New Jackson-Reed HS (Wilson HS) School Principal - Sah Brown from Eastern High School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its true, parents are too busy with hustle of dual careers and house chores/social life/internet. They want schools to babysit and raise their kids. Unless schools are set up for all that, tgeir will be issues to deal with.

As a parent, I don’t want this. I want schools to be successful at their fundamental purpose of education. I want policy makers to stop over-burdening schools.

DP. I’m not sure where this notion of “overburdening schools” comes from. Nobody is giving teachers extra hours and making them take kids to the doctor or make their lunches. What exactly do you mean by it?

Most teachers work a lot of extra hours. Especially teachers who have taught for less than 10 years.
Good teachers who have less than 5 years experience are generally working 60 hours or more.
Some of the students who are mainstreamed have high special ed. needs or have been exposed to high levels of trauma. Teachers are not equipped to handle that level of student distress. Some of these kids continually disrupt the classroom and teachers are left mostly on their own trying to figure out how to help them and keep learning progressing for all the other kids. ELL students also present huge challenges. I have had students added to my class mid year who barely speak a word of English and who have just arrived in the US and have trauma associated with leaving their home country and crossing the border possibly illegally and dangerously. There is more but this gives you a snapshot of some of the issues schools and teachers are dealing with

so “overburdening” means expecting teachers to teach SN and ELL kids. Ok then!

I’m all for giving teachers more hours to plan and better behavioral support resources. But your “overburdening” argument seems more like you’re saying “those kids” should not be in school with yours.

DP but the reason we are overburdened is because we don't have those things. Please don't be so snarky

To be clear - I have no doubt that teacher's feel overburdened, particularly since DCPS does not seem to provide ANY prep time to deal with IEPs etc. Like every time we have an IEP meeting, several team members can't make it. Not legal but I know it's DCPS's fault so I don't push it.

My specific question was about the commonly heard complaint that "schools are expected to do everything for kids these days and be social services agencies. that's impossible, they should focus on teaching." So I'm wondering what people mean when they say that. What I think they mean is that kids should be suspended/expelled etc instead of schools trying to address behavioral issues (whether they come from trauma or a SN).

I'm not the PP, but see below:

-Kids experiencing hunger--why do you think schools distributed meals during the pandemic?
-Parents are addicted and kid has taken the role of adult
-Severe behavior problems--cursing out the teacher, throwing things, wondering halls and disturbing classes, etc.
-Homeless

Just to name a few...Do you actually have kids in a school at all? None of this is news...

So you think schools shouldn’t deliver meals? And should not accept homeless kids or kids with behavioral problems?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its true, parents are too busy with hustle of dual careers and house chores/social life/internet. They want schools to babysit and raise their kids. Unless schools are set up for all that, tgeir will be issues to deal with.

As a parent, I don’t want this. I want schools to be successful at their fundamental purpose of education. I want policy makers to stop over-burdening schools.

DP. I’m not sure where this notion of “overburdening schools” comes from. Nobody is giving teachers extra hours and making them take kids to the doctor or make their lunches. What exactly do you mean by it?

Most teachers work a lot of extra hours. Especially teachers who have taught for less than 10 years.
Good teachers who have less than 5 years experience are generally working 60 hours or more.
Some of the students who are mainstreamed have high special ed. needs or have been exposed to high levels of trauma. Teachers are not equipped to handle that level of student distress. Some of these kids continually disrupt the classroom and teachers are left mostly on their own trying to figure out how to help them and keep learning progressing for all the other kids. ELL students also present huge challenges. I have had students added to my class mid year who barely speak a word of English and who have just arrived in the US and have trauma associated with leaving their home country and crossing the border possibly illegally and dangerously. There is more but this gives you a snapshot of some of the issues schools and teachers are dealing with

so “overburdening” means expecting teachers to teach SN and ELL kids. Ok then!

I’m all for giving teachers more hours to plan and better behavioral support resources. But your “overburdening” argument seems more like you’re saying “those kids” should not be in school with yours.

DP but the reason we are overburdened is because we don't have those things. Please don't be so snarky

To be clear - I have no doubt that teacher's feel overburdened, particularly since DCPS does not seem to provide ANY prep time to deal with IEPs etc. Like every time we have an IEP meeting, several team members can't make it. Not legal but I know it's DCPS's fault so I don't push it.

My specific question was about the commonly heard complaint that "schools are expected to do everything for kids these days and be social services agencies. that's impossible, they should focus on teaching." So I'm wondering what people mean when they say that. What I think they mean is that kids should be suspended/expelled etc instead of schools trying to address behavioral issues (whether they come from trauma or a SN).

I'm not the PP, but see below:

-Kids experiencing hunger--why do you think schools distributed meals during the pandemic?
-Parents are addicted and kid has taken the role of adult
-Severe behavior problems--cursing out the teacher, throwing things, wondering halls and disturbing classes, etc.
-Homeless

Just to name a few...Do you actually have kids in a school at all? None of this is news...

So you think schools shouldn’t deliver meals? And should not accept homeless kids or kids with behavioral problems?

I don’t think this is easy to understand if you are not actually in a classroom. The teacher who described the challenges above was talking about kids with extreme needs. There are kids who for whatever reason have no family support at home and they don’t function well in large classrooms. Yet they are placed there because the school district doesn’t know what to do. They threaten the teacher and other kids. They walk in and walk out whenever they want. Often they get high during lunch and are completely stoned in class. I have sympathy for them because they obviously have past and present trauma. But no one at my school knows how to handle them and they drift around causing havoc. Maybe y’all will just roll your eyes and don’t care but this is a reason why schools in ward 8 have so much teacher turnover. Deal and Wilson are not immune either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its true, parents are too busy with hustle of dual careers and house chores/social life/internet. They want schools to babysit and raise their kids. Unless schools are set up for all that, tgeir will be issues to deal with.

As a parent, I don’t want this. I want schools to be successful at their fundamental purpose of education. I want policy makers to stop over-burdening schools.

DP. I’m not sure where this notion of “overburdening schools” comes from. Nobody is giving teachers extra hours and making them take kids to the doctor or make their lunches. What exactly do you mean by it?

Most teachers work a lot of extra hours. Especially teachers who have taught for less than 10 years.
Good teachers who have less than 5 years experience are generally working 60 hours or more.
Some of the students who are mainstreamed have high special ed. needs or have been exposed to high levels of trauma. Teachers are not equipped to handle that level of student distress. Some of these kids continually disrupt the classroom and teachers are left mostly on their own trying to figure out how to help them and keep learning progressing for all the other kids. ELL students also present huge challenges. I have had students added to my class mid year who barely speak a word of English and who have just arrived in the US and have trauma associated with leaving their home country and crossing the border possibly illegally and dangerously. There is more but this gives you a snapshot of some of the issues schools and teachers are dealing with

so “overburdening” means expecting teachers to teach SN and ELL kids. Ok then!

I’m all for giving teachers more hours to plan and better behavioral support resources. But your “overburdening” argument seems more like you’re saying “those kids” should not be in school with yours.

DP but the reason we are overburdened is because we don't have those things. Please don't be so snarky

To be clear - I have no doubt that teacher's feel overburdened, particularly since DCPS does not seem to provide ANY prep time to deal with IEPs etc. Like every time we have an IEP meeting, several team members can't make it. Not legal but I know it's DCPS's fault so I don't push it.

My specific question was about the commonly heard complaint that "schools are expected to do everything for kids these days and be social services agencies. that's impossible, they should focus on teaching." So I'm wondering what people mean when they say that. What I think they mean is that kids should be suspended/expelled etc instead of schools trying to address behavioral issues (whether they come from trauma or a SN).

I'm not the PP, but see below:

-Kids experiencing hunger--why do you think schools distributed meals during the pandemic?
-Parents are addicted and kid has taken the role of adult
-Severe behavior problems--cursing out the teacher, throwing things, wondering halls and disturbing classes, etc.
-Homeless

Just to name a few...Do you actually have kids in a school at all? None of this is news...

So you think schools shouldn’t deliver meals? And should not accept homeless kids or kids with behavioral problems?

I don’t think this is easy to understand if you are not actually in a classroom. The teacher who described the challenges above was talking about kids with extreme needs. There are kids who for whatever reason have no family support at home and they don’t function well in large classrooms. Yet they are placed there because the school district doesn’t know what to do. They threaten the teacher and other kids. They walk in and walk out whenever they want. Often they get high during lunch and are completely stoned in class. I have sympathy for them because they obviously have past and present trauma. But no one at my school knows how to handle them and they drift around causing havoc. Maybe y’all will just roll your eyes and don’t care but this is a reason why schools in ward 8 have so much teacher turnover. Deal and Wilson are not immune either.

Ok again, I am not denying these issues or the LACK of support. I'm questioning what other people mean when they say "we expect too much from schools in the US, schools should not be social service providers." what exactly does that mean? What you are saying is that you need MORE support at school, not less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its true, parents are too busy with hustle of dual careers and house chores/social life/internet. They want schools to babysit and raise their kids. Unless schools are set up for all that, tgeir will be issues to deal with.

As a parent, I don’t want this. I want schools to be successful at their fundamental purpose of education. I want policy makers to stop over-burdening schools.

DP. I’m not sure where this notion of “overburdening schools” comes from. Nobody is giving teachers extra hours and making them take kids to the doctor or make their lunches. What exactly do you mean by it?

Most teachers work a lot of extra hours. Especially teachers who have taught for less than 10 years.
Good teachers who have less than 5 years experience are generally working 60 hours or more.
Some of the students who are mainstreamed have high special ed. needs or have been exposed to high levels of trauma. Teachers are not equipped to handle that level of student distress. Some of these kids continually disrupt the classroom and teachers are left mostly on their own trying to figure out how to help them and keep learning progressing for all the other kids. ELL students also present huge challenges. I have had students added to my class mid year who barely speak a word of English and who have just arrived in the US and have trauma associated with leaving their home country and crossing the border possibly illegally and dangerously. There is more but this gives you a snapshot of some of the issues schools and teachers are dealing with

so “overburdening” means expecting teachers to teach SN and ELL kids. Ok then!

I’m all for giving teachers more hours to plan and better behavioral support resources. But your “overburdening” argument seems more like you’re saying “those kids” should not be in school with yours.

DP but the reason we are overburdened is because we don't have those things. Please don't be so snarky

To be clear - I have no doubt that teacher's feel overburdened, particularly since DCPS does not seem to provide ANY prep time to deal with IEPs etc. Like every time we have an IEP meeting, several team members can't make it. Not legal but I know it's DCPS's fault so I don't push it.

My specific question was about the commonly heard complaint that "schools are expected to do everything for kids these days and be social services agencies. that's impossible, they should focus on teaching." So I'm wondering what people mean when they say that. What I think they mean is that kids should be suspended/expelled etc instead of schools trying to address behavioral issues (whether they come from trauma or a SN).

I'm not the PP, but see below:

-Kids experiencing hunger--why do you think schools distributed meals during the pandemic?
-Parents are addicted and kid has taken the role of adult
-Severe behavior problems--cursing out the teacher, throwing things, wondering halls and disturbing classes, etc.
-Homeless

Just to name a few...Do you actually have kids in a school at all? None of this is news...

So you think schools shouldn’t deliver meals? And should not accept homeless kids or kids with behavioral problems?

I don’t think this is easy to understand if you are not actually in a classroom. The teacher who described the challenges above was talking about kids with extreme needs. There are kids who for whatever reason have no family support at home and they don’t function well in large classrooms. Yet they are placed there because the school district doesn’t know what to do. They threaten the teacher and other kids. They walk in and walk out whenever they want. Often they get high during lunch and are completely stoned in class. I have sympathy for them because they obviously have past and present trauma. But no one at my school knows how to handle them and they drift around causing havoc. Maybe y’all will just roll your eyes and don’t care but this is a reason why schools in ward 8 have so much teacher turnover. Deal and Wilson are not immune either.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its true, parents are too busy with hustle of dual careers and house chores/social life/internet. They want schools to babysit and raise their kids. Unless schools are set up for all that, tgeir will be issues to deal with.

As a parent, I don’t want this. I want schools to be successful at their fundamental purpose of education. I want policy makers to stop over-burdening schools.

DP. I’m not sure where this notion of “overburdening schools” comes from. Nobody is giving teachers extra hours and making them take kids to the doctor or make their lunches. What exactly do you mean by it?

Most teachers work a lot of extra hours. Especially teachers who have taught for less than 10 years.
Good teachers who have less than 5 years experience are generally working 60 hours or more.
Some of the students who are mainstreamed have high special ed. needs or have been exposed to high levels of trauma. Teachers are not equipped to handle that level of student distress. Some of these kids continually disrupt the classroom and teachers are left mostly on their own trying to figure out how to help them and keep learning progressing for all the other kids. ELL students also present huge challenges. I have had students added to my class mid year who barely speak a word of English and who have just arrived in the US and have trauma associated with leaving their home country and crossing the border possibly illegally and dangerously. There is more but this gives you a snapshot of some of the issues schools and teachers are dealing with

so “overburdening” means expecting teachers to teach SN and ELL kids. Ok then!

I’m all for giving teachers more hours to plan and better behavioral support resources. But your “overburdening” argument seems more like you’re saying “those kids” should not be in school with yours.

DP but the reason we are overburdened is because we don't have those things. Please don't be so snarky

To be clear - I have no doubt that teacher's feel overburdened, particularly since DCPS does not seem to provide ANY prep time to deal with IEPs etc. Like every time we have an IEP meeting, several team members can't make it. Not legal but I know it's DCPS's fault so I don't push it.

My specific question was about the commonly heard complaint that "schools are expected to do everything for kids these days and be social services agencies. that's impossible, they should focus on teaching." So I'm wondering what people mean when they say that. What I think they mean is that kids should be suspended/expelled etc instead of schools trying to address behavioral issues (whether they come from trauma or a SN).

I'm not the PP, but see below:

-Kids experiencing hunger--why do you think schools distributed meals during the pandemic?
-Parents are addicted and kid has taken the role of adult
-Severe behavior problems--cursing out the teacher, throwing things, wondering halls and disturbing classes, etc.
-Homeless

Just to name a few...Do you actually have kids in a school at all? None of this is news...

So you think schools shouldn’t deliver meals? And should not accept homeless kids or kids with behavioral problems?

I don’t think this is easy to understand if you are not actually in a classroom. The teacher who described the challenges above was talking about kids with extreme needs. There are kids who for whatever reason have no family support at home and they don’t function well in large classrooms. Yet they are placed there because the school district doesn’t know what to do. They threaten the teacher and other kids. They walk in and walk out whenever they want. Often they get high during lunch and are completely stoned in class. I have sympathy for them because they obviously have past and present trauma. But no one at my school knows how to handle them and they drift around causing havoc. Maybe y’all will just roll your eyes and don’t care but this is a reason why schools in ward 8 have so much teacher turnover. Deal and Wilson are not immune either.

Ok again, I am not denying these issues or the LACK of support. I'm questioning what other people mean when they say "we expect too much from schools in the US, schools should not be social service providers." what exactly does that mean? What you are saying is that you need MORE support at school, not less.

People are trying to explain that when you expect schools to do everything, the quality of education goes down for all kids.
This is why k-12 public schools in the US are not well regarded internationally. This is why all the elite send their kids to private schools.
Schools are vastly under-resourced for what they are expected to do. And parents don’t respect teachers here for some reason so they are happy to blame them for all the school issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


So you think schools shouldn’t deliver meals? And should not accept homeless kids or kids with behavioral problems?


I don’t think this is easy to understand if you are not actually in a classroom. The teacher who described the challenges above was talking about kids with extreme needs. There are kids who for whatever reason have no family support at home and they don’t function well in large classrooms. Yet they are placed there because the school district doesn’t know what to do. They threaten the teacher and other kids. They walk in and walk out whenever they want. Often they get high during lunch and are completely stoned in class. I have sympathy for them because they obviously have past and present trauma. But no one at my school knows how to handle them and they drift around causing havoc. Maybe y’all will just roll your eyes and don’t care but this is a reason why schools in ward 8 have so much teacher turnover. Deal and Wilson are not immune either.

I think what some of us are saying is that the kids with the extreme needs who cannot function in a socialized way in large classrooms need to be pulled out into smaller classroom settings where they get intensive intervention, and then sent to residential treatment programs if they cannot make it in the contained environment. Because that is the trajectory that functional parents with dysfunctional teens pursue in order to try to get their kids back on track. The answer is NOT to leave the anti-social kids floundering in the regular classroom and destroying the learning environment for everyone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its true, parents are too busy with hustle of dual careers and house chores/social life/internet. They want schools to babysit and raise their kids. Unless schools are set up for all that, tgeir will be issues to deal with.

As a parent, I don’t want this. I want schools to be successful at their fundamental purpose of education. I want policy makers to stop over-burdening schools.

DP. I’m not sure where this notion of “overburdening schools” comes from. Nobody is giving teachers extra hours and making them take kids to the doctor or make their lunches. What exactly do you mean by it?

Most teachers work a lot of extra hours. Especially teachers who have taught for less than 10 years.
Good teachers who have less than 5 years experience are generally working 60 hours or more.
Some of the students who are mainstreamed have high special ed. needs or have been exposed to high levels of trauma. Teachers are not equipped to handle that level of student distress. Some of these kids continually disrupt the classroom and teachers are left mostly on their own trying to figure out how to help them and keep learning progressing for all the other kids. ELL students also present huge challenges. I have had students added to my class mid year who barely speak a word of English and who have just arrived in the US and have trauma associated with leaving their home country and crossing the border possibly illegally and dangerously. There is more but this gives you a snapshot of some of the issues schools and teachers are dealing with

so “overburdening” means expecting teachers to teach SN and ELL kids. Ok then!

I’m all for giving teachers more hours to plan and better behavioral support resources. But your “overburdening” argument seems more like you’re saying “those kids” should not be in school with yours.

DP but the reason we are overburdened is because we don't have those things. Please don't be so snarky

To be clear - I have no doubt that teacher's feel overburdened, particularly since DCPS does not seem to provide ANY prep time to deal with IEPs etc. Like every time we have an IEP meeting, several team members can't make it. Not legal but I know it's DCPS's fault so I don't push it.

My specific question was about the commonly heard complaint that "schools are expected to do everything for kids these days and be social services agencies. that's impossible, they should focus on teaching." So I'm wondering what people mean when they say that. What I think they mean is that kids should be suspended/expelled etc instead of schools trying to address behavioral issues (whether they come from trauma or a SN).

I'm not the PP, but see below:

-Kids experiencing hunger--why do you think schools distributed meals during the pandemic?
-Parents are addicted and kid has taken the role of adult
-Severe behavior problems--cursing out the teacher, throwing things, wondering halls and disturbing classes, etc.
-Homeless

Just to name a few...Do you actually have kids in a school at all? None of this is news...

So you think schools shouldn’t deliver meals? And should not accept homeless kids or kids with behavioral problems?

I don’t think this is easy to understand if you are not actually in a classroom. The teacher who described the challenges above was talking about kids with extreme needs. There are kids who for whatever reason have no family support at home and they don’t function well in large classrooms. Yet they are placed there because the school district doesn’t know what to do. They threaten the teacher and other kids. They walk in and walk out whenever they want. Often they get high during lunch and are completely stoned in class. I have sympathy for them because they obviously have past and present trauma. But no one at my school knows how to handle them and they drift around causing havoc. Maybe y’all will just roll your eyes and don’t care but this is a reason why schools in ward 8 have so much teacher turnover. Deal and Wilson are not immune either.

Ok again, I am not denying these issues or the LACK of support. I'm questioning what other people mean when they say "we expect too much from schools in the US, schools should not be social service providers." what exactly does that mean? What you are saying is that you need MORE support at school, not less.

DP here. I understand what you're saying. The WTU-supporters are pretending to not understand you because what they really want is parents to keep lowering expectations. This whole "we here in the U.S. expect too much from our schools" rhetoric is the latest union talking point along with "Parents shouldn't weigh in on what's best for the education of children. Leave that to the professionals!"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its true, parents are too busy with hustle of dual careers and house chores/social life/internet. They want schools to babysit and raise their kids. Unless schools are set up for all that, tgeir will be issues to deal with.

As a parent, I don’t want this. I want schools to be successful at their fundamental purpose of education. I want policy makers to stop over-burdening schools.

As a teacher, I really appreciate this sentiment. The past year on this forum have shown me too many times, however, then when teachers ask for things, they are called greedy, selfish, lazy, etc...

If you look on the local politics board right now, there are multiple threads of people who didn't vote for R. White because of his relationship with WTU. Who do you think is making the policies that overburden the schools? Right now that is Mayor Muriel Bowser and her all encompassing control of schools.

We get that the once in a lifetime (hopefully pandemic) wasn't ideal. We get that the WTU upset people with their actions. If people don't move on from it and keep disqualifying politicians because they support teachers, it is only going to get worse.

Actions have consequences, as they say. It’s a really bizarre political philosophy to think that parents who were angered by school closures should vote for the candidate who is … in favor of continued closures.

You can keep defending your stance. It's not making teachers any less burnt out and ready to leave. It's not stopping buildings from deteriorating. It's not stopping your tax dollars from going directly to a bloated central office where ppl make 6 figures to edit ppt decks and not answer phones from their couches.

No matter how many times you repeat "bloated central office," you're not going to make anyone who cares forget about school closures. If you wanted unconditional support from parents for WTU (which I think you fairly would have had pre-covid) you should not have closed schools and made a big deal about how WTU is there to defend teachers interests only.

DP here. This. It just doesn't make sense for us to vote for someone whose positions we adamantly oppose. This position the teachers are taking is so bizarre and entitled. Of course we're not obligated to vote for him just because you like him even though he harmed our kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its true, parents are too busy with hustle of dual careers and house chores/social life/internet. They want schools to babysit and raise their kids. Unless schools are set up for all that, tgeir will be issues to deal with.

As a parent, I don’t want this. I want schools to be successful at their fundamental purpose of education. I want policy makers to stop over-burdening schools.

As a teacher, I really appreciate this sentiment. The past year on this forum have shown me too many times, however, then when teachers ask for things, they are called greedy, selfish, lazy, etc...

If you look on the local politics board right now, there are multiple threads of people who didn't vote for R. White because of his relationship with WTU. Who do you think is making the policies that overburden the schools? Right now that is Mayor Muriel Bowser and her all encompassing control of schools.

We get that the once in a lifetime (hopefully pandemic) wasn't ideal. We get that the WTU upset people with their actions. If people don't move on from it and keep disqualifying politicians because they support teachers, it is only going to get worse.

Actions have consequences, as they say. It’s a really bizarre political philosophy to think that parents who were angered by school closures should vote for the candidate who is … in favor of continued closures.

You can keep defending your stance. It's not making teachers any less burnt out and ready to leave. It's not stopping buildings from deteriorating. It's not stopping your tax dollars from going directly to a bloated central office where ppl make 6 figures to edit ppt decks and not answer phones from their couches.

No matter how many times you repeat "bloated central office," you're not going to make anyone who cares forget about school closures. If you wanted unconditional support from parents for WTU (which I think you fairly would have had pre-covid) you should not have closed schools and made a big deal about how WTU is there to defend teachers interests only.

NP. THis is how I know you’re not a serious person. Teachers unions and teachers have been vilified forever as lazy, entitled, selfish. Take a little stroll through the DCUM archives pre-March 2020 if you don’t believe me.

The anti-union/anti-teacher fervor did not appear with covid; the pandemic just gave union-haters a new avenue for attack.

Not the pp you're responding to here, but while WTU has had a bad reputation for a long time, parents used to generally separate the union form actual teachers. Now we saw that the actual teachers largely supported school closures and even went on strike to protest a small number of the most vulnerable students returning to in person school. It changed the way many parents feel about the actual teachers. I'll will never again volunteer at a teacher appreciation week activity, although I used to gladly do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its true, parents are too busy with hustle of dual careers and house chores/social life/internet. They want schools to babysit and raise their kids. Unless schools are set up for all that, tgeir will be issues to deal with.

As a parent, I don’t want this. I want schools to be successful at their fundamental purpose of education. I want policy makers to stop over-burdening schools.

As a teacher, I really appreciate this sentiment. The past year on this forum have shown me too many times, however, then when teachers ask for things, they are called greedy, selfish, lazy, etc...

If you look on the local politics board right now, there are multiple threads of people who didn't vote for R. White because of his relationship with WTU. Who do you think is making the policies that overburden the schools? Right now that is Mayor Muriel Bowser and her all encompassing control of schools.

We get that the once in a lifetime (hopefully pandemic) wasn't ideal. We get that the WTU upset people with their actions. If people don't move on from it and keep disqualifying politicians because they support teachers, it is only going to get worse.

Actions have consequences, as they say. It’s a really bizarre political philosophy to think that parents who were angered by school closures should vote for the candidate who is … in favor of continued closures.

You can keep defending your stance. It's not making teachers any less burnt out and ready to leave. It's not stopping buildings from deteriorating. It's not stopping your tax dollars from going directly to a bloated central office where ppl make 6 figures to edit ppt decks and not answer phones from their couches.

No matter how many times you repeat "bloated central office," you're not going to make anyone who cares forget about school closures. If you wanted unconditional support from parents for WTU (which I think you fairly would have had pre-covid) you should not have closed schools and made a big deal about how WTU is there to defend teachers interests only.

NP. THis is how I know you’re not a serious person. Teachers unions and teachers have been vilified forever as lazy, entitled, selfish. Take a little stroll through the DCUM archives pre-March 2020 if you don’t believe me.

The anti-union/anti-teacher fervor did not appear with covid; the pandemic just gave union-haters a new avenue for attack.

Not the pp you're responding to here, but while WTU has had a bad reputation for a long time, parents used to generally separate the union form actual teachers. Now we saw that the actual teachers largely supported school closures and even went on strike to protest a small number of the most vulnerable students returning to in person school. It changed the way many parents feel about the actual teachers. I'll will never again volunteer at a teacher appreciation week activity, although I used to gladly do it.

Darn

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its true, parents are too busy with hustle of dual careers and house chores/social life/internet. They want schools to babysit and raise their kids. Unless schools are set up for all that, tgeir will be issues to deal with.

As a parent, I don’t want this. I want schools to be successful at their fundamental purpose of education. I want policy makers to stop over-burdening schools.

As a teacher, I really appreciate this sentiment. The past year on this forum have shown me too many times, however, then when teachers ask for things, they are called greedy, selfish, lazy, etc...

If you look on the local politics board right now, there are multiple threads of people who didn't vote for R. White because of his relationship with WTU. Who do you think is making the policies that overburden the schools? Right now that is Mayor Muriel Bowser and her all encompassing control of schools.

We get that the once in a lifetime (hopefully pandemic) wasn't ideal. We get that the WTU upset people with their actions. If people don't move on from it and keep disqualifying politicians because they support teachers, it is only going to get worse.

Actions have consequences, as they say. It’s a really bizarre political philosophy to think that parents who were angered by school closures should vote for the candidate who is … in favor of continued closures.

You can keep defending your stance. It's not making teachers any less burnt out and ready to leave. It's not stopping buildings from deteriorating. It's not stopping your tax dollars from going directly to a bloated central office where ppl make 6 figures to edit ppt decks and not answer phones from their couches.

No matter how many times you repeat "bloated central office," you're not going to make anyone who cares forget about school closures. If you wanted unconditional support from parents for WTU (which I think you fairly would have had pre-covid) you should not have closed schools and made a big deal about how WTU is there to defend teachers interests only.

NP. THis is how I know you’re not a serious person. Teachers unions and teachers have been vilified forever as lazy, entitled, selfish. Take a little stroll through the DCUM archives pre-March 2020 if you don’t believe me.

The anti-union/anti-teacher fervor did not appear with covid; the pandemic just gave union-haters a new avenue for attack.

Not the pp you're responding to here, but while WTU has had a bad reputation for a long time, parents used to generally separate the union form actual teachers. Now we saw that the actual teachers largely supported school closures and even went on strike to protest a small number of the most vulnerable students returning to in person school. It changed the way many parents feel about the actual teachers. I'll will never again volunteer at a teacher appreciation week activity, although I used to gladly do it.

Darn

You're missing the point. It's that there has indeed been a big change and many parents no longer support teachers the way they used to; not that some moms don't want to serve you breakfast once a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its true, parents are too busy with hustle of dual careers and house chores/social life/internet. They want schools to babysit and raise their kids. Unless schools are set up for all that, tgeir will be issues to deal with.

As a parent, I don’t want this. I want schools to be successful at their fundamental purpose of education. I want policy makers to stop over-burdening schools.

As a teacher, I really appreciate this sentiment. The past year on this forum have shown me too many times, however, then when teachers ask for things, they are called greedy, selfish, lazy, etc...

If you look on the local politics board right now, there are multiple threads of people who didn't vote for R. White because of his relationship with WTU. Who do you think is making the policies that overburden the schools? Right now that is Mayor Muriel Bowser and her all encompassing control of schools.

We get that the once in a lifetime (hopefully pandemic) wasn't ideal. We get that the WTU upset people with their actions. If people don't move on from it and keep disqualifying politicians because they support teachers, it is only going to get worse.

Actions have consequences, as they say. It’s a really bizarre political philosophy to think that parents who were angered by school closures should vote for the candidate who is … in favor of continued closures.

You can keep defending your stance. It's not making teachers any less burnt out and ready to leave. It's not stopping buildings from deteriorating. It's not stopping your tax dollars from going directly to a bloated central office where ppl make 6 figures to edit ppt decks and not answer phones from their couches.

No matter how many times you repeat "bloated central office," you're not going to make anyone who cares forget about school closures. If you wanted unconditional support from parents for WTU (which I think you fairly would have had pre-covid) you should not have closed schools and made a big deal about how WTU is there to defend teachers interests only.

NP. THis is how I know you’re not a serious person. Teachers unions and teachers have been vilified forever as lazy, entitled, selfish. Take a little stroll through the DCUM archives pre-March 2020 if you don’t believe me.

The anti-union/anti-teacher fervor did not appear with covid; the pandemic just gave union-haters a new avenue for attack.

Not the pp you're responding to here, but while WTU has had a bad reputation for a long time, parents used to generally separate the union form actual teachers. Now we saw that the actual teachers largely supported school closures and even went on strike to protest a small number of the most vulnerable students returning to in person school. It changed the way many parents feel about the actual teachers. I'll will never again volunteer at a teacher appreciation week activity, although I used to gladly do it.

Darn

You're missing the point. It's that there has indeed been a big change and many parents no longer support teachers the way they used to; not that some moms don't want to serve you breakfast once a year.

No I get it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


So you think schools shouldn’t deliver meals? And should not accept homeless kids or kids with behavioral problems?


I don’t think this is easy to understand if you are not actually in a classroom. The teacher who described the challenges above was talking about kids with extreme needs. There are kids who for whatever reason have no family support at home and they don’t function well in large classrooms. Yet they are placed there because the school district doesn’t know what to do. They threaten the teacher and other kids. They walk in and walk out whenever they want. Often they get high during lunch and are completely stoned in class. I have sympathy for them because they obviously have past and present trauma. But no one at my school knows how to handle them and they drift around causing havoc. Maybe y’all will just roll your eyes and don’t care but this is a reason why schools in ward 8 have so much teacher turnover. Deal and Wilson are not immune either.

I think what some of us are saying is that the kids with the extreme needs who cannot function in a socialized way in large classrooms need to be pulled out into smaller classroom settings where they get intensive intervention, and then sent to residential treatment programs if they cannot make it in the contained environment. Because that is the trajectory that functional parents with dysfunctional teens pursue in order to try to get their kids back on track. The answer is NOT to leave the anti-social kids floundering in the regular classroom and destroying the learning environment for everyone else.

Exactly this. But central office and city council want to mainstream everyone because of “equity”. It is helpful to no one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


So you think schools shouldn’t deliver meals? And should not accept homeless kids or kids with behavioral problems?


I don’t think this is easy to understand if you are not actually in a classroom. The teacher who described the challenges above was talking about kids with extreme needs. There are kids who for whatever reason have no family support at home and they don’t function well in large classrooms. Yet they are placed there because the school district doesn’t know what to do. They threaten the teacher and other kids. They walk in and walk out whenever they want. Often they get high during lunch and are completely stoned in class. I have sympathy for them because they obviously have past and present trauma. But no one at my school knows how to handle them and they drift around causing havoc. Maybe y’all will just roll your eyes and don’t care but this is a reason why schools in ward 8 have so much teacher turnover. Deal and Wilson are not immune either.

I think what some of us are saying is that the kids with the extreme needs who cannot function in a socialized way in large classrooms need to be pulled out into smaller classroom settings where they get intensive intervention, and then sent to residential treatment programs if they cannot make it in the contained environment. Because that is the trajectory that functional parents with dysfunctional teens pursue in order to try to get their kids back on track. The answer is NOT to leave the anti-social kids floundering in the regular classroom and destroying the learning environment for everyone else.

Teacher who agrees with you 100%. Know that part of the problem here is that you can’t just “send” a child off without parental permission. Parents who don’t return phone calls, blame the school, or call you a racist and threaten legal action don’t help. They’re basically say, “I have no interest in caring for my child but I’ll be damned if someone else is going to do it!”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


I think what some of us are saying is that the kids with the extreme needs who cannot function in a socialized way in large classrooms need to be pulled out into smaller classroom settings where they get intensive intervention, and then sent to residential treatment programs if they cannot make it in the contained environment. Because that is the trajectory that functional parents with dysfunctional teens pursue in order to try to get their kids back on track. The answer is NOT to leave the anti-social kids floundering in the regular classroom and destroying the learning environment for everyone else.


Teacher who agrees with you 100%. Know that part of the problem here is that you can’t just “send” a child off without parental permission. Parents who don’t return phone calls, blame the school, or call you a racist and threaten legal action don’t help. They’re basically say, “I have no interest in caring for my child but I’ll be damned if someone else is going to do it!”

Absolutely I realize this. And also agree with the PP that DCPS focuses on "equity" above all else and uses that word in a way that is often detrimental to everyone, especially the children they are professing to help. The cynic in me also thinks that by tolerating this type of behavioral disruption, DPCS also realizes that it often drives away the families who care most about education. Since those are also the families who are most likely to be vocal and demanding about educational rigor and quality, the DCPS central office and school administration can then coast along in mediocrity or worse, while it is the classroom teachers who have to endure abuse and chaos.