In most school districts across the nation, teachers report to work a week before students arrive for the first day of school, according to Chalkbeat New York.
In New York City, teachers return just two days earlier.
It’s not enough time, many educators say. Much of those two days are spent in professional development and learning about any new education department policies – such as gearing up for new literacy programs and new math mandates. Reality check: a lot of teachers come back earlier to set up their classrooms — even though they typically don’t get paid for it.
Early elementary school teachers especially use prep time to decorate their doors and bulletin boards with welcome signs or various themes they plan to pursue during the year. They rearrange furniture and take stock of materials they might need. Then there is maintenance work. Teachers clean, dusting off window sills, removing cockroach carcasses, and even sweep up mouse droppings. (In California, a teacher preparing her classroom for the first day found a bear.)
Many teachers return to their classrooms in August to feel less anxious for students’ first day in early September. Some argue few other professions would tolerate working without being compensated for it.
Robyn Ulzheimer, a kindergarten teacher at P.S. 87 on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, spends at least three days getting things in order. She’s stapling borders around her classroom door, making sure all the crayons are fresh, and removing broken Magna-tiles. She’s moving, dusting, and cleaning furniture. And she’s taking stock on what she might need to buy at Staples. (Many teachers often spend their own money on school supplies.)
Arthur Goldstein, who now teaches part time at Francis Lewis High School in Queens after retiring from full-time teaching, says he only came in when required to do so after Labor Day — but in his overcrowded school, he didn’t have his own classroom, nor did he enjoy decorating bulletin boards. But anyone who returns early should be compensated for it, he says.
“Going in early is an elementary thing. (Teachers) have their own rooms, all day, and must make it like a second home,” Goldstein says. “It’s unconscionable that the city doesn’t give them sufficient time to do so.”
Middle school art teacher Jake Jacobs says his Bronx school pays teachers to come in for three half days in August for optional professional development. While they’re there, many teachers end up staying to decorate their classrooms, and he often helps them with their welcome back signs as he unpacks his art supplies.
“Once you’re in the building, of course you’re going to want to see what the custodians did, clean up the water bugs and the layers of silt on the windowsills,” Jacobs says. “The teachers don’t have to stay longer and work for free, but how are you going to get ready otherwise?”
Enid Rodriguez, recently retired as a full-time teacher at P.S. 305 in Ridgewood, Queens, but continuing to work there a few days a week as a substitute reading and library teacher, plans to come back early to help other teachers at the school.
If she didn’t go back early to set up her classroom, she says, “I would freak out.”
Chalkbeat New York
