How to help MCPS' lowest performing students?

[Anonymous]

It’s a public school system 99.9% of the time most will be low performing. Just take care of your kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know what else you can do for them. The county has already spent a lot of money and resources trying to help the lowest learners. But you can’t help somebody who doesn’t want to help themselves.

What they need is strong family support, but the school schools help there?

Family support is key, but there are challenges (obviously). Some of our families exist at the bottom of Maslow's Hierarchy. They are just trying to survive.

Some parents are working two jobs. Parents with low literacy themselves aren't able to help their students. Now with Homeland Security picking up people on street corners, I wonder if some families will choose to keep their students at home.

[Anonymous]

Some parents working two jobs are your kids’ teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some parents working two jobs are your kids’ teachers.

Or more. Tutoring and babysitting or in a different sector (e.g. delivery drivers). Sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some parents working two jobs are your kids’ teachers.

I don’t stay after school because I work in another school’s after school program. It’s almost impossible to get a teaching spot at my school’s after school program because the teachers all need the money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some parents working two jobs are your kids’ teachers.

I don’t stay after school because I work in another school’s after school program. It’s almost impossible to get a teaching spot at my school’s after school program because the teachers all need the money.

I think teachers should be paid more and support all initiatives for this. But MCPS teacher starting salary is 60k. There are lots of jobs in the DC area with similar or less. There is also plenty of outside tutoring opportunities available. How are teachers struggling in this area?

Asking seriously with no judgements.

[Anonymous]

On paper, they are making 60k. 7.5 percent comes out right off the bat for the pension system. Then there are union dues, nea dues, health care.
And the 60k is somewhat recent. Those of use who have been around for a while have only recently been making a good salary because the step scales were frozen for a bit, also salaries lagged before all the increases and cola. Just 10 years ago, I was making roughly 68k with 15 years of experience.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some parents working two jobs are your kids’ teachers.

I don’t stay after school because I work in another school’s after school program. It’s almost impossible to get a teaching spot at my school’s after school program because the teachers all need the money.

I think teachers should be paid more and support all initiatives for this. But MCPS teacher starting salary is 60k. There are lots of jobs in the DC area with similar or less. There is also plenty of outside tutoring opportunities available. How are teachers struggling in this area?

Asking seriously with no judgements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some parents working two jobs are your kids’ teachers.

I don’t stay after school because I work in another school’s after school program. It’s almost impossible to get a teaching spot at my school’s after school program because the teachers all need the money.

I think teachers should be paid more and support all initiatives for this. But MCPS teacher starting salary is 60k. There are lots of jobs in the DC area with similar or less. There is also plenty of outside tutoring opportunities available. How are teachers struggling in this area?

Asking seriously with no judgements.

Their salaries go up pretty quickly and most make 80-120K or more, same as police, fire, social workers and other government workers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some parents working two jobs are your kids’ teachers.

I don’t stay after school because I work in another school’s after school program. It’s almost impossible to get a teaching spot at my school’s after school program because the teachers all need the money.

I think teachers should be paid more and support all initiatives for this. But MCPS teacher starting salary is 60k. There are lots of jobs in the DC area with similar or less. There is also plenty of outside tutoring opportunities available. How are teachers struggling in this area?

Asking seriously with no judgements.

On a two income family they should be fine but the problem is if they have kids child care can be more than their take home. I was in a similar position and I ended up quitting as child care was more than my take home and it wasn't a 9-5 steady job so a regular day care wouldn't work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some parents working two jobs are your kids’ teachers.

I don’t stay after school because I work in another school’s after school program. It’s almost impossible to get a teaching spot at my school’s after school program because the teachers all need the money.

I think teachers should be paid more and support all initiatives for this. But MCPS teacher starting salary is 60k. There are lots of jobs in the DC area with similar or less. There is also plenty of outside tutoring opportunities available. How are teachers struggling in this area?

Asking seriously with no judgements.

I am not a teacher but are you "seriously" asking why someone who makes 60k/year struggles in this area? And your solution is "why don't you find additional work?" WTF PP??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some parents working two jobs are your kids’ teachers.

I don’t stay after school because I work in another school’s after school program. It’s almost impossible to get a teaching spot at my school’s after school program because the teachers all need the money.

I think teachers should be paid more and support all initiatives for this. But MCPS teacher starting salary is 60k. There are lots of jobs in the DC area with similar or less. There is also plenty of outside tutoring opportunities available. How are teachers struggling in this area?

Asking seriously with no judgements.

I am not a teacher but are you "seriously" asking why someone who makes 60k/year struggles in this area? And your solution is "why don't you find additional work?" WTF PP??

You can make it work. Many other professions have the same salary, really less as teachers are ten month employees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some parents working two jobs are your kids’ teachers.

I don’t stay after school because I work in another school’s after school program. It’s almost impossible to get a teaching spot at my school’s after school program because the teachers all need the money.

I think teachers should be paid more and support all initiatives for this. But MCPS teacher starting salary is 60k. There are lots of jobs in the DC area with similar or less. There is also plenty of outside tutoring opportunities available. How are teachers struggling in this area?

Asking seriously with no judgements.

I am not a teacher but are you "seriously" asking why someone who makes 60k/year struggles in this area? And your solution is "why don't you find additional work?" WTF PP??

You can make it work. Many other professions have the same salary, really less as teachers are ten month employees.

And those people struggle too. (DP here.). No one is denying that there are many Montgomery County residents who make $60K or less-- we're saying it's really tough to raise a family in this county at that income and folks feel like they're barely getting by, and so teachers earning that income who have other better-paying options often will take them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some parents working two jobs are your kids’ teachers.

I don’t stay after school because I work in another school’s after school program. It’s almost impossible to get a teaching spot at my school’s after school program because the teachers all need the money.

I think teachers should be paid more and support all initiatives for this. But MCPS teacher starting salary is 60k. There are lots of jobs in the DC area with similar or less. There is also plenty of outside tutoring opportunities available. How are teachers struggling in this area?

Asking seriously with no judgements.

I am not a teacher but are you "seriously" asking why someone who makes 60k/year struggles in this area? And your solution is "why don't you find additional work?" WTF PP??

You can make it work. Many other professions have the same salary, really less as teachers are ten month employees.

And those people struggle too. (DP here.). No one is denying that there are many Montgomery County residents who make $60K or less-- we're saying it's really tough to raise a family in this county at that income and folks feel like they're barely getting by, and so teachers earning that income who have other better-paying options often will take them.

Understood but they don’t have to love in MoCo. Plenty of professionals don’t live where they work for the exact same reason. Instead they commute. Which is time consuming and yeah sucks but it’s reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some parents working two jobs are your kids’ teachers.

I don’t stay after school because I work in another school’s after school program. It’s almost impossible to get a teaching spot at my school’s after school program because the teachers all need the money.

I think teachers should be paid more and support all initiatives for this. But MCPS teacher starting salary is 60k. There are lots of jobs in the DC area with similar or less. There is also plenty of outside tutoring opportunities available. How are teachers struggling in this area?

Asking seriously with no judgements.

I am not a teacher but are you "seriously" asking why someone who makes 60k/year struggles in this area? And your solution is "why don't you find additional work?" WTF PP??

OP of the question- No I’m not asking why people struggle at 60K(or feel like it). I was more asking because the 60k is a starting salary and there are others in the area making similar salaries and they don’t get a guaranteed step each year +COLA. In fact, the Fed GS-8 Step 1 is about the same salary.

But I do understand a PPs response about this salary scale being fairly recent. I certainly sympathize with wanting to make more, I was trying to really understand, because I feel that sometimes salary discussions get lost beyond the norm vs comparisons with specific jobs like (docs, lawyers, or Tech SWE). And while I don’t believe that most CEOs and Executives are worth the salary they make, I know that’s not most people’s salary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some parents working two jobs are your kids’ teachers.

I don’t stay after school because I work in another school’s after school program. It’s almost impossible to get a teaching spot at my school’s after school program because the teachers all need the money.

I think teachers should be paid more and support all initiatives for this. But MCPS teacher starting salary is 60k. There are lots of jobs in the DC area with similar or less. There is also plenty of outside tutoring opportunities available. How are teachers struggling in this area?

Asking seriously with no judgements.

I am not a teacher but are you "seriously" asking why someone who makes 60k/year struggles in this area? And your solution is "why don't you find additional work?" WTF PP??

You can make it work. Many other professions have the same salary, really less as teachers are ten month employees.

Easy for you to say. Go ahead and do tell them how. Do you expect them to live like drive-thru teenage workers or live in far end of WV and commute to MCPS schools? Talk is cheap. Show them the way since, obviously, you figured it out.