DCPS Central Office Cuts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The unpleasantness of some of the commenters here is the same as the tenor of the remarks from people who have cheered the decimation of the federal workforce.

I am a laid-off Fed who hates DOGE with the fire of a thousand suns, and I also hate downtown because they make it SO HARD for schools to succeed. They simply cannot get themselves together and it's embarrassing.

That's your opinion. And the fact that you were laid off and want others in the public sector to be laid off as well is unsettling.

If they didn't stink at their jobs I wouldn't want them to be laid off. That's what makes it different.

So you personally know every single central services employee and know how well or not well they are doing their job? Please.

[Anonymous]

Here is the thing. If the people at central office got “promoted” and are so awesome at their jobs there are plenty of teaching jobs to move back into to refine their craft to better support teachers when the economy gets better. But I have a feeling they don’t want to do that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here is the thing. If the people at central office got “promoted” and are so awesome at their jobs there are plenty of teaching jobs to move back into to refine their craft to better support teachers when the economy gets better. But I have a feeling they don’t want to do that

You do realize that there are different kinds of careers in education that don’t involve teaching, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is the thing. If the people at central office got “promoted” and are so awesome at their jobs there are plenty of teaching jobs to move back into to refine their craft to better support teachers when the economy gets better. But I have a feeling they don’t want to do that

You do realize that there are different kinds of careers in education that don’t involve teaching, right?

Yes. But most of what central office does is tell me how to teach and what to teach. Maybe getting into a classroom would better inform their decision making in the future

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is the thing. If the people at central office got “promoted” and are so awesome at their jobs there are plenty of teaching jobs to move back into to refine their craft to better support teachers when the economy gets better. But I have a feeling they don’t want to do that

You do realize that there are different kinds of careers in education that don’t involve teaching, right?

Yes. But most of what central office does is tell me how to teach and what to teach. Maybe getting into a classroom would better inform their decision making in the future

+1

People are paid over a hundred thousand dollars to show up at schools once a quarter and check that objectives are on the board. And that all teachers are on the same prescribed lesson. It in no way improves teaching and learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is the thing. If the people at central office got “promoted” and are so awesome at their jobs there are plenty of teaching jobs to move back into to refine their craft to better support teachers when the economy gets better. But I have a feeling they don’t want to do that

You do realize that there are different kinds of careers in education that don’t involve teaching, right?

Yes. But most of what central office does is tell me how to teach and what to teach. Maybe getting into a classroom would better inform their decision making in the future

No one is making you stay at DCPS. At any job, there is always going to be someone telling you what to do. If you’re so disenchanted with other DCPS, choose another school district. It’s really that simple. Rules are in place for a reason, sweetheart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is the thing. If the people at central office got “promoted” and are so awesome at their jobs there are plenty of teaching jobs to move back into to refine their craft to better support teachers when the economy gets better. But I have a feeling they don’t want to do that

You do realize that there are different kinds of careers in education that don’t involve teaching, right?

Yes. But most of what central office does is tell me how to teach and what to teach. Maybe getting into a classroom would better inform their decision making in the future

No one is making you stay at DCPS. At any job, there is always going to be someone telling you what to do. If you’re so disenchanted with other DCPS, choose another school district. It’s really that simple. Rules are in place for a reason, sweetheart.

dp: Sweetheart, as a parent, I have immense respect for the teachers at my child's school. And I know that DCPS main office does many pointless and crazy things. I see it in my kids assignments, in the communications we get from Ferebee, in the disruption of the useless CAPE exam, etc.

I am happy with my child's school and I think they do a good job IN SPITE OF the lameness of DCPS.

Maybe there are capable and hardworking people at the main office, but still the results and outcomes don't show it. In that case, it's the result of the top management, and maybe they should be fired along with the 6%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is the thing. If the people at central office got “promoted” and are so awesome at their jobs there are plenty of teaching jobs to move back into to refine their craft to better support teachers when the economy gets better. But I have a feeling they don’t want to do that

You do realize that there are different kinds of careers in education that don’t involve teaching, right?

Yes, like being a principal with six years of teaching experience. Or doing your two year TFA stint and then making curriculum policy.

[Anonymous]

There's more than a hint of racism in many of these comments. I have no doubt that those calling for mass firings at DCPS are white.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is the thing. If the people at central office got “promoted” and are so awesome at their jobs there are plenty of teaching jobs to move back into to refine their craft to better support teachers when the economy gets better. But I have a feeling they don’t want to do that

You do realize that there are different kinds of careers in education that don’t involve teaching, right?

Yes. But most of what central office does is tell me how to teach and what to teach. Maybe getting into a classroom would better inform their decision making in the future

No one is making you stay at DCPS. At any job, there is always going to be someone telling you what to do. If you’re so disenchanted with other DCPS, choose another school district. It’s really that simple. Rules are in place for a reason, sweetheart.

DP. But you didn’t address the fact that many CO staff don’t do much for their paychecks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's more than a hint of racism in many of these comments. I have no doubt that those calling for mass firings at DCPS are white.

Why would you say that? Should Black parents and teachers not have higher expectations for CO staff? Who suffers the most from waste and fraud in CO? The under-resourced schools. The kids whose families can’t supplement when CO spends money on BS programs - money that should go to those kids.

[Anonymous]

These comments just show most people have no idea what central staff do or are skilled in.

1) I have never heard of a central employee going to a school once per month to make sure objectives are on the board and teachers are on pace. Yes, that may come up as part of the feedback, but that is not the sole purpose. The truth is when instruction is not high quality, pacing is often an issue and there are teachers who are literally months behind in the curriculum. Some need to start at as basic of a level as knowing what they are supposed to teach for the day, hence the objective on the board.

2) OSSE is in charge of CAPE. They make decisions that central employees are also upset with. We are literally the only “state” that still uses what used to be the PARCC assessment. It is beyond the control of central employees.

3) Central has no control over the actual assignments your child sees, especially homework. RCTs, yes. But I’m going to guess most teachers aren’t sending copies of those home. Yes, there is typically a purchased curriculum, just like every other district in the nation has a curriculum they use. This is not something only DC does. Not even all teachers choose to use the curriculum and then we end up in situations where students aren’t exposed to grade level content.

4) Having worked at both schools and central, I can say the majority of central employees I have met are extremely skilled at their content and are able to go into classrooms and model what they are asking of teachers. They were hired for a reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's more than a hint of racism in many of these comments. I have no doubt that those calling for mass firings at DCPS are white.

Yup, I definitely see that and it is obvious. I would say that at least 65% of Central Office is black employees. The people complaining about Central Office cannot fathom the fact that black people are in charge. We all know that certain people believe that just because someone is black, they are lazy and unqualified for their position. Case closed. Prove me wrong that this isn’t the reason for the disdain for Central Office. I’ll wait….

[Anonymous]

If you don't understand why people are unhappy with CO, then you have spent no time actually in the schools or talking to school administrators, teachers, parents, or students.

There is widespread frustration with what comes out of CO.

You can defend yourselves by saying we're nice people who work hard. Maybe. But it's not working! Have you seen the stats?! Have you read this board?! Have you seen the craziness, capriciousness, and insufficient budgets that schools have to deal with? Are you blind to the failures noted in this thread alone?

You can deflect and play the race card without basis, but if you are not looking at the results and considering the actual outcomes, then your hard work doesn't matter.

Maybe be a critical thinker and problem solver and figure out what schools really need and how to deliver it, rather than saying "we have people doing trainings" and assuming that's all that matters.

Figure out how to do good in spite of a mayor who is more worried about her developer friends than student health and in spite of a chancellor who seems very nice but is lacking the strategic and leadership abilities such that the schools are now trending worse rather than better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's more than a hint of racism in many of these comments. I have no doubt that those calling for mass firings at DCPS are white.

Yup, I definitely see that and it is obvious. I would say that at least 65% of Central Office is black employees. The people complaining about Central Office cannot fathom the fact that black people are in charge. We all know that certain people believe that just because someone is black, they are lazy and unqualified for their position. Case closed. Prove me wrong that this isn’t the reason for the disdain for Central Office. I’ll wait….

You haven’t proved your case.