So... would you let the principal of your school know that you don't appreciate how

[ciscogizmo1]

often a teacher is absent from school? My dds 6th grade teacher has missed 10 days of school since we started on August 18th. Now, I believe there is something wrong with her physically and I can understand that it can't be discuss with the parents but I do feel my dds education is suffering as a result. The sub they use is the same one each time but all she does is some Math, reading, some grammar review. They do not get any instruction from the sub with science, social studies, writing, etc... I'm not sure why that is. I know, she took some service days at least 2. So, she has been ill 8 days. Last week she was out 3 days because of cold. Today I believe she was out for an inservice day for report cards. I know, it just might be bad timing but it is annoying. I'm on the PTA board and the principal sits at our meeting wondering why our scores for writing have dropped over the year. Well... hello you got a teacher who can't be there consistently. I'm learning she did the same thing last year. I just don't know how to approach the principal without making worst for my child in the classroom. I'm thinking this might be one of those things where you just don't bother with it. Any advice???

 

[DeniseM]

If the teacher is following the district policy & union contract regarding absences, there isn't a thing the principal can do about it. Your best bet is to quietly ask to have your child moved to a different teacher. I don't know if that will work or not, but it's worth a try.

 

[ciscogizmo1]

If the teacher is following the district policy & union contract regarding absences, there isn't a thing the principal can do about it. Your best bet is to quietly ask to have your child moved to a different teacher. I don't know if that will work or not, but it's worth a try.

Thanks... that is what I thought... Dh even looked up on the District page and she is entitled to 12 days a year which she accrues on the 1st day of school. So, I'm thinking she is almost out unless she has some accrued from prior years but I doubt it.

I doubt we could be moved as there are only two 6th grade teachers and it would be pretty obvious if we asked to be moved.

 

[pjrose]

I wouldn't have any problem discussing this with the principal. Having the same sub is much better than having different ones every few days, but it sounds like either the sub wasn't given enough information or resources to keep the class on track, or maybe isn't a very good sub. S/he might be a good teacher, but since it is someone else's class, the sub might not be allowed to teach the way s/he wants.

I think my concern would be less on the teacher who is out than on seeing how the sub (or a different sub) can better teach the class.

Bring in examples of homework, classwork, etc, preferably with the regular teacher and the sub, so you can have concrete examples of the problem. If you don't have that, write down any comments you can remember your child making. Call parents of other kids in the class - not to start a mass movement, but to see if their kids are experiencing or reporting the same problems.

I can't imagine that this would lead to repercussions against your child - and if it did, then something's wrong with the principal, because a) the principal shouldn't resent a parent coming in with concerns, and b) the principal should not tell the sub which parent/child was concerned.

Please post back and let us know what comes of this!

 

[DeniseM]

Even if she is out of paid days, she can still take days with partial pay, as long as she follows the Dist. policy. In my Dist., after you use up your sick leave, you get the difference between the cost of a sub and your daily rate. Many teachers pay for private disability insurance that pays well - if she truly has a medical problem, so she may very well take more than 12 days off.

The principal can handle it very quietly, if he wants to. I think it's worth at least talking to him about it.

By the way - it is the teacher's responsibility to leave complete lesson plans and materials for the sub to follow. But some teachers have a generic fall back plan that they use, and from your description, it sounds like this is what the sub is being given. It is nearly impossible for a sub to do the same lesson the teacher would. That's one of the reasons I hate to miss school - putting together a comprehensive lesson plan is a lot of work (especially if you are already sick) and then you never know if the sub will follow it!

 

[nonutrix]

Several years ago in my son's elementary school, a fourth grade teacher was in her last year before retiring after many years in teaching. She got mad because the district would only compensate her for a small % of her sick leave accumulated through the years. So she called in sick every Monday and Friday for the entire school year. No one could do anything about it, but everyone was appalled. I wouldn't have believed it was possible, if I hadn't seen it myself.

nonutrix

 

[swift]

Several years ago in my son's elementary school, a fourth grade teacher was in her last year before retiring after many years in teaching. She got mad because the district would only compensate her for a small % of her sick leave accumulated through the years. So she called in sick every Monday and Friday for the entire school year. No one could do anything about it, but everyone was appalled. I wouldn't have believed it was possible, if I hadn't seen it myself.

nonutrix

This happens quite often unfortunately.

Also, in our district if someone has a severe problem when they run out of sick time they can apply for hardship where other unit members can donate some of their own sick time to the person in need. We did this for a member whose son had cancer.

 

[riverside]

I definitely think you should talk to either the principal or the superintendent. We have a 4th grade teacher in our school that's gone at least once a week. He fills in for the principal when she is gone and is also gone alot because he is the athletic director also. This won't stop unless parents complain. Now, I do think that if the teacher is legitimately sick there isn't anything you can do about it. It's the other days that may not be necessary. I was a teacher for 34 years and I don't think I missed 20 days of school the whole time. It's worth asking the principal about in any case. It's very difficult for a student to have a teacher who is gone a great deal.

 

[pjrose]

I definitely think you should talk to either the principal or the superintendent.

Start with the principal; going over his/her head will probably create animosity.

Also, I would not tell my child I was doing this - I wouldn't want him/her talking about "my mom is going to get that teacher in trouble" or whatever to the other students. I might, at the most, say I was going to ask about Mr/Mrs Jones' illness to see if there's anything we can do to help.

 

[Don]

Several years ago in my son's elementary school, a fourth grade teacher was in her last year before retiring after many years in teaching. She got mad because the district would only compensate her for a small % of her sick leave accumulated through the years. So she called in sick every Monday and Friday for the entire school year. No one could do anything about it, but everyone was appalled. I wouldn't have believed it was possible, if I hadn't seen it myself.

nonutrix

I really can't blame her. In the Federal Civil Service, you can turn in your sick leave and it is added to you service time at retirement. For example, if I worked exactly 30 years and had six months of sick leave they would credit me with 30.5 years. The problem is that I would only get about an extra 1/2 of one percent added to my retirement. For ease, let's say I was making $20.00/hr. pay. That translates into about an extra $21.00/mo. on to my retirement. That's $126.00 for six months of time (130 days). Less than $1.00 for each day I turn in.
But, if I use my sick leave I would get full pay for those days ($20,800), AND I would still get that extra six months added to my years of service (the extra $21.00/mo).
The only advantage to turning the leave in is that I could walk away six months earlier.

 

[dwsupt]

Absence of staff

From my nickname you can tell I am a school superintendent. Your key here is that you are upset with the lack of instruction NOT the absence of the teacher. You, nor the school can do little about the absence. What needs addressed is the instruction during the absence. With this in mind, I would have a sit down meeting with the principal an explain your concerns, again center on the lack of instruction, not the teacher. If you make it into an attack on his staff, he/she will end the discusion or brush you off. Address the problem! Tie it into declining performance and test scores. You then stand a chance of success. Then if you are not satisfied, go to the superintendent with your concerns, again focus on the quality of instruction when the teacher is gone, not the teacher being gone. Good luck!

 

[Kevin]

Start with the principal; going over his/her head will probably create animosity.

Also, I would not tell my child I was doing this - I wouldn't want him/her talking about "my mom is going to get that teacher in trouble" or whatever to the other students. I might, at the most, say I was going to ask about Mr/Mrs Jones' illness to see if there's anything we can do to help.

My opinion is you should always start with the source... start with the teacher. My wife and friends, who are teachers would appreciate it. Then you can better evaluate the issue.

 

[pjrose]

My opinion is you should always start with the source... start with the teacher. My wife and friends, who are teachers would appreciate it. Then you can better evaluate the issue.

Which teacher - the one who is out, or the sub?

If you mean the sub, who knows, the sub may also be frustrated with the situation, perhaps a lack of materials, or a policy that the sub can't go beyond what was provided, or ???

Or if you mean the teacher often misses classes, maybe a concerned parent will prompt him/her to leave the sub with more materials and/or more flexibility. The absences may well be beyond the teacher's control - s/he could be dealing with a serious medical issue.

 

[ciscogizmo1]

Thanks everyone... It is my dd that is complaining because on the days the sub is there they do not get much instruction so she says it is a really boring and long day. This is disappointing to me because she finally gets school and wants to learn. She isn't a complainer by nature either.

I have confirmed from other parents the sub they have is really lame. This grade uses one particular sub to keep consistency.

Anyways... I'm not sure what I'll do. I know, the teacher is in today because she just e-mailed me. I'm hoping it is just this time of year and maybe she'll get well and it won't be a problem going forward.

Thanks for all the tips though....

 

[pjrose]

How about talking to the regular teacher now - or emailing her - to let her know of your concerns about the sub. She and the school may have no idea that there is a problem!

 

[Blondie]

Be careful about approaching the teacher. If she is terminally or seriously ill you will feel like a real shmuck. Likely she has no control over who is hired as a sub- in my school we certainly don't. After all, at $10 an hour folks are not lining up at the door to be a sub.
Maybe when society really values our kids they will pay to educate them properly and starting teachers will earn more than $34,000 (with a masters degree).

 

[gateacher]

As my name implies, I am a teacher in Georgia. I have been absent 3 days this year. All were sick days. We are entitled to 12 1/2 days per year. At this time, I have 30 days built up to use. I have three children and can use these days for their doctor's appointments or illnesses. I can also use them for illnesses or deaths in my family. There have been years when I used a lot less than 12 days and there have been years when I have used more than the days I built up. The year that my youngest son was born, my mother became ill with encephalitis and I ran out of days. I simply was not paid for those days. As far as subs are concerned, we must find our own sub. I will never forget when I went into labor with my first child three weeks early and called about 20 subs and couldn't find anyone to substitute for me. I finally called one of my co-workers whom I knew was taking a personal day. She came to school that day and allowed her substitute to cover my class. I honestly have a difficult time with non-educators passing judgment on those of us who are in the classroom. I have often said that every parent should have to substitute for a week before their children are allowed to attend public school. Also, if the problem is with the substitute, you should know that our subs only are required to have a GED and are paid a whopping $50 per day. We are glad to have a warm body in our classroom if we are absent for the day. I'm sorry to get on my soapbox but this is one of my pet peeves. There is no other occupation where you can wake up deathly ill and have to call 20 people to find someone to do your job and THEN still have to go to school to leave lesson plans.

 

[Darlene]

I would get my child moved to another class. My soon had this happen when he was in kindergarten. After Christmass break the teacher did not come back, and he got a new teacher. The new teacher had to start all over with evaluations and assessments. It was a wasted year. I would ask what is going on, and if not happy ask to have my child moved.
You might feel bad for the teacher, but you should not feel responsible. We had a Spanish teacher that had a throat/voice problem. It made it impossible for the kids to hear her, but she did not like using a microphone. There was no winning. Finally she retired.

 

[normab]

I think you should speak up but have low expectations of anything changing. It's unfortunate that teachers can have so many absences, whether genuine sickness or using up sick days prior to retirement (my son had 1/2 of his calculus classes wasted due to this).

There should be a better way to handle it so the students don't get the short end of the stick.

 

[Fletcher921]

Absolutely discuss with the teacher first - ask for a private time to discuss - like not during recess when kids are flying all over the place (not sure the grade level.) Explain your concern for continuity. If your are not satisfied with the result of the conversation or the attitude or whatever - then a talk with the principal is warranted.

 

[Mel]

I think it depends greatly on how subs are hired in your schools.

In ours, the principal maintains a list of subs, and each school has one permanent substitute. Other long-term or regular subs can be hired as well. It is the principal and her staff who arrange for subs, not the teachers themselves. I can't imagine the teachers having to call around to arrange for a sub when they are ill! Also, our substitute teachers don't have to have teaching credentials, but they do have to have a college degree. I can't imagine expecting a sub with just a GED to be able to teach - maybe babysit, but not teach.

Having one person sub whenever needed in this classroom is, at least on the surface, a good idea. But you need to find out what the underlying issue is - does the teacher leave adequate work? Is the sub following the lesson plan? Is the sub capable of following a lesson plan including the other subjects?

My girls have deals with similar situations a few times - oldest DD had it in 5th grade, when her teacher's mother was very ill, plus the teacher was out 2 thursdays a month as part of a team developing a new curriculum. They had a regular sub most days, until she took over for a teacher whe went out on maternity leave earlier than expected.

In 3rd grade, middle DD had a teacher who was absent a significant amount of time, but good subs (at least from DD's perspective, and she likes school, so it wasn't a question of the sub being more lenient). The only problem I had with her situation was the change to a new "permanent" halfway through state testing - 3rd grade is the first year they do the testing, so it was already a difficult time for them.

I would bring up your concerns with the regular teacher. Whether there is a chronic illness is irrelevant - what is happening in the classroom during her absence is what matters. You are not asking her to stop being out, you are asking what can be done to improve the instruction when she is out. She might be just as frustrated as you, if she returns to a classroom where the kids slip a bit each time the sub is there. The only way to find out is to ask.

 

[NTHC]

I think that often times what people fail to realize is that the Principal is the boss and teachers are the employees. If you work for a company and an employee is out and the temp hired to be there does not do the job, the temp will not be there long. People will complain and changes will be made. Why should this situation be different because it is a school? If anything, the education of our children should be more important.


I would go to the Principal immediately and voice your concerns. If nothing is done then I would go to the next level.

JMHO,
Cindy

 

[Linda74]

I will start that by saying that after retiring from 36 years of teaching, and having 15 sick days allowed a year, I only used an average of 2 days per year....and that was mostly time off after the birth of a child. Our district would only allow us to accumulate 150 days and we were not paid for unused days, nor could they be given to a colleague who needed them. Looking back, there were many days, I went in sick or when a child was sick. I only took two days when my brother and when my father died. Looking back, I would have been more kind to myself. Rarely was a substitute more than a warm body and many times my paraprofessional had to be my sub in my absence. Substitutes in Connecticut and elsewhere are hard to get and are paid about what you would make in a job which has much less responsibility and is much less difficult. Since retiring, my district has begged me to come back.....but the commute is awful and the pay an insult. Perhaps this teacher has a legitimate health issue, perhaps she is a clunker. I can tell you that I would quietly express your concerns to the teacher and the principal. If there was no success, I would spend the energy you might spend worrying about this by supplementing your child's social studies and science education. I taught in an affluent town with an exemplary school system.....I lived in a town with a less than stellar system. Budget cuts had eliminated many programs and any decent teacher went to higher paying districts. I saw that my children read a great deal, watched "intelligent" tv, travelled and experienced different cultures and were involved in many successful extra curricular activities. They both won academic college scholarships and acceptance to great colleges. They both have great jobs, are hardworking and successful in those jobs. When we were contemplating selling our house and moving to a more affluent town, I attended a conference by an esteemed educator who said 80% of how well a child does in school comes from the home. I took that to heart and ran with it. Don't bash the teacher in front of your child...they will learn to disrespect and not be available for learning. Do try to make the best of an unfortuate situation. Do speak to the teacher and the principal and if need be, write this year off and make it your business to see that material which should have been covered is. I am sure you can get the curriculum from the district. Learning to survive in less than optimal conditions is also good for one's education.....

 

[Liz Wolf-Spada]

As a teacher, I use my share of sick days and have a variety of chronic problems as well as the acute things we get (usually from the students). I also have meetings where I have to be out. I try to get good subs and I can call people ahead of time and then request them, but for doctor's appts, illness or bereavement, there's not much else we can do. Teaching is a very demanding and high stress job and I'm sure that is why some of us do use our sick days more than we might like to. I hate having a sub, because no matter how great the sub is, it's always hard to get the kids back to the routine and familiar work schedule.
Liz

 

[DeniseM]

If you work for a company and an employee is out and the temp hired to be there does not do the job, the temp will not be there long. People will complain and changes will be made. Why should this situation be different because it is a school?

The reason it's different is that there is a real shortage of Subs, at least in CA. My experience has been that most Subs are people who cannot get full-time teaching jobs. The best ones become full-time teachers, because the salary and benefits are enormously better than Subbing. Since our Dist. runs out of Subs nearly every single day, any warm body that qualifies can Sub. However, in our Dist., you do have to have at least a BA and pass some tests to Sub.