CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Since Friday, more than 750 Chesapeake Public School teachers participated in an anonymous survey -- not released by the school division -- sharing concerns about the school year.
Amanda Lambert is one of the people who put together the survey; she is also a Navy veteran, a mom, and a teacher in the division.
“If I, as a teacher and a mom, can pull this off in just a few days, imagine what CPS, with its resources can do,” said Lambert.
Now she’s speaking to us on her own time, with her own opinion, about the concerns teachers shared anonymously.
Lambert said her conclusion after seeing the survey results are: “I think it indicates to me that we are overdue for some conversations,” said Lambert.
She acknowledges the division had a summer survey, but it's been a while.
"The purpose is not to shame. The purpose is to say look, there is a lot going on we need to discuss if we want to move forward successfully,” said Lambert.
However, she describes a disconnect on some of the top issues, including bad internet connection inside of schools.
A lack of resources, meaning a majority of teachers now use their own devices in addition to ones from the division to get work done.
“I am honestly using my own technology,” said Lambert.
Plus, more than 50 percent of those who responded saying that they work an extra three hours or more each day to grade, lesson plan, or move lessons online.
Seeing this informal survey, Lambert hopes the division will do another formal one, for all staff and she wants school officials to talk with teachers routinely, about how teaching is going during this pandemic.
“To have the opportunity to talk about these things and move forward with resolution... I just mean a lot to a lot of people at CPS,” said Lambert.