Reply to How is FCPS teacher/staff shortage?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]A teacher who picks up an additional class to teach will also get a significant salary increase.  Some will want to do it, especially if the teacher is near retirement.  (Retirement pay is based on the average of the last few years of teaching.)  [/quote]

No, retirement is based on the three highest years, which is why some teachers leave teaching and become an IA for a year or two. It is less responsibility, but their retirement is not affected.[/quote]

Do IAs have VRS benefits? I need to teach a few more years and it’s getting so hard. My salary doesn’t significantly increase anymore and DH makes the primary salary. This sounds like a great idea and something for me to look into. I would rather take a pay cut with less responsibility than pick up an extra class in my final teaching years. [/quote]

It is my impression there is a different retirement plan/options for IAs.[/quote]

It's the same. The IA salary is so bad and burnout is so high that most don't pay much attention to the VRS benefits. I doubt most IAs nowadays stay at the job long enough for it to be a good incentive. This is obviously different for teachers who switch to IA positions in their final years.

In previous years, I'd say switching to an IA role in the final years would be a fun way to wind down. Now? Not so sure. I would talk to a couple IAs at your specific school before you decide to do this. Our school has four leaving this year, even though they're taking reduced benefits to do so. [/quote]

Why is IA burnout a thing? IAs don’t have to do conferences or any planning or grading. Please explain. [/quote]

Because you're pulled in a million directions and the work is hard as hell, especially if you are in a self contained classroom. Even if you aren't in a self contained classroom, you'll get put into one if the regular teacher or IA is out sick. [/quote]

Yep. I had a teacher quit the week before school began in august and for the 6 weeks it took to get a long term sub the class was covered by an IA, who had to grade, go to CTs, almost all the things a teacher has to do (another teacher did give her lesson plans to use), and they wonder why this IA isn’t coming back next year. [/quote]

Oh yeah, there were a lot of IAs pulled to cover for days or weeks at a time. Some of these people make less money per hour than a sub. FCPS counters this by saying the IAs are eligible for benefits and subs aren't. This is true, but if you're an IA and the primary earner, you're better off getting on Medicaid because a significant chunk of your already low salary will be eaten up by insurance premiums. The amount that's put into VRS/ ERFC by the county based on an IA's salary is not enough to make this a credible argument. [/quote]

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