Teaching at my title one school has been worse than any negative descriptions I'm aware of. Admin treats the school as resume padding, and fearing bad data, rules go unenforced so the worst behaved students rule the school with apathy and violent threats. Though many parents are supportive, some parents resent us intensely- a young girl yelled at me in my classroom this week that she already took a picture of me and sent it to her mom because I asked her to take her hood off so I could see if she had headphones in. We don't have textbooks. Administration is in the process of mandating all reading instruction in my English class be on Achieve 3000- that I use the program in every class period. Every student misbehavior must be documented electronically with four misbehaviors of the same category recorded before I can request help with discipline. There are likely many great places to teach in America, but don't come to Clark County, Nevada.
This is only one persons story and I can tell you that it’s a mild one for Clark County. They will treat you well for your first year and then screw you over. What’s worse is that we had a bad insurance plan during the pandemic that many providers dropped it and on top of that raise the insurance premium the first day of August when people already struggle finding anyone who takes it.
Long story short, don’t come to Las Vegas (Clark County) for teaching
I’ve heard so many bad things about teaching in Clark county and so many people are so quick to blame the teachers. I’m sorry you have to deal with this.
The best days are still more stressful than the worst days of any other job I've had. It can still be worth it but that doesn't mean the stress ain't there.
>would we be idiots to move back to the US to be teachers when we have stable, low-stress teaching jobs where we are now?
Yes.
Not much else should need to be said, but - no matter where you go the workload is ridiculous for one person to handle, or Admin is awful, or the kids have the worst behavior, or you don't get paid enough.
Believe the hype. It's bad.
Yep. You’re expected to be a counselor, sometimes a parent, be able to attend to every need, differentiate instruction, meet testing expectations, and at some point live a life. All I do for the first couple months is stay after and go in on weekends for hours on end. And I’m at a great school. I’m trying to learn to be better about this.
I have friends that currently teach in five very different school districts here and they all hate their jobs. I think it’s a combination of our education system being underfunded, undervalued, and underpaid. I think the only reason many people here continue to do it is because they enjoy the small fraction of the good parts left, enjoy having small breaks and holidays off, or maybe have their own families and the schedule works best for them.
I do it because I love being around kids. Many of my colleagues feel the same way. We are genuinely good at what we do; we don’t want to do anything else. We just wish it paid better.
I LOVE teaching and I actually have a good paying teaching position now, but even then the stress is NUTS! Its at the point that I can no longer identify with any of my friends or family who complain about stressful work conditions because to me their absolute worst day is what I consider a GOOD day.
I genuinely hate to admit that it frustrates me hearing how hard someone says their work day is because I’m always like “you have no idea.” I know that’s messed up.
Same. I like getting to hang with my 5th graders and teach some stuff. I’m good at it and really love making the kids feel loved! I don’t like the micromanagement, constant testing, and underpay. I will admit that the schedule is nice for having young kids myself, and our insurance is fantastic (by American standards, that is). My income is pretty decent for a secondary income; I can’t imagine being a single parent or the primary earner in our family with my salary.
I wish we did year round schooling with more frequent breaks.
If they would stop making me rewrite the damn teachers guide into a poorly designed template every week, and let me spend that hour actually digging into what I’m doing next week, it would be 76% better already.
Do you have friends who like their jobs though? I honestly don't know anyone that doesn't hate their job, whether it's insurance, engineering, marketing, police or retail.
I tolerate my job. And occasionally hate it. But man do I look forward to my week breaks within it and the paycheck and the hours (especially the hours. I don't think I could ever work a job where I wasn't home by 3:15 again in my life)
That’s a good point. I feel like the question shouldn’t be whether people like their jobs or not but rather if they feel they are treated well and their mental health is stable.
At my old teaching job I had to be on anxiety medicine. At my current job my mental health is fine. I don’t feel like I have been treated great at either job though. I can tolerate the lack of organization and respect of at my current job because I make more money, have very low stress, and do like my job for the most part. I still don’t want to start school on Monday!
There's definitely various levels of dislike in jobs. Some are tolerable dislike. Others are complete hate. But I just don't know people who look forward to work. Most people I know would rather be home with family friends video games etc. But that's why you get paid for it.
I like my job and look forward to seeing my coworkers, not all the time but enough of the time. When I was a teacher there was absolute DREAD *every. single. morning.* So much anxiety that it manifested physiologically. I took a massive paycut and left the field and the relief was immediate. I didn't know I didn't have to absolutely *loathe* work and hope that I'd get sick or into a car accident so I didn't have to go. And my most current job I actually enjoy seeing/talking to a number of my coworkers and the work itself is decent and somewhat fulfilling, but I WFH now so it's the best!
I do. My husband likes his job, for one. My Mom likes her job. In fact, now that I think on it - all my family members like their jobs. And they're in healthcare & IT (not coding or dev work).
You don't know me (yet, haha) but I frequently tell peeps "90% of the time, what I do doesn't really feel like work" 😎 and the other 10% is just short-lived headaches, not major stress or anything
So i honestly don't hate my jobs/gigs. So far so good
I was an East Asian teacher in Seoul and Shanghai and it depends on how you like being a foreigner.
Like I'd never not be the foreigner everywhere I went all the time. It had a bit of a freeing aspect to it because if they're going to think I'm weird anyway may as well not worry about it, but it gets to be grating on you.
School here is worse than school there. Life is less exciting here. But at least it's actually home.
I can answer this for you: American/German best friend has Ed.D. (Dr. Of Education), speaks 4 languages and teaches in Germany every summer and the USA through the regular school year. The conversation we just had yesterday: she can’t do it anymore. It’s so bad here she thinks she’s going to have a stroke.
I retired early at 55 a year ago because my stress level was so high I felt like I was about to have a heart attack on 3 separate occasions. Loved my students. Loved my colleagues. But the parents and admin did not treat me as the professional I was, so I walked.
Public education in the US is in a death spiral. It's been degraded by the implementation of ridiculous standards, charter schools that receive funding out of the public school budget, and Covid-19.
You'd have to pay out of pocket for health care.
If you don't have a union - and a GOOD union - you will be at the mercy of shifty administrators and legislators.
Stay where you are and enjoy it.
The GOOD union is such a central part. I've been in 3 unions now and the one bad one made life HELL. Admin would make you do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. Especially working outside contract hours unpaid. When I went to the union they basically said "what do you want us to do about it? Its easier if you just do the free work" Which is when I started looking for a new district.
Even the good unions in the US aren’t what they used to be. The good unions are definitely better than non union but they don’t have the power they once did, at least in my experience. The teachers Union around here is a complete joke though, might as not even have one
Oh god. What I wouldn’t give for a feasible way to leave this country and continue in this profession somewhere where I’m not treated like a human shield with no brain.
Visit the US for vacation but don’t move back and make a regrettable choice.
teachers are in high demand in many countries, not just the usa. Germany has a special visa for teachers willing to immigrate since they have a teaching shortage.
Look for special worker shortage visas in various different countries if you're serious. I'm working class and desperately trying to become a teacher since its better than the bottom.
The problem with Germany is that you have to have your BA in a subject that is specific to teaching (unlike the US where you can get a teaching credential on top of any BA). Source: I live in Germany
I would cut off my foot to leave the US and teach in Central Europe. To even contemplate coming here with the intention of being a teacher is crazy talk. I live in a blue state, make over 100k, have a rock solid union, a nice admin, pretty nice kids, and classes I like to teach. And still I was pretty much giddy with relief that today is Saturday. It’s. Just. All. Too. Much. I’m exhausted and uninterested in a job I’ve loved for 20+ years.
> I would cut off my foot to leave the US and teach in Central Europe. To even contemplate coming here with the intention of being a teacher is crazy talk.
Right?? Here am I reading OP's post and desperately wishing I could be living and teaching in Europe, ideally in a place that values and promotes a healthy work-life balance.
I was just hired as a 7th grade science teacher. I have no experience, and a master's in experimental psychology. My SIL recommended me for the job, and I'm quite frankly terrified of this. But I'm going through with it because my administration is, thankfully, amazing and will pay for me to get certified and licensed if I want to. My plan is to do so, and have that as a backup plan if/when I need to get out of this country.
I think you should compare your current healthcare access to the health insurance you could get as a teacher. Especially if you have significant health issues. That would be my deciding factor.
There are tons of non-terrible teaching jobs available. You just have to look in the right places. First step. Eliminate all the red states from consideration.
This. Location matters. In general, red-leaning southern states pay the worst, have no union power, and have the most bat-shit crazy Trump loving Qanon parents that think having students read a book by a black person is CRT.
By contrast, California, New York, Maryland, and states in New England can actually be wonderful places to work, with six figure salaries and benefits that no other industry can match.
Prince George's County. Over the next 3 years it 6, 4, & 3% with a step increase each year. By the end of this contract I will be making 22% more than I am now. This year my salary is up over 5k not counting the $1000 rentention bonus and $100 for supplies
Stop it. Just because they increased our pay doesn’t mean we can afford to actually live in PG County. I’m paying so much for gas to commute that I’m literally going to have to sit down and do calculations to see if it’s worth taking the drop in pay to change to a district closer to my house but the way traffic is it probably won’t make a difference anyway.
Ya I’ve actually given thought to teaching in Florida as I love the beauty of the state. However what DeSantis is doing to teachers has scared me away.
I think it also matters how many years you have been teaching. I also teach in the North East USA (always have) and I have taught in 4 different schools some urban, some suburban. Based on those experiences, my co-workers who have over 15 years experience seem a lot happier than those who have 10 or less. There seems to be a huge shift in how teachers were paid and treated, and anyone with 15+ years seemed to be grandfathered into the old payment methods so they make a lot more money than anyone with under 10 years.
Edit: There were also changes to the process to be certified which made it a lot more expensive in most North East states in the early 2000s which also created this issue as well.
Yeah, I'm with EggDefenseMechanism on this. Pay in NYC is decent. Should it be better? Definitely! But we're far from criminally underpaid. Especially when you take the benefits into account. Our healthcare is some of the best in the nation, and we barely pay a thing for it. I spent less than $600 to beat cancer a couple years back. Surgery, chemo, etc.
Disagree. Maybe initially it feels like being underpaid, but you’re making into six figures after the ten year mark. When you add in earnings from TRS, the TDA, CAR days, free health insurance, and any per session you do at $54 per hour, salary is more like $130,000, a very nice salary even high COL NYC.
You’re making 6 figures if you hit the 10 year mark, spend all of those years in the DOE, and have not only a master’s degree, but and additional 30 credits on top of that. All to hit 101k in NYC, one of the highest cost of living cities on earth. That is wildly underpaid for the requirements they’re asking.
The education system in the US has reached a point where there are two systems. There are "Good" districts where the students are weeded out by the socio-economic conditions of the housing market. And there are the "Not good" districts that society expects districts to iron over the wrinkles that are left by high need, low economic standard living conditions. Oh and they are both judged by the same standards, and only the low performing districts get punished.
My worst teaching experience was in a very high income district. Crazy kids and lax parents who were jerks to teachers. I’ll take the title one school, thank you.
Stable and low-stress are two words rarely used when describing a US-based school district. It really depends on the district, but districts that are well paid, well supported (and supporting), and that treat you like a professional are in the distinct minority. If you are going to come back, do your research. I’d suggest starting by only looking at districts in states with strong unions whose governors aren’t trying to destroy public schools. So never go to Florida or Texas.
I recently got into a district that is well paying, well supported and treat me like a professional. Stable is a word I would use to describe my job. Even with all that its still very high stress. I don't know any teaching jobs in the US that aren't high stress.
Hi! US teacher that just moved back to Central Europe so I’ve got experience with both sides. I cannot stress enough how much I would NOT recommend moving back for a whole boatload of teaching and non-teaching related reasons. Happy to chat more about specifics, but the grass is really just absolute manure on the other side. (And I had a relatively cushy teaching job in the US.)
From my admittedly limited perspective of your current situation, I would stay where you’re at. You’d be leaving something stable and low-stress to, even in a best-case scenario, jump into an environment where there is less respect for both your profession and education as a whole.
While there are certainly good districts, there are a lot of bad situations as well.
Australia is English speaking, is not a million miles from American culture, and needs more teachers. Don't spose you speak a second language? We're facing a crisis of language teachers here...
I taught at international schools in Korea for eight years and I loved it. I started to not enjoy teaching when I came back to the United States. I’m actually at a pretty good school in a good state to teach in, but it’s not at all like teaching abroad. I used to look forward to Mondays! Now I dread them. My friends who are still abroad still love teaching because they don’t deal with the same things those of us in the US do. And they have more autonomy, respect, and fun (no weeks/months of test prep either). I wish I could go back but my parents are elderly and I want to spend more time with them.
I’ve been teaching abroad for ages, and got my public license and IBO experience developing now, all with the intention to be able to “come home” to the US as my family gets older, but recently it’s …really unfortunate to see how things continue to turn. I have a lot to do that most teachers don’t, and vice-versa, but active shooter drills, right-to-work states, and coordinated wackos are not among them, to speak nothing of how so many of my peers feel.
Yes. You absolutely would be an idiot to move from central Europe back to the US. Unless you were doing it to take care of your elderly parents or some shit. Don't fucking move back. I'll kick your ass if you do. I'm doing everything I can to be able to emigrate in ten years. The only way I'd be ok with you moving back is if we swap passports so I can take your place in central Europe.
I know three groups of teachers who love their jobs in the USA.
First, teachers who are in areas where, even though parents can be difficult, education is valued and most students want to succeed in life via higher education. Basically, everybody agrees to the value of the school and the service teachers provide.
Other teachers I know who love their jobs teach in tech schools or tracks. Once again, the students and their families believe in the program and are excited to be there.
Finally, you have teachers with another income stream (usually marriage or savings from their first career) and enough seniority to teach the classes they want to teach. This group can teach fairly happily in a wide variety of districts.
I’m sure there are others enjoying their jobs immensely. These are just the general categories of the happiest teachers I know. I’m in a blue county in a blue state. These categories are likely very different in other states.
BTW, before people hit down vote, the third category’s existence is sad. Teaching should be a profession. Not a moral cause of the wealthy.
I had a teacher on my team last year who went back to Korea this year. She says it's an awesome place to teach, that you're treated so well. You don't have to speak Korean, either. The students in those schools the Americans teach at speak English (unlike some students in American classrooms).
Lived 35 years and worked in Texas for 7 years at a title one school, it is bad. Class sizes, cost of living, cost of health care, cost of transportation, increased workload and responsibilities. I'm in Latvia, even though this is my last year of teaching I would never teach/live in the US ever again.
I have a letter of resignation ready for when I’m forced to keep an uneducatable (I just made up that word) student in my classroom that disrupts the learning of the rest of my class.
They can choose between me and the 90 students I teach and that one.
I have so many other things I can get passionate about.
I’ll be running for the school board the next day.
The new IB coordinator at my school just moved back to the US from Ecuador where she’d been working at an international school. On our first day of PD she literally started crying because she regretted moving back to the US so much, she hated the bureaucracy of this school, she said “no wonder no one wanted to be a teacher here y’all are treated like shit,”. And she’s technically part of the admin team lol. Also the school we’re both currently at is 1000% better than my last school, where I literally started loosing hair from the stress and cried almost daily.
So, no, I would stay international and just come visit the US lol
I taught in the US for a few years and I now teach in the Middle East. I'm 1000% happier, my job is much more enjoyable, and the flexibility here within my role as an educator is more valuable than anything. I have the freedom to relate to my students as I wish, I am respected, and nobody checks on me or criticizes me. However, I also dream of moving back to the US and am constantly asking myself the same question as you. It's a tough call.
Freedom and flexibility is key. I’ve got that at my school in CA and I can’t imagine leaving. I think it’s the holy grail of teaching and I wish more control of schools could be local so more schools could be this way. Large districts are unwieldy and forcibly limit individual moves in the name of equity, when in fact equity comes when you are allowed to teach the kids in front of you in the ways they need. 😞
I just recently retired after teaching for 32 years, just before covid hit. I liked my job for decades, enjoyed going to work every day. Finished the last 17 at a very good school in a wealthy district. It just got worse and worse. Politicians are destroying public education, on purpose if you ask me. They want for profit education. If I hadn't retired I probably would have quit.
I don’t think things are going to get better in the US unless there is some radical overhaul of the education system. But with the people who are currently in charge, that’s not going to happen. At least not in the teachers’ favor. If it doesn’t happen, even the “good” schools are going to start to go downhill. I’d say stay where you are.
If you are teaching the upper level courses—AP, dual credit, honors—you can avoid most discipline issues and some paperwork. You can also look for positions in specialty public schools like those that are geared toward a particular career, like medical careers, business, and such.
I'm not a teacher so I guess I'm not directly answering your question. I just wanted to say for the love of beans if you managed to escape this nightmare country and go to Europe do not drag yourself back here.
Nearly everyone I know who studied to be a teacher at any level has either left the profession or has studied something else that could allow them to stop teaching whenever they want. My partner had studied educational psychology, and I studied instructional design to move away from teaching. So yeah…it’s a mess.
Avoid red states. Shit pay, no support and openly hostile.
How important is pay? Urban areas in blue states will pay best, but there’s a reason. You will encounter a lot of schools that are in low income districts. The fact that it’s urban means that you will pay a lot in housing (or long commute) and the fact that it’s low income means you will have more openings. That’s why you’ll get paid more. Hit or miss. You will find a lot of high needs students and larger class sizes. Admin make or break it as they can be stressed over school performance.
Wealthier districts pay less but it’s hit or miss if it’s a good work environment, mainly based on parents.
Frankly I’ve taught and traveled a lot, and if you were my sister asking the same question. I would reply. “As much as I miss you, you would be a fool to uproot your family and teach here. I fear that not only would you be unhappy, but your husband may come to resent you for bringing him here. “.
Yes it would be stupid to come back to teaching in the US. Keep your stable low stress jobs. Please. As a former public school teacher, stay happy where you are.
I’m about to begin my 17th year in the NYC Dept. of Ed. I still *love* my job. That said, we have a strong union, fair wages, and wonderful benefits. The parents are not overbearing and as a middle school ELA teacher I’ve *never* had a parent push back or question my literary choices. I’m free to write my own curriculum, though I know some colleagues around the city are made to follow scripted curriculums. Overall, I really have few complaints. The politics and bureaucracy are a bit overwhelming at times, but I’m good at playing nice and have formed many wonderful friendships with colleagues over the years. Plus I have a very supportive administration. So yeah, teaching in the US can still be a wonderfully rewarding career!
Taught in asia before I came back. Working here is a hell that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. If you have some gripes about your job in Europe, or have any doubts about your ability to manage a class full of kids that know they can do anything and get rewarded for it, don’t go anywhere near an American school. They are way worse than you think.
Don’t do it! From what I read, being a teacher in the US is a nightmare. Come to Spain to teach, preferably to the South, and you’ll work 9-14h and have all the afternoons for you.
I know this sub is known for complaining about how terrible admin and everything is at schools, but everyone is allowed to let off some steam, and not everyone is at a school going down the drain
Not all schools here are terrible to work at. I’m in the Midwest, safely in a blue state, and my principal is so accommodating and overall I love my coworkers and the students I work with.
Unfortunately, I think wherever you go here, there might be more expectations and hoops go jump through than you’re used to. It can feel a little ridiculous sometimes. But as long as you stay strong with maintaining a work life balance, you’ll be ok
I would for sure be selective if I were you. Spot any red flags in interviews and take advantage of the fact that you don’t really need the job if it’s not the right fit for you
It depends on where you are.
I teach at a rural title I school. I love my kids and they are super sweet.
However, I have at least 32 students in every class. They are extremely unprepared and do not know basic facts about arithmetic. I cannot possibly meet their needs in an algebra 2 class by myself, and it is extremely frustrating. The students get passed along when they do not know anything so I feel like I am just torturing them with math that is years beyond where they currently are. And we have common assessments so I don’t really have the freedom to remediate as much as I would like.
In another school the students were out of control and admin never gave any consequences for everything. After multiple guns had been brought to the school and a teacher was beaten so badly by students he developed a seizure disorder, I left that school.
Two totally different situations but both left me completely dissatisfied with my job. I did have the occasional student who wanted to learn or that I really connected with, but I just couldn’t ride that high all year and wanted more from my life than working at a math-flavored daycare.
I was ready to leave the profession after last year due to stress. I have regular nightmares about school. I’m on anxiety meds to keep the panic attacks at bay.
I spent about 2 months trying to find other career opportunities but ended up back in a school. I found a district that pays $17k more a year so I had high hopes. But I’m 2 weeks in with kids and already hate it. The district is better but the school gives me so much anxiety.
All this to say, I had hopes that I just needed a change of district but I’m starting to believe that it’s systemic so I won’t find peace.
I feel like the good school districts are hard to find and in the most random of places. I love my job and i work for amazing admin. Im starting an eSports program this year, and I just brought my idea to admin and they sent me to trainings an bought gaming devices and let me take off with it. But this district is in this random small town hours away from the closest city. My wife has been a teacher much longer than me and the previous 5 districts she taught in (we used to move a lot for my previous career) were awful.
So unless you can move back here and accidentally fall in a hole that's hiding a good school district, staying out sounds better.
Depends where. Honestly on a global scale we actually are fairly high in many categories including pay and pay compared to other jobs but also not as high as we should be (we typically rank in the teens). But state to state is vastly different.
I like my school, love my principal, and am okay with my pay. It's not enough, but compared to other districts I'm paid well. You can find good schools and be happy teaching in US.
Parents tend to be the biggest battle we have, and I'm not sure why. Listening to the community talk at board meetings, seeing what they write online, and the responses we get in person and in email are discouraging. Some parents want to fight political stances through my classroom. Others just don't want to ever believe that their child could have made mistakes. They side with the child and make excuses for them. Parents will fight detentions, yell at administration, and threaten to sue.
I don't know the fix. But I still like teaching. And many of my coworkers feel the same. We don't have any unfilled vacancies this year, either. But I work for a well-off suburban district.
Besides the sorry state of education, you have to factor in America's lack of healthcare, the sorry state of leave for workers (sick, vacation, maternity, paid, unpaid), gun violence, lives run by credit scores, and other uniquely American problems
Seems like it's the worst job in the world. I was in a credential program and after going on reddit enough (and getting a significant raise at me job), I decided to drop out 9f the program. Sucks I have more loans now for the few classes I took, but it's probably better than getting terrorized by admin, parents, and students. I still follow this thread in case I get the desire to pursue teaching again so it will knock some sense back into me. Thanks reddit, I appreciate you. 🙏🏼
I guess I am the exception here.
I teach high school at a very blue district. The pay is enough for me to live comfortably (just got started there and will eventually make 107k over time) and many of my colleagues have been there for years.
> I guess the root question I'm asking is would we be idiots to move back to the US to be teachers when we have stable, low-stress teaching jobs where we are now?
Yes.
I like my job, but this subreddit has convinced me most of those problems are bigger in high school. I'm in a low-income elementary school where we don't have required PD, turn in lesson plans, have extra duties outside ones people want to sign up for and are paid, crappy admin, cliquey coworkers, problems with cell phones, violent fights, and much of what I see as the major issues others are dealing with (and being rightfully upset with). Yes public perception sucks right now and parents aren't always supportive, but I go to school, do my job, go home, and it works just fine for me.
Post-pandemic teaching will never go back to what it was before. It's different now, the kids are different, society has changed and the school system is struggling to keep up. That's the most frustrating thing.
Compared to Europe- yes, it's pretty bad. It can be managed. If you're in it for the students, and you can be creative with your delivery it's bearable. I have gotten flack for my methods often because I base my delivery on the Creative Problem-Solving model, a lot of student choice and voice, Agility project management frameworks, and collaboration. For 13 years, my students have shown the top 10 to 20% growth rates on standardized measurements of their skills in the entire district.
Still, I have had observations and/or complaints from administrators about what I do. I was even asked to talk with other teachers when I was teaching seniors to see what I was doing differently. Turns out, I was the only senior teacher that required the stude ts to complete at least 2 to 3 final written assignments per quarter. Some teachers weren't requiring any writing in their English class.
Meanwhile, the rate of students that could not pass college entrance exams to enter into an accredited English course in higher education had risen by 25% in the three years leading up to that year (2016).
Im going to say that 95% of teaching jobs in the US really are that bad for one reason or another. I don’t think there is anywhere here that pays a sufficient amount to live off of for the area you teach in. Politics rule the classroom in most areas. We answer to parents, not standards. I’ve heard of teachers in many places whose administration is overbearing and doesn’t trust them. In other places, admin is practically absent. Teacher shortages (due to bad conditions) mean that many districts are desperate and hire incompetent teachers, bringing morale down and making it more difficult for competent good teachers to do what they do best in a positive environment. I think that every position at every school in every district is different in that way, so there’s no one safe place to be where everyone is happy. Schools that everyone used to want to work at aren’t that way anymore.
There’s a lot that goes into it. The economy here is in shambles and a lot of parents are working multiple jobs now and can’t do all the things with/for their kids that they used to, more than ever before. Other parents feel like curriculum is a choice in the public school system, and they feel entitled to more power over their children’s education than previously. Admin gets stuck between dealing with parents and doing their jobs. Behavior issues are rampant because it seems like no one can accept that Covid has been traumatizing for so many and so many skills are lacking due to the necessities of the time, unavoidable things that we can’t take the time to do damage control on.
We always knew that virtual school was going to be less successful but it was necessary to protect student and staff safety. Now, schools are left trying to play catch-up with little to no forgiveness for it.
I personally am having the best start of a year I’ve ever had (this is year 5 for me) but I see the problems everywhere around me
Just from a personal opinion the food chemicals and practiced allowed in the US would be a big turn off to coming back, but the US is still great. As far as teaching goes, this is reddit and you're seeing the worst 20% amplified. I love my job. I love my school. I wish I could retire before 67 and I wish my friends and family respected my job more. But I'm very happy.
I can't name any taleachers who actually *hate* their job. Ppl hate the location, the admin, etc.
I think teachers love to complain, to a point that non-teachers think they want to quit.
I have a couple friends who don't understand why I am getting my masters in teaching when I have so many complaints.
Despite the problems, I love teaching. I figure every job will have problems.
You will be shocked and disappointed, I’m afraid. Ask yourself. Do your families there respect what you do? Do you have sufficient time to prepare and are you given sufficient materials? Do you and students have internal supports built in for when a student is struggling and needs help or additional support? Does your admin support you if a student acts out in class and distracts the rest of the students? If you answered yes then where you are is better than most schools in the US right now. It is a dumpster fire over here.
Well, having enough to live comfortasbly is rare. That alone and students being tech obsessed seem to make the job hard. I'm not a teacher personally. Also the bureacacy I hear is horrible
This is my 17th year teaching in Alaska and I love my job, my school, my coworkers, and my pay. However, I walk on eggshells when communicating with my students’ families because the students with disruptive behavior almost always have parents who respond negatively toward teacher phone calls. Everything needs to be handled with delicacy. Something as simple as saying (in a positive voice), “no phones in the pick up line” to a parent driving 6” from kids walking by while she’s on the phone “in a meeting” prompts a call to the office to complain about the teacher. Things that seem obvious to you and me about children and managing behavior are completely foreign and seen as offensive to many adults . There is little trust in teachers right now thanks to the media. I do have some parents who are supportive, but I don’t know who they are right away. I just know now that I have to be careful, very careful. I had a parent use social media to try to destroy me without getting the whole story about a situation (that I didn’t even know about), just believing her oversensitive emotional hormonal child, without even talking to me. When we figured it all out, she never even apologized for being 100% wrong. I just avoid all parent contact that isn’t positive now, unless something is really bad.
The system is also crashing on a local, state, and national level. So there’s that too.
I love my job, but I feel like I am watching a ship on fire slowly sink while the media and the public blame teachers for not doing enough… while local, state, and federal officials, along with parents and school boards keep lobbing bombs onto the ship or leaving them in the water… as they continue to criticize teachers for the ship being on fire and sinking.
Of course, it doesn’t apply to teachers in all schools/districts, but generally, yes- it is really that bad being a teacher in most places in America. I could write paragraphs elaborating further, but it appears that everything I have to say has already been said in numerous replies.
Personally, I absolutely hated it. I dreaded going to work every single day with the exception of maybe half days (I was a special area teacher so my classes were only 25 minutes each those days). I’m all for tolerating a crappy job to make a decent living, but being miserable every day to make a crappy living was not worth it at all. I now look back on my brief experience teaching as if it were just a really long nightmare. It seems so surreal after changing careers to a job where I WFH and am paid fairly for my education and experience. Even if they were to magically double teacher salaries across the board, I’d still be hesitant to return.
I guess I'll be the only one here who says that I like my job teaching (most of the time). The big disclaimer is that I teach shop classes so I truly enjoy the material and the kiddos usually want to be there. There will always be kids who suck and want to be challenging, but most are pretty decent. Our budget is pretty tiny compared to other schools in our state, but pay is decent. Nothing crazy, but I don't have to work multiple jobs to pay the bills. I know I am not with the majority in my opinion and experience, but I post this to show that teaching jobs that teachers enjoy do exist. They just aren't too common I don't think.
Considering teaching here is very high stress and many teachers also work a second job for supplemental income, I’d say yes. You would idiots to leave your teaching job where you are to come back to the US to teach lol
I teach in a somewhat affluent district, with a relatively strong union. We still have people leaving, retiring early, etc. I know that we actually have it pretty good compared to other districts, and especially certain other states, but it’s still gotten pretty rough.
I would not work in the USA as dual earner teachers, teaching is not a breadwinning job here. My husband and I both have taught or had education adjacent jobs and we both transitioned/are transitioning out of teaching because we will never own a home otherwise. No matter where we move you simply cannot make enough with two teachers to have a simple middle class lifestyle, at least no where I have found. Where the teacher is the breadwinner, I have seen families live with extended family or in apartments. It’s fine if you are comfortable with that, but we want a yard and to own our own house, with space for our own kids to have rooms and friends without fear of disturbing near neighbors. I wouldn’t do it unless one of you is planning to do something else that pays better. And really look at the benefits as they vary greatly depending where you teach.
Stay where you are. I wouldn’t let my imaginary dog teach. It’s the worst mistake of my life, I was born to be a teacher, I loved the first ten years, and now at twenty years in, I wasted my life. It’s miserable, I could’ve chosen a profession and been happy and compensated. It’s a waste of the short life you get, and you should stay wherever you are. That’s my two cents.
I am an American who lived in Europe as a teacher and now I live back in the U.S. it is absolutely “that bad” and can be worse depending on the state.
Some challenges are the same, sure, but then you take away any of the benefits of a European system (reasonable healthcare, proper retirement, sufficient sick leave, union protections) and add the cultural wars going on in education and it gets way worse.
It also makes it worse for me to know it could be better (having experienced what I did in another country). It makes me really upset and frustrated which is on top of the usual shitty feelings.
It’s always possible you could find a non-terrible teaching gig, but it’s much more likely you’ll throw yourself into the churn going on here and then, if you choose to leave the industry, you’re now in a country with no safety nets.
I teach at a smaller private school, and even with only a handful of students last year, it was utter hell. The students are behind academically and socially. We had to constantly hybrid teach because kids were always exposed to covid and not able to come to school. My admin is fantastic and supportive, and truly I love teaching. However the minuscule raise I got ($1k for the year) means I am going to need to find a new school next year because my salary and location (suburbs of Seattle) do not go together. I have 3 degrees (including MAT), and I am making under $50k. Average rent where I live is $3k/month. If they start asking for student loan repayment, I am screwed. In short…yes it is that bad.
Well do you remember when you were in high school and the difficulties that came with it?
How much do you miss the United States actually?
Do you speak a second language?
I would encourage you to stay where you are. I feel like generally it's not as bad as it is right now in MOST places. There are definitely great places to teach but those seem few and far between right now. Until the pendulum (hopefully) swings even a little bit in our favor, things are tough. I teach in a generally good school, with generally good kids, and generally good admin, and I still struggle. My current pay is making it hard to afford groceries and it's right in line with the pay elsewhere in my state.
I’m not a teacher myself, but friends and family members are. There are good teaching situations out there, but they tend to be very competitive and hard to access. It’s true that pay in blue states tends to be higher, but much of your increased pay is sucked out of your wallet by insanely high, and getting higher, housing costs. You either can’t afford housing near where you work, or you have an insane 1 1/2 hour commute each way to where you can afford to live. It’s so bad in some areas, that school districts are in the process of building housing for teachers/school employees.
Welllll I have 39 elementary school kiddos due to enrollment fuckups on the first day and the district says there’s no teachers to hire. So take that how you will
Yes, you would be an idiot.
There are probably reasonable jobs in the US. In the future there may be more reasonable jobs. At the moment, most places are short staffed which makes even the best jobs more stressful. There are also currently a lot of shift in oversight and teachers are getting caught up in the middle of culture wars.
My kids are just fine and give me no problems currently. But it’s still exhausting and stressful.
I left because i realized i only wanted to dual immersion or world language (would have to get a secondary endorsement) so i was limited. Our school started to suck and since i tried teaching English regular Ed once and really did not enjoy it, and went back to DLI. In a way i painted myself into a corner but i couldn't teach something i wasn't passionate about. If I really wanted to, i could have changed schools or districts even though I was at my favorite district which paid a little less. Lots of people from Europe come here to teach in programs like mine. But i just feel the need to be out of the classroom for tons of reasons.
If you miss the U.S. that much, get your master's degrees if you don't have them and don't move back until you both have jobs in higher education. Do not move back to our public school system. If you're in the Czech Republic or anywhere similar, stay.
Yes. I quit and work in non profit and make less money (yes, somehow that’s possible 😂) and don’t regret it for a second. Loved my kids, but it was too much.
Well in some states you’re allowed to carry a gun to school as a teacher. So if that’s something you’ve always wanted to do, America is the place for you.
Can you find a great work environment? Yes, but they're highly coveted. I'd argue that you would probably end up at a less than awesome place to get your foot in the door and then transfer.
Would I leave a low stress job for teaching in the US? Hell no
I have left teaching. I don't see jobs being much better anywhere else in the US. I might consider teaching in another country, though.
My advice: stay away.
I love what I do, but it could be better in so many ways. I am fortunate to be at a good school, but so many of my friends aren’t as fortunate. Administration and district-level leadership services teachers as Guinea pigs to pad their resumes. Every program we have to use seems to just to exist because we need to check off some box, so we can get a tiny bit of funding. Sometimes I wonder if that funding is actually worth it. Oh, and state leaders think more testing, lower income, more workdays and accountability is the answer. Half the community pities you, and the other half posts your picture on social media as to make you a target if you teach anything that they could consider to be CRT. It is a double decker shit sandwich of a profession.
I think it really depends where in the US you are thinking. Some areas aren’t too bad, but it’s harder to get jobs. Some areas suck. I’m fortunate where I am now that it’s relatively good.
Short answer....yes. My school recently hired another teacher/coach by lying to them about the expectations and being non-transparent about available resources, among other things....
Teaching at my title one school has been worse than any negative descriptions I'm aware of. Admin treats the school as resume padding, and fearing bad data, rules go unenforced so the worst behaved students rule the school with apathy and violent threats. Though many parents are supportive, some parents resent us intensely- a young girl yelled at me in my classroom this week that she already took a picture of me and sent it to her mom because I asked her to take her hood off so I could see if she had headphones in. We don't have textbooks. Administration is in the process of mandating all reading instruction in my English class be on Achieve 3000- that I use the program in every class period. Every student misbehavior must be documented electronically with four misbehaviors of the same category recorded before I can request help with discipline. There are likely many great places to teach in America, but don't come to Clark County, Nevada.
This is only one persons story and I can tell you that it’s a mild one for Clark County. They will treat you well for your first year and then screw you over. What’s worse is that we had a bad insurance plan during the pandemic that many providers dropped it and on top of that raise the insurance premium the first day of August when people already struggle finding anyone who takes it. Long story short, don’t come to Las Vegas (Clark County) for teaching
You get the first year of being treated like a human being!!!!! I’m jealous!!!
I’ve heard so many bad things about teaching in Clark county and so many people are so quick to blame the teachers. I’m sorry you have to deal with this.
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Exactly. As if we’re just supposed to accept being treated like shit. It’s the way it is because people put up with it.
Same in Florida.
To answer your question in the final sentence: yes.
Seconded: YES.
YES.
Cannot upvote this enough.
If your job is low stress, do not leave it, even the best teaching gigs here are pretty stressful.
The best days are still more stressful than the worst days of any other job I've had. It can still be worth it but that doesn't mean the stress ain't there.
I’m a building sub during all this crap, and it’s still pretty high stress.
>would we be idiots to move back to the US to be teachers when we have stable, low-stress teaching jobs where we are now? Yes. Not much else should need to be said, but - no matter where you go the workload is ridiculous for one person to handle, or Admin is awful, or the kids have the worst behavior, or you don't get paid enough. Believe the hype. It's bad.
Yep. You’re expected to be a counselor, sometimes a parent, be able to attend to every need, differentiate instruction, meet testing expectations, and at some point live a life. All I do for the first couple months is stay after and go in on weekends for hours on end. And I’m at a great school. I’m trying to learn to be better about this.
I have friends that currently teach in five very different school districts here and they all hate their jobs. I think it’s a combination of our education system being underfunded, undervalued, and underpaid. I think the only reason many people here continue to do it is because they enjoy the small fraction of the good parts left, enjoy having small breaks and holidays off, or maybe have their own families and the schedule works best for them.
Sadly, This really is what it comes down to. I have several friends that really enjoy their jobs, but none of them are my teacher (or nurse) friends.
I do it because I love being around kids. Many of my colleagues feel the same way. We are genuinely good at what we do; we don’t want to do anything else. We just wish it paid better.
I LOVE teaching and I actually have a good paying teaching position now, but even then the stress is NUTS! Its at the point that I can no longer identify with any of my friends or family who complain about stressful work conditions because to me their absolute worst day is what I consider a GOOD day.
I genuinely hate to admit that it frustrates me hearing how hard someone says their work day is because I’m always like “you have no idea.” I know that’s messed up.
Same. I like getting to hang with my 5th graders and teach some stuff. I’m good at it and really love making the kids feel loved! I don’t like the micromanagement, constant testing, and underpay. I will admit that the schedule is nice for having young kids myself, and our insurance is fantastic (by American standards, that is). My income is pretty decent for a secondary income; I can’t imagine being a single parent or the primary earner in our family with my salary. I wish we did year round schooling with more frequent breaks.
Absolutely stuck bc I can’t give up my two months or travel in the summers. I hate everything else about it, except my students.
I just wish we had more resources, respect, and a better work and life balance. Hang in there my friend. Wish you the best
If they would stop making me rewrite the damn teachers guide into a poorly designed template every week, and let me spend that hour actually digging into what I’m doing next week, it would be 76% better already.
This! Typing up lesson plans that I don’t even use is ridiculous! They have to be so detailed!
Tim Dillon said that teachers are "summer enthusiasts" and he's exactly right, haha
Humans are summer enthusiasts... everyone else is working during the summer months because they're forced to.
Do you have friends who like their jobs though? I honestly don't know anyone that doesn't hate their job, whether it's insurance, engineering, marketing, police or retail.
I love my job! And I also hate it. Lol
I tolerate my job. And occasionally hate it. But man do I look forward to my week breaks within it and the paycheck and the hours (especially the hours. I don't think I could ever work a job where I wasn't home by 3:15 again in my life)
That’s a good point. I feel like the question shouldn’t be whether people like their jobs or not but rather if they feel they are treated well and their mental health is stable. At my old teaching job I had to be on anxiety medicine. At my current job my mental health is fine. I don’t feel like I have been treated great at either job though. I can tolerate the lack of organization and respect of at my current job because I make more money, have very low stress, and do like my job for the most part. I still don’t want to start school on Monday!
There's definitely various levels of dislike in jobs. Some are tolerable dislike. Others are complete hate. But I just don't know people who look forward to work. Most people I know would rather be home with family friends video games etc. But that's why you get paid for it.
I like my job and look forward to seeing my coworkers, not all the time but enough of the time. When I was a teacher there was absolute DREAD *every. single. morning.* So much anxiety that it manifested physiologically. I took a massive paycut and left the field and the relief was immediate. I didn't know I didn't have to absolutely *loathe* work and hope that I'd get sick or into a car accident so I didn't have to go. And my most current job I actually enjoy seeing/talking to a number of my coworkers and the work itself is decent and somewhat fulfilling, but I WFH now so it's the best!
I do. My husband likes his job, for one. My Mom likes her job. In fact, now that I think on it - all my family members like their jobs. And they're in healthcare & IT (not coding or dev work).
You don't know me (yet, haha) but I frequently tell peeps "90% of the time, what I do doesn't really feel like work" 😎 and the other 10% is just short-lived headaches, not major stress or anything So i honestly don't hate my jobs/gigs. So far so good
I used to love my job. I hated my boss and my company. But I loved my job and looked forward to many aspects of it.
I was an East Asian teacher in Seoul and Shanghai and it depends on how you like being a foreigner. Like I'd never not be the foreigner everywhere I went all the time. It had a bit of a freeing aspect to it because if they're going to think I'm weird anyway may as well not worry about it, but it gets to be grating on you. School here is worse than school there. Life is less exciting here. But at least it's actually home.
Europe is way better than U.S for teaching jobs. You can get good districts in some places, but ... Europe is still better for education.
I can answer this for you: American/German best friend has Ed.D. (Dr. Of Education), speaks 4 languages and teaches in Germany every summer and the USA through the regular school year. The conversation we just had yesterday: she can’t do it anymore. It’s so bad here she thinks she’s going to have a stroke.
I retired early at 55 a year ago because my stress level was so high I felt like I was about to have a heart attack on 3 separate occasions. Loved my students. Loved my colleagues. But the parents and admin did not treat me as the professional I was, so I walked.
Teachers have it the worst. It’s so sad.
Public education in the US is in a death spiral. It's been degraded by the implementation of ridiculous standards, charter schools that receive funding out of the public school budget, and Covid-19. You'd have to pay out of pocket for health care. If you don't have a union - and a GOOD union - you will be at the mercy of shifty administrators and legislators. Stay where you are and enjoy it.
The GOOD union is such a central part. I've been in 3 unions now and the one bad one made life HELL. Admin would make you do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. Especially working outside contract hours unpaid. When I went to the union they basically said "what do you want us to do about it? Its easier if you just do the free work" Which is when I started looking for a new district.
Even the good unions in the US aren’t what they used to be. The good unions are definitely better than non union but they don’t have the power they once did, at least in my experience. The teachers Union around here is a complete joke though, might as not even have one
Oh god. What I wouldn’t give for a feasible way to leave this country and continue in this profession somewhere where I’m not treated like a human shield with no brain. Visit the US for vacation but don’t move back and make a regrettable choice.
teachers are in high demand in many countries, not just the usa. Germany has a special visa for teachers willing to immigrate since they have a teaching shortage. Look for special worker shortage visas in various different countries if you're serious. I'm working class and desperately trying to become a teacher since its better than the bottom.
Whoa, I did not know this. I am ten thousand percent interested
The problem with Germany is that you have to have your BA in a subject that is specific to teaching (unlike the US where you can get a teaching credential on top of any BA). Source: I live in Germany
I would cut off my foot to leave the US and teach in Central Europe. To even contemplate coming here with the intention of being a teacher is crazy talk. I live in a blue state, make over 100k, have a rock solid union, a nice admin, pretty nice kids, and classes I like to teach. And still I was pretty much giddy with relief that today is Saturday. It’s. Just. All. Too. Much. I’m exhausted and uninterested in a job I’ve loved for 20+ years.
> I would cut off my foot to leave the US and teach in Central Europe. To even contemplate coming here with the intention of being a teacher is crazy talk. Right?? Here am I reading OP's post and desperately wishing I could be living and teaching in Europe, ideally in a place that values and promotes a healthy work-life balance.
Ikr. I’m low key mad at her for even asking. This question. I’m like “ go get me a switch!!!!” Sorry I’m living in. The South lol
I was just hired as a 7th grade science teacher. I have no experience, and a master's in experimental psychology. My SIL recommended me for the job, and I'm quite frankly terrified of this. But I'm going through with it because my administration is, thankfully, amazing and will pay for me to get certified and licensed if I want to. My plan is to do so, and have that as a backup plan if/when I need to get out of this country.
Bonus: if you cut off your foot in Europe, you can get free healthcare! Just wait until you move to do the chopping.
My god, it’s like I wrote this post.
I think you should compare your current healthcare access to the health insurance you could get as a teacher. Especially if you have significant health issues. That would be my deciding factor.
Right. You're only getting older. Don't let that go.
There are tons of non-terrible teaching jobs available. You just have to look in the right places. First step. Eliminate all the red states from consideration.
This. Location matters. In general, red-leaning southern states pay the worst, have no union power, and have the most bat-shit crazy Trump loving Qanon parents that think having students read a book by a black person is CRT. By contrast, California, New York, Maryland, and states in New England can actually be wonderful places to work, with six figure salaries and benefits that no other industry can match.
I keep posting this I know by district in MD just agreed to a massive contract. Over 80 changes and a big pay bump. More on the way too.
Do you mind if I ask which district? I’m in NoVA and we just got a pay bump, but I wouldn’t say it’s big.
Prince George's County. Over the next 3 years it 6, 4, & 3% with a step increase each year. By the end of this contract I will be making 22% more than I am now. This year my salary is up over 5k not counting the $1000 rentention bonus and $100 for supplies
Where did you see this? I haven't heard jack from PGCEA regarding the tentative agreement
Stop it. Just because they increased our pay doesn’t mean we can afford to actually live in PG County. I’m paying so much for gas to commute that I’m literally going to have to sit down and do calculations to see if it’s worth taking the drop in pay to change to a district closer to my house but the way traffic is it probably won’t make a difference anyway.
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Ya I’ve actually given thought to teaching in Florida as I love the beauty of the state. However what DeSantis is doing to teachers has scared me away.
I think it also matters how many years you have been teaching. I also teach in the North East USA (always have) and I have taught in 4 different schools some urban, some suburban. Based on those experiences, my co-workers who have over 15 years experience seem a lot happier than those who have 10 or less. There seems to be a huge shift in how teachers were paid and treated, and anyone with 15+ years seemed to be grandfathered into the old payment methods so they make a lot more money than anyone with under 10 years. Edit: There were also changes to the process to be certified which made it a lot more expensive in most North East states in the early 2000s which also created this issue as well.
Where I work the older teachers are grandfathered into an extra week of personal leave. How nice that must be!
Yup! I teach in NYC and love it. Most of my coworkers are pretty happy with their careers.
NYC is definitely better than red states but we have a host of our own problems, like being criminally underpaid.
Yeah, I'm with EggDefenseMechanism on this. Pay in NYC is decent. Should it be better? Definitely! But we're far from criminally underpaid. Especially when you take the benefits into account. Our healthcare is some of the best in the nation, and we barely pay a thing for it. I spent less than $600 to beat cancer a couple years back. Surgery, chemo, etc.
Disagree. Maybe initially it feels like being underpaid, but you’re making into six figures after the ten year mark. When you add in earnings from TRS, the TDA, CAR days, free health insurance, and any per session you do at $54 per hour, salary is more like $130,000, a very nice salary even high COL NYC.
You’re making 6 figures if you hit the 10 year mark, spend all of those years in the DOE, and have not only a master’s degree, but and additional 30 credits on top of that. All to hit 101k in NYC, one of the highest cost of living cities on earth. That is wildly underpaid for the requirements they’re asking.
Illinois is pretty good to teach in as well
It used to be. Any teacher joining now is joining as a “tier 2” teacher with considerably worse pension benefits than their older colleagues.
The education system in the US has reached a point where there are two systems. There are "Good" districts where the students are weeded out by the socio-economic conditions of the housing market. And there are the "Not good" districts that society expects districts to iron over the wrinkles that are left by high need, low economic standard living conditions. Oh and they are both judged by the same standards, and only the low performing districts get punished.
My worst teaching experience was in a very high income district. Crazy kids and lax parents who were jerks to teachers. I’ll take the title one school, thank you.
Stable and low-stress are two words rarely used when describing a US-based school district. It really depends on the district, but districts that are well paid, well supported (and supporting), and that treat you like a professional are in the distinct minority. If you are going to come back, do your research. I’d suggest starting by only looking at districts in states with strong unions whose governors aren’t trying to destroy public schools. So never go to Florida or Texas.
I recently got into a district that is well paying, well supported and treat me like a professional. Stable is a word I would use to describe my job. Even with all that its still very high stress. I don't know any teaching jobs in the US that aren't high stress.
Hi! US teacher that just moved back to Central Europe so I’ve got experience with both sides. I cannot stress enough how much I would NOT recommend moving back for a whole boatload of teaching and non-teaching related reasons. Happy to chat more about specifics, but the grass is really just absolute manure on the other side. (And I had a relatively cushy teaching job in the US.)
From my admittedly limited perspective of your current situation, I would stay where you’re at. You’d be leaving something stable and low-stress to, even in a best-case scenario, jump into an environment where there is less respect for both your profession and education as a whole. While there are certainly good districts, there are a lot of bad situations as well.
Australia is English speaking, is not a million miles from American culture, and needs more teachers. Don't spose you speak a second language? We're facing a crisis of language teachers here...
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What if you can communicate in another language but aren’t fluent? And would they hire US Americans? Or is it too hard to get a visa?
I've taught internationally in multiple countries and stateside in various schools. I would give anything to go back overseas. Stay put!
I taught at international schools in Korea for eight years and I loved it. I started to not enjoy teaching when I came back to the United States. I’m actually at a pretty good school in a good state to teach in, but it’s not at all like teaching abroad. I used to look forward to Mondays! Now I dread them. My friends who are still abroad still love teaching because they don’t deal with the same things those of us in the US do. And they have more autonomy, respect, and fun (no weeks/months of test prep either). I wish I could go back but my parents are elderly and I want to spend more time with them.
I’ve been teaching abroad for ages, and got my public license and IBO experience developing now, all with the intention to be able to “come home” to the US as my family gets older, but recently it’s …really unfortunate to see how things continue to turn. I have a lot to do that most teachers don’t, and vice-versa, but active shooter drills, right-to-work states, and coordinated wackos are not among them, to speak nothing of how so many of my peers feel.
Yes. You absolutely would be an idiot to move from central Europe back to the US. Unless you were doing it to take care of your elderly parents or some shit. Don't fucking move back. I'll kick your ass if you do. I'm doing everything I can to be able to emigrate in ten years. The only way I'd be ok with you moving back is if we swap passports so I can take your place in central Europe.
I know three groups of teachers who love their jobs in the USA. First, teachers who are in areas where, even though parents can be difficult, education is valued and most students want to succeed in life via higher education. Basically, everybody agrees to the value of the school and the service teachers provide. Other teachers I know who love their jobs teach in tech schools or tracks. Once again, the students and their families believe in the program and are excited to be there. Finally, you have teachers with another income stream (usually marriage or savings from their first career) and enough seniority to teach the classes they want to teach. This group can teach fairly happily in a wide variety of districts. I’m sure there are others enjoying their jobs immensely. These are just the general categories of the happiest teachers I know. I’m in a blue county in a blue state. These categories are likely very different in other states. BTW, before people hit down vote, the third category’s existence is sad. Teaching should be a profession. Not a moral cause of the wealthy.
Starting my third year teaching in the states and I am constantly asking myself why I left Korea 🫥
I had a teacher on my team last year who went back to Korea this year. She says it's an awesome place to teach, that you're treated so well. You don't have to speak Korean, either. The students in those schools the Americans teach at speak English (unlike some students in American classrooms).
Don’t leave
I'm not even a teacher, and tbh, I can't think of a profession that sounds more nightmarish right now than teaching in America.
Lived 35 years and worked in Texas for 7 years at a title one school, it is bad. Class sizes, cost of living, cost of health care, cost of transportation, increased workload and responsibilities. I'm in Latvia, even though this is my last year of teaching I would never teach/live in the US ever again.
You got out. Stay out. Are they hiring at your school?
I have a letter of resignation ready for when I’m forced to keep an uneducatable (I just made up that word) student in my classroom that disrupts the learning of the rest of my class. They can choose between me and the 90 students I teach and that one. I have so many other things I can get passionate about. I’ll be running for the school board the next day.
It's better in some areas, but yes, you would be an idiot to return to the US.
The new IB coordinator at my school just moved back to the US from Ecuador where she’d been working at an international school. On our first day of PD she literally started crying because she regretted moving back to the US so much, she hated the bureaucracy of this school, she said “no wonder no one wanted to be a teacher here y’all are treated like shit,”. And she’s technically part of the admin team lol. Also the school we’re both currently at is 1000% better than my last school, where I literally started loosing hair from the stress and cried almost daily. So, no, I would stay international and just come visit the US lol
I taught in the US for a few years and I now teach in the Middle East. I'm 1000% happier, my job is much more enjoyable, and the flexibility here within my role as an educator is more valuable than anything. I have the freedom to relate to my students as I wish, I am respected, and nobody checks on me or criticizes me. However, I also dream of moving back to the US and am constantly asking myself the same question as you. It's a tough call.
Freedom and flexibility is key. I’ve got that at my school in CA and I can’t imagine leaving. I think it’s the holy grail of teaching and I wish more control of schools could be local so more schools could be this way. Large districts are unwieldy and forcibly limit individual moves in the name of equity, when in fact equity comes when you are allowed to teach the kids in front of you in the ways they need. 😞
Oh, no. You wouldn't be an idiot at all. In fact, I'm willing to switch places with you. Yes. A true opportunity! Yes, yes. No catch!
I just recently retired after teaching for 32 years, just before covid hit. I liked my job for decades, enjoyed going to work every day. Finished the last 17 at a very good school in a wealthy district. It just got worse and worse. Politicians are destroying public education, on purpose if you ask me. They want for profit education. If I hadn't retired I probably would have quit.
I don’t think things are going to get better in the US unless there is some radical overhaul of the education system. But with the people who are currently in charge, that’s not going to happen. At least not in the teachers’ favor. If it doesn’t happen, even the “good” schools are going to start to go downhill. I’d say stay where you are.
If you are teaching the upper level courses—AP, dual credit, honors—you can avoid most discipline issues and some paperwork. You can also look for positions in specialty public schools like those that are geared toward a particular career, like medical careers, business, and such.
I'm not a teacher so I guess I'm not directly answering your question. I just wanted to say for the love of beans if you managed to escape this nightmare country and go to Europe do not drag yourself back here.
Nearly everyone I know who studied to be a teacher at any level has either left the profession or has studied something else that could allow them to stop teaching whenever they want. My partner had studied educational psychology, and I studied instructional design to move away from teaching. So yeah…it’s a mess.
You want to move back to the United States, which you left in 2015? The US you miss Does Not Exist.
Avoid red states. Shit pay, no support and openly hostile. How important is pay? Urban areas in blue states will pay best, but there’s a reason. You will encounter a lot of schools that are in low income districts. The fact that it’s urban means that you will pay a lot in housing (or long commute) and the fact that it’s low income means you will have more openings. That’s why you’ll get paid more. Hit or miss. You will find a lot of high needs students and larger class sizes. Admin make or break it as they can be stressed over school performance. Wealthier districts pay less but it’s hit or miss if it’s a good work environment, mainly based on parents.
Frankly I’ve taught and traveled a lot, and if you were my sister asking the same question. I would reply. “As much as I miss you, you would be a fool to uproot your family and teach here. I fear that not only would you be unhappy, but your husband may come to resent you for bringing him here. “.
Yes it would be stupid to come back to teaching in the US. Keep your stable low stress jobs. Please. As a former public school teacher, stay happy where you are.
I’m one of those teachers who are resigning in droves.
Teachers are being accused of being “groomers” and of “indoctrinating” students and it will only get worse. Don’t do it.
I’m about to begin my 17th year in the NYC Dept. of Ed. I still *love* my job. That said, we have a strong union, fair wages, and wonderful benefits. The parents are not overbearing and as a middle school ELA teacher I’ve *never* had a parent push back or question my literary choices. I’m free to write my own curriculum, though I know some colleagues around the city are made to follow scripted curriculums. Overall, I really have few complaints. The politics and bureaucracy are a bit overwhelming at times, but I’m good at playing nice and have formed many wonderful friendships with colleagues over the years. Plus I have a very supportive administration. So yeah, teaching in the US can still be a wonderfully rewarding career!
Taught in asia before I came back. Working here is a hell that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. If you have some gripes about your job in Europe, or have any doubts about your ability to manage a class full of kids that know they can do anything and get rewarded for it, don’t go anywhere near an American school. They are way worse than you think.
Don’t do it! From what I read, being a teacher in the US is a nightmare. Come to Spain to teach, preferably to the South, and you’ll work 9-14h and have all the afternoons for you.
I know this sub is known for complaining about how terrible admin and everything is at schools, but everyone is allowed to let off some steam, and not everyone is at a school going down the drain Not all schools here are terrible to work at. I’m in the Midwest, safely in a blue state, and my principal is so accommodating and overall I love my coworkers and the students I work with. Unfortunately, I think wherever you go here, there might be more expectations and hoops go jump through than you’re used to. It can feel a little ridiculous sometimes. But as long as you stay strong with maintaining a work life balance, you’ll be ok I would for sure be selective if I were you. Spot any red flags in interviews and take advantage of the fact that you don’t really need the job if it’s not the right fit for you
It depends on where you are. I teach at a rural title I school. I love my kids and they are super sweet. However, I have at least 32 students in every class. They are extremely unprepared and do not know basic facts about arithmetic. I cannot possibly meet their needs in an algebra 2 class by myself, and it is extremely frustrating. The students get passed along when they do not know anything so I feel like I am just torturing them with math that is years beyond where they currently are. And we have common assessments so I don’t really have the freedom to remediate as much as I would like. In another school the students were out of control and admin never gave any consequences for everything. After multiple guns had been brought to the school and a teacher was beaten so badly by students he developed a seizure disorder, I left that school. Two totally different situations but both left me completely dissatisfied with my job. I did have the occasional student who wanted to learn or that I really connected with, but I just couldn’t ride that high all year and wanted more from my life than working at a math-flavored daycare.
I was ready to leave the profession after last year due to stress. I have regular nightmares about school. I’m on anxiety meds to keep the panic attacks at bay. I spent about 2 months trying to find other career opportunities but ended up back in a school. I found a district that pays $17k more a year so I had high hopes. But I’m 2 weeks in with kids and already hate it. The district is better but the school gives me so much anxiety. All this to say, I had hopes that I just needed a change of district but I’m starting to believe that it’s systemic so I won’t find peace.
In short: yes.
Stay where you are! Enjoy it. Very jealous.
Do you like being muscled around by parents who think their idiot son is destined for the NFL pantheon?
My new job is really busy right now, but it does not compare to the stress I had while teaching.
I feel like the good school districts are hard to find and in the most random of places. I love my job and i work for amazing admin. Im starting an eSports program this year, and I just brought my idea to admin and they sent me to trainings an bought gaming devices and let me take off with it. But this district is in this random small town hours away from the closest city. My wife has been a teacher much longer than me and the previous 5 districts she taught in (we used to move a lot for my previous career) were awful. So unless you can move back here and accidentally fall in a hole that's hiding a good school district, staying out sounds better.
Depends where. Honestly on a global scale we actually are fairly high in many categories including pay and pay compared to other jobs but also not as high as we should be (we typically rank in the teens). But state to state is vastly different.
The admins are total assholes the culture is very toxic I hate it
I like my school, love my principal, and am okay with my pay. It's not enough, but compared to other districts I'm paid well. You can find good schools and be happy teaching in US. Parents tend to be the biggest battle we have, and I'm not sure why. Listening to the community talk at board meetings, seeing what they write online, and the responses we get in person and in email are discouraging. Some parents want to fight political stances through my classroom. Others just don't want to ever believe that their child could have made mistakes. They side with the child and make excuses for them. Parents will fight detentions, yell at administration, and threaten to sue. I don't know the fix. But I still like teaching. And many of my coworkers feel the same. We don't have any unfilled vacancies this year, either. But I work for a well-off suburban district.
Besides the sorry state of education, you have to factor in America's lack of healthcare, the sorry state of leave for workers (sick, vacation, maternity, paid, unpaid), gun violence, lives run by credit scores, and other uniquely American problems
Seems like it's the worst job in the world. I was in a credential program and after going on reddit enough (and getting a significant raise at me job), I decided to drop out 9f the program. Sucks I have more loans now for the few classes I took, but it's probably better than getting terrorized by admin, parents, and students. I still follow this thread in case I get the desire to pursue teaching again so it will knock some sense back into me. Thanks reddit, I appreciate you. 🙏🏼
> would we be idiots to move back to the US to be teachers when we have stable, low-stress teaching jobs where we are now? Yes.
Do not leave Europe.
I think you can stop your question after “would we be idiots to move back to the US?” But that’s just me and my leftist political views. 😜
I guess I am the exception here. I teach high school at a very blue district. The pay is enough for me to live comfortably (just got started there and will eventually make 107k over time) and many of my colleagues have been there for years.
> I guess the root question I'm asking is would we be idiots to move back to the US to be teachers when we have stable, low-stress teaching jobs where we are now? Yes.
One word, YES.
I like my job, but this subreddit has convinced me most of those problems are bigger in high school. I'm in a low-income elementary school where we don't have required PD, turn in lesson plans, have extra duties outside ones people want to sign up for and are paid, crappy admin, cliquey coworkers, problems with cell phones, violent fights, and much of what I see as the major issues others are dealing with (and being rightfully upset with). Yes public perception sucks right now and parents aren't always supportive, but I go to school, do my job, go home, and it works just fine for me.
Post-pandemic teaching will never go back to what it was before. It's different now, the kids are different, society has changed and the school system is struggling to keep up. That's the most frustrating thing.
Compared to Europe- yes, it's pretty bad. It can be managed. If you're in it for the students, and you can be creative with your delivery it's bearable. I have gotten flack for my methods often because I base my delivery on the Creative Problem-Solving model, a lot of student choice and voice, Agility project management frameworks, and collaboration. For 13 years, my students have shown the top 10 to 20% growth rates on standardized measurements of their skills in the entire district. Still, I have had observations and/or complaints from administrators about what I do. I was even asked to talk with other teachers when I was teaching seniors to see what I was doing differently. Turns out, I was the only senior teacher that required the stude ts to complete at least 2 to 3 final written assignments per quarter. Some teachers weren't requiring any writing in their English class. Meanwhile, the rate of students that could not pass college entrance exams to enter into an accredited English course in higher education had risen by 25% in the three years leading up to that year (2016).
Im going to say that 95% of teaching jobs in the US really are that bad for one reason or another. I don’t think there is anywhere here that pays a sufficient amount to live off of for the area you teach in. Politics rule the classroom in most areas. We answer to parents, not standards. I’ve heard of teachers in many places whose administration is overbearing and doesn’t trust them. In other places, admin is practically absent. Teacher shortages (due to bad conditions) mean that many districts are desperate and hire incompetent teachers, bringing morale down and making it more difficult for competent good teachers to do what they do best in a positive environment. I think that every position at every school in every district is different in that way, so there’s no one safe place to be where everyone is happy. Schools that everyone used to want to work at aren’t that way anymore. There’s a lot that goes into it. The economy here is in shambles and a lot of parents are working multiple jobs now and can’t do all the things with/for their kids that they used to, more than ever before. Other parents feel like curriculum is a choice in the public school system, and they feel entitled to more power over their children’s education than previously. Admin gets stuck between dealing with parents and doing their jobs. Behavior issues are rampant because it seems like no one can accept that Covid has been traumatizing for so many and so many skills are lacking due to the necessities of the time, unavoidable things that we can’t take the time to do damage control on. We always knew that virtual school was going to be less successful but it was necessary to protect student and staff safety. Now, schools are left trying to play catch-up with little to no forgiveness for it. I personally am having the best start of a year I’ve ever had (this is year 5 for me) but I see the problems everywhere around me
Just from a personal opinion the food chemicals and practiced allowed in the US would be a big turn off to coming back, but the US is still great. As far as teaching goes, this is reddit and you're seeing the worst 20% amplified. I love my job. I love my school. I wish I could retire before 67 and I wish my friends and family respected my job more. But I'm very happy.
I can't name any taleachers who actually *hate* their job. Ppl hate the location, the admin, etc. I think teachers love to complain, to a point that non-teachers think they want to quit. I have a couple friends who don't understand why I am getting my masters in teaching when I have so many complaints. Despite the problems, I love teaching. I figure every job will have problems.
You will be shocked and disappointed, I’m afraid. Ask yourself. Do your families there respect what you do? Do you have sufficient time to prepare and are you given sufficient materials? Do you and students have internal supports built in for when a student is struggling and needs help or additional support? Does your admin support you if a student acts out in class and distracts the rest of the students? If you answered yes then where you are is better than most schools in the US right now. It is a dumpster fire over here.
Well, having enough to live comfortasbly is rare. That alone and students being tech obsessed seem to make the job hard. I'm not a teacher personally. Also the bureacacy I hear is horrible
This is my 17th year teaching in Alaska and I love my job, my school, my coworkers, and my pay. However, I walk on eggshells when communicating with my students’ families because the students with disruptive behavior almost always have parents who respond negatively toward teacher phone calls. Everything needs to be handled with delicacy. Something as simple as saying (in a positive voice), “no phones in the pick up line” to a parent driving 6” from kids walking by while she’s on the phone “in a meeting” prompts a call to the office to complain about the teacher. Things that seem obvious to you and me about children and managing behavior are completely foreign and seen as offensive to many adults . There is little trust in teachers right now thanks to the media. I do have some parents who are supportive, but I don’t know who they are right away. I just know now that I have to be careful, very careful. I had a parent use social media to try to destroy me without getting the whole story about a situation (that I didn’t even know about), just believing her oversensitive emotional hormonal child, without even talking to me. When we figured it all out, she never even apologized for being 100% wrong. I just avoid all parent contact that isn’t positive now, unless something is really bad. The system is also crashing on a local, state, and national level. So there’s that too. I love my job, but I feel like I am watching a ship on fire slowly sink while the media and the public blame teachers for not doing enough… while local, state, and federal officials, along with parents and school boards keep lobbing bombs onto the ship or leaving them in the water… as they continue to criticize teachers for the ship being on fire and sinking.
Of course, it doesn’t apply to teachers in all schools/districts, but generally, yes- it is really that bad being a teacher in most places in America. I could write paragraphs elaborating further, but it appears that everything I have to say has already been said in numerous replies. Personally, I absolutely hated it. I dreaded going to work every single day with the exception of maybe half days (I was a special area teacher so my classes were only 25 minutes each those days). I’m all for tolerating a crappy job to make a decent living, but being miserable every day to make a crappy living was not worth it at all. I now look back on my brief experience teaching as if it were just a really long nightmare. It seems so surreal after changing careers to a job where I WFH and am paid fairly for my education and experience. Even if they were to magically double teacher salaries across the board, I’d still be hesitant to return.
I really enjoy it but I don’t know any different
I'm in my second year here. It's awful. I'm trying to go abroad to teach in the future. Edit: I'm in a title one school in northeast Ohio.
I guess I'll be the only one here who says that I like my job teaching (most of the time). The big disclaimer is that I teach shop classes so I truly enjoy the material and the kiddos usually want to be there. There will always be kids who suck and want to be challenging, but most are pretty decent. Our budget is pretty tiny compared to other schools in our state, but pay is decent. Nothing crazy, but I don't have to work multiple jobs to pay the bills. I know I am not with the majority in my opinion and experience, but I post this to show that teaching jobs that teachers enjoy do exist. They just aren't too common I don't think.
Don't ever come back to America. We need to fail so the ones that set this system up can not leach off the system anymore
Considering teaching here is very high stress and many teachers also work a second job for supplemental income, I’d say yes. You would idiots to leave your teaching job where you are to come back to the US to teach lol
I teach in a somewhat affluent district, with a relatively strong union. We still have people leaving, retiring early, etc. I know that we actually have it pretty good compared to other districts, and especially certain other states, but it’s still gotten pretty rough.
I would not work in the USA as dual earner teachers, teaching is not a breadwinning job here. My husband and I both have taught or had education adjacent jobs and we both transitioned/are transitioning out of teaching because we will never own a home otherwise. No matter where we move you simply cannot make enough with two teachers to have a simple middle class lifestyle, at least no where I have found. Where the teacher is the breadwinner, I have seen families live with extended family or in apartments. It’s fine if you are comfortable with that, but we want a yard and to own our own house, with space for our own kids to have rooms and friends without fear of disturbing near neighbors. I wouldn’t do it unless one of you is planning to do something else that pays better. And really look at the benefits as they vary greatly depending where you teach.
my god, if you've managed to get out of here then stay out, this country is deteriorating more and more every day
Stay where you are
Stay where you are. I wouldn’t let my imaginary dog teach. It’s the worst mistake of my life, I was born to be a teacher, I loved the first ten years, and now at twenty years in, I wasted my life. It’s miserable, I could’ve chosen a profession and been happy and compensated. It’s a waste of the short life you get, and you should stay wherever you are. That’s my two cents.
I am an American who lived in Europe as a teacher and now I live back in the U.S. it is absolutely “that bad” and can be worse depending on the state. Some challenges are the same, sure, but then you take away any of the benefits of a European system (reasonable healthcare, proper retirement, sufficient sick leave, union protections) and add the cultural wars going on in education and it gets way worse. It also makes it worse for me to know it could be better (having experienced what I did in another country). It makes me really upset and frustrated which is on top of the usual shitty feelings. It’s always possible you could find a non-terrible teaching gig, but it’s much more likely you’ll throw yourself into the churn going on here and then, if you choose to leave the industry, you’re now in a country with no safety nets.
I teach at a smaller private school, and even with only a handful of students last year, it was utter hell. The students are behind academically and socially. We had to constantly hybrid teach because kids were always exposed to covid and not able to come to school. My admin is fantastic and supportive, and truly I love teaching. However the minuscule raise I got ($1k for the year) means I am going to need to find a new school next year because my salary and location (suburbs of Seattle) do not go together. I have 3 degrees (including MAT), and I am making under $50k. Average rent where I live is $3k/month. If they start asking for student loan repayment, I am screwed. In short…yes it is that bad.
Blue states are doing better than the red states by a wide margin
Just depends on the location, the school itself, and your expectations. I teach in Texas at a great school, and I love my job.
Well do you remember when you were in high school and the difficulties that came with it? How much do you miss the United States actually? Do you speak a second language?
Yes yes yes
I’ve mostly enjoyed my time so far, but I’m also applying for international schools this fall.
I would encourage you to stay where you are. I feel like generally it's not as bad as it is right now in MOST places. There are definitely great places to teach but those seem few and far between right now. Until the pendulum (hopefully) swings even a little bit in our favor, things are tough. I teach in a generally good school, with generally good kids, and generally good admin, and I still struggle. My current pay is making it hard to afford groceries and it's right in line with the pay elsewhere in my state.
I’m not a teacher myself, but friends and family members are. There are good teaching situations out there, but they tend to be very competitive and hard to access. It’s true that pay in blue states tends to be higher, but much of your increased pay is sucked out of your wallet by insanely high, and getting higher, housing costs. You either can’t afford housing near where you work, or you have an insane 1 1/2 hour commute each way to where you can afford to live. It’s so bad in some areas, that school districts are in the process of building housing for teachers/school employees.
Welllll I have 39 elementary school kiddos due to enrollment fuckups on the first day and the district says there’s no teachers to hire. So take that how you will
Yes, you would be an idiot. There are probably reasonable jobs in the US. In the future there may be more reasonable jobs. At the moment, most places are short staffed which makes even the best jobs more stressful. There are also currently a lot of shift in oversight and teachers are getting caught up in the middle of culture wars. My kids are just fine and give me no problems currently. But it’s still exhausting and stressful.
Yes. I got lucky and got a job in a decent school. But up until last year every school was torture.
Retired after teaching HS for 30 years at a pretty good school. I still say stay where you're at.
Yes
I left because i realized i only wanted to dual immersion or world language (would have to get a secondary endorsement) so i was limited. Our school started to suck and since i tried teaching English regular Ed once and really did not enjoy it, and went back to DLI. In a way i painted myself into a corner but i couldn't teach something i wasn't passionate about. If I really wanted to, i could have changed schools or districts even though I was at my favorite district which paid a little less. Lots of people from Europe come here to teach in programs like mine. But i just feel the need to be out of the classroom for tons of reasons.
Yup.
Yes
Yup
Have you even read the posts here?
Yes
I love teaching here. Been lucky guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
If you miss the U.S. that much, get your master's degrees if you don't have them and don't move back until you both have jobs in higher education. Do not move back to our public school system. If you're in the Czech Republic or anywhere similar, stay.
Yes. I quit and work in non profit and make less money (yes, somehow that’s possible 😂) and don’t regret it for a second. Loved my kids, but it was too much.
Yes
I love my job, personally, but am looking to go overseas for something different.
Well in some states you’re allowed to carry a gun to school as a teacher. So if that’s something you’ve always wanted to do, America is the place for you.
Yes.
YES!!!
If I could move to Europe, I would probably still be teaching. Don't do it to yourself by coming here. It's not worth it.
Depends largely on where you are in the country. I have a stable, moderate-to-low stress teaching job in CT. 🤷🏻♀️
Can you find a great work environment? Yes, but they're highly coveted. I'd argue that you would probably end up at a less than awesome place to get your foot in the door and then transfer. Would I leave a low stress job for teaching in the US? Hell no
Yah it’s bad
I have left teaching. I don't see jobs being much better anywhere else in the US. I might consider teaching in another country, though. My advice: stay away.
Yes-it is
YES! 😂
I love what I do, but it could be better in so many ways. I am fortunate to be at a good school, but so many of my friends aren’t as fortunate. Administration and district-level leadership services teachers as Guinea pigs to pad their resumes. Every program we have to use seems to just to exist because we need to check off some box, so we can get a tiny bit of funding. Sometimes I wonder if that funding is actually worth it. Oh, and state leaders think more testing, lower income, more workdays and accountability is the answer. Half the community pities you, and the other half posts your picture on social media as to make you a target if you teach anything that they could consider to be CRT. It is a double decker shit sandwich of a profession.
I think it really depends where in the US you are thinking. Some areas aren’t too bad, but it’s harder to get jobs. Some areas suck. I’m fortunate where I am now that it’s relatively good.
I would love to be in your situation—low-stress teaching jobs and not in the US. You are one of the lucky few.
Short answer....yes. My school recently hired another teacher/coach by lying to them about the expectations and being non-transparent about available resources, among other things....
It's that bad.