Reply to Admin needs to back down

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "Admin needs to back down"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Schools did not need to be closed for 18 months. Students did poorly with online learning. This all harmed students' learning. Educating students is why schools exist in the first place. To dismiss concerned parents as just wanting school for babysitters is bad faith. And to blame administrators' current behavior on concerned parents is bizarre reasoning. I'm sure this unhinged poster will find some reason to criticize grammar, lodge more personal attacks, or focus on some other irrelevant topic rather than deal with the issue.

Admin should deal with structural problems that interfere with student learning, such as the lack of meaningful consequences for student misbehavior, having serially disruptive students--whoever they may be--remain in the classroom, too much data collection, not providing decent pay or benefits to essential personnel such as paras, subs, etc., rather than try to micromanage teachers.[/quote]

This, right here, is a huge issue. First of all, schools weren’t closed. Teachers were working their @sses off changing not only to a new platform, but had multiple new curriculums to learn. Any time a new curriculum is rolled out, test scores drop. Right here on DCUM, holier than thou parents touted their own teaching abilities and claimed they were now home schooling. No they weren’t, but by saying so undermined all the work teachers were stressing over to reach their students.

Fun fact (no, not really), when I was struggling with Algebra back in the 80s, my parents had to help me figure it out. They then hired a tutor to get me back on track. No virtual instruction to blame. Parents have been helping their children with their academics for ages. Great, that’s what a good parent does. In the past they supported learning at home, but because we were virtual, some parents went rogue and decided to let the schools deal with it. Kind of like a pissing match, as I heard one parent say, “If they want to shut down schools they can deal with getting my kid caught up.” In the meantime, the kids ultimately paid the price.

I’m not implying that virtual instruction didn’t come without faults, nor that it was the best for our students. We were in a pandemic, no one knew what the h3ll we were doing. But all of a sudden, teachers started getting attacked by parents for being lazy and inept. And if we voice our concerns are told to suck it up and stop whining. As a side note, the data shared is also wonky- the assessments used prior to the pandemic were’t the same as those used after we returned to in-school instruction so you aren’t comparing apples to apples making it somewhat invalid. Furthermore we were dealing with unreliable data from when our students were administered MAP assessments while virtual. Somehow our kinder students that tested at an 8th grade level no longer tested at that level when returning to in school instruction.

Combine all this post pandemic craziness with the expectation that RJ is the cure all to all of society’s woes, teachers don’t have admin nor parental support. The things our students get away with at school is INSANE. I’ve heard of teachers being asked to sit in a RJ circle with parents and a student. That’s ridiculous!

How to dig ourselves out of this mess?
1. Scratch half of the assessments required. This means mid module assessments, MAP, Mcap, DIBELS, etc. On the student end, some of these  assessments only take 10 minutes. Per child. Multiply that by 25 for each student in the class, that is too much time the teachers are away from their students. 
2. Return to play based kindergarten. Want to teach students how to problem solve, it starts young.
3. Stop changing the curriculum every few years. No single program is perfect. Nothing out there will meet the needs of all of our students. We get it, you want the program followed with fidelity per the contract you signed. Give teachers flexibility to tweak the program as needed. 
4. Subs. Hire some. Make sure they know how to access their emails so when teachers send plans and slideshows, they can be used. We spend way too much time putting together plans, only to have subs that can’t do the basic functions of the job OR to not have a sub at all. In the event there isn’t a sub, either the classes get split (disruptive to multiple classrooms) or paras get pulled from other duties. 
5. Allow staff to use their personal days. If our mental health is really valued, I should be able to email my admin that I need to take a personal day on xyz date and put in for a sub. Now we are required to go in person (eliminates a paper trail) and justify why we need time off. The fact that there aren’t enough subs is a central office problem. Don’t gaslight us and guilt us about what is best for our students. Are they worried about what is best for students? Interesting that they always gift themselves paid days off over winter break, when school based staff aren’t paid.
6. Respect and value us. This doesn’t mean putting candies in our mailboxes, hosting coffee on a cart, etc. It means support us, listen to us, value our input. Doesn’t just send out a not-very-anonymous survey and not do anything with it.
7. The pay isn’t terrible but it isn’t great. It should be competitive and match the cost of living for the county. COLA should be able to keep up with inflation. I can go a county or two over and make the same amount, and have far lower expenses.
8. Behavior. When teachers report in appropriate behaviors to admin, but the student’s version contradicts what was reported, admin will side with the student. Principals have been told to keep parents happy and keep their suspension numbers low. As a result, behaviors are terrible. Teachers have sent students down to the office and they have returned to class sucking on a lollipop after playing with legos.

Just a few of my rambling 3am thoughts… forgive any grammatical errors or typos

[/quote]

Yes to everything written above! [/quote]

I will never understand why teachers complain so much about mean parents yet insist on dismissing the fact that supervising virtual schooling is labor for the parents. You don't acknowledge what we had to do and then act surprised when parents don't want to acknowledge your labor. And to suggest that what you are seeing in schools right now has nothing to do with the amount of time that school BUILDINGS were closed, is just incredibly disingenuous. Virtual schooling was horrible for children and is having lasting effects, it's obvious to literally everyone.

I saw real teachers I know on Facebook bashing parents a week into the pandemic. It was extremely unprofessional. I really hope things get better for teachers in MCPS but I definitely don't think teachers are blameless.[/quote]

It’s not labor, it’s parenting.  And, yet some of us have done it for several years now.  These kids are acting up because they get away with it at home and school and the school nor parents care.  You seem to confuse parenting with something else. [/quote]

Look I pay a lot of taxes and it's the county's problem. Their paid to raise my kids.[/quote]

Sure.  Parents like you are why kids are struggling so much.  [/quote]

DP, obv troll above but it boggles my mind that teachers said "school is not child care" as though saying that makes it true. Now they are so shocked and appalled that children did not have adequate child care arrangements when school buildings were shut down. How dare society expect them to deal with children with severe trauma from the completely predictable child abuse that occurred when school buildings were closed, can't we just tell all the parents how terrible they are and expect them to just fix it? [/quote]

If being at home caused your kids severe trauma, have you ever stopped to think about what's going on in your home?  Funny, how it wasn't traumatic for many kids outside yours.

School isn't child care.[/quote]

So clever for you to assume I'm here confessing to abusing my child. Cary on twisting my words. By all means keep screeching at parents, that will solve all your problems
[/quote]

Whose job is it to raise your child? Hint: it’s nobody’s job but yours. Schools are not there to do your job. When your kids are at home, they are your responsibility. This includes global pandemics. I truly hope you didn’t just have some kids thinking everyone else would do the heavy lifting for you. Kids are out of control right now bc of parents who didn’t bother to do that part of their job when their kids were at home. Stop blaming MCPS and teachers and anyone else that you can. They are your responsibility. It’s your job to teach them acceptable behaviors even if schools are closed. You keep pushing back (and attempting snark) but the problem lies with you. This is on you. Your kids behavior is a direct reflection of how they are being raised at home. [/quote]

My kid is doing fine bc we spent $4,000 out of pocket on therapy, thanks for asking. Most MCPS families cannot afford that. Your little diatribes get more ridiculous with each post.[/quote]

I would have been thrilled to only have spent $4K and that was before covid.  Many families can, or they have government insurance that pays.  Stop being so smug.  And, there are low income, sliding scale options too.

Clearly there is a lot going on with your child and at home.  And, if its the school, you need to find a better school situation or a way to make it work.[/quote]

It's really telling you feel compelled to tell me "clearly there is a lot going on with your child and at home" when you know absolutely nothing about my child or my family. It shows you have no actual arguments, just shade and insults. Btw I do have insurance but it didn't cover this, insurance often doesn't cover these things, and yes I do feel lucky it was "only" $4,000 but it goes to show you have some serious misconceptions about MCPS where 1 in 3 students get FARMS, no they absolutely cannot afford this. [/quote]

Medicaid covers much more than your insurance.  And, there are other options.  You probably are not at a farms school but want to use them as a talking point. [/quote]

If you're arguing low-income people have great access to mental health care, I suggest you spend some time researching this topic. It's not worth my time arguing with someone who is determined to be ignorant.[/quote]

Low income students at my school have great access but many of their parents won’t allow it. I am guessing it is a cultural reason. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics