Op, how many years do you have in mcps? Do you have a spouse with excellent health insurance and a solid salary?

I'm in year 20 of mcps and what's kept me are the benefits- it's the ultimate golden handcuffs. I have a variety of health issues and need to know that I have access to the best care. I'm too deep in now so it makes no sense to switch because I'm 2/3 of the way to the pension. I would actually make more per hour (2-3x) doing private practice (related service provider).

In these 20 years I have put up with a lot of bull shit...so I totally get why you'd want to jump ship. Just go with your eyes wide open as to what you're leaving behind.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi- not a private school teacher but I have come from industry. Just some food for thought. If you have an employer who values their employees, there is NO need for any union. The fact that we have to ‘rely’ on the crappy one we have is a huge red flag IMO. True professionals understand the importance of mutual respect and collaboration. Best of luck. I hope you find happiness and a positive, welcoming work environment!

No employer values their employees that much.

This is simply not true.

Anonymous wrote:As a parent of public school kids this makes me so sad. If you have unreasonable admin, what happens if you just say (respectfully) “I’m not doing that.” Or just ignore them? Given how desperate they are to fill slots, I think you have all the power.

Unfortunately it’s not always admin that’s unreasonable. It’s the demands of the system, the barriers such as lack of resources in place and the unqualified or simply miserable staff you work with. They’re probably just as burned out as I am and it’s so toxic

Anonymous wrote:For those of you considering leaving, what are the specific things about MCPS that make you want to consider private?
Non-teacher

Op here: I have friends who teach in independent and several who send their kids to independent schools. This is what I’ve been told that makes me want to leave:

- autonomy. Teachers can teach what they want and are trusted in independent schools whereas in mcps we are micromanaged and scolded by admin

- respect and support. Teachers in independent are backed up by their admin whereas in mcps the parent is always right and admin are quick to throw teachers under the bus. The entire community views us as overpaid babysitters rather than qualified professionals

- time and resources . It sounds like most independent schools don’t require teachers to run after school events, to choose a club to run, or to make materials at home. It sounds like there are permanent subs on call ready to fill in when a teacher is sick as opposed to mcps broken sub system that doesn’t have enough subs

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here- thank you for the honest replies. The idea of leaving my pension does scare me but I’m vested and would look for an employer who would contribute to a 401k instead. Several independent schools seem to offer that. I am definitely looking for a more collaborative and supportive work environment. I have been in education a long time and find the staff becoming more and more resistant, lazy and hard to work with in MCPS. Good administration seem to be few and far. As far as working hard in an independent school, I don’t see how Incan possibly be working any harder than I am now with mcps and with no recognition, it’s terrible.

Specific to independent schools- I do worry about losing the protections of the union. Has this ever been an issue for any of you?

Catholic school teacher from above here.

Just to clarify the workload: I did very work hard in public, much harder than I was expected to. I found the standards very low, and some coworkers still struggled to meet them. I now have higher standards to meet, which I appreciate. I have to justify what I do in my classroom through weekly lesson plans, which I never did in public. I am also observed more. None of this bothers me, however, because I figure this is how we keep standards high.

Regarding your union question, I don’t know how much this helps because you specifically asked about independent schools, but I’ve never missed the union. I feel supported by the school and there’s no adversarial relationship like I had in public, so I guess I feel it isn’t as needed.

This is the main reason why kids in Catholic schools generally fare better than kids in public schools. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous wrote:OP being in private will get you more freedom in how you teach and what you teach but you would have no protections. There are crazy parents and crazy department heads that can make your life miserable and it's more difficult to transfer out because if you don't get a good recommendation you can't get another job anywhere whereas in public you could switch schools.

I know a lot of happy teachers in MCPS but they all have great principals.

Private school teacher who posted above here.

That last line is key. It’s all about admin. Unfortunately, I never worked for a good administration in public school. I left public 100% because of a demeaning and belittling admin team. I finally came to the conclusion that public school admin can do a terrible amount of damage, and (unfortunately) some of the worst teachers get promoted to admin.

My private school admin still teaches at least one class each. They still have a foot in the classroom, so they remember the challenges. They also can serve as true models of good teaching, and younger teachers can observe their classes. It’s a much stronger model, and it produces an admin team that can be respected as true leaders and models of good teaching.

My coworker in MCPS is leaving after 5 years of teaching to go back to tech, which she was in for almost 20 years. She says she never worked so hard for so little money in teaching, plus she wants to work remotely. Solid reasons to switch back. She got offers immediately.

OP being in private will get you more freedom in how you teach and what you teach but you would have no protections. There are crazy parents and crazy department heads that can make your life miserable and it's more difficult to transfer out because if you don't get a good recommendation you can't get another job anywhere whereas in public you could switch schools.

I know a lot of happy teachers in MCPS but they all have great principals.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi- not a private school teacher but I have come from industry. Just some food for thought. If you have an employer who values their employees, there is NO need for any union. The fact that we have to ‘rely’ on the crappy one we have is a huge red flag IMO. True professionals understand the importance of mutual respect and collaboration. Best of luck. I hope you find happiness and a positive, welcoming work environment!

No employer values their employees that much.

That's really interesting. I have had phenomenal bosses. (I was the poster) I'm really sorry if you don't They are out there! I promise. They are very very very rare in education though. 99% of 'administrators' at MCPS have zero experience dealing with adults. They know how to manage children, and therefore they manage us like they would a classroom. It's incredibly demeaning. So why again do I need a union? Oh right...we have incompetent people managing us. I can't even imagine what MCPS would get away with if the union didn't scream as much as they did.

Unless your boss was the owner of the company, the statement still stands....

Individual managers may value their employees, but companies as a whole don't value their employees all that much.

Your point is? People leave MANAGERS not companies

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi- not a private school teacher but I have come from industry. Just some food for thought. If you have an employer who values their employees, there is NO need for any union. The fact that we have to ‘rely’ on the crappy one we have is a huge red flag IMO. True professionals understand the importance of mutual respect and collaboration. Best of luck. I hope you find happiness and a positive, welcoming work environment!

No employer values their employees that much.

That's really interesting. I have had phenomenal bosses. (I was the poster) I'm really sorry if you don't They are out there! I promise. They are very very very rare in education though. 99% of 'administrators' at MCPS have zero experience dealing with adults. They know how to manage children, and therefore they manage us like they would a classroom. It's incredibly demeaning. So why again do I need a union? Oh right...we have incompetent people managing us. I can't even imagine what MCPS would get away with if the union didn't scream as much as they did.

Unless your boss was the owner of the company, the statement still stands....

Individual managers may value their employees, but companies as a whole don't value their employees all that much.

Wage theft is the norm. How else do guys like Elon get so rich. It's not like he invented anything either.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi- not a private school teacher but I have come from industry. Just some food for thought. If you have an employer who values their employees, there is NO need for any union. The fact that we have to ‘rely’ on the crappy one we have is a huge red flag IMO. True professionals understand the importance of mutual respect and collaboration. Best of luck. I hope you find happiness and a positive, welcoming work environment!

No employer values their employees that much.

That's really interesting. I have had phenomenal bosses. (I was the poster) I'm really sorry if you don't They are out there! I promise. They are very very very rare in education though. 99% of 'administrators' at MCPS have zero experience dealing with adults. They know how to manage children, and therefore they manage us like they would a classroom. It's incredibly demeaning. So why again do I need a union? Oh right...we have incompetent people managing us. I can't even imagine what MCPS would get away with if the union didn't scream as much as they did.

Unless your boss was the owner of the company, the statement still stands....

Individual managers may value their employees, but companies as a whole don't value their employees all that much.

As a parent of public school kids this makes me so sad. If you have unreasonable admin, what happens if you just say (respectfully) “I’m not doing that.” Or just ignore them? Given how desperate they are to fill slots, I think you have all the power.

Anonymous wrote:Wondering if any MCPS employees are here and willing to share their experiences leaving MCPS for private schools. Any regrets? Happier, the same, or is it worse? I’m with MCPS and really tired of the BS and looking for a change but not sure if this is the way to go

I’m the reverse - been in private for over a decade and switching to MCPS this year. Two biggest reasons are the surprise out-of-hours weekend/after school requirements (make sure to ask about those when interviewing) and lack of salary equity/no ability to get a large enough raise to become paid commensurately with new hires with equivalent/less experience. I probably could have switched to a different private to address the latter, but truly wanted a job where I could leave the students at the end of the school day or get paid additional for that time.

Benefits to private: small class sizes. What a joy to truly know all my students! Supportive admin. Curriculum flexibility - if I could justify and standards align it, I could teach it. This meant that when I knew a lesson or project or text wouldn’t engage my students, I could pivot to teach the same standards in a way that better served their needs (and thus was more fun for me because the students were engaged!). A real community with the families and teachers. A culture of collaboration. More flexibility with teaching hours to have all school community events or academic projects.

A good private that matches your teaching style is worth its weight in happiness. Do your research, talk to current teachers and students, and best of luck!!!

For those of you considering leaving, what are the specific things about MCPS that make you want to consider private?
Non-teacher

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi- not a private school teacher but I have come from industry. Just some food for thought. If you have an employer who values their employees, there is NO need for any union. The fact that we have to ‘rely’ on the crappy one we have is a huge red flag IMO. True professionals understand the importance of mutual respect and collaboration. Best of luck. I hope you find happiness and a positive, welcoming work environment!

No employer values their employees that much.

That's really interesting. I have had phenomenal bosses. (I was the poster) I'm really sorry if you don't They are out there! I promise. They are very very very rare in education though. 99% of 'administrators' at MCPS have zero experience dealing with adults. They know how to manage children, and therefore they manage us like they would a classroom. It's incredibly demeaning. So why again do I need a union? Oh right...we have incompetent people managing us. I can't even imagine what MCPS would get away with if the union didn't scream as much as they did.