised against it. Word is out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder to what degree Covid made more parents overprotective/obsessive about their kids. I have personally found the pivot from "Your kids are home with you 24/7, there's a pandemic and you are individually responsible for keeping your family safe from it, and you are also now supervising their entire schedule every day," to "just relax, stop hovering, let your kids figure it out, leave teachers alone." I'm not saying the shift is wrong, it's just giving me whiplash to some degree and I'm sure I sometimes come off as overprotective and helicopter-y, just as I'm also sure that during Covid I sometimes came off as insufficiently vigilant or whatever.

This started well before covid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's say everyone here is right: teaching has perks that outweigh the negatives, and if teachers are complaining it's just because they don't know what it's like in other jobs. Even if that's so, the shortage was grossly apparent in 2019 (https://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-shortage-is-real-large-and-growing-and-worse-than-we-thought-the-first-report-in-the-perfect-storm-in-the-teacher-labor-market-series/) and has only gotten worse.

So you say, "teachers shouldn't be complaining and they shouldn't be quitting because the job isn't that bad." But the reality is, they are. Experienced teachers are quitting, new teachers are quitting, and enrollment in teacher education programs is way down (https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/what-teacher-preparation-enrollment-looks-like-in-charts/2023/08#:~:text=Teacher%2Dprep%20enrollment%20over%20the%20past%20decade&text=From%202009%2D10%20through%202014,of%20the%20pandemic%2C%20Fuller%20said.).

Saying it shouldn't be happening doesn't make it not happen.

I agree we need to make sure teaching is a desirable profession, both in order to attract great people into teaching and also to ensure the people teaching our kids have high job satisfaction and like their jobs. Both are very important to me.

What I wish is that teachers and parents viewed each other as allies in making that happen, and in making schools great places to learn AND work. It is disheartening to see teachers saying that parents are the primary reason they are leaving the profession, or engaging in arguments about who works harder or has it tougher, parents or teachers. The truth is that most parents do not have high paying, easy, flexible jobs. They are also struggling in their own ways.

When we see each other as adversaries, we all lose.

Agreed, but I have no idea how to solve this. The problem we are facing as teachers is that parents don’t want real life (it’s real ups and downs) to happen to their children. They are trying to protect their kids from all ills, not seeing that interacting with others brings about its own stress because kids make mistakes. Parents then try to hold teachers responsible for every slight, bruise and bump that happens during childhood because childhood should be so “protected.” It isn’t really about being allies because there is no way to keep life from happening to a kid.

Teaching the kids is really fun, but parents have an expectation that everything be “happy and positive” but that isn’t life. Life is about dealing with crap AND being happy and content too. So, I am looking for another job after 24 years. I’m not changing the attitude of parents, but it has definitely changed since I started teaching in 2000. I may make another 6 years, I am only 45, but I am looking to get away from parents and still work with kids (ESL maybe or interventionist).

These are solvable problems, but because you insist on viewing parents as your adversary, you avoid solutions.

WHY do some parents seek to protect their kids from any adversity? Is it because parents are selfish and stupid? No. It's because parents are under intense pressure to ensure their child succeeds, and we live in a culture that punishes people for mistakes forever.

Parents are afraid. They are afraid that if their child struggles in 2nd grade, they won't have the same opportunities in 6th or 9th or college, and they'll be limited and struggle in adulthood to. Parents are also under constant pressure to prove their kids are "thriving," Also, and this one is mom-specific, parents get blamed every day in ways big and small for anything that isn't perfect in their kids' lives. It leads to guilt and anxiety.

And finally, sometimes parents are right. Sometimes kids should be protected. Sometimes a kid is actually being bullied and the school needs to intervene. Sometimes that "quirky" kid actually has special needs that aren't being addressed. Sometimes a parent really does know better what their kid needs, because while you are the education expert, they know their child better. Sometimes listening to a parent could be a gift, not a burden.

I think maybe you don’t understand the scope of the problem. Here is an example from a colleague: Parent email: Larla has small bruise on her shin and we asked Larla 3 times what happened and the kid says I don’t know. (Please see the accompanying picture) And then the parents ask if we happened to see an incident on the playground with 120 Kindergartners that may have bruised their child’s shin when it was such a non issue the KID doesn’t even know, never told the teacher about it, etc. And could we please make sure Larla doesn’t fall on the playground.

I’m glad you think parents are right and children need to be protected, but protected from shin bruises?

I’m sure this will work itself out, but probably not by the time I leave. Go ahead and blame “parental anxiety” and the need for children to “thrive”. Sure blame me/my colleagues and our inability to write thoughtful emails to overly anxious parents in the 20 minutes of time we have. Or blame our inability to “view parents as partners.” It doesn’t really matter, I’m just telling you the problems we are facing. I’m sure I could be much more empathetic and follow the kids around on the playground with foam or put shin guards on all the kids before they play on the playground. I’m not a therapist so I am not qualified to deal with parental anxiety.

"The problems we are facing" = a couple overzealous parents who want to bubble wrap their child into adulthood. Annoying, but manageable and not new.

Part of teaching K, or any ECE level, is teaching parents how school works. It's just part of the job. If you teach PK/K and often even 1st, part of your skill set has to be working with parents who may be overprotective or simply not understand a lot of things. Yes it can be extremely irritating. In my school district, ECE teachers require extra certifications and get paid more than upper elementary teachers specifically because the job is harder. You have to interact with parents more, the kids need to be socialized into school, everything is new and you have to serve as their guide. It's hard. I think all teachers should make more than they do, and that ECE teachers in particular should be better compensated for the very important work they do. But these are not new or unreasonable job expectations. It's just literally what it is to be a teacher, especially in the early levels.

Sorry, you may have been out of the ECE level for a while, but this is now becoming the norm, not outliers. 20 years ago you never saw this kind of crazy, but now it happens all the time.

So, I guess that is my point: If this is the job, the job “expectations” have changed because more parents are overly anxious. I understand I need to find a new job and am looking to be part of the problem and move out of the classroom or career change. But the thing is most teachers are thinking like I am and the profession isn’t attracting new young teachers, so maybe the “reasonable expectations” aren’t so reasonable to most.

NP. Young teachers aren’t coming into the profession IN NOVA because of the parents.
And the cost of living.
When investigating job opportunities, our DD (who just graduated with her masters in teaching) laughed and said no one in her university’s education school recommended northern Virginia and in fact advised against it. Word is out.

Being happy as a teacher really depends on the personal situation right now. Overall, I read Loudon co. VA, Howard Co., and Montgomery Co. MD as the best options depending on your family/spouse situation. As a teacher in MCPS I have been happy with the diversity of students and programs compared Tom

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's say everyone here is right: teaching has perks that outweigh the negatives, and if teachers are complaining it's just because they don't know what it's like in other jobs. Even if that's so, the shortage was grossly apparent in 2019 (https://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-shortage-is-real-large-and-growing-and-worse-than-we-thought-the-first-report-in-the-perfect-storm-in-the-teacher-labor-market-series/) and has only gotten worse.

So you say, "teachers shouldn't be complaining and they shouldn't be quitting because the job isn't that bad." But the reality is, they are. Experienced teachers are quitting, new teachers are quitting, and enrollment in teacher education programs is way down (https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/what-teacher-preparation-enrollment-looks-like-in-charts/2023/08#:~:text=Teacher%2Dprep%20enrollment%20over%20the%20past%20decade&text=From%202009%2D10%20through%202014,of%20the%20pandemic%2C%20Fuller%20said.).

Saying it shouldn't be happening doesn't make it not happen.

I agree we need to make sure teaching is a desirable profession, both in order to attract great people into teaching and also to ensure the people teaching our kids have high job satisfaction and like their jobs. Both are very important to me.

What I wish is that teachers and parents viewed each other as allies in making that happen, and in making schools great places to learn AND work. It is disheartening to see teachers saying that parents are the primary reason they are leaving the profession, or engaging in arguments about who works harder or has it tougher, parents or teachers. The truth is that most parents do not have high paying, easy, flexible jobs. They are also struggling in their own ways.

When we see each other as adversaries, we all lose.

Agreed, but I have no idea how to solve this. The problem we are facing as teachers is that parents don’t want real life (it’s real ups and downs) to happen to their children. They are trying to protect their kids from all ills, not seeing that interacting with others brings about its own stress because kids make mistakes. Parents then try to hold teachers responsible for every slight, bruise and bump that happens during childhood because childhood should be so “protected.” It isn’t really about being allies because there is no way to keep life from happening to a kid.

Teaching the kids is really fun, but parents have an expectation that everything be “happy and positive” but that isn’t life. Life is about dealing with crap AND being happy and content too. So, I am looking for another job after 24 years. I’m not changing the attitude of parents, but it has definitely changed since I started teaching in 2000. I may make another 6 years, I am only 45, but I am looking to get away from parents and still work with kids (ESL maybe or interventionist).

These are solvable problems, but because you insist on viewing parents as your adversary, you avoid solutions.

WHY do some parents seek to protect their kids from any adversity? Is it because parents are selfish and stupid? No. It's because parents are under intense pressure to ensure their child succeeds, and we live in a culture that punishes people for mistakes forever.

Parents are afraid. They are afraid that if their child struggles in 2nd grade, they won't have the same opportunities in 6th or 9th or college, and they'll be limited and struggle in adulthood to. Parents are also under constant pressure to prove their kids are "thriving," Also, and this one is mom-specific, parents get blamed every day in ways big and small for anything that isn't perfect in their kids' lives. It leads to guilt and anxiety.

And finally, sometimes parents are right. Sometimes kids should be protected. Sometimes a kid is actually being bullied and the school needs to intervene. Sometimes that "quirky" kid actually has special needs that aren't being addressed. Sometimes a parent really does know better what their kid needs, because while you are the education expert, they know their child better. Sometimes listening to a parent could be a gift, not a burden.

I think maybe you don’t understand the scope of the problem. Here is an example from a colleague: Parent email: Larla has small bruise on her shin and we asked Larla 3 times what happened and the kid says I don’t know. (Please see the accompanying picture) And then the parents ask if we happened to see an incident on the playground with 120 Kindergartners that may have bruised their child’s shin when it was such a non issue the KID doesn’t even know, never told the teacher about it, etc. And could we please make sure Larla doesn’t fall on the playground.

I’m glad you think parents are right and children need to be protected, but protected from shin bruises?

I’m sure this will work itself out, but probably not by the time I leave. Go ahead and blame “parental anxiety” and the need for children to “thrive”. Sure blame me/my colleagues and our inability to write thoughtful emails to overly anxious parents in the 20 minutes of time we have. Or blame our inability to “view parents as partners.” It doesn’t really matter, I’m just telling you the problems we are facing. I’m sure I could be much more empathetic and follow the kids around on the playground with foam or put shin guards on all the kids before they play on the playground. I’m not a therapist so I am not qualified to deal with parental anxiety.

"The problems we are facing" = a couple overzealous parents who want to bubble wrap their child into adulthood. Annoying, but manageable and not new.

Part of teaching K, or any ECE level, is teaching parents how school works. It's just part of the job. If you teach PK/K and often even 1st, part of your skill set has to be working with parents who may be overprotective or simply not understand a lot of things. Yes it can be extremely irritating. In my school district, ECE teachers require extra certifications and get paid more than upper elementary teachers specifically because the job is harder. You have to interact with parents more, the kids need to be socialized into school, everything is new and you have to serve as their guide. It's hard. I think all teachers should make more than they do, and that ECE teachers in particular should be better compensated for the very important work they do. But these are not new or unreasonable job expectations. It's just literally what it is to be a teacher, especially in the early levels.

Sorry, you may have been out of the ECE level for a while, but this is now becoming the norm, not outliers. 20 years ago you never saw this kind of crazy, but now it happens all the time.

So, I guess that is my point: If this is the job, the job “expectations” have changed because more parents are overly anxious. I understand I need to find a new job and am looking to be part of the problem and move out of the classroom or career change. But the thing is most teachers are thinking like I am and the profession isn’t attracting new young teachers, so maybe the “reasonable expectations” aren’t so reasonable to most.

NP. Young teachers aren’t coming into the profession IN NOVA because of the parents.
And the cost of living.
When investigating job opportunities, our DD (who just graduated with her masters in teaching) laughed and said no one in her university’s education school recommended northern Virginia and in fact advised against it. Word is out.

Being happy as a teacher really depends on the personal situation right now. Overall, I read Loudon co. VA, Howard Co., and Montgomery Co. MD as the best options depending on your family/spouse situation. As a teacher in MCPS I have been happy with the diversity of students and programs compared Tom

I think there are a number of factors that contribute to teacher happiness (or lack of):

1. The quality of the school’s admin team (supportive vs. punative, etc.)
2. Admin’s respect for teachers’ time (preserving planning instead of filling it with unnecessary meetings and paperwork)
3. Vacancies at the school and whether teachers have to cover classes daily
4. Workload. Not all subjects are created equal. Some disciplines require far more time grading than others
5. Support when managing student behaviors
6. Class size
7. Respect for teachers when scheduling (not assigning 3-4 preps)

… and so on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder to what degree Covid made more parents overprotective/obsessive about their kids. I have personally found the pivot from "Your kids are home with you 24/7, there's a pandemic and you are individually responsible for keeping your family safe from it, and you are also now supervising their entire schedule every day," to "just relax, stop hovering, let your kids figure it out, leave teachers alone." I'm not saying the shift is wrong, it's just giving me whiplash to some degree and I'm sure I sometimes come off as overprotective and helicopter-y, just as I'm also sure that during Covid I sometimes came off as insufficiently vigilant or whatever.

There are currently FCPS parents comparing grade book update times on their thread. It's out of control

That’s bc it is FCPS. That isn’t representative of the majority public schools. My middle schoolers’ teachers update their grades maybe weekly. A couple of the teachers will be go over a month before inputting grades or do a massive dump of all the grades the night before the trimester ends.

FCPS has major issues.

I think the are a handful of posters who live on DCUM and try to make everyone believe FCPS is in terrible shape. No one I know in real life ever expresses this; they are mainly happy with the schools, as are we. I come to this forum less and less though because the endless drumbeat of these posters. But I guess it's better if they are on here rather than harassing teachers or whatever.

+1

The blatant lying is a giveaway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's say everyone here is right: teaching has perks that outweigh the negatives, and if teachers are complaining it's just because they don't know what it's like in other jobs. Even if that's so, the shortage was grossly apparent in 2019 (https://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-shortage-is-real-large-and-growing-and-worse-than-we-thought-the-first-report-in-the-perfect-storm-in-the-teacher-labor-market-series/) and has only gotten worse.

So you say, "teachers shouldn't be complaining and they shouldn't be quitting because the job isn't that bad." But the reality is, they are. Experienced teachers are quitting, new teachers are quitting, and enrollment in teacher education programs is way down (https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/what-teacher-preparation-enrollment-looks-like-in-charts/2023/08#:~:text=Teacher%2Dprep%20enrollment%20over%20the%20past%20decade&text=From%202009%2D10%20through%202014,of%20the%20pandemic%2C%20Fuller%20said.).

Saying it shouldn't be happening doesn't make it not happen.

I agree we need to make sure teaching is a desirable profession, both in order to attract great people into teaching and also to ensure the people teaching our kids have high job satisfaction and like their jobs. Both are very important to me.

What I wish is that teachers and parents viewed each other as allies in making that happen, and in making schools great places to learn AND work. It is disheartening to see teachers saying that parents are the primary reason they are leaving the profession, or engaging in arguments about who works harder or has it tougher, parents or teachers. The truth is that most parents do not have high paying, easy, flexible jobs. They are also struggling in their own ways.

When we see each other as adversaries, we all lose.

Agreed, but I have no idea how to solve this. The problem we are facing as teachers is that parents don’t want real life (it’s real ups and downs) to happen to their children. They are trying to protect their kids from all ills, not seeing that interacting with others brings about its own stress because kids make mistakes. Parents then try to hold teachers responsible for every slight, bruise and bump that happens during childhood because childhood should be so “protected.” It isn’t really about being allies because there is no way to keep life from happening to a kid.

Teaching the kids is really fun, but parents have an expectation that everything be “happy and positive” but that isn’t life. Life is about dealing with crap AND being happy and content too. So, I am looking for another job after 24 years. I’m not changing the attitude of parents, but it has definitely changed since I started teaching in 2000. I may make another 6 years, I am only 45, but I am looking to get away from parents and still work with kids (ESL maybe or interventionist).

These are solvable problems, but because you insist on viewing parents as your adversary, you avoid solutions.

WHY do some parents seek to protect their kids from any adversity? Is it because parents are selfish and stupid? No. It's because parents are under intense pressure to ensure their child succeeds, and we live in a culture that punishes people for mistakes forever.

Parents are afraid. They are afraid that if their child struggles in 2nd grade, they won't have the same opportunities in 6th or 9th or college, and they'll be limited and struggle in adulthood to. Parents are also under constant pressure to prove their kids are "thriving," Also, and this one is mom-specific, parents get blamed every day in ways big and small for anything that isn't perfect in their kids' lives. It leads to guilt and anxiety.

And finally, sometimes parents are right. Sometimes kids should be protected. Sometimes a kid is actually being bullied and the school needs to intervene. Sometimes that "quirky" kid actually has special needs that aren't being addressed. Sometimes a parent really does know better what their kid needs, because while you are the education expert, they know their child better. Sometimes listening to a parent could be a gift, not a burden.

I think maybe you don’t understand the scope of the problem. Here is an example from a colleague: Parent email: Larla has small bruise on her shin and we asked Larla 3 times what happened and the kid says I don’t know. (Please see the accompanying picture) And then the parents ask if we happened to see an incident on the playground with 120 Kindergartners that may have bruised their child’s shin when it was such a non issue the KID doesn’t even know, never told the teacher about it, etc. And could we please make sure Larla doesn’t fall on the playground.

I’m glad you think parents are right and children need to be protected, but protected from shin bruises?

I’m sure this will work itself out, but probably not by the time I leave. Go ahead and blame “parental anxiety” and the need for children to “thrive”. Sure blame me/my colleagues and our inability to write thoughtful emails to overly anxious parents in the 20 minutes of time we have. Or blame our inability to “view parents as partners.” It doesn’t really matter, I’m just telling you the problems we are facing. I’m sure I could be much more empathetic and follow the kids around on the playground with foam or put shin guards on all the kids before they play on the playground. I’m not a therapist so I am not qualified to deal with parental anxiety.

"The problems we are facing" = a couple overzealous parents who want to bubble wrap their child into adulthood. Annoying, but manageable and not new.

Part of teaching K, or any ECE level, is teaching parents how school works. It's just part of the job. If you teach PK/K and often even 1st, part of your skill set has to be working with parents who may be overprotective or simply not understand a lot of things. Yes it can be extremely irritating. In my school district, ECE teachers require extra certifications and get paid more than upper elementary teachers specifically because the job is harder. You have to interact with parents more, the kids need to be socialized into school, everything is new and you have to serve as their guide. It's hard. I think all teachers should make more than they do, and that ECE teachers in particular should be better compensated for the very important work they do. But these are not new or unreasonable job expectations. It's just literally what it is to be a teacher, especially in the early levels.

Sorry, you may have been out of the ECE level for a while, but this is now becoming the norm, not outliers. 20 years ago you never saw this kind of crazy, but now it happens all the time.

So, I guess that is my point: If this is the job, the job “expectations” have changed because more parents are overly anxious. I understand I need to find a new job and am looking to be part of the problem and move out of the classroom or career change. But the thing is most teachers are thinking like I am and the profession isn’t attracting new young teachers, so maybe the “reasonable expectations” aren’t so reasonable to most.

NP. Young teachers aren’t coming into the profession IN NOVA because of the parents.
And the cost of living.
When investigating job opportunities, our DD (who just graduated with her masters in teaching) laughed and said no one in her university’s education school recommended northern Virginia and in fact advised against it. Word is out.

Being happy as a teacher really depends on the personal situation right now. Overall, I read Loudon co. VA, Howard Co., and Montgomery Co. MD as the best options depending on your family/spouse situation. As a teacher in MCPS I have been happy with the diversity of students and programs compared Tom

I think there are a number of factors that contribute to teacher happiness (or lack of):

1. The quality of the school’s admin team (supportive vs. punative, etc.)
2. Admin’s respect for teachers’ time (preserving planning instead of filling it with unnecessary meetings and paperwork)
3. Vacancies at the school and whether teachers have to cover classes daily
4. Workload. Not all subjects are created equal. Some disciplines require far more time grading than others
5. Support when managing student behaviors
6. Class size
7. Respect for teachers when scheduling (not assigning 3-4 preps)

… and so on.

Totally agree!

[Anonymous]

I am a HS teacher. In my email signature I tell parents the times that I am available to answer their emails, and that it can take about 48 to do so, due to the sheer number and that I am off-duty xyz hours. I have my own kids to take care of. When my salary is 200K, I may consider more admin hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's say everyone here is right: teaching has perks that outweigh the negatives, and if teachers are complaining it's just because they don't know what it's like in other jobs. Even if that's so, the shortage was grossly apparent in 2019 (https://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-shortage-is-real-large-and-growing-and-worse-than-we-thought-the-first-report-in-the-perfect-storm-in-the-teacher-labor-market-series/) and has only gotten worse.

So you say, "teachers shouldn't be complaining and they shouldn't be quitting because the job isn't that bad." But the reality is, they are. Experienced teachers are quitting, new teachers are quitting, and enrollment in teacher education programs is way down (https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/what-teacher-preparation-enrollment-looks-like-in-charts/2023/08#:~:text=Teacher%2Dprep%20enrollment%20over%20the%20past%20decade&text=From%202009%2D10%20through%202014,of%20the%20pandemic%2C%20Fuller%20said.).

Saying it shouldn't be happening doesn't make it not happen.

I agree we need to make sure teaching is a desirable profession, both in order to attract great people into teaching and also to ensure the people teaching our kids have high job satisfaction and like their jobs. Both are very important to me.

What I wish is that teachers and parents viewed each other as allies in making that happen, and in making schools great places to learn AND work. It is disheartening to see teachers saying that parents are the primary reason they are leaving the profession, or engaging in arguments about who works harder or has it tougher, parents or teachers. The truth is that most parents do not have high paying, easy, flexible jobs. They are also struggling in their own ways.

When we see each other as adversaries, we all lose.

Agreed, but I have no idea how to solve this. The problem we are facing as teachers is that parents don’t want real life (it’s real ups and downs) to happen to their children. They are trying to protect their kids from all ills, not seeing that interacting with others brings about its own stress because kids make mistakes. Parents then try to hold teachers responsible for every slight, bruise and bump that happens during childhood because childhood should be so “protected.” It isn’t really about being allies because there is no way to keep life from happening to a kid.

Teaching the kids is really fun, but parents have an expectation that everything be “happy and positive” but that isn’t life. Life is about dealing with crap AND being happy and content too. So, I am looking for another job after 24 years. I’m not changing the attitude of parents, but it has definitely changed since I started teaching in 2000. I may make another 6 years, I am only 45, but I am looking to get away from parents and still work with kids (ESL maybe or interventionist).

These are solvable problems, but because you insist on viewing parents as your adversary, you avoid solutions.

WHY do some parents seek to protect their kids from any adversity? Is it because parents are selfish and stupid? No. It's because parents are under intense pressure to ensure their child succeeds, and we live in a culture that punishes people for mistakes forever.

Parents are afraid. They are afraid that if their child struggles in 2nd grade, they won't have the same opportunities in 6th or 9th or college, and they'll be limited and struggle in adulthood to. Parents are also under constant pressure to prove their kids are "thriving," Also, and this one is mom-specific, parents get blamed every day in ways big and small for anything that isn't perfect in their kids' lives. It leads to guilt and anxiety.

And finally, sometimes parents are right. Sometimes kids should be protected. Sometimes a kid is actually being bullied and the school needs to intervene. Sometimes that "quirky" kid actually has special needs that aren't being addressed. Sometimes a parent really does know better what their kid needs, because while you are the education expert, they know their child better. Sometimes listening to a parent could be a gift, not a burden.

I think maybe you don’t understand the scope of the problem. Here is an example from a colleague: Parent email: Larla has small bruise on her shin and we asked Larla 3 times what happened and the kid says I don’t know. (Please see the accompanying picture) And then the parents ask if we happened to see an incident on the playground with 120 Kindergartners that may have bruised their child’s shin when it was such a non issue the KID doesn’t even know, never told the teacher about it, etc. And could we please make sure Larla doesn’t fall on the playground.

I’m glad you think parents are right and children need to be protected, but protected from shin bruises?

I’m sure this will work itself out, but probably not by the time I leave. Go ahead and blame “parental anxiety” and the need for children to “thrive”. Sure blame me/my colleagues and our inability to write thoughtful emails to overly anxious parents in the 20 minutes of time we have. Or blame our inability to “view parents as partners.” It doesn’t really matter, I’m just telling you the problems we are facing. I’m sure I could be much more empathetic and follow the kids around on the playground with foam or put shin guards on all the kids before they play on the playground. I’m not a therapist so I am not qualified to deal with parental anxiety.

"The problems we are facing" = a couple overzealous parents who want to bubble wrap their child into adulthood. Annoying, but manageable and not new.

Part of teaching K, or any ECE level, is teaching parents how school works. It's just part of the job. If you teach PK/K and often even 1st, part of your skill set has to be working with parents who may be overprotective or simply not understand a lot of things. Yes it can be extremely irritating. In my school district, ECE teachers require extra certifications and get paid more than upper elementary teachers specifically because the job is harder. You have to interact with parents more, the kids need to be socialized into school, everything is new and you have to serve as their guide. It's hard. I think all teachers should make more than they do, and that ECE teachers in particular should be better compensated for the very important work they do. But these are not new or unreasonable job expectations. It's just literally what it is to be a teacher, especially in the early levels.

Sorry, you may have been out of the ECE level for a while, but this is now becoming the norm, not outliers. 20 years ago you never saw this kind of crazy, but now it happens all the time.

So, I guess that is my point: If this is the job, the job “expectations” have changed because more parents are overly anxious. I understand I need to find a new job and am looking to be part of the problem and move out of the classroom or career change. But the thing is most teachers are thinking like I am and the profession isn’t attracting new young teachers, so maybe the “reasonable expectations” aren’t so reasonable to most.

NP. Young teachers aren’t coming into the profession IN NOVA because of the parents.
And the cost of living.
When investigating job opportunities, our DD (who just graduated with her masters in teaching) laughed and said no one in her university’s education school recommended northern Virginia and in fact advised against it. Word is out.

Being happy as a teacher really depends on the personal situation right now. Overall, I read Loudon co. VA, Howard Co., and Montgomery Co. MD as the best options depending on your family/spouse situation. As a teacher in MCPS I have been happy with the diversity of students and programs compared Tom

I would recommend places like Hershey or state college, pa over anywhere in nova unless your spouse is a mid six figure earner

The best places to teach in public schools in the country are college towns in the north east if you want to teach and cant secure the bag via spousal choice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's say everyone here is right: teaching has perks that outweigh the negatives, and if teachers are complaining it's just because they don't know what it's like in other jobs. Even if that's so, the shortage was grossly apparent in 2019 (https://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-shortage-is-real-large-and-growing-and-worse-than-we-thought-the-first-report-in-the-perfect-storm-in-the-teacher-labor-market-series/) and has only gotten worse.

So you say, "teachers shouldn't be complaining and they shouldn't be quitting because the job isn't that bad." But the reality is, they are. Experienced teachers are quitting, new teachers are quitting, and enrollment in teacher education programs is way down (https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/what-teacher-preparation-enrollment-looks-like-in-charts/2023/08#:~:text=Teacher%2Dprep%20enrollment%20over%20the%20past%20decade&text=From%202009%2D10%20through%202014,of%20the%20pandemic%2C%20Fuller%20said.).

Saying it shouldn't be happening doesn't make it not happen.

I agree we need to make sure teaching is a desirable profession, both in order to attract great people into teaching and also to ensure the people teaching our kids have high job satisfaction and like their jobs. Both are very important to me.

What I wish is that teachers and parents viewed each other as allies in making that happen, and in making schools great places to learn AND work. It is disheartening to see teachers saying that parents are the primary reason they are leaving the profession, or engaging in arguments about who works harder or has it tougher, parents or teachers. The truth is that most parents do not have high paying, easy, flexible jobs. They are also struggling in their own ways.

When we see each other as adversaries, we all lose.

Agreed, but I have no idea how to solve this. The problem we are facing as teachers is that parents don’t want real life (it’s real ups and downs) to happen to their children. They are trying to protect their kids from all ills, not seeing that interacting with others brings about its own stress because kids make mistakes. Parents then try to hold teachers responsible for every slight, bruise and bump that happens during childhood because childhood should be so “protected.” It isn’t really about being allies because there is no way to keep life from happening to a kid.

Teaching the kids is really fun, but parents have an expectation that everything be “happy and positive” but that isn’t life. Life is about dealing with crap AND being happy and content too. So, I am looking for another job after 24 years. I’m not changing the attitude of parents, but it has definitely changed since I started teaching in 2000. I may make another 6 years, I am only 45, but I am looking to get away from parents and still work with kids (ESL maybe or interventionist).

These are solvable problems, but because you insist on viewing parents as your adversary, you avoid solutions.

WHY do some parents seek to protect their kids from any adversity? Is it because parents are selfish and stupid? No. It's because parents are under intense pressure to ensure their child succeeds, and we live in a culture that punishes people for mistakes forever.

Parents are afraid. They are afraid that if their child struggles in 2nd grade, they won't have the same opportunities in 6th or 9th or college, and they'll be limited and struggle in adulthood to. Parents are also under constant pressure to prove their kids are "thriving," Also, and this one is mom-specific, parents get blamed every day in ways big and small for anything that isn't perfect in their kids' lives. It leads to guilt and anxiety.

And finally, sometimes parents are right. Sometimes kids should be protected. Sometimes a kid is actually being bullied and the school needs to intervene. Sometimes that "quirky" kid actually has special needs that aren't being addressed. Sometimes a parent really does know better what their kid needs, because while you are the education expert, they know their child better. Sometimes listening to a parent could be a gift, not a burden.

I think maybe you don’t understand the scope of the problem. Here is an example from a colleague: Parent email: Larla has small bruise on her shin and we asked Larla 3 times what happened and the kid says I don’t know. (Please see the accompanying picture) And then the parents ask if we happened to see an incident on the playground with 120 Kindergartners that may have bruised their child’s shin when it was such a non issue the KID doesn’t even know, never told the teacher about it, etc. And could we please make sure Larla doesn’t fall on the playground.

I’m glad you think parents are right and children need to be protected, but protected from shin bruises?

I’m sure this will work itself out, but probably not by the time I leave. Go ahead and blame “parental anxiety” and the need for children to “thrive”. Sure blame me/my colleagues and our inability to write thoughtful emails to overly anxious parents in the 20 minutes of time we have. Or blame our inability to “view parents as partners.” It doesn’t really matter, I’m just telling you the problems we are facing. I’m sure I could be much more empathetic and follow the kids around on the playground with foam or put shin guards on all the kids before they play on the playground. I’m not a therapist so I am not qualified to deal with parental anxiety.

"The problems we are facing" = a couple overzealous parents who want to bubble wrap their child into adulthood. Annoying, but manageable and not new.

Part of teaching K, or any ECE level, is teaching parents how school works. It's just part of the job. If you teach PK/K and often even 1st, part of your skill set has to be working with parents who may be overprotective or simply not understand a lot of things. Yes it can be extremely irritating. In my school district, ECE teachers require extra certifications and get paid more than upper elementary teachers specifically because the job is harder. You have to interact with parents more, the kids need to be socialized into school, everything is new and you have to serve as their guide. It's hard. I think all teachers should make more than they do, and that ECE teachers in particular should be better compensated for the very important work they do. But these are not new or unreasonable job expectations. It's just literally what it is to be a teacher, especially in the early levels.

Sorry, you may have been out of the ECE level for a while, but this is now becoming the norm, not outliers. 20 years ago you never saw this kind of crazy, but now it happens all the time.

So, I guess that is my point: If this is the job, the job “expectations” have changed because more parents are overly anxious. I understand I need to find a new job and am looking to be part of the problem and move out of the classroom or career change. But the thing is most teachers are thinking like I am and the profession isn’t attracting new young teachers, so maybe the “reasonable expectations” aren’t so reasonable to most.

NP. Young teachers aren’t coming into the profession IN NOVA because of the parents.
And the cost of living.
When investigating job opportunities, our DD (who just graduated with her masters in teaching) laughed and said no one in her university’s education school recommended northern Virginia and in fact advised against it. Word is out.

Being happy as a teacher really depends on the personal situation right now. Overall, I read Loudon co. VA, Howard Co., and Montgomery Co. MD as the best options depending on your family/spouse situation. As a teacher in MCPS I have been happy with the diversity of students and programs compared Tom

I would recommend places like Hershey or state college, pa over anywhere in nova unless your spouse is a mid six figure earner

The best places to teach in public schools in the country are college towns in the north east if you want to teach and cant secure the bag via spousal choice;/quote]

can’t secure the bag via spousal choice? Why hello there 1940s!