Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why should teachers have the choice to return? Everyone else has been told to get on with it or get out. What about police force, supermarket workers, nurses and the rest. Teachers are being far to precious. Get on with the job you are paid for. Children are paying the price.

#ReopenSchools

If so many other professionals can work from home and get paid for the work that they do, why can’t teachers do the same? Most of you guys are sitting at home working and getting a paycheck. But you are up in arms when teachers want to do the same? Smh

Your argument is fundamentally flawed.

I am a professional who works from home, but the difference is I work with ADULTS, not children, who are fully capable of using technology to do their day-to-day jobs. In my experience, 6 year olds are not experts in using Word, PowerPoint, Zoom, or interacting only with other people via computer.

Young children were not meant to use computers all day. Are educators now condoning the use of screens for 6+ hours a day for a 6 year old? Last time I checked, I thought there was some guidance that suggested this much screen time was inappropriate for developing brains, but I'm not the expert

Have you even thought that teachers are moms, too? My SIL is one and she has elementary school kids at home. She can't leave them alone all day and the dad is overseas.

Ummm... what do millions of working moms do that work in positions that can't be done at home? You need to get childcare. There are plenty of centers open that can care for elementary children and help them with distance learning. I know, because I am in this category and can't leave my kids home alone while I DO MY JOB.

Don't forget, school is not daycare!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So those of you saying fire them, where are you getting new sped teachers from right now? There aren't 100s of unemployed, ready to work people with sped credentials. They can't even find enough subs on a daily basis when we aren't in a pandemic, and that has basically no qualifications. I get the frustration, but unless you want someone with no classroom education or experience teaching the neediest kids, there isn't a better option, is there?

I don't really see the downside. The teachers have worked hard to ensure schools won't open anytime soon regardless if what is done. It's true that firing/furloughing the teachers might not allow reopening, but that's already the situation that we're in.

The best way to deal with this problem long-term is to nip this in the bud now.

So you'd rather have no school than virtual school? Am I understanding that correctly? And then when school reopens eventually have no teachers to come in? That seems incredibly short sighted, but maybe I'm missing something.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is there such a shortage of Sped teachers?

There isn't. It's something unions like to claim. In reality, if there was a shortage, they'd be paid more. There is no shortage.

There is a national teacher shortage. Where are you getting that there are no shortages of SPED teachers? If it was just about pay, then teachers would be paid more, period.

Yeah, it's more complicated than that. There is a shortage, particularly in certain geographic areas and in certain subjects. More pay probably would help, but unions are probably (ironically) the main thing impeding that. They make it tough to pay, say, STEM teachers more than, say, elementary school teachers.

I think it depends on the degree. STEM teachers generally have higher degrees than ES teachers.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/departments/ersc/employees/pay/schedules/fy21_mcea_salary_schedules.pdf

But generally, there are teacher shortages across the country, including sped teachers.

https://alignstaffing.com/education-staffing/why-the-shortage-in-special-education-teachers/

https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/11/09/436588372/behind-the-shortage-of-special-ed-teachers-long-hours-crushing-paperwork

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So those of you saying fire them, where are you getting new sped teachers from right now? There aren't 100s of unemployed, ready to work people with sped credentials. They can't even find enough subs on a daily basis when we aren't in a pandemic, and that has basically no qualifications. I get the frustration, but unless you want someone with no classroom education or experience teaching the neediest kids, there isn't a better option, is there?

I don't really see the downside. The teachers have worked hard to ensure schools won't open anytime soon regardless if what is done. It's true that firing/furloughing the teachers might not allow reopening, but that's already the situation that we're in.

The best way to deal with this problem long-term is to nip this in the bud now.

So you'd rather have no school than virtual school? Am I understanding that correctly? And then when school reopens eventually have no teachers to come in? That seems incredibly short sighted, but maybe I'm missing something.

Yes. Virtual school is the same as no school for SPED kids. I know this because I'm living through it right now (in MCPS).

I might be more worried about losing teachers if I wasn't so convinced that a substantial percentage would do their jobs if the alternative was losing their jobs without unemployment benefits.

That's a game of chicken, and you might not win it. That's fine, but better clearly articulate the back-up plan in case you lose the bluff.

It's less of a bluff and more of a calculated risk.

And the back-up plan is basically the status quo... As bad as that is, there's not much to lose when there's no end in sight.

So ... if those SPED teachers retire or find other jobs, and kids return to school, you're just going to be ok with the status quo continuing? A lot of SPED positions were unfilled before the pandemic -- and before you pretty much told trained professionals "my way or the highway." They aren't going to be easier to fill now.

The school districts would figure it out. Perhaps not immediately, but fairly soon. Why? Because they're legally required to provide it. If they had to, they'd hire contractors with nurses and therapist to meet the legal requirements. And longer-term, they'd be forced to renegotiate the contract with the unions to pay SPED teachers more.

They aren't going to hire nurses and therapists and none of those folks will want a high risk job that pays low.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why should teachers have the choice to return? Everyone else has been told to get on with it or get out. What about police force, supermarket workers, nurses and the rest. Teachers are being far to precious. Get on with the job you are paid for. Children are paying the price.

#ReopenSchools

If so many other professionals can work from home and get paid for the work that they do, why can’t teachers do the same? Most of you guys are sitting at home working and getting a paycheck. But you are up in arms when teachers want to do the same? Smh

Your argument is fundamentally flawed.

I am a professional who works from home, but the difference is I work with ADULTS, not children, who are fully capable of using technology to do their day-to-day jobs. In my experience, 6 year olds are not experts in using Word, PowerPoint, Zoom, or interacting only with other people via computer.

Young children were not meant to use computers all day. Are educators now condoning the use of screens for 6+ hours a day for a 6 year old? Last time I checked, I thought there was some guidance that suggested this much screen time was inappropriate for developing brains, but I'm not the expert

Have you even thought that teachers are moms, too? My SIL is one and she has elementary school kids at home. She can't leave them alone all day and the dad is overseas.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is there such a shortage of Sped teachers?

There isn't. It's something unions like to claim. In reality, if there was a shortage, they'd be paid more. There is no shortage.

There is a national teacher shortage. Where are you getting that there are no shortages of SPED teachers? If it was just about pay, then teachers would be paid more, period.

Yeah, it's more complicated than that. There is a shortage, particularly in certain geographic areas and in certain subjects. More pay probably would help, but unions are probably (ironically) the main thing impeding that. They make it tough to pay, say, STEM teachers more than, say, elementary school teachers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So those of you saying fire them, where are you getting new sped teachers from right now? There aren't 100s of unemployed, ready to work people with sped credentials. They can't even find enough subs on a daily basis when we aren't in a pandemic, and that has basically no qualifications. I get the frustration, but unless you want someone with no classroom education or experience teaching the neediest kids, there isn't a better option, is there?

I don't really see the downside. The teachers have worked hard to ensure schools won't open anytime soon regardless if what is done. It's true that firing/furloughing the teachers might not allow reopening, but that's already the situation that we're in.

The best way to deal with this problem long-term is to nip this in the bud now.

So you'd rather have no school than virtual school? Am I understanding that correctly? And then when school reopens eventually have no teachers to come in? That seems incredibly short sighted, but maybe I'm missing something.

Yes. Virtual school is the same as no school for SPED kids. I know this because I'm living through it right now (in MCPS).

I might be more worried about losing teachers if I wasn't so convinced that a substantial percentage would do their jobs if the alternative was losing their jobs without unemployment benefits.

That's a game of chicken, and you might not win it. That's fine, but better clearly articulate the back-up plan in case you lose the bluff.

It's less of a bluff and more of a calculated risk.

And the back-up plan is basically the status quo... As bad as that is, there's not much to lose when there's no end in sight.

So ... if those SPED teachers retire or find other jobs, and kids return to school, you're just going to be ok with the status quo continuing? A lot of SPED positions were unfilled before the pandemic -- and before you pretty much told trained professionals "my way or the highway." They aren't going to be easier to fill now.

The school districts would figure it out. Perhaps not immediately, but fairly soon. Why? Because they're legally required to provide it. If they had to, they'd hire contractors with nurses and therapist to meet the legal requirements. And longer-term, they'd be forced to renegotiate the contract with the unions to pay SPED teachers more.

Anonymous wrote:SPED teachers are really in an impossible situation- DL doesn’t really work for their students, yet it will be very dangerous to be back in a class full of kids who are violent, regularly eject bodily fluids, and aren’t capable of wearing masks. If they are forced back, they should absolutely get hazard pay- like double their current salaries. Given how many SPED teachers there actually are per district, it would be a minimal cost in the long run to retain good teachers. A number of nursing homes did this- hazard pay- because many of them face similar issues, especially in the dementia wards.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So those of you saying fire them, where are you getting new sped teachers from right now? There aren't 100s of unemployed, ready to work people with sped credentials. They can't even find enough subs on a daily basis when we aren't in a pandemic, and that has basically no qualifications. I get the frustration, but unless you want someone with no classroom education or experience teaching the neediest kids, there isn't a better option, is there?

I don't really see the downside. The teachers have worked hard to ensure schools won't open anytime soon regardless if what is done. It's true that firing/furloughing the teachers might not allow reopening, but that's already the situation that we're in.

The best way to deal with this problem long-term is to nip this in the bud now.

So you'd rather have no school than virtual school? Am I understanding that correctly? And then when school reopens eventually have no teachers to come in? That seems incredibly short sighted, but maybe I'm missing something.

Yes. Virtual school is the same as no school for SPED kids. I know this because I'm living through it right now (in MCPS).

I might be more worried about losing teachers if I wasn't so convinced that a substantial percentage would do their jobs if the alternative was losing their jobs without unemployment benefits.

That's a game of chicken, and you might not win it. That's fine, but better clearly articulate the back-up plan in case you lose the bluff.

It's less of a bluff and more of a calculated risk.

And the back-up plan is basically the status quo... As bad as that is, there's not much to lose when there's no end in sight.

So ... if those SPED teachers retire or find other jobs, and kids return to school, you're just going to be ok with the status quo continuing? A lot of SPED positions were unfilled before the pandemic -- and before you pretty much told trained professionals "my way or the highway." They aren't going to be easier to fill now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is there such a shortage of Sped teachers?

Well, my friend, who quit who US job and moved overseas, says she is usually black and blue with bruises. She specializes in severely autistic and sometimes they lash out.

It's not an easy job.