Anonymous wrote:I think more parents should get together and form homeschooling coops.

Get together, agree on a philosophy, curriculum and share the teaching, costs,and babysitting for very young children. There are already some in the area. I know of at least one in the Langley pyramid, they actually teach grammar to the kids lol. I suspect many will go on to Langley for high school, maybe Cooper too. The foundation will have been built.

I've thought about this as well. So many highly educated people. Just need the space and about $20,000 more per year to handle quitting my job.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sell my house and go private. You have $$. Seems like not a real problem.

+ 1000 Sell the big house and spend the money on your kids.

But, I do have sympathy for the fact that many parents reasonably thought good public schools meant, well, that they were actually good schools, and not that they were simply buying into a pyramid where parents can afford tutors / mathnesium / to spend an hour or more a day on learning to read at home.

This is the crux of the issue.

We are in a "great" public school system. We have a foreign language tutor, my kids go to mathnasium 2xs a week, and each summer do writing camps to make sure they grow into good writers. Because we have means our kids have access to much much more than what the school can offer. The school is who benefits from what we do and provide at home. Our kids high test scores, AP tests passed, and good college prospects are due in NO PART whatsoever to the school system. The credit is to be given to our cash and the time we have to work with our children. I figure as long as we are spending less than 10K per kid on these things per year, we are better off than private. Additionally just because your kids goes to private does not mean they will get the education you think you are paying for.

You are really in for a disappointment if you think you can send your kids off to school and they will somehow learn. Classes are large, classrooms are inclusive of kids who should be in special needs classes, full of disruptive ADHD kids (aka, my parents don't pay enough quality attention to me, therefore I act like an animal and they give me amphetamines to solve it) and teachers are spending most of their time on behavior issues.

So to answer your question OP, get the tutors and outside help. You will not change a government system that continues to reward bad performance due to an inalienability to terminate for performance.

You can't seriously think the cause of ADHD is lack of qualify attention??? Do you have any idea how much time ADHD parents spend working with their children? Do you realize meds can be required due to actual differences in brain functioning? Go private or move if you can't deal with special needs kids in your school. They can't control their problematic behaviors. What's your excuse?

1st grade teacher here. I wish I could spend my writing time teaching my students how to write better sentences. Instead they are forced into paragraph writing with citations instead. It's no wonder the writing they produce later on is such crap. Less is more IMO.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ yes I made a lot of errors typing that on my phone. Ironic as I’m discussing how sad the writing curriculum here makes me, I know. Oops.

Not at all, doesn't bother us a bit! Anyway, welcome to our DC area, your experience confirms to me our schools here seem to be mirroring the bureaucracy found in DC politics.

I'm curious, when you mentioned the best school districts in MA, what were some of them, were they mostly in the Boston area? I.e I heard the ones in Lexington were really good.

I have experience with Brookline and schools south of Boston, like Duxbury. They still do weekly spelling tests. The spelling lists come from a curriculum that’s purchased and teachers get a book full of appropriate lists for each week. They buy handwriting workbooks and use them in lower grades. They are assessed on how to write a paragraph in first grade, which can feel like a bit much to the first grade teachers, but many of the first graders can do it. It surprises me that my students here are much older and don’t really understand how to write a paragraph. There will be times where they will want to know how to write properly- resumes, college admissions letters, job cover letters. You can be very bright but come off as less intelligent than you are in your writing. I feel sorry if that ever holds any of these kids back, you know? I am not the smartest person alive, but I am thankful I learned how to write decently (if it’s something really important like a cover letter, I proofread a million times because I certainly am not perfect). I just feel sorry there is so much I expect my students to know and then I realize they were never taught this stuff in school and it blows my mind. I then try to teach it and am told not to. You’re just supposed to follow the guide and use the crappy FCPS approved recourses.

I recently realized that in MA the standardized state test tests students for writing in fourth grade and beyond. The math tests also feature short answer and essay questions. Learning how to write about your thinking in math is really stressed up there, starting in primary grades. Down here the SOL test is all multiple choice until there is a writing test in fifth grade, if I am correct. It makes me really upset if the schools don’t focus on writing mechanics, handwriting, or spelling just because the state tests don’t focus on any of that. These kids still deserve to be taught such things. They aren’t dumb for not knowing what to capitalize when they write or how to spell. What is dumb is the county refuses to teach such things. They really need to change the approach to teaching ELA down here in my opinion. There are a lot of really bright kids who excel in math and science, but there will come times where they need to show how smart they are in the form of writing and I’m afraid that will hold some of them back. I recently got an evaluation at work and it’s full of grammatical and spelling errors. I think anyone reading it will take it less seriously because it makes my admin look pretty careless and honestly not super intelligent (not saying they aren’t, but you wouldn’t know by reading an important document they created full of OBVIOUS errors...).

Writer’s workshop might seem more exciting than lessons on grammar and parts of speech, but really it’s just like a time for kids to write and they’re never really taught how to do so... it’s crazy to me. As a kid I liked learning the “boring” things like parts of speech. I know they still teach that stuff back home. I remember it being huge in the second grade classrooms I was in. They learned verbs, adjectives, nouns, etc. They also did tons of word sorts which further assisted with spelling. And of course they did spelling tests each week and teachers weren’t discouraged to not tell kids how to spell words they misspelled. Down here there seems to be this push to let kids spell things anyway they please.... that’s not going to be cute when they’re 18 and applying to MIT or Harvard with excellent grades but a very hard to read admissions letter.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no special needs here. In proportion to the very elevated taxes we pay in this neighborhood, the quality of education is mediocre plus. 2 out of 4 teachers do the bare minimum.

Yeah, sorry, you bought within a very large and very diverse school district. Your school was probably a great schools 10 because it's all white rich people. Nothing else. You should have done some research on FCPS before you bought.

Sorry, you dial the wrong number if you are calling for a heated exchange about races. Go find a boxing bag in your house.

Anonymous wrote:There is no special needs here. In proportion to the very elevated taxes we pay in this neighborhood, the quality of education is mediocre plus. 2 out of 4 teachers do the bare minimum.

Yeah, sorry, you bought within a very large and very diverse school district. Your school was probably a great schools 10 because it's all white rich people. Nothing else. You should have done some research on FCPS before you bought.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sell my house and go private. You have $$. Seems like not a real problem.

+ 1000 Sell the big house and spend the money on your kids.

But, I do have sympathy for the fact that many parents reasonably thought good public schools meant, well, that they were actually good schools, and not that they were simply buying into a pyramid where parents can afford tutors / mathnesium / to spend an hour or more a day on learning to read at home.

This is the crux of the issue.

We are in a "great" public school system. We have a foreign language tutor, my kids go to mathnasium 2xs a week, and each summer do writing camps to make sure they grow into good writers. Because we have means our kids have access to much much more than what the school can offer. The school is who benefits from what we do and provide at home. Our kids high test scores, AP tests passed, and good college prospects are due in NO PART whatsoever to the school system. The credit is to be given to our cash and the time we have to work with our children. I figure as long as we are spending less than 10K per kid on these things per year, we are better off than private. Additionally just because your kids goes to private does not mean they will get the education you think you are paying for.

You are really in for a disappointment if you think you can send your kids off to school and they will somehow learn. Classes are large, classrooms are inclusive of kids who should be in special needs classes, full of disruptive ADHD kids (aka, my parents don't pay enough quality attention to me, therefore I act like an animal and they give me amphetamines to solve it) and teachers are spending most of their time on behavior issues.

So to answer your question OP, get the tutors and outside help. You will not change a government system that continues to reward bad performance due to an inalienability to terminate for performance.

Hold up a second. Is the part in bold referencing teachers? Please tell me you didn’t cite large class sizes and disruptive student behavior as issues and then in the next paragraph blamed the teachers for poor performance.

Both are going on. Shitty parents and shitty teachers.

I had to spend the ENTIRE SUMMER between 5th and 6th grade completely bringing my child up to the math standard. The teacher was a well known LOSER who had 25 years under his belt. Combine a teacher that is retired in place with a bunch of kids who would be sitting in an old school special ed classroom and nothing is getting done.

But you and your kids are perfect...SMH.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sell my house and go private. You have $$. Seems like not a real problem.

+ 1000 Sell the big house and spend the money on your kids.

But, I do have sympathy for the fact that many parents reasonably thought good public schools meant, well, that they were actually good schools, and not that they were simply buying into a pyramid where parents can afford tutors / mathnesium / to spend an hour or more a day on learning to read at home.

This is the crux of the issue.

We are in a "great" public school system. We have a foreign language tutor, my kids go to mathnasium 2xs a week, and each summer do writing camps to make sure they grow into good writers. Because we have means our kids have access to much much more than what the school can offer. The school is who benefits from what we do and provide at home. Our kids high test scores, AP tests passed, and good college prospects are due in NO PART whatsoever to the school system. The credit is to be given to our cash and the time we have to work with our children. I figure as long as we are spending less than 10K per kid on these things per year, we are better off than private. Additionally just because your kids goes to private does not mean they will get the education you think you are paying for.

You are really in for a disappointment if you think you can send your kids off to school and they will somehow learn. Classes are large, classrooms are inclusive of kids who should be in special needs classes, full of disruptive ADHD kids (aka, my parents don't pay enough quality attention to me, therefore I act like an animal and they give me amphetamines to solve it) and teachers are spending most of their time on behavior issues.

So to answer your question OP, get the tutors and outside help. You will not change a government system that continues to reward bad performance due to an inalienability to terminate for performance.

Hold up a second. Is the part in bold referencing teachers? Please tell me you didn’t cite large class sizes and disruptive student behavior as issues and then in the next paragraph blamed the teachers for poor performance.

Both are going on. Shitty parents and shitty teachers.

I had to spend the ENTIRE SUMMER between 5th and 6th grade completely bringing my child up to the math standard. The teacher was a well known LOSER who had 25 years under his belt. Combine a teacher that is retired in place with a bunch of kids who would be sitting in an old school special ed classroom and nothing is getting done.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sell my house and go private. You have $$. Seems like not a real problem.

+ 1000 Sell the big house and spend the money on your kids.

But, I do have sympathy for the fact that many parents reasonably thought good public schools meant, well, that they were actually good schools, and not that they were simply buying into a pyramid where parents can afford tutors / mathnesium / to spend an hour or more a day on learning to read at home.

This is the crux of the issue.

We are in a "great" public school system. We have a foreign language tutor, my kids go to mathnasium 2xs a week, and each summer do writing camps to make sure they grow into good writers. Because we have means our kids have access to much much more than what the school can offer. The school is who benefits from what we do and provide at home. Our kids high test scores, AP tests passed, and good college prospects are due in NO PART whatsoever to the school system. The credit is to be given to our cash and the time we have to work with our children. I figure as long as we are spending less than 10K per kid on these things per year, we are better off than private. Additionally just because your kids goes to private does not mean they will get the education you think you are paying for.

You are really in for a disappointment if you think you can send your kids off to school and they will somehow learn. Classes are large, classrooms are inclusive of kids who should be in special needs classes, full of disruptive ADHD kids (aka, my parents don't pay enough quality attention to me, therefore I act like an animal and they give me amphetamines to solve it) and teachers are spending most of their time on behavior issues.

So to answer your question OP, get the tutors and outside help. You will not change a government system that continues to reward bad performance due to an inalienability to terminate for performance.

Hold up a second. Is the part in bold referencing teachers? Please tell me you didn’t cite large class sizes and disruptive student behavior as issues and then in the next paragraph blamed the teachers for poor performance.

I'm not the PP but I don't think any parent on this site blames the teachers. I think we all genuinely feel horrible for the teachers! Time and again, I think 80% of the blame goes to the Administration at Gatehouse, and the School Board. It would be great if the teachers and parents could actually band together and get this fixed, but I just don't know if that is possible. It's just a horrible-horrible situation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sell my house and go private. You have $$. Seems like not a real problem.

+ 1000 Sell the big house and spend the money on your kids.

But, I do have sympathy for the fact that many parents reasonably thought good public schools meant, well, that they were actually good schools, and not that they were simply buying into a pyramid where parents can afford tutors / mathnesium / to spend an hour or more a day on learning to read at home.

This is the crux of the issue.

We are in a "great" public school system. We have a foreign language tutor, my kids go to mathnasium 2xs a week, and each summer do writing camps to make sure they grow into good writers. Because we have means our kids have access to much much more than what the school can offer. The school is who benefits from what we do and provide at home. Our kids high test scores, AP tests passed, and good college prospects are due in NO PART whatsoever to the school system. The credit is to be given to our cash and the time we have to work with our children. I figure as long as we are spending less than 10K per kid on these things per year, we are better off than private. Additionally just because your kids goes to private does not mean they will get the education you think you are paying for.

You are really in for a disappointment if you think you can send your kids off to school and they will somehow learn. Classes are large, classrooms are inclusive of kids who should be in special needs classes, full of disruptive ADHD kids (aka, my parents don't pay enough quality attention to me, therefore I act like an animal and they give me amphetamines to solve it) and teachers are spending most of their time on behavior issues.

So to answer your question OP, get the tutors and outside help. You will not change a government system that continues to reward bad performance due to an inalienability to terminate for performance.

Hold up a second. Is the part in bold referencing teachers? Please tell me you didn’t cite large class sizes and disruptive student behavior as issues and then in the next paragraph blamed the teachers for poor performance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sell my house and go private. You have $$. Seems like not a real problem.

+ 1000 Sell the big house and spend the money on your kids.

But, I do have sympathy for the fact that many parents reasonably thought good public schools meant, well, that they were actually good schools, and not that they were simply buying into a pyramid where parents can afford tutors / mathnesium / to spend an hour or more a day on learning to read at home.

This is the crux of the issue.

We are in a "great" public school system. We have a foreign language tutor, my kids go to mathnasium 2xs a week, and each summer do writing camps to make sure they grow into good writers. Because we have means our kids have access to much much more than what the school can offer. The school is who benefits from what we do and provide at home. Our kids high test scores, AP tests passed, and good college prospects are due in NO PART whatsoever to the school system. The credit is to be given to our cash and the time we have to work with our children. I figure as long as we are spending less than 10K per kid on these things per year, we are better off than private. Additionally just because your kids goes to private does not mean they will get the education you think you are paying for.

You are really in for a disappointment if you think you can send your kids off to school and they will somehow learn. Classes are large, classrooms are inclusive of kids who should be in special needs classes, full of disruptive ADHD kids (aka, my parents don't pay enough quality attention to me, therefore I act like an animal and they give me amphetamines to solve it) and teachers are spending most of their time on behavior issues.

So to answer your question OP, get the tutors and outside help. You will not change a government system that continues to reward bad performance due to an inalienability to terminate for performance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only teachers who come out better with collective bargaining are the ones who work for the unions. Been there, done that.
Building reps are usually the sorriest teachers--spend all their time standing up for "rights."

One of them told us (faculty) once to "work to our contract." Leave school as soon as was "official." No work at home, etc. Most of us worked as usual. Why? We wanted the kids to learn--not stand up for our 'rights."

I disagree. I have experience in both a state with collective bargaining (all but three states allow it) and VA (FCPS). Why shouldn't those who are in the classroom have a voice at the table? Collective bargaining resulted in smaller class sizes, more planning time that was not taken up by meetings, better pay and benefits. Children benefit from smaller class sizes. Teachers are getting burned our because we don't have sufficient planning time while at work so the planning gets pushed into the evenings. Yes, we expect to do work outside of school and yes, we all want the kids to do well, but when there isn't time to plan and teachers burn the candle at both ends the students pay the price. When teachers leave due to inadequate pay compared to the COL, it does not help the students. When a class is staffed by substitutes because a permanent teacher isn't available for hire, it does not help the students.

Seems it continues to gain traction. The Loudoun County BOS and FCPS School Board are both supportive:

https://www.fcps.edu/news/fairfax-county-school-board-amends-state-and-federal-legislative-agenda

https://www.afscme.org/now/collective-bargaining-bill-passed-by-the-virginia-house-of-delegates

https://www.princewilliamtimes.com/news/teachers-union-firefighters-back-collective-bargaining-bill/article_ef5141f2-3956-11ea-8921-f3edb09b8364.html

https://bluevirginia.us/2020/02/fairfax-school-board-loudoun-supervisors-vote-in-support-of-collective-bargaining

I’m a first year teacher with years of experience in Massachusetts public schools as a substitute, aide, and student teacher. My evaluations as an aide and student teacher were all efficient. I moved down here after getting an offer at a job fair in Boston. It’s really competitive to get into the schools up there so many people sub or work as an aide for a long time, but I could not afford that. Many also move away or give up on pursing teaching altogether. I moved here because I loved my experiences in classrooms and student teaching. I wanted 1-3rd grade and they assigned me to AAP high grades at a very high stress school. I don’t have a gifted endorsement and never studied it. Gifted classrooms are rare in MA. Honestly the standards are high for all students so it isn’t necessary. I’m not facing a horrible, stressful first year in a career I thought I’d love. I’m being told I’m ineffective for things like calling parents by their first name even if that’s what they sign emails with. Maybe New England is just more laid back because it’s more respectful to address people with the name they want you to use, not being super formal BS. I’ve been trying hard to not let my students and families down, but nothing here makes sense to me. No set curriculum, no textbooks, meetings are always way to formal (teachers would laugh at CT meetings when I student taught and my friends are shocked we have formal agendas here). I’m being told I’m ineffective in many areas and might give up on the profession altogether. I’m certainly down with this district. I’m not shocked they can’t even find subs here. These schools stress people out and put them in positions they really shouldn’t even be in because they can’t find someone certified to fill the position. I expected my first year of teaching to be hard, but not so hard that I contemplate leaving often because it’s such a mess here. I feel bad for all of you on this forum wanting a better curriculum because I’d like one to go by too and not to be told to use this stupid, useless pacing guide that moved slows and rarely has anything to suggest for differentiation. I’d honestly love to work with some of the parents here to help push for better for the kids of VA, but people just think I’m annoying when I state that I know the kids could do more. If I try to teaching something like grammar and someone walks in I get in trouble (it has happened). We just have to follow this stupid, useless guide. All my students who are good at writing work on it outside of school. They’ve told me they don’t learn things here that I know for a fact the public schools teach back home. I can’t see why anyone would want to sub here. Admin would probably just micromanage and tear them apart until they leave. I’m not sure how you get better curriculum and resources, but I’d like to help the parents push for it as I know better exists out there. - anonymous person unimpressed with VA public education.

Originally was going to post this to the sub shortage thread, but this seemed appropriate too. I’ve been disappointed as I’ve heard these schools are good. They can not compare to the best districts in MA. I say this not as a snob, but as someone who genuinely would like to work with the parents pushing for better. But I’m not sure I can as anytime I open my mouth about how shocked I am by my students’ poor handwriting and writing abilities I receive rude and judgmental remarks.

This pretty much sums up what every involved parent knows about FCPS--so sad and pathetic. I feel for you as a teacher, but I feel for our family way more because at the end of the day, we are stuck in this elementary school system (cannot afford private school) and cannot move elsewhere. Our choice, like what a PP mentioned, is to homeschool to supplement and enrichment classes in areas we cannot homeschool. It is a shame, and I don't think there is anything that can be done because it is a cluster---k and you would need an complete overhaul of the School Board and the Administration. That will take a huge coordinated effort by engaging almost every elementary school family in the county. So sad!

If it makes you feel better, it's the same way in neighboring counties.

No, it doesn't actually make me feel better. Comparing ourselves to places with bad educational policies should not be the benchmark.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only teachers who come out better with collective bargaining are the ones who work for the unions. Been there, done that.
Building reps are usually the sorriest teachers--spend all their time standing up for "rights."

One of them told us (faculty) once to "work to our contract." Leave school as soon as was "official." No work at home, etc. Most of us worked as usual. Why? We wanted the kids to learn--not stand up for our 'rights."

I disagree. I have experience in both a state with collective bargaining (all but three states allow it) and VA (FCPS). Why shouldn't those who are in the classroom have a voice at the table? Collective bargaining resulted in smaller class sizes, more planning time that was not taken up by meetings, better pay and benefits. Children benefit from smaller class sizes. Teachers are getting burned our because we don't have sufficient planning time while at work so the planning gets pushed into the evenings. Yes, we expect to do work outside of school and yes, we all want the kids to do well, but when there isn't time to plan and teachers burn the candle at both ends the students pay the price. When teachers leave due to inadequate pay compared to the COL, it does not help the students. When a class is staffed by substitutes because a permanent teacher isn't available for hire, it does not help the students.

Seems it continues to gain traction. The Loudoun County BOS and FCPS School Board are both supportive:

https://www.fcps.edu/news/fairfax-county-school-board-amends-state-and-federal-legislative-agenda

https://www.afscme.org/now/collective-bargaining-bill-passed-by-the-virginia-house-of-delegates

https://www.princewilliamtimes.com/news/teachers-union-firefighters-back-collective-bargaining-bill/article_ef5141f2-3956-11ea-8921-f3edb09b8364.html

https://bluevirginia.us/2020/02/fairfax-school-board-loudoun-supervisors-vote-in-support-of-collective-bargaining

I’m a first year teacher with years of experience in Massachusetts public schools as a substitute, aide, and student teacher. My evaluations as an aide and student teacher were all efficient. I moved down here after getting an offer at a job fair in Boston. It’s really competitive to get into the schools up there so many people sub or work as an aide for a long time, but I could not afford that. Many also move away or give up on pursing teaching altogether. I moved here because I loved my experiences in classrooms and student teaching. I wanted 1-3rd grade and they assigned me to AAP high grades at a very high stress school. I don’t have a gifted endorsement and never studied it. Gifted classrooms are rare in MA. Honestly the standards are high for all students so it isn’t necessary. I’m not facing a horrible, stressful first year in a career I thought I’d love. I’m being told I’m ineffective for things like calling parents by their first name even if that’s what they sign emails with. Maybe New England is just more laid back because it’s more respectful to address people with the name they want you to use, not being super formal BS. I’ve been trying hard to not let my students and families down, but nothing here makes sense to me. No set curriculum, no textbooks, meetings are always way to formal (teachers would laugh at CT meetings when I student taught and my friends are shocked we have formal agendas here). I’m being told I’m ineffective in many areas and might give up on the profession altogether. I’m certainly down with this district. I’m not shocked they can’t even find subs here. These schools stress people out and put them in positions they really shouldn’t even be in because they can’t find someone certified to fill the position. I expected my first year of teaching to be hard, but not so hard that I contemplate leaving often because it’s such a mess here. I feel bad for all of you on this forum wanting a better curriculum because I’d like one to go by too and not to be told to use this stupid, useless pacing guide that moved slows and rarely has anything to suggest for differentiation. I’d honestly love to work with some of the parents here to help push for better for the kids of VA, but people just think I’m annoying when I state that I know the kids could do more. If I try to teaching something like grammar and someone walks in I get in trouble (it has happened). We just have to follow this stupid, useless guide. All my students who are good at writing work on it outside of school. They’ve told me they don’t learn things here that I know for a fact the public schools teach back home. I can’t see why anyone would want to sub here. Admin would probably just micromanage and tear them apart until they leave. I’m not sure how you get better curriculum and resources, but I’d like to help the parents push for it as I know better exists out there. - anonymous person unimpressed with VA public education.

Originally was going to post this to the sub shortage thread, but this seemed appropriate too. I’ve been disappointed as I’ve heard these schools are good. They can not compare to the best districts in MA. I say this not as a snob, but as someone who genuinely would like to work with the parents pushing for better. But I’m not sure I can as anytime I open my mouth about how shocked I am by my students’ poor handwriting and writing abilities I receive rude and judgmental remarks.

This pretty much sums up what every involved parent knows about FCPS--so sad and pathetic. I feel for you as a teacher, but I feel for our family way more because at the end of the day, we are stuck in this elementary school system (cannot afford private school) and cannot move elsewhere. Our choice, like what a PP mentioned, is to homeschool to supplement and enrichment classes in areas we cannot homeschool. It is a shame, and I don't think there is anything that can be done because it is a cluster---k and you would need an complete overhaul of the School Board and the Administration. That will take a huge coordinated effort by engaging almost every elementary school family in the county. So sad!

If it makes you feel better, it's the same way in neighboring counties.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only teachers who come out better with collective bargaining are the ones who work for the unions. Been there, done that.
Building reps are usually the sorriest teachers--spend all their time standing up for "rights."

One of them told us (faculty) once to "work to our contract." Leave school as soon as was "official." No work at home, etc. Most of us worked as usual. Why? We wanted the kids to learn--not stand up for our 'rights."

I disagree. I have experience in both a state with collective bargaining (all but three states allow it) and VA (FCPS). Why shouldn't those who are in the classroom have a voice at the table? Collective bargaining resulted in smaller class sizes, more planning time that was not taken up by meetings, better pay and benefits. Children benefit from smaller class sizes. Teachers are getting burned our because we don't have sufficient planning time while at work so the planning gets pushed into the evenings. Yes, we expect to do work outside of school and yes, we all want the kids to do well, but when there isn't time to plan and teachers burn the candle at both ends the students pay the price. When teachers leave due to inadequate pay compared to the COL, it does not help the students. When a class is staffed by substitutes because a permanent teacher isn't available for hire, it does not help the students.

Seems it continues to gain traction. The Loudoun County BOS and FCPS School Board are both supportive:

https://www.fcps.edu/news/fairfax-county-school-board-amends-state-and-federal-legislative-agenda

https://www.afscme.org/now/collective-bargaining-bill-passed-by-the-virginia-house-of-delegates

https://www.princewilliamtimes.com/news/teachers-union-firefighters-back-collective-bargaining-bill/article_ef5141f2-3956-11ea-8921-f3edb09b8364.html

https://bluevirginia.us/2020/02/fairfax-school-board-loudoun-supervisors-vote-in-support-of-collective-bargaining

I’m a first year teacher with years of experience in Massachusetts public schools as a substitute, aide, and student teacher. My evaluations as an aide and student teacher were all efficient. I moved down here after getting an offer at a job fair in Boston. It’s really competitive to get into the schools up there so many people sub or work as an aide for a long time, but I could not afford that. Many also move away or give up on pursing teaching altogether. I moved here because I loved my experiences in classrooms and student teaching. I wanted 1-3rd grade and they assigned me to AAP high grades at a very high stress school. I don’t have a gifted endorsement and never studied it. Gifted classrooms are rare in MA. Honestly the standards are high for all students so it isn’t necessary. I’m not facing a horrible, stressful first year in a career I thought I’d love. I’m being told I’m ineffective for things like calling parents by their first name even if that’s what they sign emails with. Maybe New England is just more laid back because it’s more respectful to address people with the name they want you to use, not being super formal BS. I’ve been trying hard to not let my students and families down, but nothing here makes sense to me. No set curriculum, no textbooks, meetings are always way to formal (teachers would laugh at CT meetings when I student taught and my friends are shocked we have formal agendas here). I’m being told I’m ineffective in many areas and might give up on the profession altogether. I’m certainly down with this district. I’m not shocked they can’t even find subs here. These schools stress people out and put them in positions they really shouldn’t even be in because they can’t find someone certified to fill the position. I expected my first year of teaching to be hard, but not so hard that I contemplate leaving often because it’s such a mess here. I feel bad for all of you on this forum wanting a better curriculum because I’d like one to go by too and not to be told to use this stupid, useless pacing guide that moved slows and rarely has anything to suggest for differentiation. I’d honestly love to work with some of the parents here to help push for better for the kids of VA, but people just think I’m annoying when I state that I know the kids could do more. If I try to teaching something like grammar and someone walks in I get in trouble (it has happened). We just have to follow this stupid, useless guide. All my students who are good at writing work on it outside of school. They’ve told me they don’t learn things here that I know for a fact the public schools teach back home. I can’t see why anyone would want to sub here. Admin would probably just micromanage and tear them apart until they leave. I’m not sure how you get better curriculum and resources, but I’d like to help the parents push for it as I know better exists out there. - anonymous person unimpressed with VA public education.

Originally was going to post this to the sub shortage thread, but this seemed appropriate too. I’ve been disappointed as I’ve heard these schools are good. They can not compare to the best districts in MA. I say this not as a snob, but as someone who genuinely would like to work with the parents pushing for better. But I’m not sure I can as anytime I open my mouth about how shocked I am by my students’ poor handwriting and writing abilities I receive rude and judgmental remarks.

This pretty much sums up what every involved parent knows about FCPS--so sad and pathetic. I feel for you as a teacher, but I feel for our family way more because at the end of the day, we are stuck in this elementary school system (cannot afford private school) and cannot move elsewhere. Our choice, like what a PP mentioned, is to homeschool to supplement and enrichment classes in areas we cannot homeschool. It is a shame, and I don't think there is anything that can be done because it is a cluster---k and you would need an complete overhaul of the School Board and the Administration. That will take a huge coordinated effort by engaging almost every elementary school family in the county. So sad!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've already decided that my grandchildren are going to private school.

You have custody? Their parents don’t get a choice?

You're just like my husband. He had the nerve to remind me that we have none yet and the choice won't be mine.

So rude.

So I'm setting aside "future grandkid private school" money instead lol.