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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Salaries wouldn't grow (already lower than private sector, yes, even when you include summers, etc., off);
The excellent benefits, which were traded for lower salaries, would slowly diminish;
Professional development, already marginal, would become non-existant;
Very few bright people would go into teaching;
Many excellent tea here would leave for greener pastures.

That last one is the kicker, because it's the great benefits that keep many in the profession.  That goes, and you will see teachers leaving in droves.  And then the public schools will dramatically decrease in value (they are supposed to be the great equalizer), and anyone who can afford it will send kids to private.  That will leave the public schools in even more of a disastrous situation.  Oh but wait, that's what the GOP wants, everyone for themself, sticking up for them self only, instead of looking out for one another.  The government is supposed to do what individuals cannot, for the greater good.  Who does it serve to completely sink public schools?[/quote]

This is what DeVos doesn’t want parents to realize.[/quote]

Actually, I am a Democrat and I don't believe in the Union.  I think the greater good would be better served without it.  The Union is dysfunctional and is like a dog with his tail between his legs anytime it tries to stand up for something important.  It keeps the profession stuck in mediocracy.

[b]If the Union is so great, then why are salaries so low?  Benefits???  We have crap for benefits.[/b]  I had a coworker who could not use his right hand and the MCPS insurance company denied the MRI the orthopedic doctor was ordering.

As far as being like PG County, with the grade fixing and washing down the curriculum - we are already there.[/quote]

I'm a teacher and I'm actually ok with my salary. As for benefits, I have been so grateful for what we have. My husband has had an acute health issue where we only had to pay the hospitalization copay and I have a chronic health issue which requires infusions every month that cost $5000 each. I pay a $20 copay and the nurses even commented on what good coverage it is. Even though the prescription copays have gone up they're still reasonable and I never worry about not being able to afford them.

I would like to see the culture and working conditions improve. I would like for central office folks to suss out what's really going on in schools and not fall for the dog and pony shows admin puts on, which is extremely different than what happens on a day to day basis. I'd like for the realities of what our students face to be acknowledged and when we bring up the fact that John's family lives in one room of a house and there is a baby crying all night and prevents him from sleeping, and he had a particularly rough night the night before MAP-R which is most likely why his score didn't improve even though what we see in the classroom on a day to day basis belies the score on a test--we're told that we're just making excuses and we're responsible for his score no matter what. I would like for admin and central office to understand that children are not widgets and that data doesn't always tell the whole story. There is a different set of needs at Focus and Title 1 schools then there is at schools with a higher SES population--we shouldn't have to pretend that it's all the same.

In addition, people in central office who make instructional decisions for students should be required to actually step foot in classrooms to see what they're really like instead of making decisions that make no sense from a reality standpoint, but probably make perfect sense from their ivory tower.

Don't get me started on the student code of conduct....[b]the inmates are running the asylum and they know they hold the power....[/b]

[/quote]

Your analogy is offensive.  Students are not criminals.

Students have rights that MCPS teachers and administrators violate all the time.  The MCPS Employee Code of Conduct is worthless because nothing happens to employees who violate it.

Teachers have rights as well that administrators violate.  The whole system is broken and Central Office keeps shuffling chairs, promoting dead weight, but does nothing to cure the discord in the school climates.[/quote]

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