Vacancies

[Anonymous]

If I remember correctly, part of their rezoning discussion was swapping teachers from high performing/low performing schools when they rezone (for example, swapping WSHS and Lewis teachers) to make the schools more equitable.

How can anyone be in education and not know that it’s the students who make a school “low performing” not the teachers?

Swap ALL the teachers at the highest and lowest performing schools and nothing will change. Swap all the students and bingo instantly the lowest performing school becomes the highest performing school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

If I remember correctly, part of their rezoning discussion was swapping teachers from high performing/low performing schools when they rezone (for example, swapping WSHS and Lewis teachers) to make the schools more equitable.

How can anyone be in education and not know that it’s the students who make a school “low performing” not the teachers?

Swap ALL the teachers at the highest and lowest performing schools and nothing will change. Swap all the students and bingo instantly the lowest performing school becomes the highest performing school.

If anything, it’ll get worse. The best teachers I ever worked with were at title 1 schools because they had to be so creative/engaging or kids would *literally* just walk out. At the UMC school it’s a lot easier to phone it in and still have passing scores because if kids don’t get it the families take it into their own hands.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

If I remember correctly, part of their rezoning discussion was swapping teachers from high performing/low performing schools when they rezone (for example, swapping WSHS and Lewis teachers) to make the schools more equitable.

How can anyone be in education and not know that it’s the students who make a school “low performing” not the teachers?

Swap ALL the teachers at the highest and lowest performing schools and nothing will change. Swap all the students and bingo instantly the lowest performing school becomes the highest performing school.

+1, A lot of mediocre teachers can fly under the radar at high-performing school because the kids have always done well and require minimal instruction.

[Anonymous]

Yep. I am the ESOL teacher and I feel like I’ve got the best job in teaching. I love my kids and I love seeing the tremendous progress they make in one year. It’s amazing that they start the year with zero English and you can have a conversation with them by the end. Most of their parents are lovely people who work hard and appreciate their education.

I am a retired ESOL teacher and it was truly an amazing experience. I loved the students and they loved me back. I do miss that. We have a hard job in ESOL, but it is an incredibly creative and analytical endeavor and the students teach you something all the time.

I feel like people are really missing out if they think education is all about test scores. People from all over have a lot to share with us in so many ways. If you want your child to achieve high test scores, you can get all kinds of tutorials and lessons on the internet. They can learn whatever they want. But if you want your child to experience lots of other people and ways of being, a physical school is a good place to do that. Students can be challenged much more now because of the resources we have through technology.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Hm, we are at an AAP Center and there are two AAP teacher positions left unfilled.

Interesting. I wonder if the boundary changes and consolidation have anything to do with teacher shortages. I would not be surprised. The situation is pretty bad.

There are no boundary changes around any AAP Center elementary schools right now, stop making things up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

If I remember correctly, part of their rezoning discussion was swapping teachers from high performing/low performing schools when they rezone (for example, swapping WSHS and Lewis teachers) to make the schools more equitable.

How can anyone be in education and not know that it’s the students who make a school “low performing” not the teachers?

Swap ALL the teachers at the highest and lowest performing schools and nothing will change. Swap all the students and bingo instantly the lowest performing school becomes the highest performing school.

+1, A lot of mediocre teachers can fly under the radar at high-performing school because the kids have always done well and require minimal instruction.

This is true. Our school has had some mediocre ones and we pick up the slack at home.

[Anonymous]

To all the people talking about redistricting, I would hope that the school board would make filling vacancies top priority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To all the people talking about redistricting, I would hope that the school board would make filling vacancies top priority.

It’s a lot easier to talk about redistricting than to find ways to attract and retain teachers. The School Board knows this and I’m sure they’d rather be getting calls and emails about the former. I wish as many parents were asking why an entire department left a school or why principals with dismal evaluations year after year are still employed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Hm, we are at an AAP Center and there are two AAP teacher positions left unfilled.

Interesting. I wonder if the boundary changes and consolidation have anything to do with teacher shortages. I would not be surprised. The situation is pretty bad.

There are no boundary changes around any AAP Center elementary schools right now, stop making things up.

They are making “holistic boundary changes” meaning EVERYONE can be affected. I didn’t take a job here because I like to settle into schools and stay a while. That is not going to happen in FCPS. I would advise any teacher to think before taking a contract especially if you took a contract with FCPS because you like the approach of the principal you interviewed with. Yes, I have written to my school board member to say this and just got a form letter back. Vacancies and boundary changes will definitely be intertwined in a year or two if they aren’t already. there is a drastic change to the economy, things will be bad

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Hm, we are at an AAP Center and there are two AAP teacher positions left unfilled.


Interesting. I wonder if the boundary changes and consolidation have anything to do with teacher shortages. I would not be surprised. The situation is pretty bad.


There are no boundary changes around any AAP Center elementary schools right now, stop making things up.


They are making “holistic boundary changes” meaning EVERYONE can be affected. I didn’t take a job here because I like to settle into schools and stay a while. That is not going to happen in FCPS. I would advise any teacher to think before taking a contract especially if you took a contract with FCPS because you like the approach of the principal you interviewed with. Yes, I have written to my school board member to say this and just got a form letter back. Vacancies and boundary changes will definitely be intertwined in a year or two if they aren’t already. there is a drastic change to the economy, things will be bad

This is called "life". People retire, quit, move on with their partner, etc., etc. It has happened to me several times in my teaching career. If you can't handle this, teaching is not for you. Lots of things are not for you. Heck, even in the private sector businesses merge, management changes, people are hired and fired.

One thing about public education is that it teaches people to deal with differences and change (and to see real life). If you move somewhere expecting that life will always be easy and the same as it was the year before, you will most certainly experience disappointment at some point. And if the economy changes or there is instability, watch out. This has nothing to do with which party is in power btw. Change happens. Those who can deal with it are better off in the long run.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Hm, we are at an AAP Center and there are two AAP teacher positions left unfilled.


Interesting. I wonder if the boundary changes and consolidation have anything to do with teacher shortages. I would not be surprised. The situation is pretty bad.


There are no boundary changes around any AAP Center elementary schools right now, stop making things up.


They are making “holistic boundary changes” meaning EVERYONE can be affected. I didn’t take a job here because I like to settle into schools and stay a while. That is not going to happen in FCPS. I would advise any teacher to think before taking a contract especially if you took a contract with FCPS because you like the approach of the principal you interviewed with. Yes, I have written to my school board member to say this and just got a form letter back. Vacancies and boundary changes will definitely be intertwined in a year or two if they aren’t already. there is a drastic change to the economy, things will be bad

This is called "life". People retire, quit, move on with their partner, etc., etc. It has happened to me several times in my teaching career. If you can't handle this, teaching is not for you. Lots of things are not for you. Heck, even in the private sector businesses merge, management changes, people are hired and fired.

One thing about public education is that it teaches people to deal with differences and change (and to see real life). If you move somewhere expecting that life will always be easy and the same as it was the year before, you will most certainly experience disappointment at some point. And if the economy changes or there is instability, watch out. This has nothing to do with which party is in power btw. Change happens. Those who can deal with it are better off in the long run.

Right change does happen. So if you are teacher looking to establish at a school for 5-6 years while the rest of your life changes, FCPS isn’t the place for it.

Keep going with the resilience ideas to try to convince people this is a good plan, but I know where I stand and what my advice would be to someone looking at school systems in the area.

We will have to disagree that the SB redistricting is something that won’t sway parents and teachers alike from coming to FCPS. Time and( how the SB handles the process) will speak for itself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Hm, we are at an AAP Center and there are two AAP teacher positions left unfilled.

Interesting. I wonder if the boundary changes and consolidation have anything to do with teacher shortages. I would not be surprised. The situation is pretty bad.

There are no boundary changes around any AAP Center elementary schools right now, stop making things up.

They are making “holistic boundary changes” meaning EVERYONE can be affected. I didn’t take a job here because I like to settle into schools and stay a while. That is not going to happen in FCPS. I would advise any teacher to think before taking a contract especially if you took a contract with FCPS because you like the approach of the principal you interviewed with. Yes, I have written to my school board member to say this and just got a form letter back. Vacancies and boundary changes will definitely be intertwined in a year or two if they aren’t already. there is a drastic change to the economy, things will be bad

Teacher here. I am all for holistic boundary changes as there are many under enrolled schools next to over enrolled schools. I do feel that every school should have an apartment complex or lower income housing to bring more diversity to schools. It will also help balance the needs of a school. I don’t think they can force teachers to move unless they are destaffed. Many factors go into someone choosing where to teach such as time, commute, admin. With collective bargaining happening, it won’t happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


This is called "life". People retire, quit, move on with their partner, etc., etc. It has happened to me several times in my teaching career. If you can't handle this, teaching is not for you. Lots of things are not for you. Heck, even in the private sector businesses merge, management changes, people are hired and fired.

One thing about public education is that it teaches people to deal with differences and change (and to see real life). If you move somewhere expecting that life will always be easy and the same as it was the year before, you will most certainly experience disappointment at some point. And if the economy changes or there is instability, watch out. This has nothing to do with which party is in power btw. Change happens. Those who can deal with it are better off in the long run.


Right change does happen. So if you are teacher looking to establish at a school for 5-6 years while the rest of your life changes, FCPS isn’t the place for it.

Keep going with the resilience ideas to try to convince people this is a good plan, but I know where I stand and what my advice would be to someone looking at school systems in the area.

We will have to disagree that the SB redistricting is something that won’t sway parents and teachers alike from coming to FCPS. Time and( how the SB handles the process) will speak for itself.

You are in luck. They are going to revisit boundaries every 5 years. I would suggest teaching in a private school if you want to be somewhere for more than 5 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


This is called "life". People retire, quit, move on with their partner, etc., etc. It has happened to me several times in my teaching career. If you can't handle this, teaching is not for you. Lots of things are not for you. Heck, even in the private sector businesses merge, management changes, people are hired and fired.

One thing about public education is that it teaches people to deal with differences and change (and to see real life). If you move somewhere expecting that life will always be easy and the same as it was the year before, you will most certainly experience disappointment at some point. And if the economy changes or there is instability, watch out. This has nothing to do with which party is in power btw. Change happens. Those who can deal with it are better off in the long run.


Right change does happen. So if you are teacher looking to establish at a school for 5-6 years while the rest of your life changes, FCPS isn’t the place for it.

Keep going with the resilience ideas to try to convince people this is a good plan, but I know where I stand and what my advice would be to someone looking at school systems in the area.

We will have to disagree that the SB redistricting is something that won’t sway parents and teachers alike from coming to FCPS. Time and( how the SB handles the process) will speak for itself.

I would not suggest teaching as a career if your personal life is in any way chaotic or is hard for you to deal with. Teaching requires a high level of social/emotional maturity. I didn't start until later in life and glad I did not try it earlier. I have seen teachers who are going through divorces or custody battles and many were really stretched and stressed out. FCPS does know who these people are btw. You would be surprised at the resources that they have for these types of situations. Ask me how I know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


This is called "life". People retire, quit, move on with their partner, etc., etc. It has happened to me several times in my teaching career. If you can't handle this, teaching is not for you. Lots of things are not for you. Heck, even in the private sector businesses merge, management changes, people are hired and fired.

One thing about public education is that it teaches people to deal with differences and change (and to see real life). If you move somewhere expecting that life will always be easy and the same as it was the year before, you will most certainly experience disappointment at some point. And if the economy changes or there is instability, watch out. This has nothing to do with which party is in power btw. Change happens. Those who can deal with it are better off in the long run.


Right change does happen. So if you are teacher looking to establish at a school for 5-6 years while the rest of your life changes, FCPS isn’t the place for it.

Keep going with the resilience ideas to try to convince people this is a good plan, but I know where I stand and what my advice would be to someone looking at school systems in the area.

We will have to disagree that the SB redistricting is something that won’t sway parents and teachers alike from coming to FCPS. Time and( how the SB handles the process) will speak for itself.

You are in luck. They are going to revisit boundaries every 5 years. I would suggest teaching in a private school if you want to be somewhere for more than 5 years.

I’ve been a public school teacher for 25 years. I have been at the same school for the last 15 years. I’m not sure it is all that unattainable, but clearly our experiences vary. I know many teachers who have been at schools longer than that.