Schools
Teachers Go For Extra Credit at Public Grade-In
In an effort to raise awareness for the after-hours work teachers do, a group of County educators did some grading at the Lakeforest Mall.
With a County budget battle over education spending ongoing, a group of teachers took up the fight themselves.
On Saturday, May 14, the Montgomery County Education System held a “Grade-In” demonstration at the Lake Forest Mall.
According to GradeIn.org, the purpose of the demonstration was to give the public “a sense of all the extra time and care that teachers have for their profession.”
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At 11:45 a.m. around 75 teachers gathered in the food court and removed their jackets to reveal purple shirts that read “Teacher At Work.”
“Every Saturday I am doing something, either planning lessons or grading papers,” said two-year Montgomery County Public School first grade teacher Latechia Mitchell. “It was important for me to be here because the public doesn’t understand the work we put in on weekends.”
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Christopher Lloyd, a teacher at Baker Middle School and Vice President of the Montgomery County Education Association, put together the demonstration to show a teacher’s real workload.
“Sometimes people think that a teacher’s job is the same as a students day. We want to show people that teachers do a lot of work outside of Monday through Friday.”
Lloyd emphasized that this is a hard time for teachers in Montgomery County due to budget cuts.
According to Lloyd, the State allocated over $60 million for education aid in it’s budget and the Montgomery County Council is talking about using that money for non-education purposes. As a result, there could be an increase in class size.
“There’s a science teacher in my building who has a class of 35 sixth-graders. This leaves less one-on-one time for each student,” Lloyd said.
County teachers are likely not getting raises or a two percent increase in their pensions. With the cost of living going up, teacher Wendy Farmer had to find a second job.
“In addition to teaching I am a resource teacher, or department chair, on Saturdays I teach at George B. Thomas School and during the summer I teach summer school,” Farmer said.
She added that she recently had to buy a new car and if something were to happen to the summer school program, she would need to reach out for finical help. “I had to ask my family if there is no summer school to help me with my car payments. As someone who is approaching 40, that’s something I don’t want to do.”
All of these factors add stress to the job.
“It would be irresponsible to ask for raises but I think there is a breaking point,” Lloyd said. “To be a good at your job, you can’t be stressed around kids. You have to be patient and kind and be someone who can rise above that. I don’t want people who are stressed in front of children. That’s not a good combination.”
The MCEA plans to work with the Council and school board to make sure the cuts have the least effect on the students as well as protecting the employees so they can make ends meet.
“It’s arguable we’re one of the best school systems in one of the best states. Our argument is that we have to pay for that. The people sitting in there grading papers made it happen,” Lloyd said.
