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I don't really get the issue with conferences. Our school calendar is published sometime in the early new year for the next school year, and is sometimes, but seldom tweaked. The dates for conferences is always listed on the calendars, and is usually October or November. That gives working parents a minimum of 10 months to organize themselves. DH has had to travel at the last minute from time to time and miss conferences, but makes a point of spending time in the kids classrooms when time allows, and attempts to catch up with the teachers at a later date at their convenience. I don't get why the onus is on the teachers to have night-time conferences when parents have had eons to make arrangements. Maybe I'm missing something here?
That's how it works at your school. Sadly, I live in a crappy district.
My daughter's IEP meetings are always scheduled late enough in the morning that her daddy has never, ever been able to arrange to attend. I've asked if they can be moved earlier, and got a long-winded version of "well, no, actually". Formerly the school had to give 10 days' notice of meetings, but that's been amended to "adequate notice", which is often less than a week. IEP meetings can last for as little as 20 minutes or be as long as four hours (usually two to two-and-a-half, IME).
Conferences, back in the days when my kids attended a school that actually scheduled them, were on one of three days at the end of the grading period, in fifteen minute increments from three to four-thirty. If no one could make it then...well, too bad for you. Somehow it seemed silly for Mr. Aconite to reverse-engineer his hour commute mid-afternoon for a fifteen minute conference, so aside from Open House in the fall, he never saw the teacher.
Now, we're fortunate in that I do stay home, and can manage all the various educational juggling (and there's quite a lot of it). But I know we're not the norm, either.
I am guilty of one of these points and never even knew it! When a teacher brings up something my child has done, I DO turn to him and say, "Is this true?" However, it is NOT to suggest the teacher is lying, it is to make sure my son owns up to it. This has always been a crucial point for me. You can't move forward until all parties agree about what happened. Sometimes, the child will point out a minor detail that was missed. ("But he has been bullying me for WEEKS and I just snapped!")
I find it interesting that the author expects parents to accept point blank everything that a teacher states about their child, but when it comes to the child's statement about an event that occurred, well, then there is always "two sides to every story."
Personally, I agree with the author that it is often the parents that are to blame - however, I don't believe the author did a very good job with this article. IMO, the article read more like a personal "rant" rather than a constructive article that offers up suggestions that foster better partnerships between educators and parents. For being such a highly regarded educator - he didn't do much to educate me with this piece.
Sorry, someone brought it to my attention that my posts sounded a bit snotty. That wasn't my intention. I was just trying to show that there are schools with better systems in place, and it is something to strive toward, and parent organization and pressure is a good start toward change.
You didn't sound snotty, Zimbo. If anything, I sound bitter. But after putting two children through 13 years of the public school system, I have darn good reason.
In my region, the teachers' union is a huge obstical to any real positive changes. The principals and superintendents are basically powerless over the teachers.
The PTA here is superficial in the elementary years and nonexistent in middle school and high school because the teachers here do NOT want parents to be involved.
Sorry, someone brought it to my attention that my posts sounded a bit snotty. That wasn't my intention. I was just trying to show that there are schools with better systems in place, and it is something to strive toward, and parent organization and pressure is a good start toward change.
I don't think it sounded snotty. I just think it's a shame that standards vary so much from state to state-- and ours is at the bottom of the barrel in most things. And, like Hopes said, after about second grade, far too many teachers would rather complain about uninvolved parents than have to interact with involved ones.
Florida Public Schools motto: "Thank God for Louisiana".
Having to work evenings and weekends is not uncommon in Mr. Aconite's very very white collar job. And having worked half the weekends and holidays, been on call, and had mandatory overtime (or some combination thereof) throughout my working life, I can assure it is not at all the case that "people in other jobs don't have to---"
The problem is that, like with so many other things, people on both sides get in the habit of stamping their feet and being unwilling to give an inch. So much for teamwork.
Well, in his very very white collar job he should have very very good vacation time. If he is on call and works holidays he also gets PAID for those days or gets comp time for days/overtime worked. Not so in school.
Again, if the school policy is they don't have conferences at night, they don't have conferences at night. It isn't only the teachers that are affected by this, it is the administrators, the teachers, the custodial staff plus the extra spent on utilities, etc. I think it is great that your school treats teachers like professionals and allows the the respect other people in professional careers get.
Well, in his very very white collar job he should have very very good vacation time. If he is on call and works holidays he also gets PAID for those days or gets comp time for days/overtime worked. Not so in school.
IME this is very unusual anymore - esp in a salaried position. My husband, me and most everyone I know work all kinds of odd and extra hours, check/return emails, attend conference calls etc on our days off or at odd hours to accomodate international clients. I know of virtually no one who works 40 hours/week and doesn't spend at least a portion of their vacation time working.
Last edited by maciesmom; 09-08-2011 at 02:28 PM..
Well, in his very very white collar job he should have very very good vacation time. If he is on call and works holidays he also gets PAID for those days or gets comp time for days/overtime worked. Not so in school.
They get paid a full time salary with 2-3 months off. I cry me a river!
So, how would you feel if your husband's company started requiring him to work evenings to accommodate a customer, after he worked from 6-4 already . If the schools held evening conferences and gave the kids and teachers the day off after conferences, people would complain about having too many days off. Does your husband get any vacation time, I am sure he does. Maybe he needs to plan some vacation time to go to conferences if you expect teachers to use THEIR free time to hold conferences.
Our school has 2 days of conferences each trimester. The first day they are held from 4-8 PM, second day the kids have off of school and conferences are held from 8-10 AM and the teachers have the rest of the day off. It seems to work well but it's a LONG, LONG day for the teachers that get to school by 6;00 AM and don't leave until 9:00 PM after conferences.
This happens frequently with my husband's job. It is part of the job. Our school does conferences in the evening 3 nights in a row. Parents are asked to bring in meals for them.
A neighboring district does conferences during the day and the kids are out of school. I don't know if that's any better because then people have to find care for their kids on those days.
There isn't a perfect solution, but it certainly isn't unheard of for people to have to work late a few days/year. I would jump for joy if my husband ONLY had to work 2-3 hours late, 6 days/year.
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