grrr... pregnant teacher

[Anonymous]

Maybe you'll get someone great. When my son's absolutely fantastic teacher went on leave for paternity leave, the long-term sub was a beloved teacher at the school who had retired a couple years earlier.

[Anonymous]

My kindergartner's teacher had her baby right at the end of the 2015-2016 school year (before we were in her class). She is taking a full maternity leave, and will return to her class (with my child in it) in mid-October.

The good news is that her assistant teacher started the year with the class (under the sub) and will continue in that role when the teacher returns. We know him from aftercare last year and my child loves him and always hugs him goodbye at pickup time. So we've got stability and continuity of operations.

The bad news is that the class has had a couple of different subs and the kids don't seem to have gotten their feet under them yet. Every day one or more of them still has a screaming don't-leave-me tantrum at dropoff. My own child, who has always been breathtakingly easygoing and even-keeled, now freaks out and bursts into tears for reasons like "it's a PE day and THESE SHORTS ARE TOO THICK!!". Generally my child deals just fine with change, provided it's change from Steady State A to Steady State B. Flux, on the other hand, is rough for everybody.

Long story short, I agree with the subject line, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with the teacher or her choices. Rather, it has everything to do with the same system that punished me when I had my kids. A maternity leave should not create a gaping hole in the fabric of your operation. This is something that can, and should, be foreseen and worked around.

[Anonymous]

How do you feel about your schools' admin? That's what matters. My principal has hired some excellent teachers n the last few years, so I would trust him to hire a good long term sub. Sometimes teachers get to be involved in picking their sub, sometimes not.

[Anonymous]

I do support teachers having the families they want to have. And at the same time felt like my child had a sub par school year when her K teacher left on maternity leave at winter break. The sub was inexperienced and things generally felt unorganized and chaotic.

So yes, it was fine that the teacher had a baby. But between her feeling checked out significantly before her leave officially began, and with her leave taking up half the school year I wish that they had come up with a better plan for her students than the one that they did. Especially because she was well along into her pregnancy even at the start of the school year.

I wish I had asked more questions - I assumed that the school would have a better solution worked out, but they seemed to wing it and gave the parents very little information.

[Anonymous]

but why are these frustrations focused on the teachers and not the administrators?

[Anonymous]

No posts have criticized teachers, just noted that this or that teacher took leave..I think.there was one that said administration n could have been more on top of things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kindergartner's teacher had her baby right at the end of the 2015-2016 school year (before we were in her class). She is taking a full maternity leave, and will return to her class (with my child in it) in mid-October.

The good news is that her assistant teacher started the year with the class (under the sub) and will continue in that role when the teacher returns. We know him from aftercare last year and my child loves him and always hugs him goodbye at pickup time. So we've got stability and continuity of operations.

The bad news is that the class has had a couple of different subs and the kids don't seem to have gotten their feet under them yet. Every day one or more of them still has a screaming don't-leave-me tantrum at dropoff. My own child, who has always been breathtakingly easygoing and even-keeled, now freaks out and bursts into tears for reasons like "it's a PE day and THESE SHORTS ARE TOO THICK!!". Generally my child deals just fine with change, provided it's change from Steady State A to Steady State B. Flux, on the other hand, is rough for everybody.

Long story short, I agree with the subject line, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with the teacher or her choices. Rather, it has everything to do with the same system that punished me when I had my kids. A maternity leave should not create a gaping hole in the fabric of your operation. This is something that can, and should, be foreseen and worked around.

This. The "OMG whatever will we do, let's put together a hodgepodge, slapdash response to this as if it were a completely novel, non-repeatable event that will leave everything in dysfunction for 12 weeks" response employers have to maternity leave is pathetic and leaves everyone in the lurch. Not unique to schools in the slightest, every employer I've had seems completely unprepared when an employee takes maternity/paternity leave, like it's not a completely normal human life event to have a child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The part that bothers me about OP's question isn't the title, it's the idea that the school would do anything less than their best to find a competent long-term sub.

Unless, of course, a bunch of folks with no educational experience step in and micromanage the process.

It demonstrates a total lack of respect for the profession of school administrator, and assumes an absence of good faith.

My experience with school admins is that perfectly competent, but they're overworked and mostly moving from crisis to crisis. A little grumbling from parents might make it clear they need to deal with a wheel before it becomes squeaky.

Oh FFS. A maternity leave isn't taking anyone by surprise. I'm sure the administration is quite aware this is something they need to "deal with."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No posts have criticized teachers, just noted that this or that teacher took leave..I think.there was one that said administration n could have been more on top of things.

I'm a teacher and I've been on maternity leave twice. If your kid's class doesn't get a good sub, it's not because the administrators aren't "on top of things." There isn't exactly a huge pool of highly qualified, experienced, long term substitute teachers out there. If they were that great, they would be in full time position. Administrators can't conjure up a great sub like magic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No posts have criticized teachers, just noted that this or that teacher took leave..I think.there was one that said administration n could have been more on top of things.

I'm a teacher and I've been on maternity leave twice. If your kid's class doesn't get a good sub, it's not because the administrators aren't "on top of things." There isn't exactly a huge pool of highly qualified, experienced, long term substitute teachers out there. If they were that great, they would be in full time position. Administrators can't conjure up a great sub like magic.

As others have noted - there's a systemic problem here. Obviously not the teacher's fault. But the lack of a society that deals with maternity leave in an effective, thoughtful, supportive way for all impacted. I think at a minimum, the administration should communicate what their plans are with the parents - and also since maternity leaves happen regularly, there needs to be a better investment in developing a pool of long term subs... based on the track record of LT subs at our school, I am very concerned my child's class - where the teacher is only going to be there about half of the year. Having a good teacher is a big deal. I don't imagine helicopter parents WOTP are concerned about teacher quality and wanting their children to have strong teachers throughout a child's career, and don't consider dealing with a lesser quality than they deserve as something little kids should just 'deal' with. Seriously. It's an issue that should be dealt with by the school system and administrations at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No posts have criticized teachers, just noted that this or that teacher took leave..I think.there was one that said administration n could have been more on top of things.

I'm a teacher and I've been on maternity leave twice. If your kid's class doesn't get a good sub, it's not because the administrators aren't "on top of things." There isn't exactly a huge pool of highly qualified, experienced, long term substitute teachers out there. If they were that great, they would be in full time position. Administrators can't conjure up a great sub like magic.

As others have noted - there's a systemic problem here. Obviously not the teacher's fault. But the lack of a society that deals with maternity leave in an effective, thoughtful, supportive way for all impacted. I think at a minimum, the administration should communicate what their plans are with the parents - and also since maternity leaves happen regularly, there needs to be a better investment in developing a pool of long term subs... based on the track record of LT subs at our school, I am very concerned my child's class - where the teacher is only going to be there about half of the year. Having a good teacher is a big deal. I don't imagine helicopter parents WOTP are concerned about teacher quality and wanting their children to have strong teachers throughout a child's career, and don't consider dealing with a lesser quality than they deserve as something little kids should just 'deal' with. Seriously. It's an issue that should be dealt with by the school system and administrations at school.

What plan do you want communicated? Here's the plan: they will hire a long term sub. 9 times out of 10, you can't hire this sub months in advance because if a person is subbing, they want to keep their options open. Of course everyone wants a great, high quality sub when a teacher goes on maternity leave. You don't think the administration wants the same thing you want? Where do you suggest we get these great subs? Reality check-- it's hard enough to find quality teachers for full-time positions. Teacher shortages are real. No one is saying it doesn't suck, but the solution is not as simple as "the administration needs to get on the ball!"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No posts have criticized teachers, just noted that this or that teacher took leave..I think.there was one that said administration n could have been more on top of things.

I'm a teacher and I've been on maternity leave twice. If your kid's class doesn't get a good sub, it's not because the administrators aren't "on top of things." There isn't exactly a huge pool of highly qualified, experienced, long term substitute teachers out there. If they were that great, they would be in full time position. Administrators can't conjure up a great sub like magic.

As others have noted - there's a systemic problem here. Obviously not the teacher's fault. But the lack of a society that deals with maternity leave in an effective, thoughtful, supportive way for all impacted. I think at a minimum, the administration should communicate what their plans are with the parents - and also since maternity leaves happen regularly, there needs to be a better investment in developing a pool of long term subs... based on the track record of LT subs at our school, I am very concerned my child's class - where the teacher is only going to be there about half of the year. Having a good teacher is a big deal. I don't imagine helicopter parents WOTP are concerned about teacher quality and wanting their children to have strong teachers throughout a child's career, and don't consider dealing with a lesser quality than they deserve as something little kids should just 'deal' with. Seriously. It's an issue that should be dealt with by the school system and administrations at school.

What plan do you want communicated? Here's the plan: they will hire a long term sub. 9 times out of 10, you can't hire this sub months in advance because if a person is subbing, they want to keep their options open. Of course everyone wants a great, high quality sub when a teacher goes on maternity leave. You don't think the administration wants the same thing you want? Where do you suggest we get these great subs? Reality check-- it's hard enough to find quality teachers for full-time positions. Teacher shortages are real. No one is saying it doesn't suck, but the solution is not as simple as "the administration needs to get on the ball!"

I'm not part of the school system, but as a parent who's had a child with a sub for half of the year last year, one thing I wonder is why couldn't there be a temporary position announcement? Like for an actual teaching role vs. a sub, or is that not feasible? I know that most teachers probably look for work during the regular school cycle, but have also known teachers who have, for various reasons, wanted to enter the work force after the school year had already started. If you know far enough in advance that you are going to need a teacher for X class, then it seems like there must be better solutions than long term subs. Substitute teachers are great for a little while, but don't seem like a great choice for teaching 50% or more of the year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No posts have criticized teachers, just noted that this or that teacher took leave..I think.there was one that said administration n could have been more on top of things.

I'm a teacher and I've been on maternity leave twice. If your kid's class doesn't get a good sub, it's not because the administrators aren't "on top of things." There isn't exactly a huge pool of highly qualified, experienced, long term substitute teachers out there. If they were that great, they would be in full time position. Administrators can't conjure up a great sub like magic.

As others have noted - there's a systemic problem here. Obviously not the teacher's fault. But the lack of a society that deals with maternity leave in an effective, thoughtful, supportive way for all impacted. I think at a minimum, the administration should communicate what their plans are with the parents - and also since maternity leaves happen regularly, there needs to be a better investment in developing a pool of long term subs... based on the track record of LT subs at our school, I am very concerned my child's class - where the teacher is only going to be there about half of the year. Having a good teacher is a big deal. I don't imagine helicopter parents WOTP are concerned about teacher quality and wanting their children to have strong teachers throughout a child's career, and don't consider dealing with a lesser quality than they deserve as something little kids should just 'deal' with. Seriously. It's an issue that should be dealt with by the school system and administrations at school.

What plan do you want communicated? Here's the plan: they will hire a long term sub. 9 times out of 10, you can't hire this sub months in advance because if a person is subbing, they want to keep their options open. Of course everyone wants a great, high quality sub when a teacher goes on maternity leave. You don't think the administration wants the same thing you want? Where do you suggest we get these great subs? Reality check-- it's hard enough to find quality teachers for full-time positions. Teacher shortages are real. No one is saying it doesn't suck, but the solution is not as simple as "the administration needs to get on the ball!"

I'm not part of the school system, but as a parent who's had a child with a sub for half of the year last year, one thing I wonder is why couldn't there be a temporary position announcement? Like for an actual teaching role vs. a sub, or is that not feasible? I know that most teachers probably look for work during the regular school cycle, but have also known teachers who have, for various reasons, wanted to enter the work force after the school year had already started. If you know far enough in advance that you are going to need a teacher for X class, then it seems like there must be better solutions than long term subs. Substitute teachers are great for a little while, but don't seem like a great choice for teaching 50% or more of the year.

It's like people are not even reading. Everyone wants high-quality long-term subs. You. The regular teachers. The administration. Everyone. But they do not exist, or at least very few of them do. If they were even close to high-quality, they would be in full-time teaching positions. It is not anyone's fault. It is just how things are. Teaching is a stressful job and lots of folks burn out. So schools are having a hard enough time finding good regular teachers let alone subs.

[Anonymous]

to get back on track.... this has happened to us TWICE in our school career so far. Both times, the teacher was due in November/December time frame, and neither of the teachers came back. We ended up really loving the long-term subs in both cases. The school brought the sub in close to the time that the teacher was going on maternity leave. It sucks to lose a teacher who you care about, but it will work out really well in the end, I'm sure.

[Anonymous]

This happened 3 x to my dcs in elementary school. I certainly don't begrudge a teacher maternity leave but we were stuck with 2 bad substitute teachers out of the 3 times. My dc lost a good part of 3rd grade because the teacher quality was severely lacking. I don't know what the solution may be but it would be great if there was a pool of quality teachers that could be pulled from when a teacher goes out during the school year on maternity leave.