Anonymous wrote:Reported to be said at yesterday's SB meeting:

"We have an overwhelming number of ADA requests, even for our size (10x more than a district 1/3 our size, for example) that is slowing EVERYTHING down."

-> This degree of a disproportionately large number of ADA requests in FCPS is a disgrace. Hence the parents' fury at some teachers.

How on earth is it a "disgrace" that immunocompromised people or those with immunocompromised loved ones might want to avoid hospitalization?! What the f* is wrong with you people?!

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Anonymous wrote:Just go to the Employment section of the FCPS website. You will see the pages and pages of jobs. They are in all areas and at all grade levels.

I paid attention for the first time this school year and noticed that there were pages of jobs available all year long. Usually positions are filled by Sept 1 or August at the latest. That wasn’t the case this year.

I spoke with someone in leadership about it once during casual conversation and they confirmed that yes the shortage is real.

There are 113 openings advertised. https://careers.fcps.edu/vl/vacancy.htm ...and that includes all full and part time teacher scale positions.

That's a vacency rate of .0061

That's really, really low.

Nope, there is no shortage.

It doesn't seem like a shortage until there's 25 to 35 kids in your class. Then it definitely is!

Correct. A shortage doesn’t mean “zero teachers .” It means “every teacher have has 40 students instead of 20.”

Exactly. I can manage 35-40 per class doing DL. There is no way I can manage in person with the current class sizes because my classroom just isn't big enough to handle close to 40. Forget about hybrid - two classes of 20 per half day isn't going to work because there is no social distancing.

Parents need to get real. Your refusal to adapt to DL is the biggest problem we have right now because the logistics of hybrid and f2f for all just don't work. We don't have enough teachers!

Is this elementary school? There is no way you can teach 35-40 kids over DL. A virtual class should be smaller.

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Anonymous wrote:And at that same school, a special ed teacher just resigned, rather than go back in the building with no testing and terrible ventilation in the classroom.

DP. Same thing at my school. Two of our special ed teachers resigned. One works with low incidence disabilities and was worried about endangering a household member who has a serious health condition. She knew she'd be in a room with unmasked students and would get no support from admin. Both had over a decade of experience and were excellent at their jobs. Their IAs are probably resigning too, because they know they'll most likely get stuck with a horribly unqualified long term sub and will end up doing most of the work and getting paid peanuts.

This. In our district it is the SPED and ELL teachers who are being told to come back. The three I know best are all getting ready to quit. They are hoping for a reprieve and that something will miraculously happen that they won't be told to come back but it is doubtful.

Its a tough situation for the SPED and preschool teachers. There is no conceivable argument that their job can be done from home.

Anonymous wrote:Legitimately curious where people get their information who claim there is a teacher shortage in FCPS.

I am sure there are shortages in specialized subject areas, especially special ed, but not buying it re general ed classroom teachers.

I understand there are no substitutes since their daily pay is like $100 pre-tax and our school sent an email to parents begging them to get certified, put names on sublist. Just havent seen any sign the county has widespread difficulty filling normal classroom positions.

Reported to be said at yesterday's SB meeting:

"We have an overwhelming number of ADA requests, even for our size (10x more than a district 1/3 our size, for example) that is slowing EVERYTHING down."

-> This degree of a disproportionately large number of ADA requests in FCPS is a disgrace. Hence the parents' fury at some teachers.

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Anonymous wrote:FYI, LCPS SB is currently discussion a motion for ALL GRADES hybrid to return 12/1.

That's dumb and won't happen. Come winter this thing will surge as people discover it's too cold to congregate outside and start doing things indoors in large groups and spread covid around.

It’s finalized. 3-5 on Dec 1 and 6-12 second semester. All that’s left now is the crying.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FYI, LCPS SB is currently discussion a motion for ALL GRADES hybrid to return 12/1.

That's dumb and won't happen. Come winter this thing will surge as people discover it's too cold to congregate outside and start doing things indoors in large groups and spread covid around.

I don't understand the point of staggering the return to school. Why should K-2 come back and then another month before 3-5/6 and another month after that until 7-12 come back?

They should all return 11/30 or 12/1. That's just sensible.

Fortunately, you’re not in charge of calling the shots. Except those in your basement.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FYI, LCPS SB is currently discussion a motion for ALL GRADES hybrid to return 12/1.

That's dumb and won't happen. Come winter this thing will surge as people discover it's too cold to congregate outside and start doing things indoors in large groups and spread covid around.

I don't understand the point of staggering the return to school. Why should K-2 come back and then another month before 3-5/6 and another month after that until 7-12 come back?

They should all return 11/30 or 12/1. That's just sensible.

Anonymous wrote:Time to lower the hiring standards. Private schools have some great teachers who fcps could use if they did away with some of the education requirements. There are some fine teachers from other countries and other fine individuals who may hold a degree in something else. Maybe they could hire some with associate degrees and just lengthen the probation period. I have met some highly educated teachers who are not very good at their jobs at all. There are plenty of people who would work. Fcps needs to change hiring practices.

They have lowered the standards. I work in a highly desirable school by DCUM standards. We hired someone without any education training or experience to start soon to fill a position. They are going to make the person provisionally certified and they can start immediately. Teachers will try to help and support but I feel bad for this person who is about to be thrown into a high school class without any experience or classes. At the least, student teaching gives you some behavior management and observation experience. I don’t know if it will be easier or harder online since they don’t know anything else.

Anonymous wrote:FYI, LCPS SB is currently discussion a motion for ALL GRADES hybrid to return 12/1.

That's dumb and won't happen. Come winter this thing will surge as people discover it's too cold to congregate outside and start doing things indoors in large groups and spread covid around.

FYI, LCPS SB is currently discussion a motion for ALL GRADES hybrid to return 12/1.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just go to the Employment section of the FCPS website. You will see the pages and pages of jobs. They are in all areas and at all grade levels.

I paid attention for the first time this school year and noticed that there were pages of jobs available all year long. Usually positions are filled by Sept 1 or August at the latest. That wasn’t the case this year.

I spoke with someone in leadership about it once during casual conversation and they confirmed that yes the shortage is real.

There are 113 openings advertised. https://careers.fcps.edu/vl/vacancy.htm ...and that includes all full and part time teacher scale positions.

That's a vacency rate of .0061

That's really, really low.

Nope, there is no shortage.

It doesn't seem like a shortage until there's 25 to 35 kids in your class. Then it definitely is!

Correct. A shortage doesn’t mean “zero teachers .” It means “every teacher have has 40 students instead of 20.”

Exactly. I can manage 35-40 per class doing DL. There is no way I can manage in person with the current class sizes because my classroom just isn't big enough to handle close to 40. Forget about hybrid - two classes of 20 per half day isn't going to work because there is no social distancing.

Parents need to get real. Your refusal to adapt to DL is the biggest problem we have right now because the logistics of hybrid and f2f for all just don't work. We don't have enough teachers!

Okay, I will just tell my 1st grader to “adapt” to learning by watching a screen all day.

You're missing the point. YOU need to adapt and be flexible. YOU need to adopt a better attitude. YOU need to do a better job modeling for your child. I'm not a teacher telling you this, I am a fellow parent telling you this. YOU need to up your game as a parent.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And at that same school, a special ed teacher just resigned, rather than go back in the building with no testing and terrible ventilation in the classroom.

DP. Same thing at my school. Two of our special ed teachers resigned. One works with low incidence disabilities and was worried about endangering a household member who has a serious health condition. She knew she'd be in a room with unmasked students and would get no support from admin. Both had over a decade of experience and were excellent at their jobs. Their IAs are probably resigning too, because they know they'll most likely get stuck with a horribly unqualified long term sub and will end up doing most of the work and getting paid peanuts.

This. In our district it is the SPED and ELL teachers who are being told to come back. The three I know best are all getting ready to quit. They are hoping for a reprieve and that something will miraculously happen that they won't be told to come back but it is doubtful.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Time to lower the hiring standards. Private schools have some great teachers who fcps could use if they did away with some of the education requirements. There are some fine teachers from other countries and other fine individuals who may hold a degree in something else. Maybe they could hire some with associate degrees and just lengthen the probation period. I have met some highly educated teachers who are not very good at their jobs at all. There are plenty of people who would work. Fcps needs to change hiring practices.

This is a state licensing issue, not FCPS

It’s federal. Schools get federal funds and part of that is that they ensure they have highly qualified teachers. DC didn’t a few years ago, and they lost a ton of funding and had to get rid of a ton of teachers who were unlicensed.

States control who is licensed to teach in their public schools

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Time to lower the hiring standards. Private schools have some great teachers who fcps could use if they did away with some of the education requirements. There are some fine teachers from other countries and other fine individuals who may hold a degree in something else. Maybe they could hire some with associate degrees and just lengthen the probation period. I have met some highly educated teachers who are not very good at their jobs at all. There are plenty of people who would work. Fcps needs to change hiring practices.

This is a state licensing issue, not FCPS

It’s federal. Schools get federal funds and part of that is that they ensure they have highly qualified teachers. DC didn’t a few years ago, and they lost a ton of funding and had to get rid of a ton of teachers who were unlicensed.

Anonymous wrote:Time to lower the hiring standards. Private schools have some great teachers who fcps could use if they did away with some of the education requirements. There are some fine teachers from other countries and other fine individuals who may hold a degree in something else. Maybe they could hire some with associate degrees and just lengthen the probation period. I have met some highly educated teachers who are not very good at their jobs at all. There are plenty of people who would work. Fcps needs to change hiring practices.

This is a state licensing issue, not FCPS