DCPS teachers are quitting at an alarming rate, how can parents help?

[Anonymous]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/one-dc-school-lost-more-than-a-quarter-of-its-teaching-staff-this-year/2017/05/28/e66c1cd8-34db-11e7-b4ee-434b6d506b37_story.html?utm_term=.af68ef897051&wpisrc=al_alert-local&wpmk=1#comments

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/one-dc-school-lost-more-than-a-quarter-of-its-teaching-staff-this-year/2017/05/28/e66c1cd8-34db-11e7-b4ee-434b6d506b37_story.html?utm_term=.af68ef897051&wpisrc=al_alert-local&wpmk=1#comments

Vote Racine.

[Anonymous]

By readn

[Anonymous]

By reading the article. The big quit rates are driven by certain schools with specific problems.

At our Title I, the quit rate came down a lot when we got a new principal who treated the teachers better. The problems of poverty were still tough, but yelling at the teachers and demanding unpaid overtime was not helping. The best things parents can do, IMO, is insist on quality leadership, and advocate for more funding so teachers have more support. Aides and social workers can make or break a teacher's quality of life.

[Anonymous]

Maybe the experiment with hiring these Ivy Teach for America types should be declared over. They will just leave anyway, and go off to work for a nonprofit or quit when they marry a banker. What's so great about "gentrifying" DCPS teachers anyway? It used to be that DCPS staff were of D.C. They were from the D.C community and they understood D.C. And they were happy to have a career and lifetime career with DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe the experiment with hiring these Ivy Teach for America types should be declared over. They will just leave anyway, and go off to work for a nonprofit or quit when they marry a banker. What's so great about "gentrifying" DCPS teachers anyway? It used to be that DCPS staff were of D.C. They were from the D.C community and they understood D.C. And they were happy to have a career and lifetime career with DCPS.

In other words, you're saying to accept low expectations as a permanent reality and manage the installation accordingly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe the experiment with hiring these Ivy Teach for America types should be declared over. They will just leave anyway, and go off to work for a nonprofit or quit when they marry a banker. What's so great about "gentrifying" DCPS teachers anyway? It used to be that DCPS staff were of D.C. They were from the D.C community and they understood D.C. And they were happy to have a career and lifetime career with DCPS.

You mean back when pretty much every school and student was failing? And graduation rates were abysmal?

[Anonymous]

The teacher evaluation system can be arbitrary and is oppressive in the amount of extra paperwork that teachers need to do.
Principals now do the evaluations and teachers feel that depending on your relationship with the principal, scores are not objective, consistent or take into account a teacher's overall performance in the building.

As an anecdote-and there are many similar stories all over dcps...At my school, the principal seemed to dislike a teacher (who had been at the school for over 10 years, loved by colleagues, parents and students), within two years, that teacher was "Impacted Out". Everyone was shocked. It was all based on the Impact score which came down to decimals, which was given by the principal. When your livelihood seems to be at the whim of a principal (who has varied approval ratings from staff and parents), it's understandable that teachers may want a more objective, fair work environment.

And, it all takes away from teachers focusing on teaching-which is what teachers want to do.
Yes, dcps pays well compared to other districts but teachers are finding out that all the hoops to jump through may not be worth it.

[Anonymous]

I'll say it: there's very little teaching going on..and teachers are taking on far too many non-teaching responsibilities - communicating with parents, student excessive absenteeism, all sorts of socioeconomic cultural issues, behavior and discipline problems, even seemingly minor health and wellness issues (needing a change of clothes for bathroom accidents or weather changes, coming to school sick, hungry, tired) all with limited school resources. Not at all the teachers' fault. Specialists, administration, everyone is tapped out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The teacher evaluation system can be arbitrary and is oppressive in the amount of extra paperwork that teachers need to do.
Principals now do the evaluations and teachers feel that depending on your relationship with the principal, scores are not objective, consistent or take into account a teacher's overall performance in the building.

As an anecdote-and there are many similar stories all over dcps...At my school, the principal seemed to dislike a teacher (who had been at the school for over 10 years, loved by colleagues, parents and students), within two years, that teacher was "Impacted Out". Everyone was shocked. It was all based on the Impact score which came down to decimals, which was given by the principal. When your livelihood seems to be at the whim of a principal (who has varied approval ratings from staff and parents), it's understandable that teachers may want a more objective, fair work environment.

And, it all takes away from teachers focusing on teaching-which is what teachers want to do.
Yes, dcps pays well compared to other districts but teachers are finding out that all the hoops to jump through may not be worth it.

Welcome to corporate America lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe the experiment with hiring these Ivy Teach for America types should be declared over. They will just leave anyway, and go off to work for a nonprofit or quit when they marry a banker. What's so great about "gentrifying" DCPS teachers anyway? It used to be that DCPS staff were of D.C. They were from the D.C community and they understood D.C. And they were happy to have a career and lifetime career with DCPS.

In other words, you're saying to accept low expectations as a permanent reality and manage the installation accordingly.

TFA teachers don't get better results. The ones I know were miserable in boot camp charters and recognized that they were totally underqualified.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The teacher evaluation system can be arbitrary and is oppressive in the amount of extra paperwork that teachers need to do.
Principals now do the evaluations and teachers feel that depending on your relationship with the principal, scores are not objective, consistent or take into account a teacher's overall performance in the building.

As an anecdote-and there are many similar stories all over dcps...At my school, the principal seemed to dislike a teacher (who had been at the school for over 10 years, loved by colleagues, parents and students), within two years, that teacher was "Impacted Out". Everyone was shocked. It was all based on the Impact score which came down to decimals, which was given by the principal. When your livelihood seems to be at the whim of a principal (who has varied approval ratings from staff and parents), it's understandable that teachers may want a more objective, fair work environment.

And, it all takes away from teachers focusing on teaching-which is what teachers want to do.
Yes, dcps pays well compared to other districts but teachers are finding out that all the hoops to jump through may not be worth it.

Welcome to corporate America lol

Yes but in corporate America most factors are within your control. Teachers can't control their "product"--meaning they have no control over factors that impact student performance such as home life, food insecurity, homelessness etc.

Plus in corporate America there are sufficient supplies necessary to do one's job.

People like to compare but it's really apples and oranges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe the experiment with hiring these Ivy Teach for America types should be declared over. They will just leave anyway, and go off to work for a nonprofit or quit when they marry a banker. What's so great about "gentrifying" DCPS teachers anyway? It used to be that DCPS staff were of D.C. They were from the D.C community and they understood D.C. And they were happy to have a career and lifetime career with DCPS.

In other words, you're saying to accept low expectations as a permanent reality and manage the installation accordingly.

Are you saying teachers from dc who went to college and graduated with a teaching degree aren't quality teachers? Why would it be lowering expectations to hire someone familiar with the area with a qualified degree?

I'm a 10 year teacher and I don't think teach for America and those type of programs are the answer. The answer starts with leadership.

[Anonymous]

All of the above. People keep saying the system is broken and we have even pinpointed the breakdown, yet nothing substantial is being done to fix the problems. These young hot shots blow in and out of schools leaving a path of destruction behind them. Even if a teacher tries to transfer to a school with an effective administrator at the helm within a year or two they are forced out and you wind up with another wet behind the ears opportunist willing to take down anyone for a seat at the table in Central office. Disgusted with the lot of them. The kids are the last consideration of any of these central office hot shots.

[Anonymous]

Also, DCPS is so desperate that they are now advertising on Facebook for a new alternative certification program where people with teaching experience but no certifications can teach in their schools. Basically scraping the bottom of the barrel for subs and people who probably couldn't pass the Praxis on their own. This should be interesting. This is different from TFA and fellows programs.