Will MCPS staff get paid during shutdown?

[Anonymous]

Right now the only thing I know is we're getting emergency leave for the next two weeks. No idea what the plan is going forward in terms of how long we will be closed or how they will continue to pay us during school closure

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope teachers get paid during this period, AND I hope they hop online at the end of the two weeks and start teaching again.

In APS and elsewhere, teachers are available to kids right now. We've been told MCPS teachers are not, which I assume is a union rule.

Fine, but if the quarantine is going to run beyond two weeks and teachers will continue to be paid, maybe we should ask that they do some work?

Yes, it will be hard to work remotely, particularly if they have kids at home. Welcome to what the rest of us have been trying to accomplish since the middle of last week.

At least you're working and getting paid. That's better than the situation for many others.

I don't think anyone would argue that people still working and getting paid are lucky. I think the point is that teachers should eventually be among that group.

[Anonymous]

If we transition to elearning then there will be no summer school to make up days. As a teacher I would prefer face to face in the summer and not doing online instruction but I have a feeling I am in the minority on this one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why has China been prepared to transition to online learning and we are not?
Why is Germany ordering 10,000 additional ventilators and we haven't?
Why do you pay $700 for an emergency room visit but they decided not to use any of that profit for extra mask?

This country has generated so much wealth for a few and they put not even a small effort into safeguards for society. Not even our children education.
We pay very high property tax and we get kids on emergency with no work to do. No teacher support. No plan for their future.
We have been let down in a colossal way.

We don't, actually. Or rather, you may pay a lot in property taxes, but that's because your property has a high property value. The property tax rates in Montgomery County are not high.

Omfg really.

[Anonymous]

The teachers are ready and willing to work, but can’t work because the state shut down the school. So I don’t see any reason to not pay them. Plus, with so many hourly wage earners being laid off as restaurants close, etc. the last thing the state needs is more people not receiving a salary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope teachers get paid during this period, AND I hope they hop online at the end of the two weeks and start teaching again.

In APS and elsewhere, teachers are available to kids right now. We've been told MCPS teachers are not, which I assume is a union rule.

Fine, but if the quarantine is going to run beyond two weeks and teachers will continue to be paid, maybe we should ask that they do some work?

Yes, it will be hard to work remotely, particularly if they have kids at home. Welcome to what the rest of us have been trying to accomplish since the middle of last week.

At least you're working and getting paid. That's better than the situation for many others.

I don't think anyone would argue that people still working and getting paid are lucky. I think the point is that teachers should eventually be among that group.

I don't necessarily. And again - I'm a former teacher.

Online instruction is process that takes years to learn. If the systems aren't training teachers - or if only a few are trained, either from schooling or from the system itself - then they should NOT be forced to instruct online. It's a disaster and no one benefits.

You want them working over the summer to make it up? If so, good luck convincing parents to forgo that lavish vacation. Who's getting them to school? the yellow bus? What about magnet programs and their crazy routes? What about teachers' vacations, too? daycare for teachers' kids? a perk of being a teacher (b/c Lord knows they can't recruit them or keep them) - being home with our kids during vacations . . .

It's
just
so
easy . . .

[Anonymous]

Teachers do not have an important job anyway
Who really cared if they get paid or not. You want school in the summer, then put them in summer school. You do know there is already summer school staffed and set to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I don't necessarily. And again - I'm a former teacher.

Online instruction is process that takes years to learn. If the systems aren't training teachers - or if only a few are trained, either from schooling or from the system itself - then they should NOT be forced to instruct online. It's a disaster and no one benefits.

You want them working over the summer to make it up? If so, good luck convincing parents to forgo that lavish vacation. Who's getting them to school? the yellow bus? What about magnet programs and their crazy routes? What about teachers' vacations, too? daycare for teachers' kids? a perk of being a teacher (b/c Lord knows they can't recruit them or keep them) - being home with our kids during vacations . . .

It's
just
so
easy . . .

Most parents don't have lavish vacations, and the ones who do, can figure out whether they want to forgo the lavish vacation or not.

The only complicated part is fiscal - how to pay people now, while there isn't school, and then also pay them later, when there wouldn't be school under ordinary circumstances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't ensure sufficient teaching staff during the summer. Many immigrant families return to their countries of origin for the summers, as well. It just won't happen.

Well, we wouldn't want to force anyone to change their summer plans.

+1 it may not happen but let’s be real—it should happen. I would like a teacher to try to defend that they should not have to work June and July. I will cancel the summer plans family has for vacation to have my kid be a school (including losing his summer job). There is no defense of not doing it. If we can logistical figure out how to shut down the country for two months, we can figure out how to extend school through summer. This will be a real test if MCPS leadership to see what happens.

There are many teachers who have different jobs in the summer to supplement their incomes. It’s not so easy to give that up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why has China been prepared to transition to online learning and we are not?
Why is Germany ordering 10,000 additional ventilators and we haven't?
Why do you pay $700 for an emergency room visit but they decided not to use any of that profit for extra mask?

This country has generated so much wealth for a few and they put not even a small effort into safeguards for society. Not even our children education.
We pay very high property tax and we get kids on emergency with no work to do. No teacher support. No plan for their future.
We have been let down in a colossal way.

We don't, actually. Or rather, you may pay a lot in property taxes, but that's because your property has a high property value. The property tax rates in Montgomery County are not high.

Nope. They aren’t. Howard County has higher rates than we do. But their homes aren’t worth as much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teachers do not have an important job anyway
Who really cared if they get paid or not. You want school in the summer, then put them in summer school. You do know there is already summer school staffed and set to go.

Actually, it's not. ELO hiring was set to take place, along with most of the teaching assignments for the 2020-21 school year, this month. With every shut down, that's on hold.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't ensure sufficient teaching staff during the summer. Many immigrant families return to their countries of origin for the summers, as well. It just won't happen.

Well, we wouldn't want to force anyone to change their summer plans.

+1 it may not happen but let’s be real—it should happen. I would like a teacher to try to defend that they should not have to work June and July. I will cancel the summer plans family has for vacation to have my kid be a school (including losing his summer job). There is no defense of not doing it. If we can logistical figure out how to shut down the country for two months, we can figure out how to extend school through summer. This will be a real test if MCPS leadership to see what happens.

There are many teachers who have different jobs in the summer to supplement their incomes. It’s not so easy to give that up.

In the scheme of sacrifices that people are making relating to coronavirus, this one hardly seems that difficult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teachers do not have an important job anyway
Who really cared if they get paid or not. You want school in the summer, then put them in summer school. You do know there is already summer school staffed and set to go.

I would give this very weak troll a c minus for effort and accuracy.

Summer school did not get staffed they were going to open up the job window in mid March but that got cancelled along with everything else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope teachers get paid during this period, AND I hope they hop online at the end of the two weeks and start teaching again.

In APS and elsewhere, teachers are available to kids right now. We've been told MCPS teachers are not, which I assume is a union rule.

Fine, but if the quarantine is going to run beyond two weeks and teachers will continue to be paid, maybe we should ask that they do some work?

Yes, it will be hard to work remotely, particularly if they have kids at home. Welcome to what the rest of us have been trying to accomplish since the middle of last week.

Seems reasonable to have to fulfill work expectations (online feedback?) to get pay?

[Anonymous]

Montgomery County did it all wrong. They did not send out packets and told families not to reach out to parents. There is no instructional time happening to grant a waiver. PGCPS (where I work) made us give packets and told us to respond within 24 hours. This way, we can prove instructional time has not been lost. Teachers sign contracts. Our contracts are up in the summer. We will not be required to work.