Anonymous wrote:MCPS had 93 unfilled full time teacher positions and 19 unfilled special ed positions as of Wednesday. Everybody demanding smaller class sizes and more funding—they can’t find people to fill the positions they already have! Forget adding new ones.

That's really disturbing. In fact, I would call it a crisis. As such, is there a plan to recruit high quality professionals to change careers with a fast-track certification plan?

MCPS had 93 unfilled full time teacher positions and 19 unfilled special ed positions as of Wednesday. Everybody demanding smaller class sizes and more funding—they can’t find people to fill the positions they already have! Forget adding new ones.

Anonymous wrote:These are the latest staffing guidelines:

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/budget-101/pdf/FY2020-Staffing-Guidelines.pdf

They are guidelines, not rules.

These are the latest staffing guidelines:

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/budget-101/pdf/FY2020-Staffing-Guidelines.pdf

In many schools, either a general-ed paraeducator or HSM (home school model) paraeducator will float between classrooms and help out with math and/or reading. I have subbed in schools (for HSM paras) where I was assigned to a group of 4-5 students in a class who either had trouble staying on topic or were a little slower to complete their work. The teacher could stay focused on the rest of the class, while I focused on the kids who needed a little extra help. A lot of schools also have paras help out in Kindergarten rooms, especially at the beginning of the year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach first grade and I have 28 students. I think that is too high but 28 in third grade is doable.

Ugh, that’s crazy for First Grade.

Less than ideal for any K-3 classroom.

There are 28 kids in my kindergartener’s class! No aides. Bethesda. And they only get 20 mins of recess twice a day. DH is a big proponent of public schools (I went to private school on full scholarship so this is all new to me) but I am not thrilled with the class sizes and lack of physical activity.

I would push the principal on this if I were you. 28 is way over the MCPS kindergarten guidelines (well, it’s 2 or 3 kids over at least). Is the class co-taught with a special education teacher? Do multiple kids in the class have special education aides? I would politely ask the principal why there isn’t an additional class/why MCPS hasn’t allocated them an additional classroom.

They say they're hiring another teacher and will reshuffle all the classes later in the year. (There are 4 classes of 27 or 28 kids each.) So they're aware of the issue. Still -- kind of crazy.

They did this at our school one year for First Grade. Split the first grade class up mid-year. It was ridiculous. The teacher was added mid-year and they totally disrupted the established classrooms. Definitely crazy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach first grade and I have 28 students. I think that is too high but 28 in third grade is doable.

Ugh, that’s crazy for First Grade.

Less than ideal for any K-3 classroom.

There are 28 kids in my kindergartener’s class! No aides. Bethesda. And they only get 20 mins of recess twice a day. DH is a big proponent of public schools (I went to private school on full scholarship so this is all new to me) but I am not thrilled with the class sizes and lack of physical activity.

I would push the principal on this if I were you. 28 is way over the MCPS kindergarten guidelines (well, it’s 2 or 3 kids over at least). Is the class co-taught with a special education teacher? Do multiple kids in the class have special education aides? I would politely ask the principal why there isn’t an additional class/why MCPS hasn’t allocated them an additional classroom.

They say they're hiring another teacher and will reshuffle all the classes later in the year. (There are 4 classes of 27 or 28 kids each.) So they're aware of the issue. Still -- kind of crazy.

They get their initial allocation in March based on enrollment as of March and somewhat on past history of enrollment per grade. If they are surprised with a lot more summer registrations than they are expecting this happens. They will probably have the additional class within 2-3 weeks. Last year we had a 3rd grade class that at Open House was labeled “New Teacher.” They had someone in the classroom the first day though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach first grade and I have 28 students. I think that is too high but 28 in third grade is doable.

Ugh, that’s crazy for First Grade.

Less than ideal for any K-3 classroom.

There are 28 kids in my kindergartener’s class! No aides. Bethesda. And they only get 20 mins of recess twice a day. DH is a big proponent of public schools (I went to private school on full scholarship so this is all new to me) but I am not thrilled with the class sizes and lack of physical activity.

I would push the principal on this if I were you. 28 is way over the MCPS kindergarten guidelines (well, it’s 2 or 3 kids over at least). Is the class co-taught with a special education teacher? Do multiple kids in the class have special education aides? I would politely ask the principal why there isn’t an additional class/why MCPS hasn’t allocated them an additional classroom.

They say they're hiring another teacher and will reshuffle all the classes later in the year. (There are 4 classes of 27 or 28 kids each.) So they're aware of the issue. Still -- kind of crazy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach first grade and I have 28 students. I think that is too high but 28 in third grade is doable.

Ugh, that’s crazy for First Grade.

Less than ideal for any K-3 classroom.

There are 28 kids in my kindergartener’s class! No aides. Bethesda. And they only get 20 mins of recess twice a day. DH is a big proponent of public schools (I went to private school on full scholarship so this is all new to me) but I am not thrilled with the class sizes and lack of physical activity.

I would push the principal on this if I were you. 28 is way over the MCPS kindergarten guidelines (well, it’s 2 or 3 kids over at least). Is the class co-taught with a special education teacher? Do multiple kids in the class have special education aides? I would politely ask the principal why there isn’t an additional class/why MCPS hasn’t allocated them an additional classroom.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach first grade and I have 28 students. I think that is too high but 28 in third grade is doable.

Ugh, that’s crazy for First Grade.

Less than ideal for any K-3 classroom.

There are 28 kids in my kindergartener’s class! No aides. Bethesda. And they only get 20 mins of recess twice a day. DH is a big proponent of public schools (I went to private school on full scholarship so this is all new to me) but I am not thrilled with the class sizes and lack of physical activity.

Give your DH some time. I attended public school and believe in the benefits of a strong public education system. But we consider private school every single year.

Once your DH realizes how MCPS is so poorly run, he’ll consider private.

The large class sizes are only the beginning. The haphazard curriculum, the error ridden worksheets, the lack of science education in ES, etc. PE once a week. Uninspired ‘art on a cart’. Tell your DH to volunteer for events in the classroom an ask your DC about his/her day regularly. Once he gets a feel for what MCPS has to offer, he’ll soon be on board to go private.

MCPS is too large and too poorly run to be an effective school system.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach first grade and I have 28 students. I think that is too high but 28 in third grade is doable.

Ugh, that’s crazy for First Grade.

Less than ideal for any K-3 classroom.

There are 28 kids in my kindergartener’s class! No aides. Bethesda. And they only get 20 mins of recess twice a day. DH is a big proponent of public schools (I went to private school on full scholarship so this is all new to me) but I am not thrilled with the class sizes and lack of physical activity.

Twenty minutes of recess?? Wow, that is fortunate for MCPS.

Our ES only does one twenty minute recess for K. Plus, part of that is lining up and walking quietly in the hallway, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach first grade and I have 28 students. I think that is too high but 28 in third grade is doable.

Ugh, that’s crazy for First Grade.

Less than ideal for any K-3 classroom.

I posted about being a first grade teacher with 28 students. I teach in Baltimore City and apparently there is no cap on the number of students there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach first grade and I have 28 students. I think that is too high but 28 in third grade is doable.

Ugh, that’s crazy for First Grade.

Less than ideal for any K-3 classroom.

There are 28 kids in my kindergartener’s class! No aides. Bethesda. And they only get 20 mins of recess twice a day. DH is a big proponent of public schools (I went to private school on full scholarship so this is all new to me) but I am not thrilled with the class sizes and lack of physical activity.

Anonymous wrote:I teach first grade and I have 28 students. I think that is too high but 28 in third grade is doable.

That should be over the MCPS guidelines for first. My older DD started her first grade year at 27 in her class and ended it at 29. It was awful. But the slight reduction in the guidelines I think should keep first grades smaller than that now I think. My DD1’s cohort was always a little smaller than the others at her school. I guess 27 was a total of 108 whereas DD2’s classes of 22 were a total of 110 in the grade. Sometimes those 2-3 kids really make the difference.

Anonymous wrote:I teach first grade and I have 28 students. I think that is too high but 28 in third grade is doable.

Ugh, that’s crazy for First Grade.

Less than ideal for any K-3 classroom.