Teacher workdays/school planning are ridiculous!

[Anonymous]

The work days could easily go away if school districts would revise ridiculous policies that contribute to bloated workload. I would not need an entire day to grade at the end of the quarter if hard and fast due dates could apply and I wasn’t forced to accept work from months ago or give endless retakes. If grades weren’t seen as negotiable commodities and instead were treated as the reflection of learning and mastery that they are, we wouldn’t be in a position of needing to revise final grades at the end of a quarter because a kid turned in a pile of crappy work or did some retakes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m of two thoughts:

Yes, the calendar is too disjointed and it needs to be fixed.

But teachers need work days. If we want teachers to stay in the profession, they need to be granted time during the work week (even just occasionally) to get their work done. It shouldn’t be the expectation that nights and weekends belong to their jobs, too.

I have a demanding job. It has me on calls for a good portion of the day. This means I have to work outside of work hours to get my work done.

Teachers need to also use their time more efficiently. FCPS ES and MS have very little grading to do.

You sound ignorant. You don't have a clue what's asked of teachers. Also school isn't daycare figure out your parenting.

Shouldn’t you be grading some papers instead of arguing with parents on here? Since you’re so overloaded and all?

I'm a DP, but I am also a teacher.

Let's be honest: if you don't teach, you ARE ignorant of the demands of teaching. That's not an insult. Ignorance is literally defined as lacking knowledge or awareness about a particular subject. Therefore, if you haven't taught you DON'T actually know what is demanded of teachers. And again: that's not an insult.

But is IS insulting when you come here and belittle a job you know little about.

So when teachers try to explain to you why we need planning time, this is an opportunity for you to learn about something you're unfamiliar with. Unfortunately, posters on this site label comments from teachers as "complaining" or "arguing" when it's simply "explaining." I see it all the time. It's why teachers become defensive, because their words are misconstrued and dismissed at almost every turn by people who are ignorant. (Again: not an insult.)

So, I'll take your advice and go grade papers. That's far more productive than posting here considering these trends.

And yet you show no eagerness to learn about subjects about which you are ignorant— for example what it is like to be in a demanding job that isn’t teaching while also being a parent.

Perhaps if you showed more willingness to learn— embrace the opportunity as you put it— then parent frustration wouldn’t reach the level of needing to advocate to the board to make changes that teachers could’ve made themselves.

DP. She doesn’t need to learn about how tough your life is due to your career and family choices. She is not your hired help. Get that through your skull and maybe you’ll be less frustrated.

She seems very interested in telling us how difficult her life is as a teacher, and why that means we should accept additional teacher planning days in a terrible calendar. But really there’s no need for us to accept that, just to make her life and her choices easier.

DP. I’m a parent who actually respects teachers. Do I think all of my kids’ teachers are excellent? No but I think they have a tough job and the majority do their best with the hand they are dealt. Attitudes like yours is why teachers leave the profession. If you treat teachers in real life like you do online, you are making it more difficult for teachers to educate students. If you have a demanding job as you describe with commensurate pay and you are so disgruntled with the calendar and teacher prep time, then private school is where your family belongs.

Teachers leave the profession because they absorb very entitled attitudes from toxic older teachers and then are frustrated when those entitlements never get fulfilled. If teachers were told: this is a hard job. You will work nights and weekends in your early years as you develop your plans. You will get some incredible perks. Remember that schools serve students NOT teachers. And internalized that message, they wouldn’t be playing the victim constantly. Constantly feeling victimized leads to burnout.

So high teacher turnover isn’t a bad thing, and if realistic expectations leads to turnover than we’re losing the right teachers.

Are you a teacher? Because, to be honest, what you wrote sounds like fiction. It doesn't sound like you have direct, personal experience with teaching. Instead, it reads like a script for a teacher-focused movie... full of stereotypes and assumptions. It's like when I watch Abbott Elementary. That's not remotely how a school operates. How do those teachers have all that time to sit around and talk?

Since I posted about ignorance above, at least two posters have made assumptions about me. One accused me of being ignorant of other jobs. That's true. I don't know what it's like to be a doctor, a lawyer, a fed. But I'm also not online making blanket assumptions about these jobs and assuming my ignorance is more valuable than their expertise. I read posts about these jobs here on DCUM and ***I DO NOT COMMENT*** because my uninformed opinion would not support the thread's purpose. So there's the difference: I fix ignorance my listening, not by screaming louder than those who know.

Close family member of a successful public school teacher. My views are informed by her frustrations with her entitled colleagues and their unrealistic expectations.

Your acknowledged ignorance about other professions seems to have missed the intersection with your own. The current calendar creates burdens on working parents in other professions which you clearly do not understand. Those burdens outweigh potential benefits of this calendar because they take resources away from students.

Once again: you fail to see the teacher’s experience, clearly assuming yours is paramount.

I am a working parent, just like you. The calendar is a burden for me, as well. I have my own childcare struggles, as I often have to stay at school and my DH has to take leave to get our children.

I did not create the calendar. I deal with its challenges, too.

So what’s the difference between us? I seem to consider other perspectives, and I also am able to extend grace. I know it isn’t easy. But I’m not going to throw wild, ignorant accusations at people in a misguided attempt to make my own life better.

The difference is that the calendar is meant to serve you, and not other working parents, and the calendar which serves you diminishes the resources available to the children public schools are intended to serve. A kid left alone on a TW day is a worse outcome than you grading during your lunch.

As you say, you’re ignorant of what it is like for other professions. Focus on this opportunity to learn.

Your attempts to “educate” me continue to fall flat. Do you really want a calendar that serves children? Then we should be advocating for year-round schooling, which eliminates the summer brain-drain and provides the routine/consistency you are screaming for. Eight weeks off in the summer is considerably more disruptive than a random Monday. I’m happy to fight along with you.

And let me put your ignorance argument to rest: I am a career changer. Teaching is my 2nd profession. And, as someone who values education, I take every opportunity to learn. I now challenge you to do the same. Not once have I seen you reconsider your myopic views. You still condemn teachers for something that isn’t their fault. You also refuse to acknowledge that teachers are working parents with the same challenges you have (which kind of negates all your “teacher benefit” arguments. How does the calendar serve me when my DH has to burn leave and my children are aimlessly at home?)

So, once again: I recommend that you stop telling me to “learn” when you fail to open your own eyes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The work days could easily go away if school districts would revise ridiculous policies that contribute to bloated workload. I would not need an entire day to grade at the end of the quarter if hard and fast due dates could apply and I wasn’t forced to accept work from months ago or give endless retakes. If grades weren’t seen as negotiable commodities and instead were treated as the reflection of learning and mastery that they are, we wouldn’t be in a position of needing to revise final grades at the end of a quarter because a kid turned in a pile of crappy work or did some retakes.

+1

This is 100% the issue. Late work and retakes are out of control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m of two thoughts:

Yes, the calendar is too disjointed and it needs to be fixed.

But teachers need work days. If we want teachers to stay in the profession, they need to be granted time during the work week (even just occasionally) to get their work done. It shouldn’t be the expectation that nights and weekends belong to their jobs, too.

I have a demanding job. It has me on calls for a good portion of the day. This means I have to work outside of work hours to get my work done.

Teachers need to also use their time more efficiently. FCPS ES and MS have very little grading to do.

You sound ignorant. You don't have a clue what's asked of teachers. Also school isn't daycare figure out your parenting.

Shouldn’t you be grading some papers instead of arguing with parents on here? Since you’re so overloaded and all?

I'm a DP, but I am also a teacher.

Let's be honest: if you don't teach, you ARE ignorant of the demands of teaching. That's not an insult. Ignorance is literally defined as lacking knowledge or awareness about a particular subject. Therefore, if you haven't taught you DON'T actually know what is demanded of teachers. And again: that's not an insult.

But is IS insulting when you come here and belittle a job you know little about.

So when teachers try to explain to you why we need planning time, this is an opportunity for you to learn about something you're unfamiliar with. Unfortunately, posters on this site label comments from teachers as "complaining" or "arguing" when it's simply "explaining." I see it all the time. It's why teachers become defensive, because their words are misconstrued and dismissed at almost every turn by people who are ignorant. (Again: not an insult.)

So, I'll take your advice and go grade papers. That's far more productive than posting here considering these trends.

I am not going to out myself on here, but rest assured, I know the demands of your job because I used to live in a household with a teacher and my own job carries some of the same demands. I also know the demands of other people’s jobs where they are under tremendous pressure to show consistently excellent performance or they will be fired. Being a great teacher is really hard. It’s a thankless job and you have to bring a lot of work home with you if you’re doing it right. But it’s also true that it comes with a lot of job security. Mediocre and lazy teachers can sit in their jobs for years and the worst thing that happens to them is they get moved to a different school. Right now there are a lot of parents who feel like they are barely hanging onto their jobs and this calendar is really not helping.

The majority of those parents get paid considerably more than teachers. Enough with the false equivalence. Hire a f—king babysitter.

You don’t by any chance teach math?

Look at the FARMS eligibility in FCPS. No, the majority doesn’t make “considerably more” than teachers or their kids wouldn’t be getting free meals.

Sorry, dummy, I should have clarified: the majority of the “professionals with demanding jobs” who b—ch and moan about teachers on DCUM are paid considerably more than that.

The majority of folks who aren’t paid as much as teachers are certainly not working at jobs where they’re expected to be on calls all day and then take work home with them. Don’t be absurd.

Plenty of people making less than teachers are bringing work home, interacting with customers all day, and not on DCUM sniveling about the unfairness of doing the job they signed up for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The work days could easily go away if school districts would revise ridiculous policies that contribute to bloated workload. I would not need an entire day to grade at the end of the quarter if hard and fast due dates could apply and I wasn’t forced to accept work from months ago or give endless retakes. If grades weren’t seen as negotiable commodities and instead were treated as the reflection of learning and mastery that they are, we wouldn’t be in a position of needing to revise final grades at the end of a quarter because a kid turned in a pile of crappy work or did some retakes.

+1

This is 100% the issue. Late work and retakes are out of control.

At the secondary level this is the issue. At ES level it is the high number of preps(subjects taught), grading, report cards, conferences, IEPS, responding to parent emails, putting out fires, being social workers, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m of two thoughts:

Yes, the calendar is too disjointed and it needs to be fixed.

But teachers need work days. If we want teachers to stay in the profession, they need to be granted time during the work week (even just occasionally) to get their work done. It shouldn’t be the expectation that nights and weekends belong to their jobs, too.

I have a demanding job. It has me on calls for a good portion of the day. This means I have to work outside of work hours to get my work done.

Teachers need to also use their time more efficiently. FCPS ES and MS have very little grading to do.

You sound ignorant. You don't have a clue what's asked of teachers. Also school isn't daycare figure out your parenting.

Shouldn’t you be grading some papers instead of arguing with parents on here? Since you’re so overloaded and all?

I'm a DP, but I am also a teacher.

Let's be honest: if you don't teach, you ARE ignorant of the demands of teaching. That's not an insult. Ignorance is literally defined as lacking knowledge or awareness about a particular subject. Therefore, if you haven't taught you DON'T actually know what is demanded of teachers. And again: that's not an insult.

But is IS insulting when you come here and belittle a job you know little about.

So when teachers try to explain to you why we need planning time, this is an opportunity for you to learn about something you're unfamiliar with. Unfortunately, posters on this site label comments from teachers as "complaining" or "arguing" when it's simply "explaining." I see it all the time. It's why teachers become defensive, because their words are misconstrued and dismissed at almost every turn by people who are ignorant. (Again: not an insult.)

So, I'll take your advice and go grade papers. That's far more productive than posting here considering these trends.

And yet you show no eagerness to learn about subjects about which you are ignorant— for example what it is like to be in a demanding job that isn’t teaching while also being a parent.

Perhaps if you showed more willingness to learn— embrace the opportunity as you put it— then parent frustration wouldn’t reach the level of needing to advocate to the board to make changes that teachers could’ve made themselves.

DP. She doesn’t need to learn about how tough your life is due to your career and family choices. She is not your hired help. Get that through your skull and maybe you’ll be less frustrated.

She seems very interested in telling us how difficult her life is as a teacher, and why that means we should accept additional teacher planning days in a terrible calendar. But really there’s no need for us to accept that, just to make her life and her choices easier.

DP. I’m a parent who actually respects teachers. Do I think all of my kids’ teachers are excellent? No but I think they have a tough job and the majority do their best with the hand they are dealt. Attitudes like yours is why teachers leave the profession. If you treat teachers in real life like you do online, you are making it more difficult for teachers to educate students. If you have a demanding job as you describe with commensurate pay and you are so disgruntled with the calendar and teacher prep time, then private school is where your family belongs.

Teachers leave the profession because they absorb very entitled attitudes from toxic older teachers and then are frustrated when those entitlements never get fulfilled. If teachers were told: this is a hard job. You will work nights and weekends in your early years as you develop your plans. You will get some incredible perks. Remember that schools serve students NOT teachers. And internalized that message, they wouldn’t be playing the victim constantly. Constantly feeling victimized leads to burnout.

So high teacher turnover isn’t a bad thing, and if realistic expectations leads to turnover than we’re losing the right teachers.

Are you a teacher? Because, to be honest, what you wrote sounds like fiction. It doesn't sound like you have direct, personal experience with teaching. Instead, it reads like a script for a teacher-focused movie... full of stereotypes and assumptions. It's like when I watch Abbott Elementary. That's not remotely how a school operates. How do those teachers have all that time to sit around and talk?

Since I posted about ignorance above, at least two posters have made assumptions about me. One accused me of being ignorant of other jobs. That's true. I don't know what it's like to be a doctor, a lawyer, a fed. But I'm also not online making blanket assumptions about these jobs and assuming my ignorance is more valuable than their expertise. I read posts about these jobs here on DCUM and ***I DO NOT COMMENT*** because my uninformed opinion would not support the thread's purpose. So there's the difference: I fix ignorance my listening, not by screaming louder than those who know.

Close family member of a successful public school teacher. My views are informed by her frustrations with her entitled colleagues and their unrealistic expectations.

Your acknowledged ignorance about other professions seems to have missed the intersection with your own. The current calendar creates burdens on working parents in other professions which you clearly do not understand. Those burdens outweigh potential benefits of this calendar because they take resources away from students.

Once again: you fail to see the teacher’s experience, clearly assuming yours is paramount.

I am a working parent, just like you. The calendar is a burden for me, as well. I have my own childcare struggles, as I often have to stay at school and my DH has to take leave to get our children.

I did not create the calendar. I deal with its challenges, too.

So what’s the difference between us? I seem to consider other perspectives, and I also am able to extend grace. I know it isn’t easy. But I’m not going to throw wild, ignorant accusations at people in a misguided attempt to make my own life better.

The difference is that the calendar is meant to serve you, and not other working parents, and the calendar which serves you diminishes the resources available to the children public schools are intended to serve. A kid left alone on a TW day is a worse outcome than you grading during your lunch.

As you say, you’re ignorant of what it is like for other professions. Focus on this opportunity to learn.

Your attempts to “educate” me continue to fall flat. Do you really want a calendar that serves children? Then we should be advocating for year-round schooling, which eliminates the summer brain-drain and provides the routine/consistency you are screaming for. Eight weeks off in the summer is considerably more disruptive than a random Monday. I’m happy to fight along with you.

And let me put your ignorance argument to rest: I am a career changer. Teaching is my 2nd profession. And, as someone who values education, I take every opportunity to learn. I now challenge you to do the same. Not once have I seen you reconsider your myopic views. You still condemn teachers for something that isn’t their fault. You also refuse to acknowledge that teachers are working parents with the same challenges you have (which kind of negates all your “teacher benefit” arguments. How does the calendar serve me when my DH has to burn leave and my children are aimlessly at home?)

So, once again: I recommend that you stop telling me to “learn” when you fail to open your own eyes.

Alas, you’re still wrong. Summer is the time when students fulfill needs that schools don’t meet, like time outdoors, language enrichment, focused hobbies and camps.

The solution isn’t more school. It’s school in the model where it doesn’t take twenty extra days than it did ten years ago to get to the bare minimum which is what we have now. But I’m glad you agree what we have now doesn’t serve students. You clearly still have plenty to learn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m of two thoughts:

Yes, the calendar is too disjointed and it needs to be fixed.

But teachers need work days. If we want teachers to stay in the profession, they need to be granted time during the work week (even just occasionally) to get their work done. It shouldn’t be the expectation that nights and weekends belong to their jobs, too.

I have a demanding job. It has me on calls for a good portion of the day. This means I have to work outside of work hours to get my work done.

Teachers need to also use their time more efficiently. FCPS ES and MS have very little grading to do.

You sound ignorant. You don't have a clue what's asked of teachers. Also school isn't daycare figure out your parenting.

Shouldn’t you be grading some papers instead of arguing with parents on here? Since you’re so overloaded and all?

I'm a DP, but I am also a teacher.

Let's be honest: if you don't teach, you ARE ignorant of the demands of teaching. That's not an insult. Ignorance is literally defined as lacking knowledge or awareness about a particular subject. Therefore, if you haven't taught you DON'T actually know what is demanded of teachers. And again: that's not an insult.

But is IS insulting when you come here and belittle a job you know little about.

So when teachers try to explain to you why we need planning time, this is an opportunity for you to learn about something you're unfamiliar with. Unfortunately, posters on this site label comments from teachers as "complaining" or "arguing" when it's simply "explaining." I see it all the time. It's why teachers become defensive, because their words are misconstrued and dismissed at almost every turn by people who are ignorant. (Again: not an insult.)

So, I'll take your advice and go grade papers. That's far more productive than posting here considering these trends.

And yet you show no eagerness to learn about subjects about which you are ignorant— for example what it is like to be in a demanding job that isn’t teaching while also being a parent.

Perhaps if you showed more willingness to learn— embrace the opportunity as you put it— then parent frustration wouldn’t reach the level of needing to advocate to the board to make changes that teachers could’ve made themselves.

DP. She doesn’t need to learn about how tough your life is due to your career and family choices. She is not your hired help. Get that through your skull and maybe you’ll be less frustrated.

She seems very interested in telling us how difficult her life is as a teacher, and why that means we should accept additional teacher planning days in a terrible calendar. But really there’s no need for us to accept that, just to make her life and her choices easier.

DP. I’m a parent who actually respects teachers. Do I think all of my kids’ teachers are excellent? No but I think they have a tough job and the majority do their best with the hand they are dealt. Attitudes like yours is why teachers leave the profession. If you treat teachers in real life like you do online, you are making it more difficult for teachers to educate students. If you have a demanding job as you describe with commensurate pay and you are so disgruntled with the calendar and teacher prep time, then private school is where your family belongs.

Teachers leave the profession because they absorb very entitled attitudes from toxic older teachers and then are frustrated when those entitlements never get fulfilled. If teachers were told: this is a hard job. You will work nights and weekends in your early years as you develop your plans. You will get some incredible perks. Remember that schools serve students NOT teachers. And internalized that message, they wouldn’t be playing the victim constantly. Constantly feeling victimized leads to burnout.

So high teacher turnover isn’t a bad thing, and if realistic expectations leads to turnover than we’re losing the right teachers.

Are you a teacher? Because, to be honest, what you wrote sounds like fiction. It doesn't sound like you have direct, personal experience with teaching. Instead, it reads like a script for a teacher-focused movie... full of stereotypes and assumptions. It's like when I watch Abbott Elementary. That's not remotely how a school operates. How do those teachers have all that time to sit around and talk?

Since I posted about ignorance above, at least two posters have made assumptions about me. One accused me of being ignorant of other jobs. That's true. I don't know what it's like to be a doctor, a lawyer, a fed. But I'm also not online making blanket assumptions about these jobs and assuming my ignorance is more valuable than their expertise. I read posts about these jobs here on DCUM and ***I DO NOT COMMENT*** because my uninformed opinion would not support the thread's purpose. So there's the difference: I fix ignorance my listening, not by screaming louder than those who know.

Close family member of a successful public school teacher. My views are informed by her frustrations with her entitled colleagues and their unrealistic expectations.

Your acknowledged ignorance about other professions seems to have missed the intersection with your own. The current calendar creates burdens on working parents in other professions which you clearly do not understand. Those burdens outweigh potential benefits of this calendar because they take resources away from students.

Once again: you fail to see the teacher’s experience, clearly assuming yours is paramount.

I am a working parent, just like you. The calendar is a burden for me, as well. I have my own childcare struggles, as I often have to stay at school and my DH has to take leave to get our children.

I did not create the calendar. I deal with its challenges, too.

So what’s the difference between us? I seem to consider other perspectives, and I also am able to extend grace. I know it isn’t easy. But I’m not going to throw wild, ignorant accusations at people in a misguided attempt to make my own life better.

The difference is that the calendar is meant to serve you, and not other working parents, and the calendar which serves you diminishes the resources available to the children public schools are intended to serve. A kid left alone on a TW day is a worse outcome than you grading during your lunch.

As you say, you’re ignorant of what it is like for other professions. Focus on this opportunity to learn.

Your attempts to “educate” me continue to fall flat. Do you really want a calendar that serves children? Then we should be advocating for year-round schooling, which eliminates the summer brain-drain and provides the routine/consistency you are screaming for. Eight weeks off in the summer is considerably more disruptive than a random Monday. I’m happy to fight along with you.

And let me put your ignorance argument to rest: I am a career changer. Teaching is my 2nd profession. And, as someone who values education, I take every opportunity to learn. I now challenge you to do the same. Not once have I seen you reconsider your myopic views. You still condemn teachers for something that isn’t their fault. You also refuse to acknowledge that teachers are working parents with the same challenges you have (which kind of negates all your “teacher benefit” arguments. How does the calendar serve me when my DH has to burn leave and my children are aimlessly at home?)

So, once again: I recommend that you stop telling me to “learn” when you fail to open your own eyes.

Don’t worry! Just like you said to a different poster, ignorance isn’t an insult! Go ahead and keep demonstrating yours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m of two thoughts:

Yes, the calendar is too disjointed and it needs to be fixed.

But teachers need work days. If we want teachers to stay in the profession, they need to be granted time during the work week (even just occasionally) to get their work done. It shouldn’t be the expectation that nights and weekends belong to their jobs, too.

I have a demanding job. It has me on calls for a good portion of the day. This means I have to work outside of work hours to get my work done.

Teachers need to also use their time more efficiently. FCPS ES and MS have very little grading to do.

You sound ignorant. You don't have a clue what's asked of teachers. Also school isn't daycare figure out your parenting.

Shouldn’t you be grading some papers instead of arguing with parents on here? Since you’re so overloaded and all?

I'm a DP, but I am also a teacher.

Let's be honest: if you don't teach, you ARE ignorant of the demands of teaching. That's not an insult. Ignorance is literally defined as lacking knowledge or awareness about a particular subject. Therefore, if you haven't taught you DON'T actually know what is demanded of teachers. And again: that's not an insult.

But is IS insulting when you come here and belittle a job you know little about.

So when teachers try to explain to you why we need planning time, this is an opportunity for you to learn about something you're unfamiliar with. Unfortunately, posters on this site label comments from teachers as "complaining" or "arguing" when it's simply "explaining." I see it all the time. It's why teachers become defensive, because their words are misconstrued and dismissed at almost every turn by people who are ignorant. (Again: not an insult.)

So, I'll take your advice and go grade papers. That's far more productive than posting here considering these trends.

I am not going to out myself on here, but rest assured, I know the demands of your job because I used to live in a household with a teacher and my own job carries some of the same demands. I also know the demands of other people’s jobs where they are under tremendous pressure to show consistently excellent performance or they will be fired. Being a great teacher is really hard. It’s a thankless job and you have to bring a lot of work home with you if you’re doing it right. But it’s also true that it comes with a lot of job security. Mediocre and lazy teachers can sit in their jobs for years and the worst thing that happens to them is they get moved to a different school. Right now there are a lot of parents who feel like they are barely hanging onto their jobs and this calendar is really not helping.

The majority of those parents get paid considerably more than teachers. Enough with the false equivalence. Hire a f—king babysitter.

I'd prefer better pay for teachers, particuarly when FCPS salaries are compared to surrounding jurisdictions but....

Teacher pay is for a less than full year so its not an apples to apples comparasion. Scale it for an equivlent amount of time and the ~60k starting salary in FCPS jumps much closer to entry level engineering pay.

Nope. That’s not how salaries work.

(Also, I made that as an entry level engineer in the area over 20 GD years ago. It’s laughable to defend these miserly salaries for professionals in one of the wealthiest areas of the country.)

You are paid based off a set of contracted hours for 195 days which occur over a 10 month period. Yes, you are salaried, and yes you have had the option in prior years to be paid 10 months or 12 months out of the year. You are not however working the same number of days per year as a full time employee in most other professions given both the 2 months off for summer + 30 holidays this year (not including 14 sick with 6 as regular leave days) which accounts for some of the pay differential unless you are on the 260 day scale.

A starting salary of 61k with a BS.
https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/fy26-teacher-195-day.pdf

If other professional jobs have 260 days worked (including 10 federal holidays so a 260 day calendar), then we can scale a starting engineering salary of 72k by 75%(195/260) and we get 54k. Meaning that starting teacher pay is inline with starting engineering pay for an equivlent number of days worked and in fact higher.

Now if we look at FCPS teacher pay for260 days its actually lines up nearly to starting engineering pay at 74.4k.
https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/fy26-teacher-260-day.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is just messed up. We have a super short Q3. Teacher work day and school planning immediately after the spring break. 3 days days off in May to celebrate yet another religious holiday. This school year has been a disaster. These kids are barely in school.

There needs to be 1 TW per quarter. One. And follow federal holiday schedule, no religious stuff. FYI, not a Christian here, I don't care if you are closed on my religious holidays or not.

No. You’re wrong. Stop thinking that school is child care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m of two thoughts:

Yes, the calendar is too disjointed and it needs to be fixed.

But teachers need work days. If we want teachers to stay in the profession, they need to be granted time during the work week (even just occasionally) to get their work done. It shouldn’t be the expectation that nights and weekends belong to their jobs, too.

I have a demanding job. It has me on calls for a good portion of the day. This means I have to work outside of work hours to get my work done.

Teachers need to also use their time more efficiently. FCPS ES and MS have very little grading to do.

You sound ignorant. You don't have a clue what's asked of teachers. Also school isn't daycare figure out your parenting.

Shouldn’t you be grading some papers instead of arguing with parents on here? Since you’re so overloaded and all?

I'm a DP, but I am also a teacher.

Let's be honest: if you don't teach, you ARE ignorant of the demands of teaching. That's not an insult. Ignorance is literally defined as lacking knowledge or awareness about a particular subject. Therefore, if you haven't taught you DON'T actually know what is demanded of teachers. And again: that's not an insult.

But is IS insulting when you come here and belittle a job you know little about.

So when teachers try to explain to you why we need planning time, this is an opportunity for you to learn about something you're unfamiliar with. Unfortunately, posters on this site label comments from teachers as "complaining" or "arguing" when it's simply "explaining." I see it all the time. It's why teachers become defensive, because their words are misconstrued and dismissed at almost every turn by people who are ignorant. (Again: not an insult.)

So, I'll take your advice and go grade papers. That's far more productive than posting here considering these trends.

I am not going to out myself on here, but rest assured, I know the demands of your job because I used to live in a household with a teacher and my own job carries some of the same demands. I also know the demands of other people’s jobs where they are under tremendous pressure to show consistently excellent performance or they will be fired. Being a great teacher is really hard. It’s a thankless job and you have to bring a lot of work home with you if you’re doing it right. But it’s also true that it comes with a lot of job security. Mediocre and lazy teachers can sit in their jobs for years and the worst thing that happens to them is they get moved to a different school. Right now there are a lot of parents who feel like they are barely hanging onto their jobs and this calendar is really not helping.

The majority of those parents get paid considerably more than teachers. Enough with the false equivalence. Hire a f—king babysitter.

I'd prefer better pay for teachers, particuarly when FCPS salaries are compared to surrounding jurisdictions but....

Teacher pay is for a less than full year so its not an apples to apples comparasion. Scale it for an equivlent amount of time and the ~60k starting salary in FCPS jumps much closer to entry level engineering pay.

Nope. That’s not how salaries work.

(Also, I made that as an entry level engineer in the area over 20 GD years ago. It’s laughable to defend these miserly salaries for professionals in one of the wealthiest areas of the country.)

You are paid based off a set of contracted hours for 195 days which occur over a 10 month period. Yes, you are salaried, and yes you have had the option in prior years to be paid 10 months or 12 months out of the year. You are not however working the same number of days per year as a full time employee in most other professions given both the 2 months off for summer + 30 holidays this year (not including 14 sick with 6 as regular leave days) which accounts for some of the pay differential unless you are on the 260 day scale.

A starting salary of 61k with a BS.
https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/fy26-teacher-195-day.pdf

If other professional jobs have 260 days worked (including 10 federal holidays so a 260 day calendar), then we can scale a starting engineering salary of 72k by 75%(195/260) and we get 54k. Meaning that starting teacher pay is inline with starting engineering pay for an equivlent number of days worked and in fact higher.

Now if we look at FCPS teacher pay for260 days its actually lines up nearly to starting engineering pay at 74.4k.
https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/fy26-teacher-260-day.pdf

Okay, your math is adorable, but teachers aren’t actually making that higher salary. So how does that help anyone?

FCPS parents need to get a grip. Teachers are overworked, in part because class sizes are too large and in part because kids’ behavior is out of control.

Imagine if parents and teachers actually worked together to improve the school district instead of constantly fighting online. And think about whose interests are served by the constant bickering.

- not a teacher; parent of a senior in FCPS and sophomore not in FCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m of two thoughts:

Yes, the calendar is too disjointed and it needs to be fixed.

But teachers need work days. If we want teachers to stay in the profession, they need to be granted time during the work week (even just occasionally) to get their work done. It shouldn’t be the expectation that nights and weekends belong to their jobs, too.

I have a demanding job. It has me on calls for a good portion of the day. This means I have to work outside of work hours to get my work done.

Teachers need to also use their time more efficiently. FCPS ES and MS have very little grading to do.

You sound ignorant. You don't have a clue what's asked of teachers. Also school isn't daycare figure out your parenting.

Shouldn’t you be grading some papers instead of arguing with parents on here? Since you’re so overloaded and all?

I'm a DP, but I am also a teacher.

Let's be honest: if you don't teach, you ARE ignorant of the demands of teaching. That's not an insult. Ignorance is literally defined as lacking knowledge or awareness about a particular subject. Therefore, if you haven't taught you DON'T actually know what is demanded of teachers. And again: that's not an insult.

But is IS insulting when you come here and belittle a job you know little about.

So when teachers try to explain to you why we need planning time, this is an opportunity for you to learn about something you're unfamiliar with. Unfortunately, posters on this site label comments from teachers as "complaining" or "arguing" when it's simply "explaining." I see it all the time. It's why teachers become defensive, because their words are misconstrued and dismissed at almost every turn by people who are ignorant. (Again: not an insult.)

So, I'll take your advice and go grade papers. That's far more productive than posting here considering these trends.

I am not going to out myself on here, but rest assured, I know the demands of your job because I used to live in a household with a teacher and my own job carries some of the same demands. I also know the demands of other people’s jobs where they are under tremendous pressure to show consistently excellent performance or they will be fired. Being a great teacher is really hard. It’s a thankless job and you have to bring a lot of work home with you if you’re doing it right. But it’s also true that it comes with a lot of job security. Mediocre and lazy teachers can sit in their jobs for years and the worst thing that happens to them is they get moved to a different school. Right now there are a lot of parents who feel like they are barely hanging onto their jobs and this calendar is really not helping.

The majority of those parents get paid considerably more than teachers. Enough with the false equivalence. Hire a f—king babysitter.

I'd prefer better pay for teachers, particuarly when FCPS salaries are compared to surrounding jurisdictions but....

Teacher pay is for a less than full year so its not an apples to apples comparasion. Scale it for an equivlent amount of time and the ~60k starting salary in FCPS jumps much closer to entry level engineering pay.

Nope. That’s not how salaries work.

(Also, I made that as an entry level engineer in the area over 20 GD years ago. It’s laughable to defend these miserly salaries for professionals in one of the wealthiest areas of the country.)

You are paid based off a set of contracted hours for 195 days which occur over a 10 month period. Yes, you are salaried, and yes you have had the option in prior years to be paid 10 months or 12 months out of the year. You are not however working the same number of days per year as a full time employee in most other professions given both the 2 months off for summer + 30 holidays this year (not including 14 sick with 6 as regular leave days) which accounts for some of the pay differential unless you are on the 260 day scale.

A starting salary of 61k with a BS.
https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/fy26-teacher-195-day.pdf

If other professional jobs have 260 days worked (including 10 federal holidays so a 260 day calendar), then we can scale a starting engineering salary of 72k by 75%(195/260) and we get 54k. Meaning that starting teacher pay is inline with starting engineering pay for an equivlent number of days worked and in fact higher.

Now if we look at FCPS teacher pay for260 days its actually lines up nearly to starting engineering pay at 74.4k.
https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/fy26-teacher-260-day.pdf

Where are you getting your “engineering” figures (there are many different types of engineers at different pay scales...) National averages? In the DC metro, engineers are not starting with a $75k salary. Just like in other jurisdictions, teachers aren’t starting with $60k. Cost of living is a major factor.

In short. Please leave engineers out of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is just messed up. We have a super short Q3. Teacher work day and school planning immediately after the spring break. 3 days days off in May to celebrate yet another religious holiday. This school year has been a disaster. These kids are barely in school.

There needs to be 1 TW per quarter. One. And follow federal holiday schedule, no religious stuff. FYI, not a Christian here, I don't care if you are closed on my religious holidays or not.

No. You’re wrong. Stop thinking that school is child care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is just messed up. We have a super short Q3. Teacher work day and school planning immediately after the spring break. 3 days days off in May to celebrate yet another religious holiday. This school year has been a disaster. These kids are barely in school.

There needs to be 1 TW per quarter. One. And follow federal holiday schedule, no religious stuff. FYI, not a Christian here, I don't care if you are closed on my religious holidays or not.

No. You’re wrong. Stop thinking that school is child care.

Your “school is not childcare” argument seems to have gotten you two fewer federal holidays next year. Maybe time for a new argument? This one doesn’t seem to be having the effect looking for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m of two thoughts:

Yes, the calendar is too disjointed and it needs to be fixed.

But teachers need work days. If we want teachers to stay in the profession, they need to be granted time during the work week (even just occasionally) to get their work done. It shouldn’t be the expectation that nights and weekends belong to their jobs, too.

I have a demanding job. It has me on calls for a good portion of the day. This means I have to work outside of work hours to get my work done.

Teachers need to also use their time more efficiently. FCPS ES and MS have very little grading to do.

You sound ignorant. You don't have a clue what's asked of teachers. Also school isn't daycare figure out your parenting.

Shouldn’t you be grading some papers instead of arguing with parents on here? Since you’re so overloaded and all?

I'm a DP, but I am also a teacher.

Let's be honest: if you don't teach, you ARE ignorant of the demands of teaching. That's not an insult. Ignorance is literally defined as lacking knowledge or awareness about a particular subject. Therefore, if you haven't taught you DON'T actually know what is demanded of teachers. And again: that's not an insult.

But is IS insulting when you come here and belittle a job you know little about.

So when teachers try to explain to you why we need planning time, this is an opportunity for you to learn about something you're unfamiliar with. Unfortunately, posters on this site label comments from teachers as "complaining" or "arguing" when it's simply "explaining." I see it all the time. It's why teachers become defensive, because their words are misconstrued and dismissed at almost every turn by people who are ignorant. (Again: not an insult.)

So, I'll take your advice and go grade papers. That's far more productive than posting here considering these trends.

I am not going to out myself on here, but rest assured, I know the demands of your job because I used to live in a household with a teacher and my own job carries some of the same demands. I also know the demands of other people’s jobs where they are under tremendous pressure to show consistently excellent performance or they will be fired. Being a great teacher is really hard. It’s a thankless job and you have to bring a lot of work home with you if you’re doing it right. But it’s also true that it comes with a lot of job security. Mediocre and lazy teachers can sit in their jobs for years and the worst thing that happens to them is they get moved to a different school. Right now there are a lot of parents who feel like they are barely hanging onto their jobs and this calendar is really not helping.

The majority of those parents get paid considerably more than teachers. Enough with the false equivalence. Hire a f—king babysitter.

You don’t by any chance teach math?

Look at the FARMS eligibility in FCPS. No, the majority doesn’t make “considerably more” than teachers or their kids wouldn’t be getting free meals.

Sorry, dummy, I should have clarified: the majority of the “professionals with demanding jobs” who b—ch and moan about teachers on DCUM are paid considerably more than that.

The majority of folks who aren’t paid as much as teachers are certainly not working at jobs where they’re expected to be on calls all day and then take work home with them. Don’t be absurd.

So many assumptions. You don’t sound very smart. I guess that’s why tou have to sit and take up space in your teaching job where you’ll never fired even if you suck at it.

So many correct assumptions? Yes, exactly.

I’m not a teacher - just a fellow working parent who is tired of entitled, cheap a-holes like you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m of two thoughts:

Yes, the calendar is too disjointed and it needs to be fixed.

But teachers need work days. If we want teachers to stay in the profession, they need to be granted time during the work week (even just occasionally) to get their work done. It shouldn’t be the expectation that nights and weekends belong to their jobs, too.

I have a demanding job. It has me on calls for a good portion of the day. This means I have to work outside of work hours to get my work done.

Teachers need to also use their time more efficiently. FCPS ES and MS have very little grading to do.

You sound ignorant. You don't have a clue what's asked of teachers. Also school isn't daycare figure out your parenting.

Shouldn’t you be grading some papers instead of arguing with parents on here? Since you’re so overloaded and all?

I'm a DP, but I am also a teacher.

Let's be honest: if you don't teach, you ARE ignorant of the demands of teaching. That's not an insult. Ignorance is literally defined as lacking knowledge or awareness about a particular subject. Therefore, if you haven't taught you DON'T actually know what is demanded of teachers. And again: that's not an insult.

But is IS insulting when you come here and belittle a job you know little about.

So when teachers try to explain to you why we need planning time, this is an opportunity for you to learn about something you're unfamiliar with. Unfortunately, posters on this site label comments from teachers as "complaining" or "arguing" when it's simply "explaining." I see it all the time. It's why teachers become defensive, because their words are misconstrued and dismissed at almost every turn by people who are ignorant. (Again: not an insult.)

So, I'll take your advice and go grade papers. That's far more productive than posting here considering these trends.

I am not going to out myself on here, but rest assured, I know the demands of your job because I used to live in a household with a teacher and my own job carries some of the same demands. I also know the demands of other people’s jobs where they are under tremendous pressure to show consistently excellent performance or they will be fired. Being a great teacher is really hard. It’s a thankless job and you have to bring a lot of work home with you if you’re doing it right. But it’s also true that it comes with a lot of job security. Mediocre and lazy teachers can sit in their jobs for years and the worst thing that happens to them is they get moved to a different school. Right now there are a lot of parents who feel like they are barely hanging onto their jobs and this calendar is really not helping.

The majority of those parents get paid considerably more than teachers. Enough with the false equivalence. Hire a f—king babysitter.

I'd prefer better pay for teachers, particuarly when FCPS salaries are compared to surrounding jurisdictions but....

Teacher pay is for a less than full year so its not an apples to apples comparasion. Scale it for an equivlent amount of time and the ~60k starting salary in FCPS jumps much closer to entry level engineering pay.

Nope. That’s not how salaries work.

(Also, I made that as an entry level engineer in the area over 20 GD years ago. It’s laughable to defend these miserly salaries for professionals in one of the wealthiest areas of the country.)

You are paid based off a set of contracted hours for 195 days which occur over a 10 month period. Yes, you are salaried, and yes you have had the option in prior years to be paid 10 months or 12 months out of the year. You are not however working the same number of days per year as a full time employee in most other professions given both the 2 months off for summer + 30 holidays this year (not including 14 sick with 6 as regular leave days) which accounts for some of the pay differential unless you are on the 260 day scale.

A starting salary of 61k with a BS.
https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/fy26-teacher-195-day.pdf

If other professional jobs have 260 days worked (including 10 federal holidays so a 260 day calendar), then we can scale a starting engineering salary of 72k by 75%(195/260) and we get 54k. Meaning that starting teacher pay is inline with starting engineering pay for an equivlent number of days worked and in fact higher.

Now if we look at FCPS teacher pay for260 days its actually lines up nearly to starting engineering pay at 74.4k.
https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/fy26-teacher-260-day.pdf

Teaching is a generously compensated part-time job. Teachers who want to feel like they are “equal“ in some way to other professionals, rarely think that they should work the same hours and time as those other professions.