PatchChat LIVE at Noon: Fairfax County Teacher Workload

Chat is live - to join, click "play" in the window above.

Some Fairfax County teachers say they've seen workloads increase for a few years now — but this is the first year it's becoming what they are calling "unsustainable."

And they say they want a solution sooner rather than later.

Join Patch at noon Friday to talk with the leaders of two of Fairfax County's teachers' associations, along with a school board member and an assistant superintendent about some of the issues surrounding teacher workload, including state and local testing, grading and evaluation systems and new curriculum initiatives.

Readers can make comments or ask questions and get live responses throughout the course of the chat.

To join: Bookmark this page and return at noon Friday, or sign up for an email reminder above.

At a meeting last month sponsored by Fairfax County Federation of Teachers, one of the associations that will be represented in Friday's chat, members asked school board members for help in reducing some of their requirements and responsibilities and the shrinking amount of time in which they have to do it.

Read: Fairfax County Teachers: "I Can't Sustain This"

In a letter to the school board in December, the Fairfax Education Association has said it's already offered four no- or low-cost solutions the county's school board have not acted on.

"A demoralized and burned out teaching force will not be able to help you realize your goals," President Michael Hairston wrote.

The workload issues surface at the same time the system is grappling with how to stay competitive with jurisdictions that, especially for teachers with more experience and education, are able to pay more.

The school board is hoping to give a 1 percent market rate adjustment in fiscal year 2014, which officials and teachers say isn't quite enough.

Some commenters on Patch have said given the county's budget woes, it couldn't afford to give more money to teachers, or expand the budget. Still, many readers have said — for a number of different reasons — money isn't the answer.

Guests on Friday's chat include:

• Steve Greenburg, president, Fairfax County Federation of Teachers
• Michael Hairston, president, Fairfax Education Association
• Pat Hynes, Fairfax County School Board Member (Hunter Mill District)
• Phyllis Pajardo, Assistant Superintendent, Human Resources

The chat will last one hour.

Previous Live Chats:

PatchChatLive: A Later School Start Time

PatchChat Live: School Board Reopens Honors Discussion

PatchChat Live: Video Surveillance In Fairfax County High Schools

PatchChat Live: How and Why Parents Are Driving The School Board Election

PatchChat Live: 'Preparing Our Children For The Future'

PatchChat Live: A Look Ahead At FCPS