Are DCPS teachers legally allowed to teach in-person (pods/ tutoring)?

[Anonymous]

What happens when a teacher gets infected from their private pod? Their public school class suffers because their teacher is now on leave for months. So don't tell us this money grab doesn't affect the regular kids. It's just wrong and selfish all around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What happens when a teacher gets infected from their private pod? Their public school class suffers because their teacher is now on leave for months. So don't tell us this money grab doesn't affect the regular kids. It's just wrong and selfish all around.

I’ve taught in DC for 13 years and have a great deal of teacher friends. No one I know is doing a pod.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a massive conflict of interest because teachers said it was too unsafe to open regular schools and therefore created this crazy need for private pods in the first place!

Imagine if the water company turned off your line but the next day showed up with a truck of bottled water to sell it to you for 10X the cost.

Teacher here, and one who did not oppose in person learning, done safely. We did make our opinions known through the teacher survey. Speaking out more publicly than that would have put many of us in very hot water with our staunchly pro-DL colleagues. Most of us lay low for that reason. What if we had been highly vocal, do you really think that would’ve changed the mayor’s mind? And if it did, what if a child or colleague would have died? The precautionary principle took over on many fronts.

[Anonymous]

Also, I will not be tutoring pods on the side. I agree that it’s unethical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a massive conflict of interest because teachers said it was too unsafe to open regular schools and therefore created this crazy need for private pods in the first place!

Imagine if the water company turned off your line but the next day showed up with a truck of bottled water to sell it to you for 10X the cost.

Teacher here, and one who did not oppose in person learning, done safely. We did make our opinions known through the teacher survey. Speaking out more publicly than that would have put many of us in very hot water with our staunchly pro-DL colleagues. Most of us lay low for that reason. What if we had been highly vocal, do you really think that would’ve changed the mayor’s mind? And if it did, what if a child or colleague would have died? The precautionary principle took over on many fronts.

+1

In fact, our union sent out an email just this morning that basically said - we know that some of you wanted to return to the classroom but please respect all the work that has been done on your behalf to keep you and your colleagues safe. Since the union recommends we stay home, it must be the right thing to do! SMH

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a massive conflict of interest because teachers said it was too unsafe to open regular schools and therefore created this crazy need for private pods in the first place!

Imagine if the water company turned off your line but the next day showed up with a truck of bottled water to sell it to you for 10X the cost.

Teacher here, and one who did not oppose in person learning, done safely. We did make our opinions known through the teacher survey. Speaking out more publicly than that would have put many of us in very hot water with our staunchly pro-DL colleagues. Most of us lay low for that reason. What if we had been highly vocal, do you really think that would’ve changed the mayor’s mind? And if it did, what if a child or colleague would have died? The precautionary principle took over on many fronts.

+1

In fact, our union sent out an email just this morning that basically said - we know that some of you wanted to return to the classroom but please respect all the work that has been done on your behalf to keep you and your colleagues safe. Since the union recommends we stay home, it must be the right thing to do! SMH

Thanks for the insight. Did the union also recommend staying home and not doing private pods in order to keep safe?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m finding it pretty shocking that currently employed DCPS teachers are charging high rates to provide in-person tutoring after school hours, while their union has fought the notion that they return to work. Loads of them working with various tutoring agencies. Something about this rubs me the wrong way - like public resources becoming unofficially but effectively privatized.

If it's after school hours, then how does it affect you? They are free to do whatever they want. And going into a school building with hundreds of students & school staff and then sitting in a class of over 20 kids is so much worse than tutoring a few kids. Everyone is calculating the risk involved and doing what works best for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason it rubs you the wrong way is because it’s a clear conflict of interest. If a teacher can make $80 an hour (as one teacher I spoke to told me they are getting) private tutoring, they have obvious incentives to divert attention and planning towards that.

But this is America - for a country with no real culture, the one thing that is undeniably American is the ability for people to exploit moments like this for financial gain.

It bothers me because I’m sure kids will pay the price, but then again, having attempted to teach for 3 months and realizing how hard it is, if my 5th grade teacher moonlights and gets an extra $100K by milking someone, I’m kind of the view “good for you”.

Nobody is making $100k tutoring. They still have day jobs. They’re not teaching pods. If they can work 5 hours a week on evenings making a little extra cash, what’s the problem?

What happens when some of those teachers eventually get sick from making money off their private pod? Do they still get to call in sick? Can they still collect sick pay from the public school? How is that OK?

They could get sick from doing groceries too. Did you offer to do that for your kid's teacher?

Everyone deserves a chance to better their lives, and going by how much the teachers make, why should they turn down work? It's not free money and greed. They are working for it, after their day job. Its hard work.

[Anonymous]

I’m the OP of this thread and I genuinely am sorry for posting it. Teachers are great. We are all trying to do our best for ourselves and our families as we get through this difficult time. Guess I was having a moment. Like many people, what I’m mad at is the pandemic itself - we should be pulling together to get through this.

[Anonymous]

Teachers have worked as waitresses/waiters, painters, movers, retail workers and tutors in their free time for decades.

I don't see why this would change now.

I know some teachers now that work as servers on their second job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teachers have worked as waitresses/waiters, painters, movers, retail workers and tutors in their free time for decades.

I don't see why this would change now.

I know some teachers now that work as servers on their second job.

Because salaries are not the same as they were for decades! DCPS salary levels are now — appropriately — that of proper professionals. They are not beleaguered retail workers who need to squeeze in multiple jobs to get by.

And, yes, we all know that costs of living in DC are high. We all deal with that.

[Anonymous]

Teacher here. Of course teachers can work outside their work hours. They can do whatever they like, so long as it is legal. They should not tutor for money in school buildings, nor should they have anything that could be considered a conflict of interest. I think OP is jealous that some teachers, probably a handful, are having their cake (DCPS job) and eating it too (tutoring on the side).

[Anonymous]

These are the questions I have:

Does this create a disincentive for teachers to return to teaching in person? The WTU went so far as to put body bags in front of central office to advocate for distance learning.

Does this create a disincentive for teachers to make distance learning work?

Children in our city furthest from opportunity, can not pay $80 an hour for tutoring. Does this mean that teachers will put in contracted time with those students, and then go tutor the affluent students, giving less time, reosurces, and energy to children furthest from opportunity?

What is remedy for, let's say, a teacher schedules tutoring hours on Wednesday? Is there a reporting and investigating system for this?

How do we track teachers using resources purchased by DCPS for tutoring? This could include curriculum resources, techology etc.

[Anonymous]

What are the expectations for teachers/staff interested to tutoring?

There is currently no written DCPS policy or guidance that addresses this situation. However, teachers should be aware of DC ethics regulations outlined in 6-B DCMR 1807.4, which states that if a District government employee receives compensation for engaging in teaching activities outside of his/her regular tour of duty, the subject matter of the teaching cannot be “devoted substantially” to the responsibilities, programs, or operations of her agency, to her official duties or responsibilities, or to information obtained from her government employment. There is a BEGA [DC Board of Ethics and Government Accountability] advisory opinion that clarifies “devoted substantially” (https://bega.dc.gov/sites/bega/files/publication/attachments/Advisory_Opinion_0.pdf) to be where the subject of the outside teaching deals in significant part with (1) any ongoing or announced responsibility, program, or operation of the employee’s agency, (2) any of his or her official duties or responsibilities, including any matter to which he or she had been assigned during the previous one-year period, or (3) any information obtained from his or her government employment. Additionally, teachers providing such services cannot use government resources, cannot use non-public DCPS information, and cannot advertise their services (or allow the family to advertise their services) by describing her DCPS employment because this would be using their title for private gain.

[Anonymous]

The last line is ridiculous. Is this correct?
Parent: Are you a teacher? Yes.
Parent: Where do you teach? In DC.
Parent: At which school? Can't say because I would then be using my title for private gain.