Anonymous wrote:I work for APS and several of my colleagues resigned after this year. APS pay and benefits are no longer competitive with neighboring school districts. If you can’t afford to live in Arlington, why would you commute here when you can get an equally paying job near your house in Fairfax or Loundon or Alexandria?

Arlington parents are a tough crowd to please…some amazing families but also some scary ones. My friends didn’t feel the juice was worth the squeeze, so to speak. Makes me sad because I am watching some really incredible teachers walk away from APS.

Bridget Loft and Dr Duran need to rally their troops, improve compensation and do everything they can to boost morale. APS needs to hang on to talented, experienced teachers.

For what it’s worth, I am an APS parent too. My DD’s AWESOME teacher just accepted a job in another county and she will make more money and have a shorter commute. Why wouldn’t she do that?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS administration treated teachers terribly. Everything from ongoing whiplash messages about when they'd go back, no answers from HR on who had to go back in person, no confidence in safety measures or what was or wasn't allowed, lack of IT support or guidance, shoddy teacher vaccine roll out, and on and on. It was a hot mess. From my conversations with teacher friends, there was more APS teacher angst over APS administration indecision, poor communication and lack of leadership than from any parents. Not to mention that a ton of parent angst was completely the fault of APS leadership. Let's put the blame on those with actual accountability.

Teacher here. In my opinion the group "Smart Restart" made the teachers situation a lot worse. They started to speak on behalf of all teachers, but they didn't understand that they were only talking to a small cadre of staff who were understandably scared about returning to school. For most of us though, we were tired of virtual education and were ready to go back once we were vaccinated. I wish APS would have waited until the second shot was in our arms, but I think parent pressure from the other side APE prevented that. I loved meeting and seeing my kids even twice a week. It's the virtual students I always felt bad for. I don't think I gave them a good education this year. Even to the ones who excelled at home. If there was anything you should have fought for all year, it was to make concurrent education not even a consideration.

I agree that APS treated us horribly too, but we're used to it. Prepandemic, APS was a lousy employer, and we're used to keeping our heads low and switching things up quickly. It just got worse. A lot of my relationships with parents were irreparably ruined, and I hope this summer I can regroup so that I can trust you again next year.

None of the other districts are that great either, except for salary. I love my school and teaching your children, and that's the only reason I'm staying.

Thank you for your perspective. I hope you are able to rest this summer. Please know that these parent groups don't speak for most parents. I hope all of them go away now that schools are returning to five days a week.

I'm in Smart Restart. We did not advocate for staying virtual. We advocated for things like ventilation, outdoor lunch, testing. Many of the parents in SR sent their kids hybrid.

APE tried to paint SR - and everyone else not in APE for that matter- as "stay closed" but that is and was not true at all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS administration treated teachers terribly. Everything from ongoing whiplash messages about when they'd go back, no answers from HR on who had to go back in person, no confidence in safety measures or what was or wasn't allowed, lack of IT support or guidance, shoddy teacher vaccine roll out, and on and on. It was a hot mess. From my conversations with teacher friends, there was more APS teacher angst over APS administration indecision, poor communication and lack of leadership than from any parents. Not to mention that a ton of parent angst was completely the fault of APS leadership. Let's put the blame on those with actual accountability.

Teacher here. In my opinion the group "Smart Restart" made the teachers situation a lot worse. They started to speak on behalf of all teachers, but they didn't understand that they were only talking to a small cadre of staff who were understandably scared about returning to school. For most of us though, we were tired of virtual education and were ready to go back once we were vaccinated. I wish APS would have waited until the second shot was in our arms, but I think parent pressure from the other side APE prevented that. I loved meeting and seeing my kids even twice a week. It's the virtual students I always felt bad for. I don't think I gave them a good education this year. Even to the ones who excelled at home. If there was anything you should have fought for all year, it was to make concurrent education not even a consideration.

I agree that APS treated us horribly too, but we're used to it. Prepandemic, APS was a lousy employer, and we're used to keeping our heads low and switching things up quickly. It just got worse. A lot of my relationships with parents were irreparably ruined, and I hope this summer I can regroup so that I can trust you again next year.

None of the other districts are that great either, except for salary. I love my school and teaching your children, and that's the only reason I'm staying.

Thank you for your perspective. I hope you are able to rest this summer. Please know that these parent groups don't speak for most parents. I hope all of them go away now that schools are returning to five days a week.

I'm in Smart Restart. We did not advocate for staying virtual. We advocated for things like ventilation, outdoor lunch, testing. Many of the parents in SR sent their kids hybrid.

APE tried to paint SR - and everyone else not in APE for that matter- as "stay closed" but that is and was not true at all.

SR absolutely advocated that kids shouldn't go back hybrid until there were X bazillion air changes per nanosecond in every classroom in Arlington with detailed spreadsheets of the sq footage of every classroom in APS. They told tales of catastrophic contagion if this unattainable-in-2021 threshold wasn't met.

There was also prolific SR posting about APS buying the wrong air filters for classrooms, inciting a great deal of fear in teachers. My own child's teacher was petrified, having spoken with a SR leader whose child was also in her class.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I'm sure all of the above reasons are factors, but it's interesting that no one here on DCUM is owning up to the poor treatment of teachers by Arlington parents this past year. Many teachers were dumped on for things that were not their fault. It's no surprise that some are retiring early or going to other districts.



Were teachers actually being treated poorly by parents in real life or are we talking about internet message board cowboys? Not sure how anonymous comments by disgruntled parents could be worse the administration doing things like informing parents that they weren't going to get their promised summer school because of the teachers (vs poor planning by the admin).



The other AEM thread discusses how actual names were used by some crazy parents in a forum where many APS teachers view comments.



Also there were board meetings where APS School level staff were called out by not name, but when you're the singular person of your title at one school, it might a well have been. Horrible people



Yes. And yes.
And on the second one, since you seem to think that online abuse is perfectly okay, ask yourself how you would feel if you constantly read that all ___________(insert your profession here) were stupid, lazy, and should be fired. Over and over and over again, for 1.5 years, while you were doing your best to do an impossible job.



The internet is a cesspool. We all know this. If your real life mood is impacted by what you are reading on DCUM you should really take a break. The last year and a half has been hard for all of us.

So, once again, you are defending the online bullying of APS teachers by Arlington parents. You are clearly part of the problem. No wonder so many APS teachers are deciding that it isn't worth the hour commute to teach in Arlington any more.

Anonymous wrote:
I'm sure all of the above reasons are factors, but it's interesting that no one here on DCUM is owning up to the poor treatment of teachers by Arlington parents this past year. Many teachers were dumped on for things that were not their fault. It's no surprise that some are retiring early or going to other districts.



Were teachers actually being treated poorly by parents in real life or are we talking about internet message board cowboys? Not sure how anonymous comments by disgruntled parents could be worse the administration doing things like informing parents that they weren't going to get their promised summer school because of the teachers (vs poor planning by the admin).



The other AEM thread discusses how actual names were used by some crazy parents in a forum where many APS teachers view comments.



Also there were board meetings where APS School level staff were called out by not name, but when you're the singular person of your title at one school, it might a well have been. Horrible people



Yes. And yes.
And on the second one, since you seem to think that online abuse is perfectly okay, ask yourself how you would feel if you constantly read that all ___________(insert your profession here) were stupid, lazy, and should be fired. Over and over and over again, for 1.5 years, while you were doing your best to do an impossible job.



The internet is a cesspool. We all know this. If your real life mood is impacted by what you are reading on DCUM you should really take a break. The last year and a half has been hard for all of us.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS administration treated teachers terribly. Everything from ongoing whiplash messages about when they'd go back, no answers from HR on who had to go back in person, no confidence in safety measures or what was or wasn't allowed, lack of IT support or guidance, shoddy teacher vaccine roll out, and on and on. It was a hot mess. From my conversations with teacher friends, there was more APS teacher angst over APS administration indecision, poor communication and lack of leadership than from any parents. Not to mention that a ton of parent angst was completely the fault of APS leadership. Let's put the blame on those with actual accountability.

Teacher here. In my opinion the group "Smart Restart" made the teachers situation a lot worse. They started to speak on behalf of all teachers, but they didn't understand that they were only talking to a small cadre of staff who were understandably scared about returning to school. For most of us though, we were tired of virtual education and were ready to go back once we were vaccinated. I wish APS would have waited until the second shot was in our arms, but I think parent pressure from the other side APE prevented that. I loved meeting and seeing my kids even twice a week. It's the virtual students I always felt bad for. I don't think I gave them a good education this year. Even to the ones who excelled at home. If there was anything you should have fought for all year, it was to make concurrent education not even a consideration.

I agree that APS treated us horribly too, but we're used to it. Prepandemic, APS was a lousy employer, and we're used to keeping our heads low and switching things up quickly. It just got worse. A lot of my relationships with parents were irreparably ruined, and I hope this summer I can regroup so that I can trust you again next year.

None of the other districts are that great either, except for salary. I love my school and teaching your children, and that's the only reason I'm staying.

Thank you for your perspective. I hope you are able to rest this summer. Please know that these parent groups don't speak for most parents. I hope all of them go away now that schools are returning to five days a week.

I'm in Smart Restart. We did not advocate for staying virtual. We advocated for things like ventilation, outdoor lunch, testing. Many of the parents in SR sent their kids hybrid.

APE tried to paint SR - and everyone else not in APE for that matter- as "stay closed" but that is and was not true at all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS administration treated teachers terribly. Everything from ongoing whiplash messages about when they'd go back, no answers from HR on who had to go back in person, no confidence in safety measures or what was or wasn't allowed, lack of IT support or guidance, shoddy teacher vaccine roll out, and on and on. It was a hot mess. From my conversations with teacher friends, there was more APS teacher angst over APS administration indecision, poor communication and lack of leadership than from any parents. Not to mention that a ton of parent angst was completely the fault of APS leadership. Let's put the blame on those with actual accountability.

Teacher here. In my opinion the group "Smart Restart" made the teachers situation a lot worse. They started to speak on behalf of all teachers, but they didn't understand that they were only talking to a small cadre of staff who were understandably scared about returning to school. For most of us though, we were tired of virtual education and were ready to go back once we were vaccinated. I wish APS would have waited until the second shot was in our arms, but I think parent pressure from the other side APE prevented that. I loved meeting and seeing my kids even twice a week. It's the virtual students I always felt bad for. I don't think I gave them a good education this year. Even to the ones who excelled at home. If there was anything you should have fought for all year, it was to make concurrent education not even a consideration.

I agree that APS treated us horribly too, but we're used to it. Prepandemic, APS was a lousy employer, and we're used to keeping our heads low and switching things up quickly. It just got worse. A lot of my relationships with parents were irreparably ruined, and I hope this summer I can regroup so that I can trust you again next year.

None of the other districts are that great either, except for salary. I love my school and teaching your children, and that's the only reason I'm staying.

Thank you for your perspective. I hope you are able to rest this summer. Please know that these parent groups don't speak for most parents. I hope all of them go away now that schools are returning to five days a week.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:APS administration treated teachers terribly. Everything from ongoing whiplash messages about when they'd go back, no answers from HR on who had to go back in person, no confidence in safety measures or what was or wasn't allowed, lack of IT support or guidance, shoddy teacher vaccine roll out, and on and on. It was a hot mess. From my conversations with teacher friends, there was more APS teacher angst over APS administration indecision, poor communication and lack of leadership than from any parents. Not to mention that a ton of parent angst was completely the fault of APS leadership. Let's put the blame on those with actual accountability.

Teacher here. In my opinion the group "Smart Restart" made the teachers situation a lot worse. They started to speak on behalf of all teachers, but they didn't understand that they were only talking to a small cadre of staff who were understandably scared about returning to school. For most of us though, we were tired of virtual education and were ready to go back once we were vaccinated. I wish APS would have waited until the second shot was in our arms, but I think parent pressure from the other side APE prevented that. I loved meeting and seeing my kids even twice a week. It's the virtual students I always felt bad for. I don't think I gave them a good education this year. Even to the ones who excelled at home. If there was anything you should have fought for all year, it was to make concurrent education not even a consideration.

I agree that APS treated us horribly too, but we're used to it. Prepandemic, APS was a lousy employer, and we're used to keeping our heads low and switching things up quickly. It just got worse. A lot of my relationships with parents were irreparably ruined, and I hope this summer I can regroup so that I can trust you again next year.

None of the other districts are that great either, except for salary. I love my school and teaching your children, and that's the only reason I'm staying.

Anonymous wrote:

I’m an admin at an ES and the staff leaving picked closer school districts to where they live. They are no longer willing to do an hour commute. The pandemic made them rethink their choices. Another reason is that for those that live in Fairfax County - they want their vacation schedule to match up with their kids.



That's only one school in APS. You do not speak for all the teachers.



OP here. No kidding. I was giving what is happening at one school, which I’m allowed to do.

You are the OP? You sure didn't ID yourself as an admin in your first post....

My mistake. Though I’m not sure I’m allowed to make those in this thread. I meant PP.

I’m an admin at an ES and the staff leaving picked closer school districts to where they live. They are no longer willing to do an hour commute. The pandemic made them rethink their choices. Another reason is that for those that live in Fairfax County - they want their vacation schedule to match up with their kids.



That's only one school in APS. You do not speak for all the teachers.



OP here. No kidding. I was giving what is happening at one school, which I’m allowed to do.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I'm sure all of the above reasons are factors, but it's interesting that no one here on DCUM is owning up to the poor treatment of teachers by Arlington parents this past year. Many teachers were dumped on for things that were not their fault. It's no surprise that some are retiring early or going to other districts.



Were teachers actually being treated poorly by parents in real life or are we talking about internet message board cowboys? Not sure how anonymous comments by disgruntled parents could be worse the administration doing things like informing parents that they weren't going to get their promised summer school because of the teachers (vs poor planning by the admin).



The other AEM thread discusses how actual names were used by some crazy parents in a forum where many APS teachers view comments.



Also there were board meetings where APS School level staff were called out by not name, but when you're the singular person of your title at one school, it might a well have been. Horrible people

Yes. And yes.
And on the second one, since you seem to think that online abuse is perfectly okay, ask yourself how you would feel if you constantly read that all ___________(insert your profession here) were stupid, lazy, and should be fired. Over and over and over again, for 1.5 years, while you were doing your best to do an impossible job.

Anonymous wrote:

I’m an admin at an ES and the staff leaving picked closer school districts to where they live. They are no longer willing to do an hour commute. The pandemic made them rethink their choices. Another reason is that for those that live in Fairfax County - they want their vacation schedule to match up with their kids.

That's only one school in APS. You do not speak for all the teachers.

I’m an admin at an ES and the staff leaving picked closer school districts to where they live. They are no longer willing to do an hour commute. The pandemic made them rethink their choices. Another reason is that for those that live in Fairfax County - they want their vacation schedule to match up with their kids.