Make it easier to become a substitute teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does everybody always act so put out by the recommendation letters? When they asked for mine I told them I haven’t worked in a while so I would give them two personal recs instead and they could not have cared less. Are people actually asking/trying, or are they just seeing the requirement and figuring it’s a lost cause?

Probably B, and good--screening out lazy folks who can't make an effort. The kind of people who end up on FCPS's sub roll, but only want to sub at their kid's schools...as if that is the job.

Because it's an unnecessary obstacle to keeping schools open.

It takes time to get a recommendation, for one. The schools are saying they urgently need subs but the process to apply can take weeks. Make it easier for parents to sub - only during the pandemic - and you will find a lot of willing people.

DP. I submitted hand signed recommendations from my previous employer (a private school where I taught for years) and from a volunteer job I had working with children. FCPS gave me a hard time about the first one because I'd worked there so long ago--no kidding, I took off time to be a SAHM. They also hassled me about the second one because it was a volunteer gig and not a paying job. They also lost my transcripts twice even though I had the digital delivery receipt. They managed to "find" everything and onboard me after I shared screenshots of my oboarding emails from a neighboring county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does everybody always act so put out by the recommendation letters? When they asked for mine I told them I haven’t worked in a while so I would give them two personal recs instead and they could not have cared less. Are people actually asking/trying, or are they just seeing the requirement and figuring it’s a lost cause?

Probably B, and good--screening out lazy folks who can't make an effort. The kind of people who end up on FCPS's sub roll, but only want to sub at their kid's schools...as if that is the job.

Because it's an unnecessary obstacle to keeping schools open.

It takes time to get a recommendation, for one. The schools are saying they urgently need subs but the process to apply can take weeks. Make it easier for parents to sub - only during the pandemic - and you will find a lot of willing people.

We’ve urgently needed subs since last March (and pre-COVID), this is nothing new.

[Anonymous]

The HR departments of every local school system has been inflexible and moved at a glacial pace for my entire 20 years of teaching in this area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The HR departments of every local school system has been inflexible and moved at a glacial pace for my entire 20 years of teaching in this area.

Truth! Years ago, I submitted my paperwork in my MD district in late September. I signed my contract in mid-November and my principal was surprised because it usually took HR a good 2+ months to process it.

[Anonymous]

Volunteering is light years away from subbing. Being a SAHM w a degree doesn’t qualify you to work around anyone but your own kids.

What do you know about classroom management? What do you know about the subject or current pedagogy for the relevant subjects. Don’t say oh I will teach ES because they have more than one subject

I see so many parents get lost w first and second grade homework that they shouldn’t be helping at all. I’m a parent btw not a teacher.

[Anonymous]

HR also needs to respond to people who have put in an application. People shouldn’t have to get a form out in by the school they want to work at to hear from HR.

Can they really not massage the recommendation letter requirement to make it more flexible without raising the risk of creepers? Their current process doesn’t exactly keep creepers out.

[Anonymous]

Do retired FCPS teachers have an easier time?

ES Teacher Approaching Retirement

[Anonymous]

I'm not seeing this specific info about recommendation letters on the virginia.gov site.
https://law.lis.virginia.gov/admincode/title8/agency20/chapter671/section320/

As for showing your transcripts, you really need to do this for any job in education. I was an adjunct for many years, and it pays practically nothing, and you still need them. I just got a bunch from the schools I attended and saved them for when I needed to send them out.

I would kind of like to know that my kid's sub wasn't a total nutjob. So, stuff like a background check and having at least someone vouch for their character would be useful.

When I was in school, a lot of subs were retired teachers. But good luck with that right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Last year, my daughter's principal asked me to help her out by becoming a sub. I had just started a job that was pretty flexible and I was happy to help out as long as it meant keeping the school open. Before I started my job, I was a stay at home parent for years.

When I went to do the application, it required 2 recommendations - one from a current employer. Though my job was flexible, I definitely didn't feel comfortable asking my new boss to write a recommendation so I could substitute teach. And as a stay at home parent for the past 8 years, I didn't have a previous employer. As a result, I didn't apply.

The application also required transcripts from my universities - I have them but most stay at home parents don't - and it can be expensive to collect them - something like 1/2 day's work substitute teaching.

FCPS needs to temporarily make it easier for parents to substitute teach. There are a lot of parents willing to help out the schools but FCPS has not made it easy. Instead of doing everything they can to keep schools open, they are defaulting to closing schools. In the midst of an historic pandemic, it's still business as usual.

That is really bizarre.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do retired FCPS teachers have an easier time?

ES Teacher Approaching Retirement

I think they do, but you have to wait 6 or more months because it interferes with your retirement accounts..or something like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:" oh look at me. I'm better than those dumb esl people so I don't need my transcripts or a recommendation. I'm so SPECIAL."

A reference doesn't tell you anything about the quality of the candidate. Hold a Sub day and meet the candidates in person. Put out a call to anyone in the community willing to help. Remember, last year absolutely anyone who could breathe was recruited this way to sit in classrooms while teachers worked from home. Do this again for subs. Maybe FCPS doesn't want Subs so they can have a reason to close again.

I don’t disagree that references aren’t necessarily useful, but everyone is acting like this is some shocking, stringent requirement. It’s been required for every job I’ve ever held (excepting my first one scooping ice cream).

Written letter, signed in ink? I’ve never had to do that. I’ve provided names and HR called them to follow up. I’ve never provided a letter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not seeing this specific info about recommendation letters on the virginia.gov site.
https://law.lis.virginia.gov/admincode/title8/agency20/chapter671/section320/

As for showing your transcripts, you really need to do this for any job in education. I was an adjunct for many years, and it pays practically nothing, and you still need them. I just got a bunch from the schools I attended and saved them for when I needed to send them out.

I would kind of like to know that my kid's sub wasn't a total nutjob. So, stuff like a background check and having at least someone vouch for their character would be useful.

When I was in school, a lot of subs were retired teachers. But good luck with that right now.

Recommendations are quite common, even if the state doesn’t mandate them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not seeing this specific info about recommendation letters on the virginia.gov site.
https://law.lis.virginia.gov/admincode/title8/agency20/chapter671/section320/

As for showing your transcripts, you really need to do this for any job in education. I was an adjunct for many years, and it pays practically nothing, and you still need them. I just got a bunch from the schools I attended and saved them for when I needed to send them out.

I would kind of like to know that my kid's sub wasn't a total nutjob. So, stuff like a background check and having at least someone vouch for their character would be useful.

When I was in school, a lot of subs were retired teachers. But good luck with that right now.

Requirements for FCPS are here. Reference letters have to be dated within the last year and hand-signed. And from your current employer. Sorry, those requirements are just weird. https://www.fcps.edu/careers/career-opportunities/substitute-teaching-opportunities/new-applicants

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Volunteering is light years away from subbing. Being a SAHM w a degree doesn’t qualify you to work around anyone but your own kids.

What do you know about classroom management? What do you know about the subject or current pedagogy for the relevant subjects. Don’t say oh I will teach ES because they have more than one subject

I see so many parents get lost w first and second grade homework that they shouldn’t be helping at all. I’m a parent btw not a teacher.

Who do you think is working as subs these days? Hint: they don’t all have education degrees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do retired FCPS teachers have an easier time?

ES Teacher Approaching Retirement

I think they do, but you have to wait 6 or more months because it interferes with your retirement accounts..or something like that.

Thanks. I’ll need to start looking into that.