Teachers not returning. MCPS to hire “Monitors” instead

[Anonymous]

This is an unfair characterization of what is happening.
1. The school system is trying to bring back every student that elected in-person on the survey.
2. Every school has been evaluated for capacity within social distance guidelines.
3. Maintaining social distance will require fewer students in a classroom than are in a class.
4. Therefore students will be split into different classrooms to keep distance.
5. Teachers cannot be in two places at once. Even if every teacher returns, monitors will be needed.
6. There are equity issues yes of course. But please stop blaming the teachers for everything. Assume that everyone working on this wants the same things to educate children while stopping the spread of the disease.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is an unfair characterization of what is happening.
1. The school system is trying to bring back every student that elected in-person on the survey.
2. Every school has been evaluated for capacity within social distance guidelines.
3. Maintaining social distance will require fewer students in a classroom than are in a class.
4. Therefore students will be split into different classrooms to keep distance.
5. Teachers cannot be in two places at once. Even if every teacher returns, monitors will be needed.
6. There are equity issues yes of course. But please stop blaming the teachers for everything. Assume that everyone working on this wants the same things to educate children while stopping the spread of the disease.

Where is the extra classroom space coming from?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is unbelievable and revolting. MCPS has a job posting for monitors for in person teaching. So a monitor (probably a poor minority) will make minimum wage to babysit kids in classrooms so that teachers (mostly upper middle class white people) can work from home virtually. Better yet MCPS isn’t giving these monitors benefits (no health insurance) while teachers (with the best insurance a union can negotiate) sit in the “safety” of their homes. So the monitors assume all of the (minimal according to studies and the CDC) risk of being exposed to Covid so teachers can have zero. MCPS is only requiring a GED for the job. They aren’t even paying the monitors as much as they would a substitute!

This smacks of privilege! Whose idea was this? I can not believe MCPS is doing this. The optics are horrible. Why is a teacher’s life more important than a monitor’s life? And the teachers are getting vaccines while these frontline monitor workers are not! I am appalled!

https://news.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/staff-bulletin/now-hiring-in-school-classroom-monitors/?fbclid=IwAR1xMDbRTNUi2TrlI66IcUU4Z9X_VRhQJ4FXXTHUKDu3ajTs9imYv5y0iSI

Nobody is forcing those monitors to take the job. They have a choice to work elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is an unfair characterization of what is happening.
1. The school system is trying to bring back every student that elected in-person on the survey.
2. Every school has been evaluated for capacity within social distance guidelines.
3. Maintaining social distance will require fewer students in a classroom than are in a class.
4. Therefore students will be split into different classrooms to keep distance.
5. Teachers cannot be in two places at once. Even if every teacher returns, monitors will be needed.
6. There are equity issues yes of course. But please stop blaming the teachers for everything. Assume that everyone working on this wants the same things to educate children while stopping the spread of the disease.

+1
Of course teachers are coming back. Stop spreading this information! They are just going to need help to enforce new regulations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This has nothing to do with race. The plan is for teachers to go back but they will need help and the class sizes in person have to stay very low so the only way to do that is split up groups. We have 35 students in our MS classes.

Why is your life more important than a teacher or monitors life? That is the real question. You don't care about either. Monitors will be paraprofessionals who are always under paid.

Right. But that’s why some schools are going hybrid— so half the class can come in the AM and the other half in the PM. Or, half can come on M/Tu and the other half on Th/F. No need for monitors.

Wrong. The plan for hybrid only works with monitors. Too many teachers filed ADA exemptions that must be honored.

How many, and how do you know?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This has nothing to do with race. The plan is for teachers to go back but they will need help and the class sizes in person have to stay very low so the only way to do that is split up groups. We have 35 students in our MS classes.

Why is your life more important than a teacher or monitors life? That is the real question. You don't care about either. Monitors will be paraprofessionals who are always under paid.

Right. But that’s why some schools are going hybrid— so half the class can come in the AM and the other half in the PM. Or, half can come on M/Tu and the other half on Th/F. No need for monitors.

Wrong. The plan for hybrid only works with monitors. Too many teachers filed ADA exemptions that must be honored.

Ugh. This is why people are so unhappy with teachers right now.

MCPS is hiring. Stop whining and help.

[Anonymous]

I think it's pretty famn funny, especially in light of the little.d energy guy who came to this board and claimed he and his group spoke to the governor and got in person school back and that said your welcome.

Lmao! Thanks Little D guy! I hope you kid's monitor knows English good! Lol

[Anonymous]

Why can’t people start taking accountability for their lives? Look at what happens when society relies so much on schools to care for children. Wake up people!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why can’t people start taking accountability for their lives? Look at what happens when society relies so much on schools to care for children. Wake up people!!!

Do you mean educate children?

[Anonymous]

OP you are truly an idiot!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teachers must be protected at all costs. Monitors are less important. Kids will be just fine sitting in clusters in school rooms with a monitor while the teacher is safely at home.

That has been going on since Day 1.

Learning hubs and Equity hubs have been staffed by lower paid private child-care providers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why the teachers can’t all just get vaccinated and go back to the classrooms?

Once teachers are vaccinated, there's no excuse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is an unfair characterization of what is happening.
1. The school system is trying to bring back every student that elected in-person on the survey.
2. Every school has been evaluated for capacity within social distance guidelines.
3. Maintaining social distance will require fewer students in a classroom than are in a class.
4. Therefore students will be split into different classrooms to keep distance.
5. Teachers cannot be in two places at once. Even if every teacher returns, monitors will be needed.
6. There are equity issues yes of course. But please stop blaming the teachers for everything. Assume that everyone working on this wants the same things to educate children while stopping the spread of the disease.

Where is the extra classroom space coming from?

My guess is, that's what hybrid is for. One half of the kids will come on any given day. The other half and those opting to do DL will do DL from their homes. Then the groups switch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why can’t people start taking accountability for their lives? Look at what happens when society relies so much on schools to care for children. Wake up people!!!

Yeah, how ridiculous of society to expect schools to act as schools!

Wait, what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why the teachers can’t all just get vaccinated and go back to the classrooms?

They can, and the community knows it. That's why the emerging argument is that children must be vaccinated.

The only place I’ve seen that alleged argument emerging is on DCUM.

And *nothing* I’ve seen from MCPS indicates they’re even considering keeping non-ADA teachers home and sending kids into schools. Even the *worst* plans I’ve seen have teachers in classrooms, teaching over Zoom to both in-person and DL kids, with monitors to assist with the kids in class. The crappy part is that the in-person kids may sometimes be in another classroom because of cohorting concerns or class changes.

I’m not arguing that this model is all that much better, but the venom against “healthy teachers refusing to go into classrooms” is just weird and unfounded.