Happy and well-cared for teachers who love coming to work means that our children will have the best education.
As a former teacher, I am concerned about the growing number of vacancies in the teaching profession. Teaching is hard, but it is deeply rewarding. When we lose excellent teachers, our children's quality of education is at risk. Rockingham County Public Schools is an innovative and excellent district to work in; however, we must continually look for ways to attract and retain high-quality teachers.
I want to support our teachers through pay, benefits, and systems. Below are just a few beginning thoughts.
Our salary scale should be the best in the area. Period. RCPS is a leader in education in Virginia, but does not lead the valley in salary scales anymore (we are 5th out of 10 surrounding counties when looking at salary scales from years 5 to 30.)
RCPS has the 2nd lowest supplemental pay for a Masters Degree ($2,485) compared to our five surrounding counties (Harrisonburg - $2,700, Augusta - $3,550, Shenandoah - $3,170, Page - $3,486, Green - $2,200). This should be corrected to reflect our value in additional education for our teachers, as well as to attract teacher candidates.
We need to give teachers more money to spend in their classrooms. I spent hundreds of dollars every year, out-of-pocket, to provide things for my students, and I am frugal. There are teachers who spend much, much more.
From prize box items to help with classroom management, class rewards, materials/ingredients for science experiments and hands-on activities, to curriculum because our county does not have set resources for several content areas at the elementary level (math, science, social studies).
When the LETRS initiative and implementation began at the beginning of the 2021-22 school year, teachers across the county spent hundreds of dollars on purchasing decodable stories and practice activities to support the required program. The county purchased some decodable stories, but they were late and not exactly what we needed.
We need more classroom teachers and assistants.
Making smaller class sizes or providing more instructional assistants is critical to successfully meeting the needs of students. Currently, our elementary school class sizes can range from 13 to 24 students. As a parent and former teacher, I know which classroom I want my kids in.
The work load for teachers when they have larger class sizes increases. There are more parent contacts to make, more papers to grade, more report cards to write. The larger the class size, the more discipline problems are likely to unfold.
Teachers need more unencumbered planning time. Education is constantly changing. New policies, new research, new programs, and new initiatives are always part of a teacher's world. Teachers need more time to plan creative and engaging lessons that implement new initiatives. Teachers have countless duties that require time without students. We need to provide this for them and prioritize set working hours so that teachers are not working long overtime hours.
A mid-year AND end-of-the-year survey/evaluation of the principal should be required at each school. Right now, it is considered best practice, but not required, so not every principal does one. This means that teachers do not have a chance to share honest feedback with their principal. A survey and metrics system should be in place and used to protect teachers' working conditions.
I am also aware of how many of the policies from the school board translate for teachers. When the county hires behavior assistants, I know from personal experience how that actually helps (or doesn't). I understand that when a child wants to be called by a different name, it does not mean that teachers have more paperwork. It means one phone call. Addressing many of the behavioral, social and emotional difficulties our students and teachers face in with real solutions is what we need to do. We need solutions that don't rely on the teacher silently suffering destructive behaviors from children. Teachers need strong administrators who support them and always have their backs.