Dumb question: DCPS vs. DCPCS hiring

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:won't her resume include the DCPCS? If I were a principal, I'd be sniffing around that entry.

No. She left it off after MCPS and PGCPS turned her down. Right now her resume shows just her certification program, a semester of student teaching, and the private school. I guess a smart principal will ask about the gap.

Well damn, if she was turned down by PGCPS then she might want to consider going back to school for a specialty or taking additional classes to beef up her skills. They were literally desperate for teachers last year to the point of offering sign on bonuses.

Yes, but they want highly skilled folks and the references and teaching history was way more rigorous than DC because it follows state laws.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IMPACT is gone???? I missed that bit of news.

Anonymous wrote:OP, I’ve taught in both DCPS and DC charter schools, they generally don’t care if you mention fear of retaliation. Also you’re more likely to get a job closer to August, although sometimes the pickings are slim. DCPS despite the facade that it puts out is in desperate need of teachers. Most school districts these days take what hey can get as the workload keeps increasing, pay stagnates and student loans will *only* pay off your entire debt if you work in a high stressed, highly impoverished school. As long as you don’t have any red flags in your background check you are pretty solid. I wish caution you about applying to DC charter schools. They don’t have many rights and are often at-will employees, I’ve seen people walked out at the end of the day with little warning about what they did wrong and without so much as a 30 intervention plan. Like all work places politics matter but teaching in DCPS is often a landmine. I would suggest that you try to get into one of the better DCPS schools. Now that IMPACT is gone you might have a little time for the school admin to allow you to grow into your classroom manangenent style.

Still here, DC still hiring and firing, churning and burning out their teachers. She'll have better luck at a Charter, sadly in one of the less desirable neighborhoods or schools. Look at constant vacancies at some schools and that'll let her know where they are hiring warm bodies, doesn't mean she'll last though cos they are probably tough schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IMPACT is gone???? I missed that bit of news.

Anonymous wrote:OP, I’ve taught in both DCPS and DC charter schools, they generally don’t care if you mention fear of retaliation. Also you’re more likely to get a job closer to August, although sometimes the pickings are slim. DCPS despite the facade that it puts out is in desperate need of teachers. Most school districts these days take what hey can get as the workload keeps increasing, pay stagnates and student loans will *only* pay off your entire debt if you work in a high stressed, highly impoverished school. As long as you don’t have any red flags in your background check you are pretty solid. I wish caution you about applying to DC charter schools. They don’t have many rights and are often at-will employees, I’ve seen people walked out at the end of the day with little warning about what they did wrong and without so much as a 30 intervention plan. Like all work places politics matter but teaching in DCPS is often a landmine. I would suggest that you try to get into one of the better DCPS schools. Now that IMPACT is gone you might have a little time for the school admin to allow you to grow into your classroom manangenent style.

Still here, DC still hiring and firing, churning and burning out their teachers. She'll have better luck at a Charter, sadly in one of the less desirable neighborhoods or schools. Look at constant vacancies at some schools and that'll let her know where they are hiring warm bodies, doesn't mean she'll last though cos they are probably tough schools.

Perhaps she would do better if she wasn't at a "tough" school? A school with the majority on kids on grade level and with fewer classroom management challenges might be a better fit. OP, tell your friend to look for an elementary school with a low at-risk and sped population, better than average test scores and a high turnover rate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IMPACT is gone???? I missed that bit of news.

Anonymous wrote:OP, I’ve taught in both DCPS and DC charter schools, they generally don’t care if you mention fear of retaliation. Also you’re more likely to get a job closer to August, although sometimes the pickings are slim. DCPS despite the facade that it puts out is in desperate need of teachers. Most school districts these days take what hey can get as the workload keeps increasing, pay stagnates and student loans will *only* pay off your entire debt if you work in a high stressed, highly impoverished school. As long as you don’t have any red flags in your background check you are pretty solid. I wish caution you about applying to DC charter schools. They don’t have many rights and are often at-will employees, I’ve seen people walked out at the end of the day with little warning about what they did wrong and without so much as a 30 intervention plan. Like all work places politics matter but teaching in DCPS is often a landmine. I would suggest that you try to get into one of the better DCPS schools. Now that IMPACT is gone you might have a little time for the school admin to allow you to grow into your classroom manangenent style.

Still here, DC still hiring and firing, churning and burning out their teachers. She'll have better luck at a Charter, sadly in one of the less desirable neighborhoods or schools. Look at constant vacancies at some schools and that'll let her know where they are hiring warm bodies, doesn't mean she'll last though cos they are probably tough schools.

Perhaps she would do better if she wasn't at a "tough" school? A school with the majority on kids on grade level and with fewer classroom management challenges might be a better fit. OP, tell your friend to look for an elementary school with a low at-risk and sped population, better than average test scores and a high turnover rate.

OP's friend was at a private -- and couldn't handle it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IMPACT is gone???? I missed that bit of news.

Anonymous wrote:OP, I’ve taught in both DCPS and DC charter schools, they generally don’t care if you mention fear of retaliation. Also you’re more likely to get a job closer to August, although sometimes the pickings are slim. DCPS despite the facade that it puts out is in desperate need of teachers. Most school districts these days take what hey can get as the workload keeps increasing, pay stagnates and student loans will *only* pay off your entire debt if you work in a high stressed, highly impoverished school. As long as you don’t have any red flags in your background check you are pretty solid. I wish caution you about applying to DC charter schools. They don’t have many rights and are often at-will employees, I’ve seen people walked out at the end of the day with little warning about what they did wrong and without so much as a 30 intervention plan. Like all work places politics matter but teaching in DCPS is often a landmine. I would suggest that you try to get into one of the better DCPS schools. Now that IMPACT is gone you might have a little time for the school admin to allow you to grow into your classroom manangenent style.

Still here, DC still hiring and firing, churning and burning out their teachers. She'll have better luck at a Charter, sadly in one of the less desirable neighborhoods or schools. Look at constant vacancies at some schools and that'll let her know where they are hiring warm bodies, doesn't mean she'll last though cos they are probably tough schools.

Perhaps she would do better if she wasn't at a "tough" school? A school with the majority on kids on grade level and with fewer classroom management challenges might be a better fit. OP, tell your friend to look for an elementary school with a low at-risk and sped population, better than average test scores and a high turnover rate.

She would be eaten alive by the parents at our high-performing DCPS school.

[Anonymous]

She got an interview. I’m hopefully her work history will come up. We’ll see how it goes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IMPACT is gone???? I missed that bit of news.

Anonymous wrote:OP, I’ve taught in both DCPS and DC charter schools, they generally don’t care if you mention fear of retaliation. Also you’re more likely to get a job closer to August, although sometimes the pickings are slim. DCPS despite the facade that it puts out is in desperate need of teachers. Most school districts these days take what hey can get as the workload keeps increasing, pay stagnates and student loans will *only* pay off your entire debt if you work in a high stressed, highly impoverished school. As long as you don’t have any red flags in your background check you are pretty solid. I wish caution you about applying to DC charter schools. They don’t have many rights and are often at-will employees, I’ve seen people walked out at the end of the day with little warning about what they did wrong and without so much as a 30 intervention plan. Like all work places politics matter but teaching in DCPS is often a landmine. I would suggest that you try to get into one of the better DCPS schools. Now that IMPACT is gone you might have a little time for the school admin to allow you to grow into your classroom manangenent style.

Still here, DC still hiring and firing, churning and burning out their teachers. She'll have better luck at a Charter, sadly in one of the less desirable neighborhoods or schools. Look at constant vacancies at some schools and that'll let her know where they are hiring warm bodies, doesn't mean she'll last though cos they are probably tough schools.

Perhaps she would do better if she wasn't at a "tough" school? A school with the majority on kids on grade level and with fewer classroom management challenges might be a better fit. OP, tell your friend to look for an elementary school with a low at-risk and sped population, better than average test scores and a high turnover rate.

OP's friend was at a private -- and couldn't handle it.

She did better at the private than the charter she was fired from. The charter wasn’t that tough, either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I understand you correctly, she had another job after the charter job. It’s unlikely they will contact the charter unless the principal looking knows the principal of the charter. The school will contact most recent employer, who will say RIFed and maybe will or maybe will not mention the disorganized nature or lack of lesson planning.

Was the person let go mid year or end of year? Makes a huge difference. On the positive, there have been plenty of teachers who sucked at our charter and who were let go (end of year) who thrived in other schools and counties. Her being bad in one context does not mean she will suck in another. Heck, one teacher we did not rehire became teacher of the near at his next placement.

But I don’t understand why this person would leave the private market. Seems perfect for her.

She was let go mid-year from the charter. A lot of observations and meetings the first semester. No improvement and she was uncertain she could improve to the level expected at the rate expected. She was depressed afterwards, but hasn’t questioned if teaching isn’t for her.

My perception is that she was liked for her personality and enthusiasm at the private, but regarded as not very effective and quite disorganized. She acknowledges the disorganization, but feels her warmth and creativity offsets it. To some extent, it likely does but I can understand why that wears on people over time. Ultimately, the scatteredness makes her ineffective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She got an interview. I’m hopefully her work history will come up. We’ll see how it goes.

She got an offer and accepted it. I’m disillusioned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She got an interview. I’m hopefully her work history will come up. We’ll see how it goes.

She got an offer and accepted it. I’m disillusioned.

People can change. Novice teachers improve with time and the right supports -- just like the rest of us workers. Suggest she take a course on getting organized. They did Together Teacher at my school and it was phenomenal.

[Anonymous]

Actually being fired from a specific 5-12 HRCS, known for coercing their teachers to change grades might very well help her with finding a position with DCPS.