Bit of a rant:Concern about new pool of MCPS subs (from a teacher)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a Phd in the humanities and an undergraduate degree in French plus 10 years 10 experience teaching (overseas during grad school and adjuncting at the university level). I could teach English history and French and actually teach those subjects but I'm afraid of behavior issues in high schools. My youngest kid will be in school full-time this year for the first time and I've toyed with the idea of subbing. What is it like at Whitman? What about Pyle? I'd only be looking at schools fairly close to me (western side of the county). Can any teachers weigh in?

+1 but my Phd is in math. I've taught at the college level. I've never had an interest in being in the school systems full time because there seems to be too much time spent on other activities rather than actually teaching and helping students understand the material. With my kids now in school, I'd be willing to pick up a few days here and there.

What does "certified" and "non certified" entail? I don't have an education degree or state teaching license.

Certification is the state teaching license or a license from a partner state.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you raise the pay of subs you will get more qualified people wanting to be subs. From what I've heard, the pay rate hasn't improved in over 10 years. Of course you need tap people without a BA, because people with a college degree need and deserve higher pay.

Sub pay:

For "certificated" subs: short-term $19.58/hr, long-term $27.89/hr.

For "non-certificated" subs: short-term $18.41/hr, long-term $26.28/hr.

Montgomery County minimum wage is currently $13/hr and will rise to $14/hr on July 1, 2020, and $15/hr on July 1, 2021.

MCPS sub here. Long-term sub rates only kick in after 11 consecutive days. This is especially unfair when you are taking over for a planned leave (maternity).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you raise the pay of subs you will get more qualified people wanting to be subs. From what I've heard, the pay rate hasn't improved in over 10 years. Of course you need tap people without a BA, because people with a college degree need and deserve higher pay.

Sub pay:

For "certificated" subs: short-term $19.58/hr, long-term $27.89/hr.

For "non-certificated" subs: short-term $18.41/hr, long-term $26.28/hr.

Montgomery County minimum wage is currently $13/hr and will rise to $14/hr on July 1, 2020, and $15/hr on July 1, 2021.

MCPS sub here. Long-term sub rates only kick in after 11 consecutive days. This is especially unfair when you are taking over for a planned leave (maternity).

That’s because the teacher leaves plans for 2 weeks (10 days) and then the long term sub is expected to create the plans after that (with support from the team). It’s much less work to have the plans created for you, so the pay reflects that.

[Anonymous]

Right, because all the teachers leave comprehensive 10 day plans (insert eye-roll)

In my kids schools (a MS and a HS, W Cluster - was the same when they were in ES), a sub is a day off with movies, games on chrome books, spending the class time on their phones, etc. They are babysitters and nothing more

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Right, because all the teachers leave comprehensive 10 day plans (insert eye-roll)

In my kids schools (a MS and a HS, W Cluster - was the same when they were in ES), a sub is a day off with movies, games on chrome books, spending the class time on their phones, etc. They are babysitters and nothing more

Unless it’s a dire emergency, anyone who asks me to sub for even a day—let alone a week or two—better leave comprehensive plans or I’m declining further requests. Expecting one person to babysit 25+ kids for 7.5 hours with no structured activities leads to a very long day with lots of behaviors, even in the “good” schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right, because all the teachers leave comprehensive 10 day plans (insert eye-roll)

In my kids schools (a MS and a HS, W Cluster - was the same when they were in ES), a sub is a day off with movies, games on chrome books, spending the class time on their phones, etc. They are babysitters and nothing more

Unless it’s a dire emergency, anyone who asks me to sub for even a day—let alone a week or two—better leave comprehensive plans or I’m declining further requests. Expecting one person to babysit 25+ kids for 7.5 hours with no structured activities leads to a very long day with lots of behaviors, even in the “good” schools.

A lot of my colleagues leave educational games and videos because subs don’t bother to follow the comprehensive plans they spent hours creating before they take leave. If I take planned leave, I try to arrange it so that students are on day 2 or 3 of a multi-day assignment. That way, they already know what to do and just need adult supervision. Complicating things, my school limits chromebook use when there is a sub after a sub accidentally took a Chromebook home with him. As a result, only certain subs are allowed for lessons requiring Chromebooks. That makes it difficult to leave an engaging lesson if the sub isn’t capable of following directions or understanding the material.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right, because all the teachers leave comprehensive 10 day plans (insert eye-roll)

In my kids schools (a MS and a HS, W Cluster - was the same when they were in ES), a sub is a day off with movies, games on chrome books, spending the class time on their phones, etc. They are babysitters and nothing more

Unless it’s a dire emergency, anyone who asks me to sub for even a day—let alone a week or two—better leave comprehensive plans or I’m declining further requests. Expecting one person to babysit 25+ kids for 7.5 hours with no structured activities leads to a very long day with lots of behaviors, even in the “good” schools.

A lot of my colleagues leave educational games and videos because subs don’t bother to follow the comprehensive plans they spent hours creating before they take leave. If I take planned leave, I try to arrange it so that students are on day 2 or 3 of a multi-day assignment. That way, they already know what to do and just need adult supervision. Complicating things, my school limits chromebook use when there is a sub after a sub accidentally took a Chromebook home with him. As a result, only certain subs are allowed for lessons requiring Chromebooks. That makes it difficult to leave an engaging lesson if the sub isn’t capable of following directions or understanding the material.

PP here. That is all fine and certainly understandable. I don't mind if I'm asked to oversee math or science games or learning stations or play a social studies video in lieu of something more structured for some of the day. I very much mind if someone leaves no plans or activities, especially in the elementary grades or Special Ed. I've been at it long enough to have my own backup activities and know how to put stuff together in a pinch, but there's no way a bunch of kids are going to be content left to their own devices all day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right, because all the teachers leave comprehensive 10 day plans (insert eye-roll)

In my kids schools (a MS and a HS, W Cluster - was the same when they were in ES), a sub is a day off with movies, games on chrome books, spending the class time on their phones, etc. They are babysitters and nothing more

Unless it’s a dire emergency, anyone who asks me to sub for even a day—let alone a week or two—better leave comprehensive plans or I’m declining further requests. Expecting one person to babysit 25+ kids for 7.5 hours with no structured activities leads to a very long day with lots of behaviors, even in the “good” schools.

A lot of my colleagues leave educational games and videos because subs don’t bother to follow the comprehensive plans they spent hours creating before they take leave. If I take planned leave, I try to arrange it so that students are on day 2 or 3 of a multi-day assignment. That way, they already know what to do and just need adult supervision. Complicating things, my school limits chromebook use when there is a sub after a sub accidentally took a Chromebook home with him. As a result, only certain subs are allowed for lessons requiring Chromebooks. That makes it difficult to leave an engaging lesson if the sub isn’t capable of following directions or understanding the material.

PP here. That is all fine and certainly understandable. I don't mind if I'm asked to oversee math or science games or learning stations or play a social studies video in lieu of something more structured for some of the day. I very much mind if someone leaves no plans or activities, especially in the elementary grades or Special Ed. I've been at it long enough to have my own backup activities and know how to put stuff together in a pinch, but there's no way a bunch of kids are going to be content left to their own devices all day.

Do you report the teachers who don’t leave plans? Even for sick leave, there are supposed to be three days of emergency plans. In 15 years of teaching, I think my emergency plans were needed twice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right, because all the teachers leave comprehensive 10 day plans (insert eye-roll)

In my kids schools (a MS and a HS, W Cluster - was the same when they were in ES), a sub is a day off with movies, games on chrome books, spending the class time on their phones, etc. They are babysitters and nothing more

Unless it’s a dire emergency, anyone who asks me to sub for even a day—let alone a week or two—better leave comprehensive plans or I’m declining further requests. Expecting one person to babysit 25+ kids for 7.5 hours with no structured activities leads to a very long day with lots of behaviors, even in the “good” schools.

A lot of my colleagues leave educational games and videos because subs don’t bother to follow the comprehensive plans they spent hours creating before they take leave. If I take planned leave, I try to arrange it so that students are on day 2 or 3 of a multi-day assignment. That way, they already know what to do and just need adult supervision. Complicating things, my school limits chromebook use when there is a sub after a sub accidentally took a Chromebook home with him. As a result, only certain subs are allowed for lessons requiring Chromebooks. That makes it difficult to leave an engaging lesson if the sub isn’t capable of following directions or understanding the material.

PP here. That is all fine and certainly understandable. I don't mind if I'm asked to oversee math or science games or learning stations or play a social studies video in lieu of something more structured for some of the day. I very much mind if someone leaves no plans or activities, especially in the elementary grades or Special Ed. I've been at it long enough to have my own backup activities and know how to put stuff together in a pinch, but there's no way a bunch of kids are going to be content left to their own devices all day.

Do you report the teachers who don’t leave plans? Even for sick leave, there are supposed to be three days of emergency plans. In 15 years of teaching, I think my emergency plans were needed twice.

I do, unless like I said, it's an unplanned emergency. It's only happened to me a few times in three years of subbing almost every single school day. One of the teachers could never get a decent sub ahead of time because all of us regulars knew she was really disorganized and never left anything (her team always had to scramble to make copies of worksheets and write down daily schedules at the last minute and they were understandably pissed about it). Every time I've said something, my concerns were taken seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right, because all the teachers leave comprehensive 10 day plans (insert eye-roll)

In my kids schools (a MS and a HS, W Cluster - was the same when they were in ES), a sub is a day off with movies, games on chrome books, spending the class time on their phones, etc. They are babysitters and nothing more

Unless it’s a dire emergency, anyone who asks me to sub for even a day—let alone a week or two—better leave comprehensive plans or I’m declining further requests. Expecting one person to babysit 25+ kids for 7.5 hours with no structured activities leads to a very long day with lots of behaviors, even in the “good” schools.

A lot of my colleagues leave educational games and videos because subs don’t bother to follow the comprehensive plans they spent hours creating before they take leave. If I take planned leave, I try to arrange it so that students are on day 2 or 3 of a multi-day assignment. That way, they already know what to do and just need adult supervision. Complicating things, my school limits chromebook use when there is a sub after a sub accidentally took a Chromebook home with him. As a result, only certain subs are allowed for lessons requiring Chromebooks. That makes it difficult to leave an engaging lesson if the sub isn’t capable of following directions or understanding the material.

PP here. That is all fine and certainly understandable. I don't mind if I'm asked to oversee math or science games or learning stations or play a social studies video in lieu of something more structured for some of the day. I very much mind if someone leaves no plans or activities, especially in the elementary grades or Special Ed. I've been at it long enough to have my own backup activities and know how to put stuff together in a pinch, but there's no way a bunch of kids are going to be content left to their own devices all day.

Do you report the teachers who don’t leave plans? Even for sick leave, there are supposed to be three days of emergency plans. In 15 years of teaching, I think my emergency plans were needed twice.

I do, unless like I said, it's an unplanned emergency. It's only happened to me a few times in three years of subbing almost every single school day. One of the teachers could never get a decent sub ahead of time because all of us regulars knew she was really disorganized and never left anything (her team always had to scramble to make copies of worksheets and write down daily schedules at the last minute and they were understandably pissed about it). Every time I've said something, my concerns were taken seriously.

Good. Principals can only do something if they are aware. Everyone has unplanned emergencies a few times in their career, but it is unfair to subs and coworkers when plans are missing on a regular basis.

[Anonymous]

We have our emergency sub plans checked the first week of school by admin.

[Anonymous]

I've been a sub for three years and only shown a movie once (and it was for a music class and part of the lesson). On the rare occasion that a teacher was out for an emergency, I've always had a lesson plan left for me. On the rare times that wasn't possible, other team members gave me extensive instructions on what to do for the day. I save all of the printed lesson plans in a binder that travels with me - so I always have at the very least a grade-level appropriate plan for the day. So there are subs who put in the work and teachers who expect it. I had to leave a teaching program prior to completing my student teaching (I already had a BA and unrelated MA) so I fall under the uncertified rate. I was under the impression that you need a certificate to be a long term sub. I've considered finishing the credential but at this point it's cost-prohibitive just to sub. MCPS could do more to educate subs or aid them in working towards a full credential or at the very least continuing ed with some kind of pay benefit. I'm sure you'll find candidates without a BA who excel at the job, but I would hope they further tier the pay structure so that those of us who do have a degree will be compensated. All that said, it's definitely something you do because you enjoy it and not for the income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have our emergency sub plans checked the first week of school by admin.

Our RTs collect them, but don’t actually check them. My RT is so disorganized that she gave my plans to another teacher’s sub. It was a good thing that I checked in the folder when she gave the box back in June. The folder was for the other teacher and my lesson was gone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been a sub for three years and only shown a movie once (and it was for a music class and part of the lesson). On the rare occasion that a teacher was out for an emergency, I've always had a lesson plan left for me. On the rare times that wasn't possible, other team members gave me extensive instructions on what to do for the day. I save all of the printed lesson plans in a binder that travels with me - so I always have at the very least a grade-level appropriate plan for the day. So there are subs who put in the work and teachers who expect it. I had to leave a teaching program prior to completing my student teaching (I already had a BA and unrelated MA) so I fall under the uncertified rate. I was under the impression that you need a certificate to be a long term sub. I've considered finishing the credential but at this point it's cost-prohibitive just to sub. MCPS could do more to educate subs or aid them in working towards a full credential or at the very least continuing ed with some kind of pay benefit. I'm sure you'll find candidates without a BA who excel at the job, but I would hope they further tier the pay structure so that those of us who do have a degree will be compensated. All that said, it's definitely something you do because you enjoy it and not for the income.

Thank you for your diligence.

May I make a suggestion?

MCPS is helping paraeducators become certified SpED teachers. If you work as a para, you can join a cohort and get certified. Once certified in Special Ed, you are considered qualified to teach any subject.

[Anonymous]

One of the explanations for this was that it would enable university students getting education degrees the ability to sub-- that seems like a win-win. They get some experience before taking on their own class, and they will be more likely to try to actually teach.

Fact is that after elementary school, most subs are just babysitters, anyway. Not sure there's any reason to require a bachelors degree if they are just going to let the kids have a free period, anyway.

Either raise pay, maintain high educational expectations, and hold them accountable for teaching. Or accept almost anyone, pay little, and accept that they are just babysitters.