Reply to What can be done for FCPS teacher BURNOUT right now?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am in a non-classroom based school position right now.  I started teaching 23 years ago.  I'll tell you -- I couldn't stand it now.  Useless requirements that do nothing g to help children have easily tripled since I started teaching.  I came from APS to FCPS and it is SO much more bureaucratic.  Every single year eithe math or reading programs totally change, so there has literally not been a single year I've been in FCPS when teachers could just improve their craft building on what they did the year before.  Every year it's a new program, new textbook, new training, new new new, and what was essential a few years back is almost completely abandoned.  Testing requirements are OUT OF CONTROL.  In upper ES, they did hours of iReady testing, now they're doing the mandatory ecART testing these three weeks before break (and they added a new required Science eCART in 4th and 5th on top of Math and Reading.) then as soon as we get back from break, they have to start winter IReady testing.  Then the optional Assessment 2 eCART tests (which mny schools require), then iReady again, the on SOL's.

So, let's compare with when I was teaching in the 90's.  Let's just be very, very conservative and say each one of these tests takes just one class day for each subject, even though many kids need 2+ Hours for eCART or iReady, so multiple days.  But even at just one day, that's 7 instructional days lost for Math and 7 instructional days lost for reading.  That doesn't count practice tests and retakes and kids who need more than one class period to finish.  So realistically, kids are now losing at least two weeks of instructional time per subject.  But they keep cramming more and more and more into the pacing guides.

Then, there are parent emails.  When I was teaching in the 90's, parents had to call the school and leave a message with the main office if they wanted to talk with me.  I'd return the call before or after school in the teacher's lounge.  I didn't get many calls every day because parents had some perspective and only called for really important things.  I taught 125 or so kids each year and would get maybe one or two calls a day, tops, many days none.  Now, a teacher might have 20 or 30 emails a DAY from parents!!! And some parents have no, no idea how toxic and destructive it is to send a 10 paragraph email about your concerns about some thing their kid said happened that day.  It's CRAZY.  Some
Parents write EVERY day with a question or concern.  Everything is micromanaged.  The volume of incoming that has nothing to do with just teaching kids is overwhelming and demoralizing.  If you're working 12 hours a day, you want to believe all that time away from your kid or home is really helping kids.  But so often it's just bullshit.

SO!  Thank you for volunteering!  That helps a lot.  Try to limit yourself to one email a month, and then only if it's really necessary.  Let your kid handle her own missing homework assignments or make up
Work from absences.  No, you don't have to write in to check your child's answer on #4 or math problems.  No, you don't need to write an 8 paragraph email about your child feeling left out at her lunch table yesterday.  Maybe send in a note saying your child wS excited about a project.  Maybe buy the teacher a coffe and leave her a note saying her kid loves your class.

Talk to the school board about reducing teacher workload.  Talk to your SB rep and let them know that teacher stress and burnout are a concern.  Advocate for higher teacher pay and benefits.  (We've had so few step increases for the last decade and all of that $ has been eaten up with increased health care costs, so most of us are making less each year!)  talknto your SB rep about class sizes.  We had 27 and 28 kids in our kindergarten classes last year!  That's so, so far from best practices.

FCPS teachers have had to do so much more with so much less instructional time, more kids, lower pay, more non-student-related paperwork (like SIIP Plans and evaluation documentation logs), less help like IA's.  Less individual planning time.  More requirements.  Teachers are being squeezed from all sides.  The SB needs to know and stop the constant piling on!

Thanks for asking and caring.  Thanks for FBI investigation this teacher the benefit of the doubt!  Thanks for presuming the best in her.  [/quote]

OP here. Thank you for sharing this perspective. Yes, I am absolutely for higher teacher pay and smaller class size and reducing workload. I have emailed our school board rep about the first 2 several years ago and I got the canned response.

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