Reply to MCPS teacher shortages continue..

Forum Index » Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)

Reply to "MCPS teacher shortages continue.."

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]And then you have the issue of widening gaps between "good schools" and "mediocre/bad schools."

From the article:

[quote]Stacy Ganz Kahn, president of the Winston Churchill High School PTSA, says special education programs are dealing with the brunt of the teacher shortage in MCPS. Offering bonuses in high-need areas and pathways to teacher certification for paraprofessionals could help remedy the situation, she said.

Still, Ganz Kahn says [b]the Potomac school is pretty well-staffed, unlike other schools in the county, because people want to teach there[/b].[/quote]

[/quote]

I read that quote in the article and thought it was in poor taste. And then just now I looked at the available jobs on the MCPS Careers site, and it turns out it's not true at all. Churchill actually has 6 open teacher positions posted, more than any other HS!

6: Churchill
5: Whitman
4: Blair, Blake, Einstein, Springbrook
3: Gaithersburg, Magruder, Richard Montgomery, Rockville, Sherwood
2: BCC, Kennedy, Northwood, Paint Branch, Watkins Mill
1: Damascus, Northwest, Walter Johnson
0: Clarksburg, Poolesville, Quince Orchard, Seneca Valley, Wheaton, Wootton
[/quote]

Couple potential takeaways:

Working in W schools might be much less attractive than DCUM wants to believe. Possibly because teachers don’t want to deal with DCUM parents.

Working in non-W schools might be much more attractive than DCUM wants to believe. Possibly because there’s better work life balance there. Or because working with those students is more rewarding to teachers who see their career as a vocation.[/quote]

I think some of the up county schools are attractive because teachers can afford to live in decent neighborhoods within a reasonable commuting distance.  Some are getting cheaper real estate outside MoCo but working in MoCo for the better benefits.  A teacher can’t really live near Churchill unless they have a rich spouse or another source of money.  [/quote]

Churchill parents could attract quality teachers by offering to rent a house or in-law suite at below market for as long as the teacher remained employed at the school. However, they see teachers as beneath them and undeserving of being a full member of the community.[/quote]

An in-law suite???? You think living in an in-law suite would make a teacher a part of the community? Unreal. THIS is why no one wants to be a teacher. You think living in some student's family home is perfectly fine for a teacher. Like a governess with a straw suitcase and a note of introduction or a maid you're sponsoring. [b]What adult wants to live like that?[/b] What if they have a family of their own, are they all supposed to pile into the in-law suite?

YOU are the one who thinks teachers are beneath them. I DON'T WANT TO LIVE IN AN IN-LAW SUITE. BECAUSE I AM AN ADULT, WORKING A FULL TIME JOB AND DESERVE A REAL PLACE TO LIVE.[/quote]

1999-2003 me. I’m the person you are responding to and I’m a teacher. I would have gladly rented a below market in-law suite in Potomac, CC, or Bethesda when I was a newish teacher (career changer) because all I could afford the first 4 years were run down apartments in high crime areas. I grew up poor in high crime inner-city neighborhoods so I made it work until I could afford to move, but an in-law suite in an UMC zip code would have been a step up over moldy drywall,  roaches, and repeated car break ins in Takoma Park. [/quote]

I guess you weren't interested in having a family.[/quote]

Few new teachers have families. Most work several years before they have kids. If you can’t afford rent in a decent area, you probably aren’t planning a baby, but you still need a place to lay your head at night. Once people can afford a baby, they also can afford to live somewhere nicer.[/quote]

Someone who gets a college degree and a professional job should be able to afford a real place to lay their head at night. Good grief, an in-law suite is appropriate for an au pair -- a teen or young adult with no other skills who wants to experience life in another country, inside someone else's home. Not for a professional teacher. That is not okay.[/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