OPINION: PWEA Sends Message 'The Time Has Come'

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photo Prince William Education Association members grade during a school board meeting. Riley O'Casey is front row, left.

By Riley O'Casey 

What are you doing Wednesday night? Wednesday, June 1? If you support children and education, you should come to the school board meeting. If you are an employee of PWCS, you should also come.

However, prior to the school board meeting, join the Prince William Education Association as we celebrate our members and conclude our “It’s About Time” Campaign.

After a recent survey given to PWEA members, results indicated the top concerns were compensation and workload. An organizing team was created and for the last four months, these concerns have been brought to the school division and school board.

The commitment from both the division and the board to keep the class size reduction and pay increase in the budget is appreciated beyond words!

Prince William County Schools has the highest class sizes in the commonwealth of Virginia. School employees are paid the least in the Northern Virginia area. It was time for the division and the board to step up to the plate and put children and employees first – and they did that.

The workload of educators has increased dramatically. There are, of course, required duties and responsibilities that employees must follow.  However, more and more duties and responsibilities have been placed on everyone, from administration to teachers and counselors to custodians and bus drivers.

*Many times, our bus drivers have to deliver double routes due to lack of drivers. 

*Instructional Assistants spend less time helping students in the classroom and more time covering classes and performing duties that are not in their job description.

*When a custodian is out or sick, a substitute is rarely called in to cover that shift.  Our custodians must still clean each building, to a specific expectation, even when their numbers are low.

*Too many nurses split their time between schools, which is never in the best interest of our children.  It’s not safe!

*The case loads of our professional school counselors and specialists are outrageous!  The recommended caseload for social workers is 1 per 250 students.  In PWCS, it’s approximately 1 to 2,300 students.  How can our specialists help our children when the resources are limited and lacking?

*Too many times, teachers are forced to cover the classes of their colleagues.  This division is short substitutes and it is impacting the instructional day.  When teachers lose their planning time, especially on a consistent basis, their students are impacted. 

*In order to increase the amount of substitutes, maybe we should pay them a little more? 

*The stress placed on administrators is heavy and burdensome.  A huge majority of our principals and assistant principals are amazing and do an incredible job supporting our children and working with their staff. 

The Prince William Education Association advocates for children and educators. We know that when school employees are treated with the respect they deserve, their work environment is positive. That positive attitude trickles down to the students and their learning environment becomes a safe, caring place.

PWEA needs three things to change for our employees. First, teacher workdays need to be just that – a workday for teachers. The meetings and professional development, though required, need to be set for another day. Teachers need this day to WORK!

Second, the required Flex Day choices should be left to the discretion of the employee.  Too many times, they are forced to “choose” their Flex Days at the discretion of administration.

Third, the planning time teachers have been given, and deserve, needs to be respected and given back.

This is the best school division in the state, maybe even the nation. We have educators who are passionate, compassionate, and dedicated to the 87,000+ children in their care. Obstacles and roadblocks are constantly thrown our way, yet we continue to deliver the best education for our students.  I know, in my heart, that continued dialogue and collaboration between PWCS and PWEA will result in positive change for educators and children.

Come out and join us on Wednesday, June 1, at the Kelley Leadership Center. Our member celebration and “thank you” will begin at 5:30 p.m.  The school board meeting begins at 7 p.m. Come stand up for, and support, our children and educators!

Riley O'Casey is the Vice President and President-Elect of the Prince William Education Associate. The opinions expressed here are not necessarily shared by Bristow Beat, LLC, its sponsors or writers. Riley O'Casey is also the columnist behind Bristow Beat's "Live & Learn" series. 

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