County Teachers Work Beyond the Bell at Grade-In

Over 50 Anne Arundel County Public School teachers participated in a grade-in Friday afternoon at the Arundel Mills food court. Teachers from several elementary, middle, and high schools decided to continue their grading at the mall to highlight publicly how much work they must do beyond their contractual hours to meet their increasing workload demands. Yesterday marked the end of the first marking period so teachers are in the process of finalizing student grades.

Meade High School English teacher Diana Meredith participated in the grade-in because she was still in the process of grading 178 county-mandated quarterly assessments. She explained that she has to grade beyond her work hours because after school she is either in meetings or helping students. Monica Lynch from Northeast High School remarked that teachers “work past their duty hours for free because we care about kids and the future of our country. I have given ten hours of my personal time to my students this week alone, and the week isn’t over yet.”

Amongst AACPS teachers, there is a growing frustration with the lack of funding for salary step increases. Since 2009, the county council has only provided funding for one and a half steps. MacArthur teacher Mark Osborne remarked that with the growing job demands and the lack of adequate compensation he feels he is working two full-time jobs but only being paid for one.

While teachers graded for three hours in the food court, families began bringing their children who were dressed in costumes to participate in a Halloween event at the mall. They were lining up to get free giveaways and balloon hats from clowns next to where the teachers continued with their grading. Natalie Finch, a teacher from George Fox Middle School, remarked, “I think it’s important that parents and students see how much extra time it can take and what teachers have to sacrifice away from their families and in their lives to get the grading, planning, and everything else done.” A county resource teacher, Jody Ratti, added that the “dedicated professionals in this county work tirelessly every day to ensure that their students can be successful, often to the detriment of their own children, their health, and their relationships. All they, all we, are asking for is to be respected like the professionals we are.”