Fairfax County--in the top 10 worst places for a teacher to work

[Anonymous]

That's clearly a function of where you taught here, and where you teach there. Great logic skills you possess.

Exactly. Plenty of schools around Atlanta with ESOL kids. Try Gainesville.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe the county should build them a teachers-only apartment complex so that they can afford to live here?

When I was a kid, I thought teachers lived in their classrooms.

All kidding aside, in this area especially, we should have affordable housing built for community workers of all kinds.

If you go by cost of living, Fairfax County is one of the worst places in the country to work and live, for any of us making less than six figures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS has insanely good benefits and for everyone I know who works there, it's a second salary -- wife works FCPS, husband does something higher-paying but less secure (much like the DC families who have one fed for the stability and one private sector for the cash).

I know one teacher who was on maternity leave three times in 4 years. And not over the summer either. During the school year. Appears to have taken the job for the benefits since her husband had a good job.

Prior PP here. This is the kind of thing I'm talking about. I know a teacher who did the same. Yearlong maternity leave, three times in a row. She still has her decently-paying job.

You don't get paid beyond a few weeks for maternity leave. A year is sans salary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS has insanely good benefits

Such as?
I'm just curious. I agree the VRS and ERFC retirement systems are pretty good. Just wondering what is considered to be "insanely good".

I've met several teachers who have gone through fertility treatments all paid for up to 3 times. This is unheard of in the private sector.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/perk-facebook-apple-now-pay-women-freeze-eggs-n225011

No.. OK, maybe in private schools, but not the private sector.

No, private school usually pay significantly less and their benefits stink BC they can't negotiate with insurance companies like larger school districts.

[Anonymous]

FCPS doesn't offer paid maternity leave beyond whatever accrued sick leave you have, and possibly two paid weeks of short term disability for a max of no more than six weeks total (8 weeks for a c-section). You must use at least 20 days of sick leave before the 2 weeks of paid short term disability kicks in. If you have less than 20 days sick leave, you use up all your sick leave, go the redo of the 20 days unpaid, and then get a paid two weeks. So, really, the maximum benefit is 2 extra weeks. Even then, you don't get it if those 2 weeks happen to fall on a vacation or summer week. Hardly fantastic maternity benefits.

Anyone who took a year off did it unpaid.

[Anonymous]

I have yet to hear what these "insanely good" benefits are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS doesn't offer paid maternity leave beyond whatever accrued sick leave you have, and possibly two paid weeks of short term disability for a max of no more than six weeks total (8 weeks for a c-section). You must use at least 20 days of sick leave before the 2 weeks of paid short term disability kicks in. If you have less than 20 days sick leave, you use up all your sick leave, go the redo of the 20 days unpaid, and then get a paid two weeks. So, really, the maximum benefit is 2 extra weeks. Even then, you don't get it if those 2 weeks happen to fall on a vacation or summer week. Hardly fantastic maternity benefits.

Anyone who took a year off did it unpaid.

Correct. If you do want to get "paid" it's by using your sick leave to pay yourself. I stayed out for 12 weeks. Once the short-term disability stopped (8 weeks postpartum because I had a c-section) I used sick leave that I had accrued and was able to be paid during my leave. I had been in FCPS for over 10 years and had tons of sick leave accrued. If I had been a new teacher, I would not have had that much leave and would not have been paid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous



I think summers off is a big enough perk.

Just double-checking...you do understand that it's a furlough system, right? Teachers aren't paid for the entire summer. That is not the same as "summers off." "Summers off" would be paid leave.
Teachers are under contract from Sept-June, then have to give back their work IDs, their keys to buildings and classrooms, etc. until the following fall. They are not paid for any training they go to over the summer (for me, that was two weeks of unpaid training last summer; much more for other teachers I know).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have yet to hear what these "insanely good" benefits are.

There are a lot of “perks” that cannot translate to “salary” but are extremely beneficial.

The professional development opportunities available in FCPS are second to none (having worked in other districts, I am speaking from experience).
FCPS reimburses teachers for up to 1 graduate course (or comparable) a year.
The multi-media dept. in FCPS is awesome. If you ever have a need for anything related to multi-media, they are very responsive. In most other districts, this dept. barely exists.
The Teacher Materials Preparation Center is great. Very helpful, and in most cases, schools have accounts to pay for materials.
New teachers to FCPS have additional perks.

This is off the top of my head.
Here is the HR site to outline some benefits:
http://www.fcps.edu/employment/totalcomp.shtml

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The “media” outlet that published this story is “Quartz.” Hardly a reputable source for this type of article.
And, the headline is terribly misleading.
To claim that a place is the “best place to teach” based on only ONE criterion is ridiculous.

So media snob, how about the NY Times? Better?
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/03/us/middle-class-pay-elusive-for-teachers-report-says.html?_r=0

[Anonymous]

I'll add to the year off for maternity leave posts by saying that it is unpaid AND you have to pay the full cost of insurance benefits after FMLA ends at 12 weeks. Hardly a great deal.

[Anonymous]

The article is corrected to recalculate costs and Fairfax is off the list. Moreover, if you look at that top-ten list, none are place particularly known for the quality of their schools. You have to get paid more to live/work in bad places.

[Anonymous]

I'll add to the year off for maternity leave posts by saying that it is unpaid AND you have to pay the full cost of insurance benefits after FMLA ends at 12 weeks. Hardly a great deal.

You do know that is not uncommon? You do know that it costs money for the county to cover you? Lots of money.

[Anonymous]

Correct. If you do want to get "paid" it's by using your sick leave to pay yourself. I stayed out for 12 weeks. Once the short-term disability stopped (8 weeks postpartum because I had a c-section) I used sick leave that I had accrued and was able to be paid during my leave. I had been in FCPS for over 10 years and had tons of sick leave accrued. If I had been a new teacher, I would not have had that much leave and would not have been paid.

And, that's the way it works for most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous



I think summers off is a big enough perk.



Just double-checking...you do understand that it's a furlough system, right? Teachers aren't paid for the entire summer. That is not the same as "summers off." "Summers off" would be paid leave.
Teachers are under contract from Sept-June, then have to give back their work IDs, their keys to buildings and classrooms, etc. until the following fall. They are not paid for any training they go to over the summer (for me, that was two weeks of unpaid training last summer; much more for other teachers I know).

Check the contract. You are paid for a certain number of days: it translates to about 38 weeks. That's a pretty good perk for the salary.