No teacher yet for my child’s class…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This type of thing is going to become more and more common as the years progress unless there is a dramatic shift in the way teachers are treated. Otherwise, the mass exodus, and difficulty finding replacements, will continue.

We need to treat teachers as professionals, need to stop piling ridiculous expectations on them, and need to stop blaming them for issues that start at home.

I was a full-time volunteer for a 1st grade class and then 2nd grade the following year. Both teachers were a disappointment and it’s very easy job to be able to get away with laziness. One teacher even won an award and boosted. She did the bare minimum and even less. I lost great respect for teachers.

You based your view of an entire profession on your experience with two teachers?

Wow. I can't imagine being so close-minded, judgmental, and arrogant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This type of thing is going to become more and more common as the years progress unless there is a dramatic shift in the way teachers are treated. Otherwise, the mass exodus, and difficulty finding replacements, will continue.

We need to treat teachers as professionals, need to stop piling ridiculous expectations on them, and need to stop blaming them for issues that start at home.

I was a full-time volunteer for a 1st grade class and then 2nd grade the following year. Both teachers were a disappointment and it’s very easy job to be able to get away with laziness. One teacher even won an award and boosted. She did the bare minimum and even less. I lost great respect for teachers.

You based your view of an entire profession on your experience with two teachers?

Wow. I can't imagine being so close-minded, judgmental, and arrogant.

You’re in line with the two teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This type of thing is going to become more and more common as the years progress unless there is a dramatic shift in the way teachers are treated. Otherwise, the mass exodus, and difficulty finding replacements, will continue.

We need to treat teachers as professionals, need to stop piling ridiculous expectations on them, and need to stop blaming them for issues that start at home.

I was a full-time volunteer for a 1st grade class and then 2nd grade the following year. Both teachers were a disappointment and it’s very easy job to be able to get away with laziness. One teacher even won an award and boosted. She did the bare minimum and even less. I lost great respect for teachers.

You based your view of an entire profession on your experience with two teachers?

Wow. I can't imagine being so close-minded, judgmental, and arrogant.

Because I worked throughout the entire school other years and have experience in another.
I cannot imagine being so close minded, judgmental, and arrogant as yourself. But then again, I suspect you are a “teacher.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My first grader still does not have a permanent teacher for her class yet. They are now hiring a long term sub who has zero experience in the classroom, while continuing to look for a permanent teacher. I’m new to MCPs, and wondering if this is a common thing that happens. Are subs usually any random person who applies? No teaching or classroom experience needed at all? Has anyone had a situation where their child never gets a permanent teacher the entire year?

Substitutes, and quality ones, are a weakness of MCPS. While I won't say your situation is unheard of, I also wouldn't say it's common. Did the teacher leave after the school year started? That's usually where I see scenarios like the one you've described.

No. They never had a teacher. One day before school started they apparently enrolled an extra student over the cap, to give them a 4th class. So they immediately split up the existing 3 classes, and assigned my daughter’s class two different staff members to teach the class. Now they are transitioning to a long term sub because they can’t find a teacher, and the staff members need to do their originally hired positions.

What a mess. This seems like the principal fumbled here since they planned on hiring a teacher and clearly didn't have a candidate in the pipeline capable of making it in time for the beginning of the school year.

+1. Sounds like an inexperienced principal.

I’m a different PP but at the same school. The extra class was added the day before classes started and no candidates were available at that point. It’s actually a very experienced principal who is usually really good at this but the timing here was impossible. You can reserve someone when lots of other schools know they have positions confirmed.

The principal should not have split the classes up until they had a new teacher hired. The teacher shortage is a real thing, and an experienced principal should have known how hard it would be to hire a teacher at that point. I feel bad for these first graders.

I disagree. I'm in a situation now where all the kindergarten classes are well above the max (a Title I/Focus school with 22-23 kids per class, supposed to be capped at 18/19). There is no more money for an additional allocation and so we are stuck with huge classes. The principal of this particular school likely recognized that the offer of another class was fleeting and it was best to take it while you can. Even the situation of having two staff members cover the class (I'm guessing a reading teacher and a math teacher) is better than having huge classes. Hopefully the long-term sub is getting support, but really, I will argue that I'd rather my 1st grader be in a small class with a so-so inexperienced teacher than a big class with someone "better" at teaching.

I think it is very kid dependent. I have a kid that would do fine in a bigger class, so I’d much prefer a solid experienced teacher in a larger class versus a long term sub who it sounds like has never been in a classroom before. I’d especially feel this way for a first grader, who is in a year where a lot of growth should be made in areas like reading. My kids have had two brand new teachers in small class sizes, and the experience was terrible. Never again. I’ll take a bigger class with a solid teacher over smaller class size with a bad teacher any day. Obviously YMMV

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This type of thing is going to become more and more common as the years progress unless there is a dramatic shift in the way teachers are treated. Otherwise, the mass exodus, and difficulty finding replacements, will continue.

We need to treat teachers as professionals, need to stop piling ridiculous expectations on them, and need to stop blaming them for issues that start at home.

I was a full-time volunteer for a 1st grade class and then 2nd grade the following year. Both teachers were a disappointment and it’s very easy job to be able to get away with laziness. One teacher even won an award and boosted. She did the bare minimum and even less. I lost great respect for teachers.

You based your view of an entire profession on your experience with two teachers?

Wow. I can't imagine being so close-minded, judgmental, and arrogant.

Close-minded to what was experienced and happening, cannot judge teacher not performing work required by school district, and arrogant by being a volunteer. Okay, you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My first grader still does not have a permanent teacher for her class yet. They are now hiring a long term sub who has zero experience in the classroom, while continuing to look for a permanent teacher. I’m new to MCPs, and wondering if this is a common thing that happens. Are subs usually any random person who applies? No teaching or classroom experience needed at all? Has anyone had a situation where their child never gets a permanent teacher the entire year?

Substitutes, and quality ones, are a weakness of MCPS. While I won't say your situation is unheard of, I also wouldn't say it's common. Did the teacher leave after the school year started? That's usually where I see scenarios like the one you've described.

No. They never had a teacher. One day before school started they apparently enrolled an extra student over the cap, to give them a 4th class. So they immediately split up the existing 3 classes, and assigned my daughter’s class two different staff members to teach the class. Now they are transitioning to a long term sub because they can’t find a teacher, and the staff members need to do their originally hired positions.

What a mess. This seems like the principal fumbled here since they planned on hiring a teacher and clearly didn't have a candidate in the pipeline capable of making it in time for the beginning of the school year.

+1. Sounds like an inexperienced principal.

I’m a different PP but at the same school. The extra class was added the day before classes started and no candidates were available at that point. It’s actually a very experienced principal who is usually really good at this but the timing here was impossible. You can reserve someone when lots of other schools know they have positions confirmed.

The principal should not have split the classes up until they had a new teacher hired. The teacher shortage is a real thing, and an experienced principal should have known how hard it would be to hire a teacher at that point. I feel bad for these first graders.

I disagree. I'm in a situation now where all the kindergarten classes are well above the max (a Title I/Focus school with 22-23 kids per class, supposed to be capped at 18/19). There is no more money for an additional allocation and so we are stuck with huge classes. The principal of this particular school likely recognized that the offer of another class was fleeting and it was best to take it while you can. Even the situation of having two staff members cover the class (I'm guessing a reading teacher and a math teacher) is better than having huge classes. Hopefully the long-term sub is getting support, but really, I will argue that I'd rather my 1st grader be in a small class with a so-so inexperienced teacher than a big class with someone "better" at teaching.

I think it is very kid dependent. I have a kid that would do fine in a bigger class, so I’d much prefer a solid experienced teacher in a larger class versus a long term sub who it sounds like has never been in a classroom before. I’d especially feel this way for a first grader, who is in a year where a lot of growth should be made in areas like reading. My kids have had two brand new teachers in small class sizes, and the experience was terrible. Never again. I’ll take a bigger class with a solid teacher over smaller class size with a bad teacher any day. Obviously YMMV

I’ve been that teacher with the larger class size.

Each extra student means more papers to grade, more behaviors to watch, more parents to contact, more data to track, more emails to respond to.

Not to mention more noise, more movement around the classroom, and more stress.

Large classes are one of the many reasons we are quitting.

[Anonymous]

My kids have had amazing teachers who tend to be popular and well supported by parents, and terrible teachers who tend to be unpopular with students and parents. It’s like that at least in my kids’ schools. I’ve learned to be ready to jump in to supplement and—in extreme circumstances—unenroll them.

Mcps teacher pay seems generous the longer you work, so not feeling too sorry for them in that respect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids have had amazing teachers who tend to be popular and well supported by parents, and terrible teachers who tend to be unpopular with students and parents. It’s like that at least in my kids’ schools. I’ve learned to be ready to jump in to supplement and—in extreme circumstances—unenroll them.

Mcps teacher pay seems generous the longer you work, so not feeling too sorry for them in that respect.

Is it still good pay if they are working 65 hours a week? With few breaks during the school day? And little flexibility when it comes to time off?

“Generous” is quite a word to use.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids have had amazing teachers who tend to be popular and well supported by parents, and terrible teachers who tend to be unpopular with students and parents. It’s like that at least in my kids’ schools. I’ve learned to be ready to jump in to supplement and—in extreme circumstances—unenroll them.

Mcps teacher pay seems generous the longer you work, so not feeling too sorry for them in that respect.

Is it still good pay if they are working 65 hours a week? With few breaks during the school day? And little flexibility when it comes to time off?

“Generous” is quite a word to use.

My child’s teacher gets out few minutes after school ends and tutors. He saves his entire teacher salary bc he makes so much money tutoring on the side that he started during covid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My first grader still does not have a permanent teacher for her class yet. They are now hiring a long term sub who has zero experience in the classroom, while continuing to look for a permanent teacher. I’m new to MCPs, and wondering if this is a common thing that happens. Are subs usually any random person who applies? No teaching or classroom experience needed at all? Has anyone had a situation where their child never gets a permanent teacher the entire year?

Substitutes, and quality ones, are a weakness of MCPS. While I won't say your situation is unheard of, I also wouldn't say it's common. Did the teacher leave after the school year started? That's usually where I see scenarios like the one you've described.

No. They never had a teacher. One day before school started they apparently enrolled an extra student over the cap, to give them a 4th class. So they immediately split up the existing 3 classes, and assigned my daughter’s class two different staff members to teach the class. Now they are transitioning to a long term sub because they can’t find a teacher, and the staff members need to do their originally hired positions.

What a mess. This seems like the principal fumbled here since they planned on hiring a teacher and clearly didn't have a candidate in the pipeline capable of making it in time for the beginning of the school year.

+1. Sounds like an inexperienced principal.

I’m a different PP but at the same school. The extra class was added the day before classes started and no candidates were available at that point. It’s actually a very experienced principal who is usually really good at this but the timing here was impossible. You can reserve someone when lots of other schools know they have positions confirmed.

The principal should not have split the classes up until they had a new teacher hired. The teacher shortage is a real thing, and an experienced principal should have known how hard it would be to hire a teacher at that point. I feel bad for these first graders.

I disagree. I'm in a situation now where all the kindergarten classes are well above the max (a Title I/Focus school with 22-23 kids per class, supposed to be capped at 18/19). There is no more money for an additional allocation and so we are stuck with huge classes. The principal of this particular school likely recognized that the offer of another class was fleeting and it was best to take it while you can. Even the situation of having two staff members cover the class (I'm guessing a reading teacher and a math teacher) is better than having huge classes. Hopefully the long-term sub is getting support, but really, I will argue that I'd rather my 1st grader be in a small class with a so-so inexperienced teacher than a big class with someone "better" at teaching.

I think it is very kid dependent. I have a kid that would do fine in a bigger class, so I’d much prefer a solid experienced teacher in a larger class versus a long term sub who it sounds like has never been in a classroom before. I’d especially feel this way for a first grader, who is in a year where a lot of growth should be made in areas like reading. My kids have had two brand new teachers in small class sizes, and the experience was terrible. Never again. I’ll take a bigger class with a solid teacher over smaller class size with a bad teacher any day. Obviously YMMV

Fair enough, but I think it's not fair to generalize that new teachers=bad teachers. My kids had some new teachers who were terrific, and some veteran teachers who really should've retired years earlier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids have had amazing teachers who tend to be popular and well supported by parents, and terrible teachers who tend to be unpopular with students and parents. It’s like that at least in my kids’ schools. I’ve learned to be ready to jump in to supplement and—in extreme circumstances—unenroll them.

Mcps teacher pay seems generous the longer you work, so not feeling too sorry for them in that respect.

Is it still good pay if they are working 65 hours a week? With few breaks during the school day? And little flexibility when it comes to time off?

“Generous” is quite a word to use.

Teachers get more time off than the traditional workforce. Everyone knows this, fool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My first grader still does not have a permanent teacher for her class yet. They are now hiring a long term sub who has zero experience in the classroom, while continuing to look for a permanent teacher. I’m new to MCPs, and wondering if this is a common thing that happens. Are subs usually any random person who applies? No teaching or classroom experience needed at all? Has anyone had a situation where their child never gets a permanent teacher the entire year?

Substitutes, and quality ones, are a weakness of MCPS. While I won't say your situation is unheard of, I also wouldn't say it's common. Did the teacher leave after the school year started? That's usually where I see scenarios like the one you've described.

No. They never had a teacher. One day before school started they apparently enrolled an extra student over the cap, to give them a 4th class. So they immediately split up the existing 3 classes, and assigned my daughter’s class two different staff members to teach the class. Now they are transitioning to a long term sub because they can’t find a teacher, and the staff members need to do their originally hired positions.

What a mess. This seems like the principal fumbled here since they planned on hiring a teacher and clearly didn't have a candidate in the pipeline capable of making it in time for the beginning of the school year.

+1. Sounds like an inexperienced principal.

I’m a different PP but at the same school. The extra class was added the day before classes started and no candidates were available at that point. It’s actually a very experienced principal who is usually really good at this but the timing here was impossible. You can reserve someone when lots of other schools know they have positions confirmed.

The principal should not have split the classes up until they had a new teacher hired. The teacher shortage is a real thing, and an experienced principal should have known how hard it would be to hire a teacher at that point. I feel bad for these first graders.

I disagree. I'm in a situation now where all the kindergarten classes are well above the max (a Title I/Focus school with 22-23 kids per class, supposed to be capped at 18/19). There is no more money for an additional allocation and so we are stuck with huge classes. The principal of this particular school likely recognized that the offer of another class was fleeting and it was best to take it while you can. Even the situation of having two staff members cover the class (I'm guessing a reading teacher and a math teacher) is better than having huge classes. Hopefully the long-term sub is getting support, but really, I will argue that I'd rather my 1st grader be in a small class with a so-so inexperienced teacher than a big class with someone "better" at teaching.

I think it is very kid dependent. I have a kid that would do fine in a bigger class, so I’d much prefer a solid experienced teacher in a larger class versus a long term sub who it sounds like has never been in a classroom before. I’d especially feel this way for a first grader, who is in a year where a lot of growth should be made in areas like reading. My kids have had two brand new teachers in small class sizes, and the experience was terrible. Never again. I’ll take a bigger class with a solid teacher over smaller class size with a bad teacher any day. Obviously YMMV

Fair enough, but I think it's not fair to generalize that new teachers=bad teachers. My kids had some new teachers who were terrific, and some veteran teachers who really should've retired years earlier.

That is a fair point. What OP is describing here is not a new teacher, and a sub who has zero teaching experience. A new teacher who went through school to get a degree and is in their first year of teaching, is very different than some random person hired with zero background or training. I would not be ok with that as a long term solution. I’d prefer my kid be placed in a bigger class. It’s clear MCPS is a mess now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids have had amazing teachers who tend to be popular and well supported by parents, and terrible teachers who tend to be unpopular with students and parents. It’s like that at least in my kids’ schools. I’ve learned to be ready to jump in to supplement and—in extreme circumstances—unenroll them.

Mcps teacher pay seems generous the longer you work, so not feeling too sorry for them in that respect.

Is it still good pay if they are working 65 hours a week? With few breaks during the school day? And little flexibility when it comes to time off?

“Generous” is quite a word to use.

Teachers get more time off than the traditional workforce. Everyone knows this, fool.

Me:
65 hours a week x 40 weeks = 2600 hours

My “traditional workforce” DH:
40 hours a week x 50 weeks = 2000 hours

I’m not sure how math works for you, but my “foolish” math shows me working far more than my DH.

What I know, foolish as I am, is that my full year of work is compacted into 10 packed months with limited flexibility.

But you are so much wiser than me, so I guess math works differently for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is very common. I am a middle school teacher. We are down 20 teachers out of 60 teachers. It is horrific. The ones that they did hire, just recently, quit. They said it was not what they imagined, too stressful, etc. I too will be leaving at the end of the year. However, if I find something sooner, I have no problem leaving the school, students and families. F all of them

If teachers were treated better and given better working conditions we might have a right to think they should care enough
To complete a school year before moving on. But honestly, between the way people, especially in the DMV, look down on teachers (I mean, we have threads on whether you should “let” your kid become a teacher), the way parents treat teachers, the way teachers are overworked and seemingly can never do much right, I can see why PP feels this way. I can’t think of any profession that gets so little respect.

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately this is happening at every level in mcps.