Who exactly will be managing the CARES classrooms?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree central office is bloated and inefficient. That is because almost all the deputy chiefs and higher are pretty bad. The good ones never last. They either get pushed out or leave because they can’t take the constant churn and dysfunction. I need to get out for my sanity but need to wait until the economy improves. There are some good people but they get burnt out. I was at the all staff meeting yesterday and people were very upset. There was a question about virus testing but chancellor basically said there is no money for that. He kept saying everyone has to sacrifice and he has not had a vacation since March. I couldn’t believe he said that. He makes over $300k and I’m sorry but stress and responsibility comes with this job. I have had one week off since Jan 2020. Someone asked if staff are sent to schools then who will do their central office jobs and he said colleagues will have to take over and do double duty. Someone asked about health protections or extra coverage if you get exposed at school and get sick. He wouldn’t answer directly but it sounds like you just have to use up your own sick leave. Let’s just say no one left happy.

Teacher here. Did you have the same outrage when teachers were going back into these conditions? Or just only concerned now that you are going in?
It’ll be humbling for you to walk a mile in our shoes.

How would you like to be reassigned without option to her job at Central?

Well I’m a math specialist being reassigned as a in person classroom teacher and it sucks. But no one cares about that. So no I don’t feel sorry for her.

Thank you for your service.

I’m the teacher you are thanking. And it be honest, I hate the while thank you for your service. This is a job. I am reporting to my job because that’s what I need to do to support my family. I’m not doing this out of the goodwill of my heart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree central office is bloated and inefficient. That is because almost all the deputy chiefs and higher are pretty bad. The good ones never last. They either get pushed out or leave because they can’t take the constant churn and dysfunction. I need to get out for my sanity but need to wait until the economy improves. There are some good people but they get burnt out. I was at the all staff meeting yesterday and people were very upset. There was a question about virus testing but chancellor basically said there is no money for that. He kept saying everyone has to sacrifice and he has not had a vacation since March. I couldn’t believe he said that. He makes over $300k and I’m sorry but stress and responsibility comes with this job. I have had one week off since Jan 2020. Someone asked if staff are sent to schools then who will do their central office jobs and he said colleagues will have to take over and do double duty. Someone asked about health protections or extra coverage if you get exposed at school and get sick. He wouldn’t answer directly but it sounds like you just have to use up your own sick leave. Let’s just say no one left happy.

Teacher here. Did you have the same outrage when teachers were going back into these conditions? Or just only concerned now that you are going in?
It’ll be humbling for you to walk a mile in our shoes.

How would you like to be reassigned without option to her job at Central?

Well I’m a math specialist being reassigned as a in person classroom teacher and it sucks. But no one cares about that. So no I don’t feel sorry for her.

Neither are soilders.

Thank you for your service.

I’m the teacher you are thanking. And it be honest, I hate the while thank you for your service. This is a job. I am reporting to my job because that’s what I need to do to support my family. I’m not doing this out of the goodwill of my heart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree central office is bloated and inefficient. That is because almost all the deputy chiefs and higher are pretty bad. The good ones never last. They either get pushed out or leave because they can’t take the constant churn and dysfunction. I need to get out for my sanity but need to wait until the economy improves. There are some good people but they get burnt out. I was at the all staff meeting yesterday and people were very upset. There was a question about virus testing but chancellor basically said there is no money for that. He kept saying everyone has to sacrifice and he has not had a vacation since March. I couldn’t believe he said that. He makes over $300k and I’m sorry but stress and responsibility comes with this job. I have had one week off since Jan 2020. Someone asked if staff are sent to schools then who will do their central office jobs and he said colleagues will have to take over and do double duty. Someone asked about health protections or extra coverage if you get exposed at school and get sick. He wouldn’t answer directly but it sounds like you just have to use up your own sick leave. Let’s just say no one left happy.

Teacher here. Did you have the same outrage when teachers were going back into these conditions? Or just only concerned now that you are going in?
It’ll be humbling for you to walk a mile in our shoes.

How would you like to be reassigned without option to her job at Central?

Well I’m a math specialist being reassigned as a in person classroom teacher and it sucks. But no one cares about that. So no I don’t feel sorry for her.

Thank you for your service.

I’m the teacher you are thanking. And it be honest, I hate the while thank you for your service. This is a job. I am reporting to my job because that’s what I need to do to support my family. I’m not doing this out of the goodwill of my heart.

Neither are soldiers. I was married to one once. It was a job.

[Anonymous]

This sucks all around. I feel bad for teachers, central office staff, parents and especially students. I don’t feel bad for the Mayor or DCPS Leadership. I realize there is no perfect solution but they could have done better. And the Walls principal firing in the middle of this makes no sense except to make me think the mayor and chancellor are panicking. That was a senseless and desperate move. I think we are in big trouble

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This sucks all around. I feel bad for teachers, central office staff, parents and especially students. I don’t feel bad for the Mayor or DCPS Leadership. I realize there is no perfect solution but they could have done better. And the Walls principal firing in the middle of this makes no sense except to make me think the mayor and chancellor are panicking. That was a senseless and desperate move. I think we are in big trouble

Did you see the pics of today’s protests in the “SWW teacher fired” thread? Doesn’t seem like this is going away.



I actually support the plan outline (4 slides?) the chancellor and Mayor laid out. I just don’t think they can actually make it happen without chaos.
Before the principal firing, I thought this would just get delayed and shake out to be somewhat reasonable like the school start plan was.

Now I worry they’re going to ram it down principals’ throats with no regard to safety. So I’m backing principals and teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree central office is bloated and inefficient. That is because almost all the deputy chiefs and higher are pretty bad. The good ones never last. They either get pushed out or leave because they can’t take the constant churn and dysfunction. I need to get out for my sanity but need to wait until the economy improves. There are some good people but they get burnt out. I was at the all staff meeting yesterday and people were very upset. There was a question about virus testing but chancellor basically said there is no money for that. He kept saying everyone has to sacrifice and he has not had a vacation since March. I couldn’t believe he said that. He makes over $300k and I’m sorry but stress and responsibility comes with this job. I have had one week off since Jan 2020. Someone asked if staff are sent to schools then who will do their central office jobs and he said colleagues will have to take over and do double duty. Someone asked about health protections or extra coverage if you get exposed at school and get sick. He wouldn’t answer directly but it sounds like you just have to use up your own sick leave. Let’s just say no one left happy.

Teacher here. Did you have the same outrage when teachers were going back into these conditions? Or just only concerned now that you are going in?
It’ll be humbling for you to walk a mile in our shoes.

How would you like to be reassigned without option to her job at Central?

In a heartbeat!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This sucks all around. I feel bad for teachers, central office staff, parents and especially students. I don’t feel bad for the Mayor or DCPS Leadership. I realize there is no perfect solution but they could have done better. And the Walls principal firing in the middle of this makes no sense except to make me think the mayor and chancellor are panicking. That was a senseless and desperate move. I think we are in big trouble

Did you see the pics of today’s protests in the “SWW teacher fired” thread? Doesn’t seem like this is going away.



I actually support the plan outline (4 slides?) the chancellor and Mayor laid out. I just don’t think they can actually make it happen without chaos.
Before the principal firing, I thought this would just get delayed and shake out to be somewhat reasonable like the school start plan was.

Now I worry they’re going to ram it down principals’ throats with no regard to safety. So I’m backing principals and teachers.

This mayor has gotten somethings right but her way has always been - I call the shots. No interest in listening to others. She is a mini-dictator and bull dozes anyone in her way. The Chancellor is her puppet. I don’t support her way of doing things at all

[Anonymous]

So why is okay to put paras in the classrooms but not teachers? Is there a degree of safeness that is acceptable for some but not others? A two tiered system, one for teachers and one for less qualified workers? Sad thing is, it would be safe for teachers and students to return to the classroom if everybody wore masks(most important) and classes were smaller. This decision doesn't make any sense from a scientific/medical perspective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So why is okay to put paras in the classrooms but not teachers? Is there a degree of safeness that is acceptable for some but not others? A two tiered system, one for teachers and one for less qualified workers? Sad thing is, it would be safe for teachers and students to return to the classroom if everybody wore masks(most important) and classes were smaller. This decision doesn't make any sense from a scientific/medical perspective.

It is that there are not enough teachers to cover the adult- student ratio needed to have small pods for safety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So why is okay to put paras in the classrooms but not teachers? Is there a degree of safeness that is acceptable for some but not others? A two tiered system, one for teachers and one for less qualified workers? Sad thing is, it would be safe for teachers and students to return to the classroom if everybody wore masks(most important) and classes were smaller. This decision doesn't make any sense from a scientific/medical perspective.

One group is unionized and the other is not. Unions, love them or hate them, were literally created to fight for safe working conditions (along with hours and wages). In fact, the disregard that DCPS has shown for concerns over safety speaks volumes about the need for teachers to be unionized.

[Anonymous]

I asked this question earlier in the thread, but it got passed by:

Who will be managing the CARE classroom ‘teachers’? If the classroom supervisor is Jane from Accounting, does the principal manage Jane or her Accounting manager?

If a parent or child has a significant concern about something Jane is doing, who do they talk to? Does Jane have to follow the principal’s rules or only Downtown’s?

Seems like a management nightmare to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Perry Stein article yesterday said central office staff need to be prepared to do this.

Yes. It is this. Central office staff are in an uproar about this. They do not want to do this. They are being forced.

While the plan is insane, at least some of the Central Office staff who’ve never set foot in a school or interacted with school-age children maybe will see what their “plans” look like when real children are involved! I’m concerned about PK which has about one hour of virtual learning and naps most of the afternoon - what will they be doing during asynchronous learning? Are they really going to be made to sit at their desks supervised by someone who has no experience or training with ECE?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So why is okay to put paras in the classrooms but not teachers? Is there a degree of safeness that is acceptable for some but not others? A two tiered system, one for teachers and one for less qualified workers? Sad thing is, it would be safe for teachers and students to return to the classroom if everybody wore masks(most important) and classes were smaller. This decision doesn't make any sense from a scientific/medical perspective.

One group is unionized and the other is not. Unions, love them or hate them, were literally created to fight for safe working conditions (along with hours and wages). In fact, the disregard that DCPS has shown for concerns over safety speaks volumes about the need for teachers to be unionized.

There is a para union.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So why is okay to put paras in the classrooms but not teachers? Is there a degree of safeness that is acceptable for some but not others? A two tiered system, one for teachers and one for less qualified workers? Sad thing is, it would be safe for teachers and students to return to the classroom if everybody wore masks(most important) and classes were smaller. This decision doesn't make any sense from a scientific/medical perspective.

One group is unionized and the other is not. Unions, love them or hate them, were literally created to fight for safe working conditions (along with hours and wages). In fact, the disregard that DCPS has shown for concerns over safety speaks volumes about the need for teachers to be unionized.

What are you talking about? Paras are unionized, school office staff is unionized, principals have a union, and custodians are unionized. And if they forced teachers into the CARES classrooms too, who would be teaching the virtual classes that the kids in the CARES classrooms are supposed to be watching all day?

Or do you just mean that you want everyone back in school all the time regardless of very real safety concerns?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So why is okay to put paras in the classrooms but not teachers? Is there a degree of safeness that is acceptable for some but not others? A two tiered system, one for teachers and one for less qualified workers? Sad thing is, it would be safe for teachers and students to return to the classroom if everybody wore masks(most important) and classes were smaller. This decision doesn't make any sense from a scientific/medical perspective.

One group is unionized and the other is not. Unions, love them or hate them, were literally created to fight for safe working conditions (along with hours and wages). In fact, the disregard that DCPS has shown for concerns over safety speaks volumes about the need for teachers to be unionized.

What are you talking about? Paras are unionized, school office staff is unionized, principals have a union, and custodians are unionized. And if they forced teachers into the CARES classrooms too, who would be teaching the virtual classes that the kids in the CARES classrooms are supposed to be watching all day?

Or do you just mean that you want everyone back in school all the time regardless of very real safety concerns?

Well, this explains the dysfunction at every level of the educational system. Unionize everything and watch it stall in the time of crisis.
No one is actually in charge in this situation.