Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this video is an important reminder for parents and administrators

https://fb.watch/hcxdi1BUVj/?mibextid=0LFGlp

Largely because people in the private sector work far more hours.

The "extra hours for free" and "unpaid overtime" comments make me roll my eyes. Do teachers realize that other professionals are classified as "exempt" and do not get paid overtime? "Overtime" is a concept for non-exempt employees.

Oh, and summers? MCPS pays teachers for spending time on workshops, etc. Is that not "overtime"?

Back to add, and union protection? Other professionals do not have this.

That's because they don't need it. Only people with crappy jobs need unions.

Anonymous wrote:I’m a former teacher. My perspective is 1) teachers underestimate how overworked everyone else is. They think they’re uniquely working unpaid overtime when just about anyone in a salaried role is feeling the same pressure, especially if they want to be regarded as good as their job. Same as teachers. 2) A ton of this, teachers bring on themselves. Take decorating rooms. No one is making them do that. You choose to go blow $200 at Michaels and then spend a weekend taping kitschy crap to the walls.

you're not a teacher so just stop

I'm a career change teacher. The pay is less but I knew that going in. It's not more or less work, it's just different. I'm pulled in more directions as a teacher. I feel like I'm never done. They literally invent meetings in schools in the name of equity. My department didn't need a meeting on a meeting day so they sent me to a meeting that had nothing to do with my job just so that it would be fair to the other departments.

That's my least favorite part. I'm not treated like an adult professional who can manage my own work flow and problem solve. We have long meetings sitting on hard cafeteria backless benches. It. Is. Insulting.

I take it upon myself to make my room cozy becuase I can't stare at cinder block walls in my room with no windows for 8-10 hours a day. I don't complain about having to do it, but it's a fact I deal with.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this video is an important reminder for parents and administrators

https://fb.watch/hcxdi1BUVj/?mibextid=0LFGlp

Largely because people in the private sector work far more hours.

The "extra hours for free" and "unpaid overtime" comments make me roll my eyes. Do teachers realize that other professionals are classified as "exempt" and do not get paid overtime? "Overtime" is a concept for non-exempt employees.

Oh, and summers? MCPS pays teachers for spending time on workshops, etc. Is that not "overtime"?

Back to add, and union protection? Other professionals do not have this.

It depends on the summer workshop. It certainly isn’t “time and a half” pay. Sometimes, you don’t get paid for summer trainings at all.

Some of my cousins and a few friends are nurses and they get paid overtime. Are nurses not professionals? My daughter doesn’t paid overtime, but she gets comp time off and I’d rather have that even more than overtime pay.

This is my 30th year and I’ve never volunteered for a summer training unless it was a course I wanted to take towards recertification. I’ve never been forced to do training in the summer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this video is an important reminder for parents and administrators

https://fb.watch/hcxdi1BUVj/?mibextid=0LFGlp

Largely because people in the private sector work far more hours.

The "extra hours for free" and "unpaid overtime" comments make me roll my eyes. Do teachers realize that other professionals are classified as "exempt" and do not get paid overtime? "Overtime" is a concept for non-exempt employees.

Oh, and summers? MCPS pays teachers for spending time on workshops, etc. Is that not "overtime"?

Back to add, and union protection? Other professionals do not have this.

Sigh. Most teachers here are simply asking people to respect that they also work long hours. They aren’t all suggesting that YOU don’t also work long hours. Is it so hard to acknowledge that some teachers work nights? Weekends? What does it take away from you to acknowledge that? What do you gain by picking on teachers? I’d really like to know.

Also, not everything on this thread is about MCPS. My district doesn’t pay for my summer workshops. Sometimes I even have to pay. As for the union, get rid of it! Please! It doesn’t do much to protect me and clearly it doesn’t bargain better conditions.

Because even if they do work those hours (many don’t) they don’t work the 50 weeks a year which a lot working parents do. The teachers at my kids school work 39 weeks a year. If you annualized all the claimed overtime and weekends you are claiming they work, I doubt you will get 11 additional work weeks to out them in par with the 50 weekers .

Okay. Again: why discourage and insult the many of us who DO work hard? Why can’t you simply say, “welcome to the club of people who work many hours. We see you.”

I’ve posted here before. I work 60-hour weeks on average. It tops 70 or 75 when major assessments are submitted, which is about once a month. I get 7 weeks for summer, 3 of which are used doing minimally paid or unpaid workshops or curriculum-writing sessions. These are 40 hour weeks. I get one month for summer. As for the school year, I get a total of 12 days of leave (personal and sick). My work days are go-go-go-go-go. There’s no chance for an hour break to catch up if I am behind. I’m not complaining. I’m merely explaining, although I’m guessing your erroneous beliefs about teachers are pretty set in stone.

I’m not alone. 80% of my department has turned over in recent years. #1 reason for leaving is not pay. It’s workload. The National teacher shortage? Also based on workload.

Perhaps some teachers have it easy. I’m willing to bet there are people at your place of work who don’t work nearly as hard as you.

Again: what harm is it to you? Is there a limited amount of space in the “I work hard” club?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this video is an important reminder for parents and administrators

https://fb.watch/hcxdi1BUVj/?mibextid=0LFGlp

Largely because people in the private sector work far more hours.

The "extra hours for free" and "unpaid overtime" comments make me roll my eyes. Do teachers realize that other professionals are classified as "exempt" and do not get paid overtime? "Overtime" is a concept for non-exempt employees.

Oh, and summers? MCPS pays teachers for spending time on workshops, etc. Is that not "overtime"?

Back to add, and union protection? Other professionals do not have this.

Sigh. Most teachers here are simply asking people to respect that they also work long hours. They aren’t all suggesting that YOU don’t also work long hours. Is it so hard to acknowledge that some teachers work nights? Weekends? What does it take away from you to acknowledge that? What do you gain by picking on teachers? I’d really like to know.

Also, not everything on this thread is about MCPS. My district doesn’t pay for my summer workshops. Sometimes I even have to pay. As for the union, get rid of it! Please! It doesn’t do much to protect me and clearly it doesn’t bargain better conditions.

Because even if they do work those hours (many don’t) they don’t work the 50 weeks a year which a lot working parents do. The teachers at my kids school work 39 weeks a year. If you annualized all the claimed overtime and weekends you are claiming they work, I doubt you will get 11 additional work weeks to out them in par with the 50 weekers .

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MORE teacher whining? Really?

This is OP. Not a troll. This reply is what I'm talking about. Teachers are overworked and underpaid. But parents and administrators don't and won't acknowledge it and just tell them they're whining and demand more and more.

So, we shouldn't be surprised when good teachers leave the field and you are left with under qualified teachers teaching your children and your children get a weaker education.

Please read the post at 11:46 - do you disagree?

The teachers I know IRL seem to have little perspective on jobs that are not teaching, which is frustrating. Back in August 2020, when our school district’s plan for virtual was revealed, I told a good friend, who is a teacher, how unrealistic it was and that parents wouldn’t be able to support their kids adequately. And she told me that parents’ employers would just have to understand and give them flexibility. Say what? That’s… not how it worked.

I recall a DCUM thread not too long ago about how many hours professionals *actually* work in a week. Tons of people responded: 15 hours, 2-3 “real” work hours a day, 30 hours on a busy week, etc. Many admitted to doing no real work at their WFH jobs.

I work 65+ as a teacher. I do 30+ hours a week of presentations. I am responsible for the progress of 150 students.

You’re right. I don’t think many professions work as hard as I do. I‘m sure some do, perhaps some of you on this thread. I’m confident most don’t.

Am I complaining? No. But I’m not going to accept nonsense about how easy my job is.

8-4 M-F is no where close to 65 hours a week. Drive by most schools at 4 and the parking lots are empty.

I’m actually a midlife career changer considering TFA and elementary or middle school teaching. I’ve begun second guessing if I want to go this path, because I drive by an elementary school on my way home from my hospice care job and every weeknight excepting Fridays there are at least two dozen cars in the lot and the school lit up inside at 6:30pm when I drive by. I know they start the day around 7-7:30, so that’s an 11 hour day not counting work brought home.

I already spent a couple of decades working 70-90 hours weeks routinely as I put myself through academic training and as an attorney working in legal aid and later the criminal justice system. Weeks when I had trial prep I was easily in 100 hours territory. It’s not a good quality of life to work that many hours and my health suffered a great deal.

I need a couple more years in a government or nonprofit job to get the rest of my student loans forgiven. I am considering applying for a job as a school custodian as that seems like the only guarantee of working reasonable hours and still qualifying for PSLF.

Why do you keep choosing low paying jobs with long hours?

DP.
Sometimes it isn’t about the money. I posted earlier in this thread about the ridiculous hours I have to work to get the minimum done for my classroom. I have never once argued for more pay. I want more reasonable hours. I’ll never break 100K in my district, even with my advanced degrees. Fine. Just please reevaluate my workload so I have more than 4 hours of unscheduled time a week to plan, grade, update reports, respond to emails, attend meetings, cover for sick teachers, etc. I am “on stage” in my high school classroom 34 hours a week. (Plus, being “on” and in front of 150 people for so many hours is emotionally and physically exhausting.) I need more time “off stage” to do the other half of my job. Again: this isn’t about pay.

But you knew going into the profession what the hours were, right?

DP. A lot if it was hidden until the last few teachers. Teachers were afraid to complain. Now that it’s more visible, the lack of work-life balance is driving college students away from education as a major.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this video is an important reminder for parents and administrators

https://fb.watch/hcxdi1BUVj/?mibextid=0LFGlp

Largely because people in the private sector work far more hours.

The "extra hours for free" and "unpaid overtime" comments make me roll my eyes. Do teachers realize that other professionals are classified as "exempt" and do not get paid overtime? "Overtime" is a concept for non-exempt employees.

Oh, and summers? MCPS pays teachers for spending time on workshops, etc. Is that not "overtime"?

Back to add, and union protection? Other professionals do not have this.

It depends on the summer workshop. It certainly isn’t “time and a half” pay. Sometimes, you don’t get paid for summer trainings at all.

Some of my cousins and a few friends are nurses and they get paid overtime. Are nurses not professionals? My daughter doesn’t paid overtime, but she gets comp time off and I’d rather have that even more than overtime pay.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this video is an important reminder for parents and administrators

https://fb.watch/hcxdi1BUVj/?mibextid=0LFGlp

Largely because people in the private sector work far more hours.

The "extra hours for free" and "unpaid overtime" comments make me roll my eyes. Do teachers realize that other professionals are classified as "exempt" and do not get paid overtime? "Overtime" is a concept for non-exempt employees.

Oh, and summers? MCPS pays teachers for spending time on workshops, etc. Is that not "overtime"?

Back to add, and union protection? Other professionals do not have this.

Sigh. Most teachers here are simply asking people to respect that they also work long hours. They aren’t all suggesting that YOU don’t also work long hours. Is it so hard to acknowledge that some teachers work nights? Weekends? What does it take away from you to acknowledge that? What do you gain by picking on teachers? I’d really like to know.

Also, not everything on this thread is about MCPS. My district doesn’t pay for my summer workshops. Sometimes I even have to pay. As for the union, get rid of it! Please! It doesn’t do much to protect me and clearly it doesn’t bargain better conditions.

Anonymous wrote:My son's best friend's mom is a teacher, and I think she raises a good point. Teachers need to be appreciated, yes. However, something is off that, in our society, we think the way to show this is with a teacher's breakfast or luncheon, or mug, or small amazon gift card. If we treated teachers like other government professionals, the way we would show appreciation is by higher salaries (within the confines of what the Government can pay). I'm an attorney for a municipal entity, and while I am far from rolling in it, no one thinks they are keeping me in the profession by giving me free bagels and cream cheese once a month.

If you work for the federal government, then you are familiar with the fact that most government employees (regardless of whether they are federal, state, city, county, or other local jurisdiction), usually are limited in the types of financial compensation that can be grated, even when they are outstanding. In most cases, there are rules for what constitutes not meeting expectations, meeting expectations and exceeding expectations and what can be awarded to the employees. Teachers are the same way. The union has negotiated the pay scale and pay raises, so it is very hard for anyone, even the school board or school administrators to give any additional monetary compensation that is not in the pre-negotiated agreements. So, people try to give something to the teachers that will be nice, and will help them avoid spending money out of their pocket. Breakfasts and lunches are one thing that teachers have to pay money out of pocket for and that they can save if parents, PTA or administrators provide for them, so it's a way to put a small amount of money back into their pockets.

An alternative is to buy the supplies the supplies that they often spend for out of pocket. I talk to teachers and ask what supplies they are purchasing out of pocket and I'll buy those things for them. Again, it puts money back in their pocket in a round-about way, by providing things that they no longer have to buy out of pocket. Not the best, but sometimes that is what you can do when you have employees in unionized positions with fixed pay scales.

My son's best friend's mom is a teacher, and I think she raises a good point. Teachers need to be appreciated, yes. However, something is off that, in our society, we think the way to show this is with a teacher's breakfast or luncheon, or mug, or small amazon gift card. If we treated teachers like other government professionals, the way we would show appreciation is by higher salaries (within the confines of what the Government can pay). I'm an attorney for a municipal entity, and while I am far from rolling in it, no one thinks they are keeping me in the profession by giving me free bagels and cream cheese once a month.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this video is an important reminder for parents and administrators

https://fb.watch/hcxdi1BUVj/?mibextid=0LFGlp

Largely because people in the private sector work far more hours.

The "extra hours for free" and "unpaid overtime" comments make me roll my eyes. Do teachers realize that other professionals are classified as "exempt" and do not get paid overtime? "Overtime" is a concept for non-exempt employees.

Oh, and summers? MCPS pays teachers for spending time on workshops, etc. Is that not "overtime"?

Back to add, and union protection? Other professionals do not have this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers in the US have a lot more face-to-face time with students than teachers in the rest of the world. I taught overseas and always had at least two planning periods each day. One was during special areas classes like art, PE, etc and the other was during foreign language class. Plus I always had a duty free lunch of at least 45 minutes.

Quite true. I have one friend who taught in Central America and another in Europe. Both had more planning / unscheduled work time than hours in front of students. Both were shocked to hear how little time American teachers get.

I taught a semester in Eastern Europe. We had uninterrupted hours for planning. It was sacrosanct. We were never asked to give up planning to cover for a colleague who was absent. Our director stepped in if necessary.

Np. Why can’t teachers unify behind this and get their unions to do something about it? Parents have zero input it seems on schools. I don’t get why teachers can’t get better planning time, curriculum and workplace protection from out of control students.

While this is mostly true, they do have some input. You can vote for BOE candidates who discuss the issues that are relevant. I voted for a BOE candidate who ran on a platform about reforming school for better outcomes for teachers and students. Giving teachers more time for in class teaching and helping students. Less on administrative work, standardized testing, mandatory training and meetings. We'll see whether the candidate can deliver on any of the platform, but I did listen to the messages when choosing who to vote for.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this video is an important reminder for parents and administrators

https://fb.watch/hcxdi1BUVj/?mibextid=0LFGlp

Largely because people in the private sector work far more hours.

The "extra hours for free" and "unpaid overtime" comments make me roll my eyes. Do teachers realize that other professionals are classified as "exempt" and do not get paid overtime? "Overtime" is a concept for non-exempt employees.

Oh, and summers? MCPS pays teachers for spending time on workshops, etc. Is that not "overtime"?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So now you want teachers to have even less education. Get an AA degree like the other trades?

I don’t think that’s a bad idea, at least for the younger ages. Were you being sarcastic?

You mean like when they learn to read? Develop math and reasoning skills? When some of the first signs of learning disabilities and processing disorders are apparent?

We invest so little in the first 5 to 10 years of a kid's life as a country that it's despicable.

We expect parents to do that without any sort of degree.