“Test proctors or teachers?”
“We need substitutes.”
“Should I enter data or teach?”
“Workload. Workload. Workload.”
These were some of the messages on signs held by about 300 teachers who protested heavy workloads and resulting stress at an Anne Arundel School Board meeting.
“Let?s do the math: Two hundred students equals 200 essays,” said Tim Mennuti, president of the Teachers Association of Anne Arundel County, referring to the typical number of students assigned to high school English teachers.
“Even if you are a magician, it will take a minimum of five minutes to read the essay and write comments.
“That?s 1,000 minutes of nonstop work ? roughly17 hours of ?you are an angel who doesn?t need to eat, drink or use the bathroom.? For us mere mortals, it is a lot closer to 30 hours? work.”
A lack of substitute teachers also leads to more work for teachers, said Robin Smit, a seventh-grade math teacher at Corkran Middle School, who was among several teachers who addressed the School Board on Wednesday during the public comment period.
“Teachers are having to use their planning periods to cover classes,” she said. This year, she said, four of her peers have had medical problems related to job stress.
She herself frequently works until 8 or 9 p.m.
“I have never seen a year where teachers were so stressed and concerned about their workload,” said Robert Silkworth, a foreign-language teacher at North County High School.
Jane Horensky, a first-grade teacher at Quarterfield Elementary School, reaffirmed problems with planning periods and free time being taken away from teachers.
“Please support us in real, active ways, so we can have adequate planning periods,” she said to the administration and board.
In his comments to the board, Mennuti said the last time the board addressed workloads was in 2003. Then, several clerks were hired to reduce the paperwork for special-education teachers, and money was set aside for hiring recess, playground and lunch monitors, he said.
“With all this in mind, we need to fix our workload issues, because there isn?t a long line of prospective teachers waiting to relocate to Anne Arundel County,” Mennuti said.
Superintendent Kevin Maxwell weighed in on the issue after the meeting.
“We look forward to collaborating with them to reduce the workload in any way possible,” he said.
