How is FCPS teacher/staff shortage?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Principal here. It is bad. There are some schools with 10 or more vacancies. You may see one post on the vacancy list, but that could equal 2 or more positions.

Serious question: What happens next if certain positions can’t be filled? This seems like something the School Board and BOS should be addressing immediately.

I agree. What if they can't get teachers?

Teacher: one or more of the following:

-classes are collapsed and class sizes increased
-a rotating door of subs covers the class, teachers in the buildings write lessons and create materials for them
-teachers lose their planning to cover periods (in extreme cases in secondary they will offer 6th period contracts to teachers to do it long term)
-support staff is pulled from their positions to cover classrooms on days subs can’t be found
-long term subs are sought out, usually people with no teaching experience who couldn’t be hired for a contract position

It’s a hot mess, and everyone loses.

The reality is there aren’t enough teachers in certain disciplines. Anyone FCPS hires now is creating a vacancy in a different district. This is systemic, and far and away going to effect special Ed and title 1 schools the most.

[Anonymous]

Teacher here. This is why collective bargaining is so important. I would love for more conversations to happen between parents/teachers on solutions to RETAIN teachers and make teaching an attractive career. There are so many things the County/State/Country can be doing but are not.

Unfortunately, this change is going to take time. I think this shortage is going to last awhile and everyone will feel it at some point. Just because your child has a teacher this year- there really is no guarantee the following year.

[Anonymous]

There are 850 vacancies right now in FCPS. As a point of reference, there were 550 a year ago and 350 four years ago at this time.

This is a national crisis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here. This is why collective bargaining is so important. I would love for more conversations to happen between parents/teachers on solutions to RETAIN teachers and make teaching an attractive career. There are so many things the County/State/Country can be doing but are not.

Unfortunately, this change is going to take time. I think this shortage is going to last awhile and everyone will feel it at some point. Just because your child has a teacher this year- there really is no guarantee the following year.

I agree. The school board is dragging its feet on this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Principal here. It is bad. There are some schools with 10 or more vacancies. You may see one post on the vacancy list, but that could equal 2 or more positions.

Serious question: What happens next if certain positions can’t be filled? This seems like something the School Board and BOS should be addressing immediately.

I agree. What if they can't get teachers?

Teacher: one or more of the following:

-classes are collapsed and class sizes increased
-a rotating door of subs covers the class, teachers in the buildings write lessons and create materials for them
-teachers lose their planning to cover periods (in extreme cases in secondary they will offer 6th period contracts to teachers to do it long term)
-support staff is pulled from their positions to cover classrooms on days subs can’t be found
-long term subs are sought out, usually people with no teaching experience who couldn’t be hired for a contract position

It’s a hot mess, and everyone loses.

The reality is there aren’t enough teachers in certain disciplines. Anyone FCPS hires now is creating a vacancy in a different district. This is systemic, and far and away going to effect special Ed and title 1 schools the most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here. This is why collective bargaining is so important. I would love for more conversations to happen between parents/teachers on solutions to RETAIN teachers and make teaching an attractive career. There are so many things the County/State/Country can be doing but are not.

Unfortunately, this change is going to take time. I think this shortage is going to last awhile and everyone will feel it at some point. Just because your child has a teacher this year- there really is no guarantee the following year.

I agree. The school board is dragging its feet on this.

I used to be a huge supporter of unions. I think unfortunately for teachers locally, how Covid was handled really soured the public on the school system and by association-the teachers. The extremists marching around with coffins, the people who phoned it in on virtual, the teachers who refused to help kids catch up this year--a few bad apples spoilt it for the bunch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here. This is why collective bargaining is so important. I would love for more conversations to happen between parents/teachers on solutions to RETAIN teachers and make teaching an attractive career. There are so many things the County/State/Country can be doing but are not.

Unfortunately, this change is going to take time. I think this shortage is going to last awhile and everyone will feel it at some point. Just because your child has a teacher this year- there really is no guarantee the following year.

I agree. The school board is dragging its feet on this.

The writing was on the wall but rather than improve teaching conditions and determine how FCPS could differentiate itself to attract teachers during a shortage they spent their time doing crap like changing TJ admissions and revising the SR&R. Throw the bums out.

[Anonymous]

Dear young teachers or teachers to be,
If you want to be a sped teacher, absolutely, go for it. But if you ever go back to school and take sped courses, just to gain a pay bump and DON'T want to only teach sped, do not take the required test to put the endorsement on your certificate unless you want your district to force you into a sped position. Once you get it, you will probably never be able to teach gen ed again. Your district, due to the terrible shortages, will put you in a sped room whether you want it or not. Much better to get an ESL endorsement or a reading endorsement or something like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are 850 vacancies right now in FCPS. As a point of reference, there were 550 a year ago and 350 four years ago at this time.

This is a national crisis.

Thank you for this data! This is the actual information that we need to highlight and push. No one cares about people complaining, but data can get peoples attention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here. This is why collective bargaining is so important. I would love for more conversations to happen between parents/teachers on solutions to RETAIN teachers and make teaching an attractive career. There are so many things the County/State/Country can be doing but are not.

Unfortunately, this change is going to take time. I think this shortage is going to last awhile and everyone will feel it at some point. Just because your child has a teacher this year- there really is no guarantee the following year.

I agree. The school board is dragging its feet on this.

The writing was on the wall but rather than improve teaching conditions and determine how FCPS could differentiate itself to attract teachers during a shortage they spent their time doing crap like changing TJ admissions and revising the SR&R. Throw the bums out.

And the TJ admissions reform was a failure. They just created more ways for parents to game the system and cheat on the virtual exam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are 850 vacancies right now in FCPS. As a point of reference, there were 550 a year ago and 350 four years ago at this time.

This is a national crisis.

Thank you for this data! This is the actual information that we need to highlight and push. No one cares about people complaining, but data can get peoples attention.

Every district in the area is facing the same shortages. You can't magically create more teachers. The type A parents are going to badger principals to get their kids with full time teachers. Spec Ed par-tents who are active will do the same. Kids whose parents aren't as involved will get the subs and lose out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


I agree. The school board is dragging its feet on this.



I used to be a huge supporter of unions. I think unfortunately for teachers locally, how Covid was handled really soured the public on the school system and by association-the teachers. The extremists marching around with coffins, the people who phoned it in on virtual, the teachers who refused to help kids catch up this year--a few bad apples spoilt it for the bunc

h.

Puh-leeze.
1) Show me the person in FFX Co. who "marched around with a coffin." Show me...bet you can't, because it didn't happen here in Fairfax.
2) It was impossible to "phone it in" during virtual. Impossible. It was very difficult work to teach under those conditions, and every teacher did their best.
3) What teachers are these who "refused to help kids catch up" this year? Seriously...who did this? No one. Every teacher out there did their best this year.
PP sounds like a sour grapes person who, even under the circumstances, cannot admit that teachers have been terribly maligned and mistreated. I'll bet PP was one of the loudest voices out there at the time.

[Anonymous]

How do you expect to be taken seriously when you confidently say that EVERY TEACHER did his best at virtual and EVERY TEACHER did her best last year? That's absurd. Teachers are human beings. There are great teachers, and terrible teachers. Hard workers, and lazy asses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


I agree. The school board is dragging its feet on this.



I used to be a huge supporter of unions. I think unfortunately for teachers locally, how Covid was handled really soured the public on the school system and by association-the teachers. The extremists marching around with coffins, the people who phoned it in on virtual, the teachers who refused to help kids catch up this year--a few bad apples spoilt it for the bunc

h.

Puh-leeze.
1) Show me the person in FFX Co. who "marched around with a coffin." Show me...bet you can't, because it didn't happen here in Fairfax.
2) It was impossible to "phone it in" during virtual. Impossible. It was very difficult work to teach under those conditions, and every teacher did their best.
3) What teachers are these who "refused to help kids catch up" this year? Seriously...who did this? No one. Every teacher out there did their best this year.
PP sounds like a sour grapes person who, even under the circumstances, cannot admit that teachers have been terribly maligned and mistreated. I'll bet PP was one of the loudest voices out there at the time.

+1 And won't recognize their own culpability in creating vitriol that increased the teacher shortage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are 850 vacancies right now in FCPS. As a point of reference, there were 550 a year ago and 350 four years ago at this time.

This is a national crisis.

Thank you for this data! This is the actual information that we need to highlight and push. No one cares about people complaining, but data can get peoples attention.

Are there any principals on here who attended the meeting this morning? Any updates? It sounded to me as though it was a bit of an urgent call about staffing.