why do parents NEED to volunteer at recess and lunch

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Again, back to the subject: is this lack of supervision Safe for children?

Interesting that this discussion encapsulates so much of what is wrong in public education -- so much discussion of teacher pay, rights, breaks, etc. and So Little Discussion of what makes sense for children.

What makes sense for the children is for the county to hire more aides.

Agreed. But if this is the solution, why does the county refuse to allow individual schools to pay for aides themselves. I know, I know, because it isn't fair. But, somehow having parents take time off to supervise recess is fair!?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Again, back to the subject: is this lack of supervision Safe for children?

Interesting that this discussion encapsulates so much of what is wrong in public education -- so much discussion of teacher pay, rights, breaks, etc. and So Little Discussion of what makes sense for children.

dense

Do you think we just make our money?

There is no money in the budget to pay for aides. bottom line

And to expect elementary teachers to give up their pathetic planning period to do so is unreasonable. They're jobs are demanding enough.

Again, why is this even about teachers and their breaks/lunch/planning period. Why isn't the issue simply about having enough staff to adequately supervise the children? And why are parents being attacked for wanting/demanding that their children are supervised during the entire school day? It think the bottom line here is that the school should provide adequate supervision and should not need to rely on parent volunteers (for a variety of reasons).

It seems willfully negligent of schools to allow 100 or more children to be supervised by one adult during recess. It seems unconscionable that other adults would think this is reasonable. So, leaving teachers out of this, can we agree that the current state of things is broken?? Now, how do we fix it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here. I think OP is raising a valid issue. As for the idea that it's not the principal's job to ensure there is sufficient staffing to cover recess/lunch, I disagree. At our elem, the assistant principal has always been responsible. So at elems that don't have an assistant, wouldn't it be the principal's job, or his/her designee? More lunch supervision is needed for the younger kids, especially kindergarten, so I can see not having much coverage for the 4-5th graders. On the playground, though, that's another issue. If a child is seriously injured on the playground, the county would certainly be sued, so it only makes sense to provide sufficient coverage. At our elem, also, we hear constantly of the need for more lunch/recess supervision. I can understand that it's always nice to have more, but the tone of these requests makes it sound as though the supervision is lacking. It's a concern of mine, too, but I can't be up there frequently since I work FT, just as many parents do. I think it's something to ask Starr about. I don't think our elem had a very difficult time finding people to take those jobs, but all their hours were reduced to nothing.

Principals have meetings they are required to attend. So oftentimes, they are out at odd times, leaving - in most cases at the elementary level - ONE AP to run the school. Should the AP leave the school to do recess duty?

That is NOT a reasonable long-term solution.

Furthermore, any teacher forced to step in can grieve that demand and win. This isn't to say that teachers are selfish (although Lord knows that the public thinks so). It means that this is their time for lunch and/or planning. Sadly, the planning period for elementary school teachers is limited. So they need to make the most of the time given.

Allocations from central office ARE TO BE USED specifically for X, Y, and Z. So if a principal tries to use an academic intervention allocation to pay for an aide, it may not fly. So they are restricted in how many aides they can hire.

Again, put your money where your mouth is and agree to pay more taxes to support YOUR public school. And I highly doubt, based on your post, that your school is overcrowded if your principal can remedy the problem this easily.

So until you know how the system works from the inside out, you can't begin to offer suggestions on this forum.

Frankly, screw you. People like you are the reason I have developed a poor impression of MCPS. I am not required to know all about how the system works from the inside to ask a simple question about who supervises recess. Your lack of professionalism on this forum does not reflect well on you or your fellow teachers. You need to GROW UP.

teacher here - When I come across posts like yours, I always say that despite the hours I put into my job each day for 10 months, I'm happy about two things: 1) the lives I change and 2) the chance to spend my summer with my children so that they're not forced to attend camp after camp. No amount of money can entice me to give those up.

So you can shout at me to grow up all you want. I think I have the sweeter end of the deal here.

Forced to attend camps? What camps have your kids attended where they had to be forced? I can give you a list of camps my kids beg me to go to.

[Anonymous]

To.... teacher here - When I come across posts like yours, I always say that despite the hours I put into my job each day for 10 months, I'm happy about two things: 1) the lives I change and 2) the chance to spend my summer with my children so that they're not forced to attend camp after camp. No amount of money can entice me to give those up.

So you can shout at me to grow up all you want. I think I have the sweeter end of the deal here.

*******************************
You want this mom volunteering at lunch?

[Anonymous]

I do see the OP’s general point. HOWEVER, the way to solve the problem is not to place extra responsibilities on teachers who are already working above capacity.

This is not about teachers and what they do or do not do. This is a funding issue and it needs to be solved at that level. Heck, the budget is tight across the board. In ES, my DH and I bought supplies, donated our time/money, and did whatever we could to help put the teachers with limited resources. In MS, we have become used to paying for enrichment programs and extracurricular activities. So, IMO, you solve this problem by either identifying new funding sources to pay aides or you re-allocate the budget priorities to pay for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do see the OP’s general point. HOWEVER, the way to solve the problem is not to place extra responsibilities on teachers who are already working above capacity.

This is not about teachers and what they do or do not do. This is a funding issue and it needs to be solved at that level. Heck, the budget is tight across the board. In ES, my DH and I bought supplies, donated our time/money, and did whatever we could to help put the teachers with limited resources. In MS, we have become used to paying for enrichment programs and extracurricular activities. So, IMO, you solve this problem by either identifying new funding sources to pay aides or you re-allocate the budget priorities to pay for them.

I think I agree with your point also. But it raises the big issue that, in MCPS, parents are not allowed to raise money for lunch/recess aides. Prohibiting parents from finding a solution (hiring aides) while also failing to properly supervise the children is what is so frustrating to many parents!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do see the OP’s general point. HOWEVER, the way to solve the problem is not to place extra responsibilities on teachers who are already working above capacity.

This is not about teachers and what they do or do not do. This is a funding issue and it needs to be solved at that level. Heck, the budget is tight across the board. In ES, my DH and I bought supplies, donated our time/money, and did whatever we could to help put the teachers with limited resources. In MS, we have become used to paying for enrichment programs and extracurricular activities. So, IMO, you solve this problem by either identifying new funding sources to pay aides or you re-allocate the budget priorities to pay for them.

I think I agree with your point also. But it raises the big issue that, in MCPS, parents are not allowed to raise money for lunch/recess aides. Prohibiting parents from finding a solution (hiring aides) while also failing to properly supervise the children is what is so frustrating to many parents!

Exactly. It's that catch-22 most posters were trying to discuss, but the thread kept being dragged off topic. Personally, I never said or implied that teachers should have to supervise recess, but someone kept coming back to accuse me of not supporting teachers and of not supporting a better MCPS budget, which was not true, and not found in my post.

[Anonymous]

I agree. The issue is how do we get the supervision that, hopefully, we can all agree is so important. If parents can't pay for aides, then what do we do?

[Anonymous]

Funny how the conversation just e.n.d.s. when we move away from the "teacher's rights" side and focus on "children's rights."

Maybe this proves the point that kids in public schools need advocates. Good for teachers for having theirs and protecting their rights, but it looks like it might be time for kids to have the same protections.

[Anonymous]

Or are we as parents demanding more supervision? I honestly don't know the answer, but I don't remember lots of adults around on the playground or in the cafeteria when I was in elementary school ...not that I want my DD in K to be unsupervised, but I wonder if 3 paraeducators for 150 kids (which sounds horribly under-supervised) is really that much less supervised than 30 years ago?