Anonymous
Post 08/28/2022 10:17     Subject: Re:There Needs to Be Enforced Equity Among PTA's
Anonymous wrote:I thought the premise of this thread was a little silly - but I have actually learned some new things. I had NO idea there were foundations like the one at Whitman!

How does that even work? Is it some kind of tax dodge? I mean, I understand being involved in the PTA for a few years but a foundation is a whole other thing...


Go to your favorite search engine. Bring a pillow you can scream into.

Anonymous
Post 08/28/2022 10:13     Subject: There Needs to Be Enforced Equity Among PTA's
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I still find it crazy that teachers don’t consider personal gifts from students/parents to be an ethical violation.


I'll trade it for overtime pay that other public servants get.

We work way more than 40 hrs a week, folks...


Fed here. I also work more than 40 hours a week, especially during our busy season. We do not get overtime or comp time. Our management would tell us we should get the work done within our 40 hours and not to work late. You have to have overtime approved ahead of time.


I'm sure your pay scale is much higher than MCPS.


What is your overall point here? You are bouncing from I gather justifying large personal gifts to talking about overtime to overall salary.

Are you saying that teachers are underpaid and perform unpaid work? OK, so, how is that relevant to this post?
Anonymous
Post 08/28/2022 10:06     Subject: There Needs to Be Enforced Equity Among PTA's
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I still find it crazy that teachers don’t consider personal gifts from students/parents to be an ethical violation.


I'll trade it for overtime pay that other public servants get.

We work way more than 40 hrs a week, folks...


Fed here. I also work more than 40 hours a week, especially during our busy season. We do not get overtime or comp time. Our management would tell us we should get the work done within our 40 hours and not to work late. You have to have overtime approved ahead of time.


I'm sure your pay scale is much higher than MCPS.


NP, also a Fed, the GS pay scale is generally commensurate with education and experience. Most teachers aren’t paid the same as a GS-13, but most teachers don’t have PhDs or masters degrees in hard sciences plus 15+ years of experience. But, no, we don’t get overtime or comp time, even when we travel to academic conferences on weekends, are expected to work roughly 8am - 8pm while there, etc. It’s just part of the work.

Overall, the teaching profession in affluent areas like MoCo is a mess. The expectations of teachers are unreasonable, but OTOH, teachers are paid well for their 10 month contracts and many still demonstrate completely unprofessional behavior, e.g., excessive social media posting about how they’re not “cheap childcare,” etc. The professionals I know don’t act like that.
Anonymous
Post 08/28/2022 09:59     Subject: There Needs to Be Enforced Equity Among PTA's
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:MCCPTA will help ANY school find a sister school to help with funding.

There is a FB page right now devoted to MCPS teachers asking for what they need for their classrooms (with Amazon links) and parents across the county are buying items for schools across the county.

Boosters at HSs (we are not at Whitman but have a booster) support the kids activities. So the soccer team asks for new goals, the theatre program new lights, etc. Yes, funded by parents. These kids probably also play club soccer and take classes at Imagination Stage, or Adventure Theatre. Should they not do that since not everyone can afford those activities either?

Life isn't fair, I drive a 14 year old car and would prefer not to, but it is what it is. There are lots of ways for schools and individual teachers to get help and assistance, they just have to ask


NP. So a GoFundMe for teaching supplies, in one of the richest counties in the country.

Instead, why not reroute a percentage of PTA donations to a common pool that's then divided across all county schools?

Because people won’t donate to it likely. People like to keep their donations local to their community. And so they will just send school supplies in directly or find another work around.


In place of "their community" I would say "their children." This is exactly why parents can't be relied on to do the right thing and the county should regulate.
Anonymous
Post 08/28/2022 09:54     Subject: There Needs to Be Enforced Equity Among PTA's
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I still find it crazy that teachers don’t consider personal gifts from students/parents to be an ethical violation.


I'll trade it for overtime pay that other public servants get.

We work way more than 40 hrs a week, folks...


Fed here. I also work more than 40 hours a week, especially during our busy season. We do not get overtime or comp time. Our management would tell us we should get the work done within our 40 hours and not to work late. You have to have overtime approved ahead of time.


I'm sure your pay scale is much higher than MCPS.
Anonymous
Post 08/28/2022 09:22     Subject: There Needs to Be Enforced Equity Among PTA's
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I still find it crazy that teachers don’t consider personal gifts from students/parents to be an ethical violation.


I'll trade it for overtime pay that other public servants get.

We work way more than 40 hrs a week, folks...


Fed here. I also work more than 40 hours a week, especially during our busy season. We do not get overtime or comp time. Our management would tell us we should get the work done within our 40 hours and not to work late. You have to have overtime approved ahead of time.
Anonymous
Post 08/28/2022 09:17     Subject: There Needs to Be Enforced Equity Among PTA's
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Teachers have to do an ethics module every year that specifies how much monetary value in a gift the can accept. Pta/group gifts are workarounds since they are from a group


I understand that, but their policies are ridiculous for a supposedly professional job. What do you think nurses do/say when a patient/patient’s family offers them a gift?


Do nurses get overtime pay?
Anonymous
Post 08/28/2022 09:14     Subject: There Needs to Be Enforced Equity Among PTA's
Anonymous wrote:I still find it crazy that teachers don’t consider personal gifts from students/parents to be an ethical violation.


I'll trade it for overtime pay that other public servants get.

We work way more than 40 hrs a week, folks...
Anonymous
Post 08/28/2022 08:55     Subject: There Needs to Be Enforced Equity Among PTA's
Anonymous wrote:Teachers have to do an ethics module every year that specifies how much monetary value in a gift the can accept. Pta/group gifts are workarounds since they are from a group


I understand that, but their policies are ridiculous for a supposedly professional job. What do you think nurses do/say when a patient/patient’s family offers them a gift?
Anonymous
Post 08/28/2022 08:55     Subject: Re:There Needs to Be Enforced Equity Among PTA's
I thought the premise of this thread was a little silly - but I have actually learned some new things. I had NO idea there were foundations like the one at Whitman!

How does that even work? Is it some kind of tax dodge? I mean, I understand being involved in the PTA for a few years but a foundation is a whole other thing...
Anonymous
Post 08/28/2022 08:43     Subject: There Needs to Be Enforced Equity Among PTA's
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:MCCPTA will help ANY school find a sister school to help with funding.

There is a FB page right now devoted to MCPS teachers asking for what they need for their classrooms (with Amazon links) and parents across the county are buying items for schools across the county.

Boosters at HSs (we are not at Whitman but have a booster) support the kids activities. So the soccer team asks for new goals, the theatre program new lights, etc. Yes, funded by parents. These kids probably also play club soccer and take classes at Imagination Stage, or Adventure Theatre. Should they not do that since not everyone can afford those activities either?

Life isn't fair, I drive a 14 year old car and would prefer not to, but it is what it is. There are lots of ways for schools and individual teachers to get help and assistance, they just have to ask


NP. So a GoFundMe for teaching supplies, in one of the richest counties in the country.

Instead, why not reroute a percentage of PTA donations to a common pool that's then divided across all county schools?

Because people won’t donate to it likely. People like to keep their donations local to their community. And so they will just send school supplies in directly or find another work around.
Anonymous
Post 08/28/2022 08:27     Subject: There Needs to Be Enforced Equity Among PTA's
Teachers have to do an ethics module every year that specifies how much monetary value in a gift the can accept. Pta/group gifts are workarounds since they are from a group
Anonymous
Post 08/28/2022 08:26     Subject: There Needs to Be Enforced Equity Among PTA's
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I still find it crazy that teachers don’t consider personal gifts from students/parents to be an ethical violation.


Teachers are not these noble self sacrificing martyrs. That's why


Lots of jobs, particularly those in the public sector, have ethics rules that prohibit personal gifts.
Anonymous
Post 08/28/2022 08:16     Subject: There Needs to Be Enforced Equity Among PTA's
Anonymous wrote:I still find it crazy that teachers don’t consider personal gifts from students/parents to be an ethical violation.


Teachers are not these noble self sacrificing martyrs. That's why
Anonymous
Post 08/28/2022 08:11     Subject: There Needs to Be Enforced Equity Among PTA's
I still find it crazy that teachers don’t consider personal gifts from students/parents to be an ethical violation.