Reply to MCPS faces Teacher shortage next year

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Teaching is also one of those jobs where...you're sitting next to someone who makes 3 figures and doesn't care because they've been around 25 years. Meanwhile, you're doing everything for your students and make 55k. That is why I quit and now make a 3 figure salary myself. This is not sustainable. Teachers need to realize they deserve better. The public doesn't care-hell the public is the problem. People continually whine about teachers while simultaneously beg for teachers. It's pathetic. Teachers know this. They just are bigger than your abuse. Teachers are heroes for reasons you've never thought of. [/quote]

The job is not sustainable if staff have to sacrifice their personal lives to do the job.[/quote]

My kids teachers work at most 180 days a year. Most of them are out all the time for various personal reasons so it's a lot less than 180 days. I don't think they're really sacrificing their personal lives. Meanwhile the rest of us are working 50 weeks a year and 60 hours a week. I wish I had teacher hours. [/quote]

You are welcome to have them. There is a teacher shortage and we could use more people![/quote]

It would be much more productive to acknowledge how common regular teacher absences are than to disparage a parent raising a legitimate concern. Teacher absences are a huge problem for which there is no solution, at least from a parent perspective. It doesn't matter what the reason is (that's a matter between the administration and the teacher), but significant absences harm student learning, which doesn't get acknowledged. If you want teachers to be paid like highly skilled professionals, ensure they are held to the same standards that highly skilled professionals in other industries are. [/quote]

If someone says they wish they had a teacher's hours, it's not disparaging to point out that they can have them if choose to be a teacher. [/quote]

DP. It's not disparaging. It's a dumb response. Many people who are teachers would HATE my job, and I would hate being a teacher regardless of the hours. Everyone has different skills and preferences and trying to use that as a "gotcha" is just... no. What matters is what are the factors that are driving the teacher shortage. Is the pension not being generous enough driving the teacher shortage? No. Is it not enough days off of work? No. Based on my conversations with teacher friends, the compensation is not the issue either, though I'm sure this is different in other places where compensation is truly terrible. Could it be work hours during the workday (including grading papers)? Sure, I buy that. Is it the lack of flexibility? I can definitely see that. Is it the frustration of dealing with the bureaucracy and parents? That is definitely something I've heard cited from multiple teachers. Is it anti-teacher posts on DCUM? No, sorry.[/quote]

All of the "I wish I could work teachers hours" or "I think it would have been fun" are dumb comments that deserve that kind of response. It's the same as people sitting around daydreaming about being a farmer; it's stupid and no one means it, but it's even more obvious because becoming a teacher is actually pretty easy. If people actually thought it sounded like fun, they'd go do it, and we wouldn't have a shortage. But those comments can absolutely dominate conversations here and step one in figuring out why there's a teacher shortage is often pointing out that those comments aren't grounded in reality.

As for your ideas about the teacher shortage, maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong, but I'd say current teachers considering leaving and people leaving are who we should actually be asking. Is there any data on that?[/quote]

When someone says "I wish I could work teachers hours," what they are saying is that they work longer hours/have fewer days off than teachers do. The "I think it would have been fun" comment is dumb, no question, but that's not what I or PPs were responding to so mentioning that comment is just changing the subject. And as I said I have spoken with teachers about this which informs my opinion. Have you? If they are saying they are leaving for better retirement benefits, they are lying, but I doubt it because no real teacher would say that.[/quote]

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