Does Anyone Have Any Examples of How the MCPS Shortage is Impacting Things This Year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have kids at two different MCPS elementary schools. Both are in classes with 24 kids, which seems perfectly normal. Both are in classes with good, solid teachers who have been at the schools for several years. There is one long-term sub in another class at one school, but it is for a planned maternity leave, not a shortage.

The biggest issues I have seen are with the bus - the schedules and routes are constantly changing... the bus is often late or gets lost because they have a sub... it's been highly inconsistent.

So glad things are working for you. It must be the same throughout the county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t think MCPS could get any worse. I was wrong.

There’s a school district in WV that’s moving to half-day Fridays to compensate for the staff shortages. Other states have called in the National Guard to drive school buses because of driver shortages. It could be worse.

Drive your own kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Exactly. I remember when my DS' Spanish class had 38 students and the teacher told us on back to school night that she would have difficulty managing such a large class. No joke!

If only! DC on 5th short term sub for Spanish. So far all non Spanish speakers!

I have studies 6 languages and the best teachers have been non-native speakers. They understood what makes the language hard since they had once started themselves. The worst ones have been native speakers who barely spoke another language.

Disagree somewhat. I studied two languages in depth. My best Spanish teachers were both individuals that grew up truly bilingual and were also quite educated. One had been to college in the US, then a graduate program in Mexico, so his grammar in both languages was top notch and he was just a super smart guy (maybe an anthropologist by training -- one of those non-marketable degrees so went into HS teaching as a passion project). The other language I studied, it really required a combination of non-native speakers with native speakers to get it right.
IME, the Spanish teachers in MCPS are quite bad -- their accents are really quite awful. They are okay on the grammar and vocab stuff, but not great. It seems like maybe Spanish and education are easy college degrees, so it attracts a lot of people who aren't really that intellectual, so they don't teach the grammar in the systematic the way that you'd hope a non-native speaker would approach it. If I had more time, I'd supplement more at home. I at least try to put on Spanish language TV so they can hear what the words are supposed to sound like. It's sort of surprising to me that they can't get better teachers for Spanish, given how many people n this country grow up bilingual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m sure (I hope, at least!) that this year teachers are staying home when they have cold-type symptoms that in past years they’d just push through.


But I don’t think we want teachers, even vaccinated ones, powering through that throat tickle or slight cough to head into the classroom. So everybody scrambles to cover. Following those covid best practices is inevitably going to exacerbate the shortage of subs that’s been a recurring problem for years.

Teachers aren’t allowed to get tested in schools and we are under a lot of pressure to keep showing up even when sick because of the shortage. We are all losing planning periods to cover other classes. Schools/admin does not want to test teachers bc there is a shortage already. A former colleague of mine tested positive and her administrator told her not to say anything.

This really pisses me off- both for you as teachers but also for our kids who are forced to quarantine for 10 days if exposed.

+1 It’s really short sighted for any employer to ask employees to come to work sick - especially with COVID being so easily transmissible. One employee will infect others, including other staff members. One teacher will multiply to whole departments and grade levels. Who will be able to cover duties then?

In the early stage of the pandemic, nurses (who caught COVID on the job) were asked to staff hospitals even when they had a fever. Insane concept but as the patient needs increased, healthcare workers were expected to keep working even when they became sick. Sometimes there’s a disconnect in the decisions and pressure of administrators who are shortsighted to see the negative impact of their decisions.

[Anonymous]

The kindergarten classes are huge, the school is short two kindergarten teachers at the moment. The school is also short staffed on paraprofessionals

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m sure (I hope, at least!) that this year teachers are staying home when they have cold-type symptoms that in past years they’d just push through.


But I don’t think we want teachers, even vaccinated ones, powering through that throat tickle or slight cough to head into the classroom. So everybody scrambles to cover. Following those covid best practices is inevitably going to exacerbate the shortage of subs that’s been a recurring problem for years.

Teachers aren’t allowed to get tested in schools and we are under a lot of pressure to keep showing up even when sick because of the shortage. We are all losing planning periods to cover other classes. Schools/admin does not want to test teachers bc there is a shortage already. A former colleague of mine tested positive and her administrator told her not to say anything.

This really pisses me off- both for you as teachers but also for our kids who are forced to quarantine for 10 days if exposed.

+1 It’s really short sighted for any employer to ask employees to come to work sick - especially with COVID being so easily transmissible. One employee will infect others, including other staff members. One teacher will multiply to whole departments and grade levels. Who will be able to cover duties then?

In the early stage of the pandemic, nurses (who caught COVID on the job) were asked to staff hospitals even when they had a fever. Insane concept but as the patient needs increased, healthcare workers were expected to keep working even when they became sick. Sometimes there’s a disconnect in the decisions and pressure of administrators who are shortsighted to see the negative impact of their decisions.

I completely agree originally the test was for anybody at risk but now if you think you're sick you have to take sick leave and drive somewhere to go find a test. It's so counterproductive. And it's not like there's a shortage of tests where it would really be an extreme burden to occasionally test teachers

[Anonymous]

Since schools are short staffed, why aren’t school level administrators or Central Office Administrators chipping in? They have education degrees. They used to be teachers. So many levels of bureaucracy when you need manpower in the trenches even if it’s to help substitute classes. Perhaps the experience would remind administrators of where the priorities should be.

[Anonymous]

MCPS is hierarchical to the 9th degree. Sunil Dasgupta interviewed the one coordinator in central office who said she is the only point of contact for principals for all covid contact tracing decisions and all contact tracing guidance for all staff and students, and also, at least until they get the new dashboard functioning, making sure it's updated with all principals' letters about cases. For the entire system! If the chiefs and assistant chiefs and assistant to the assistant chiefs and the deputy assistants to the assistant chiefs aren't going to help one of their own coordinators in central office, I don't think they're going to sub for a teacher or pick up a bus duty at Clarksburg or Takoma Park. I think they should be required to rotate through the schools and pick up the slack. The principals should get to assign them the jobs.

[Anonymous]

Haha. I remember vaguely parents telling the teachers to quit last year. Looks like some did. Now we are in a pickle. Looks like the bus drivers left too. Oh dam. I am so happy we are in a private school and do not have to deal with MCPS' garbage schools anymore. Just thought I would pop in and see if any improvements have been made. Nope. Of course not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Since schools are short staffed, why aren’t school level administrators or Central Office Administrators chipping in? They have education degrees. They used to be teachers. So many levels of bureaucracy when you need manpower in the trenches even if it’s to help substitute classes. Perhaps the experience would remind administrators of where the priorities should be.

They are! Central office sent offers to principals last month. Not every principal agreed, but many did. DD’s school has three staff from central office working at her school. They can’t teach because they don’t have certifications, but they are in the Media Center, Health Room, and Main Office. We got a letter about it on Monday.

[Anonymous]

BOE needs to step up and make major changes. History will not be on their side.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m sure (I hope, at least!) that this year teachers are staying home when they have cold-type symptoms that in past years they’d just push through.


But I don’t think we want teachers, even vaccinated ones, powering through that throat tickle or slight cough to head into the classroom. So everybody scrambles to cover. Following those covid best practices is inevitably going to exacerbate the shortage of subs that’s been a recurring problem for years.

Teachers aren’t allowed to get tested in schools and we are under a lot of pressure to keep showing up even when sick because of the shortage. We are all losing planning periods to cover other classes. Schools/admin does not want to test teachers bc there is a shortage already. A former colleague of mine tested positive and her administrator told her not to say anything.

This really pisses me off- both for you as teachers but also for our kids who are forced to quarantine for 10 days if exposed.

It's amazing since there isn't a shortage. Last I knew kids were going to private in droves and they were laying teachers off. Oh wait that's what they were saying last week...

Agree, the only shortage is in the OP's mind.

There’s a massive sub shortage and para shortage. Still over 300 teaching jobs available. Wake up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Haha. I remember vaguely parents telling the teachers to quit last year. Looks like some did. Now we are in a pickle. Looks like the bus drivers left too. Oh dam. I am so happy we are in a private school and do not have to deal with MCPS' garbage schools anymore. Just thought I would pop in and see if any improvements have been made. Nope. Of course not.

Bully for you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS is hierarchical to the 9th degree. Sunil Dasgupta interviewed the one coordinator in central office who said she is the only point of contact for principals for all covid contact tracing decisions and all contact tracing guidance for all staff and students, and also, at least until they get the new dashboard functioning, making sure it's updated with all principals' letters about cases. For the entire system! If the chiefs and assistant chiefs and assistant to the assistant chiefs and the deputy assistants to the assistant chiefs aren't going to help one of their own coordinators in central office, I don't think they're going to sub for a teacher or pick up a bus duty at Clarksburg or Takoma Park. I think they should be required to rotate through the schools and pick up the slack. The principals should get to assign them the jobs.

Meh... he loves to run his mouth without actually doing anything.

[Anonymous]

If principals taught they might be caught up in the cins quenches of manipulating data falsely. It's probably much easier to just intimidate teachers to do it them force them to resign. Oh wait. Did someone say shortage. New plan. Maybe we should start treating them as professionals again in a decade or two when we can lure quality people back to the profession without traumatizing them with red tape and threats.