Public school teachers in Fairfax County, Virginia are demanding additional compensation upon the announcement that schools would require them to live stream or record their Zoom lessons to accommodate quarantined students.
Teacher’s union the Fairfax Education Association stated that these plans would undoubtedly increase educators’ workloads. Fox 5 reported the strict requirement that video lessons must begin on the third day of a student’s isolation.
The decision to live stream and record lessons comes as Fairfax County Public Schools and many other school districts continue to battle COVID-19 infections and deal with quarantines during the transition back to in-person learning.
More Work, More Money
Union representative Kimberly Adams explained that teachers are asking for more money because they will be burdened by additional responsibilities and extra hours of work.
“The two biggest things we are asking for is a consideration of where can we fit this into the contract currently and what can we take off the teacher’s plate to give them more time,” said Adams. “If that’s simply not possible, then how can we compensate those hours after or before school that will be spent doing this work?”
Superintendent Scott Brabrand noted earlier this week that the requirement is just a short-term solution, but locals believe that teachers should receive added compensation for extra work they’re instructed to do.
“As a former teacher and now parent, I definitely agree that the teacher should be paid more because they have a lot on their plate right now, like all of this extra work and they’re parents themselves so they might need that support for their own children,” said Freddie Eklund, a resident from McLean.
“I think that this is really hard. I am so impressed with the teachers that we had last year that did such a great job but I think it’s really hard to teach that way and I would expect more pay,” Great Falls resident Heather Cheney added.