Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, this is not the place to post. Most on here are not teachers and have no sympathy for them. I advise you to post on places like fishbowl and reddit. Best of luck. I am a teacher and it is draining. More mentally than anything. The pay does not even matter to me.

I have tremendous sympathy for teachers. But why have teachers been unable to make changes using their unions? From what I understand, teachers are
-overwhelmed with IEP paperwork and meetings
-overwhelmed by behavioral issues and acting out
-overwhelmed by phone use in class
-overwhelmed by increasing demands by admin

I am sure i am missing many others. Why can’t the Union, which I thought was powerful (although maybe not) negotiate changes?? It sounds like teachers and many families are aligned, but state lawmakers have handcuffed schools with so many legal requirements?

DCPS took 3.5 years to negotiate our last contract which had minimal changes—it gave them a slight edge in filing grievances. The only other thing was salary increases. By the time it was approved, it was maybe 6 months before that just negotiated four year contract expired.

So we immediately began negotiating another one. It’s now over a year without a contract and DCPS wants to be able to do things like move highly effective teachers to any school DCPS wants them at, be able to change our working ours, change the length of the school year. These are all changes that would be removing language from the contract so it’s no longer a protection.

Our only option is to go without a contract basically indefinitely. We can’t strike, and DCPS won’t negotiate in good faith it seems. (They initially requested 5am weekday negotiating sessions with teachers.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While OP makes 111k now, when she started 15 years ago the salaries were much less. It wasn't until recently that we got these bumps. Also, we put in 7 and 1/2 percent of our salary towards our pension and that doesn't include union dues. So as a single parent, I'm sure OP is struggling, this area is expensive. 15 more years is a long time OP. I only have 3 left so I am limping towards the finish.

Certainly. Just like many others in the county are struggling financially.

And they are welcome to look for another job, just like OP.

That’s what is driving the teacher shortage. Teachers don’t feel they are paid enough for the demands of the job, so they are leaving. Those who remain aren’t doing the extras the way we used to (running clubs, extra tutoring, working outside hours to keep up with grading, etc.).

Anonymous wrote:While OP makes 111k now, when she started 15 years ago the salaries were much less. It wasn't until recently that we got these bumps. Also, we put in 7 and 1/2 percent of our salary towards our pension and that doesn't include union dues. So as a single parent, I'm sure OP is struggling, this area is expensive. 15 more years is a long time OP. I only have 3 left so I am limping towards the finish.

Certainly. Just like many others in the county are struggling financially.

While OP makes 111k now, when she started 15 years ago the salaries were much less. It wasn't until recently that we got these bumps. Also, we put in 7 and 1/2 percent of our salary towards our pension and that doesn't include union dues. So as a single parent, I'm sure OP is struggling, this area is expensive. 15 more years is a long time OP. I only have 3 left so I am limping towards the finish.

Anonymous wrote:Starr planning your exit. Figure out where you could work and start applying. Give yourself a year or two as a deadline to leave and do it. Focusing on this and working on this goal on your spare time will lift your spirits. You can think, "I'll be out of here eventually or soon" when faced with something or someone difficult.Take time off and don't devote all your energy to this job. Detach emotionally and care less because you know you will be leaving.

Teacher here, and I agree with this. Start looking around. One of my closest coworkers is quietly working toward another job, and I suspect she isn’t the only one.

There are many opportunities out there. I’ve watched a lot of teachers leave for other careers, and not a single one has come back. I get the “grass may not be greener” argument, but I’m seeing a lot of people who have found better pastures.

Anonymous wrote:Starr planning your exit. Figure out where you could work and start applying. Give yourself a year or two as a deadline to leave and do it. Focusing on this and working on this goal on your spare time will lift your spirits. You can think, "I'll be out of here eventually or soon" when faced with something or someone difficult.Take time off and don't devote all your energy to this job. Detach emotionally and care less because you know you will be leaving.

This is probably a good idea whether you stay or go, only because it will force you to think concretely. I have a job that I find mentally draining but whenever it think about concrete alternatives (including the risk of being the junior person and more subject to layoff as a result), I just don’t think the grass is actually greener. It’s worth the time to really think about your options and investigate them. You may decide you have much better motions and leave. Or you may decide that your teaching job is actually pretty good compared to the alternatives and you will have a better outlook. What is NOT worth doing is thinking “oh I should have done something differently 15 years ago” — that is just a pointless energy suck. Own the deciiions you made in the past and then decide what your best decisions are going forward.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a HS teacher in MCPS. Going into year 15. This job becomes less and less desirable every year. I can retire before age 60 is the only thing keeping me going. I have a Masters +60 and I make considerably less than just about everyone I know, and many of these people don’t have a college degree at all, and they work remote or hybrid.
Before anyone points out that I have summers off, I actually don’t. I work in the summer and the weeks I’m not working, I don’t get paid. It’s like everyone else’s annual leave but other jobs get paid year round.
I like my school and our Admin for most part, but lately I’m questioning why I spent so much time and money to become an educator. Yes, I love working with kids, but I’m also tired of struggling financially. I live in Moco and I’m a single parent.

Mmm hmm. So, given what you told us you are at somewhere between 80k and 90k per year and you are rambling about "I don't get paid" in the summer? Ok. Lol.

Ok, Lol, you're a jerk. Teachers work 60+ hours weekly.

Starr planning your exit. Figure out where you could work and start applying. Give yourself a year or two as a deadline to leave and do it. Focusing on this and working on this goal on your spare time will lift your spirits. You can think, "I'll be out of here eventually or soon" when faced with something or someone difficult.Take time off and don't devote all your energy to this job. Detach emotionally and care less because you know you will be leaving.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the pensions like being a public school teacher in the area?

Op can likely collect 60% final salary if they retire at full retirement age. If she leaves teaching early, there is still a pension but it is greatly reduced. Also, I don’t think they can collect until age 65.

Op try to stay in till full retirement. The pension is likely worth $1.5 million. You are giving up a lot by leaving early.

If a teacher survives long enough to collect a pension, they deserve more than that.

I left after 13 years. No pension was worth the drain on my mental and physical health. I was well aware of how much money I was walking away from, and I didn’t remotely care. I still don’t. I don’t come from a wealthy family, either.

Pensions only matter to the few who will make it the full 30ish years. Few teachers starting today (or in the last decade) are going to make it that long.

Getting rid of the pension system would seem to benefit nearly everyone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the pensions like being a public school teacher in the area?

Op can likely collect 60% final salary if they retire at full retirement age. If she leaves teaching early, there is still a pension but it is greatly reduced. Also, I don’t think they can collect until age 65.

Op try to stay in till full retirement. The pension is likely worth $1.5 million. You are giving up a lot by leaving early.

If a teacher survives long enough to collect a pension, they deserve more than that.

I left after 13 years. No pension was worth the drain on my mental and physical health. I was well aware of how much money I was walking away from, and I didn’t remotely care. I still don’t. I don’t come from a wealthy family, either.

Pensions only matter to the few who will make it the full 30ish years. Few teachers starting today (or in the last decade) are going to make it that long.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, this is not the place to post. Most on here are not teachers and have no sympathy for them. I advise you to post on places like fishbowl and reddit. Best of luck. I am a teacher and it is draining. More mentally than anything. The pay does not even matter to me.

I have tremendous sympathy for teachers. But why have teachers been unable to make changes using their unions? From what I understand, teachers are
-overwhelmed with IEP paperwork and meetings
-overwhelmed by behavioral issues and acting out
-overwhelmed by phone use in class
-overwhelmed by increasing demands by admin

I am sure i am missing many others. Why can’t the Union, which I thought was powerful (although maybe not) negotiate changes?? It sounds like teachers and many families are aligned, but state lawmakers have handcuffed schools with so many legal requirements?

It's a matter of short-term versus long-term interests. The union is driven primarily by veteran teachers trying to maximize their benefits for the handful of years they have until retirement. The easy short-term win is increasing pay, particularly for the veteran teachers themselves (who already make far more than their new-teacher colleagues).

Instead, they should be focused on increasing prep time. That necessitates increasing staff. For the budget to still work, that would require reductions in overall compensation. (mostly as reductions in health care and retirement benefits, combined with a reduction in the growth of salaries).

That would help long-term, but the fear is that it would hurt current veteran teachers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the pensions like being a public school teacher in the area?

Op can likely collect 60% final salary if they retire at full retirement age. If she leaves teaching early, there is still a pension but it is greatly reduced. Also, I don’t think they can collect until age 65.

Op try to stay in till full retirement. The pension is likely worth $1.5 million. You are giving up a lot by leaving early.

If a teacher survives long enough to collect a pension, they deserve more than that.

Anonymous wrote:OP, this is not the place to post. Most on here are not teachers and have no sympathy for them. I advise you to post on places like fishbowl and reddit. Best of luck. I am a teacher and it is draining. More mentally than anything. The pay does not even matter to me.

I have tremendous sympathy for teachers. But why have teachers been unable to make changes using their unions? From what I understand, teachers are
-overwhelmed with IEP paperwork and meetings
-overwhelmed by behavioral issues and acting out
-overwhelmed by phone use in class
-overwhelmed by increasing demands by admin

I am sure i am missing many others. Why can’t the Union, which I thought was powerful (although maybe not) negotiate changes?? It sounds like teachers and many families are aligned, but state lawmakers have handcuffed schools with so many legal requirements?

OP, this is not the place to post. Most on here are not teachers and have no sympathy for them. I advise you to post on places like fishbowl and reddit. Best of luck. I am a teacher and it is draining. More mentally than anything. The pay does not even matter to me.

Anonymous wrote:What are the pensions like being a public school teacher in the area?

Op can likely collect 60% final salary if they retire at full retirement age. If she leaves teaching early, there is still a pension but it is greatly reduced. Also, I don’t think they can collect until age 65.

Op try to stay in till full retirement. The pension is likely worth $1.5 million. You are giving up a lot by leaving early.