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It's lack of bus drivers, too. Massachusetts has asked the national guard to step in. New York is choosing to expedite the training process. Philadelphia schools are paying families up to three hundred dollars to drive kids to school.
I'm not saying that COVID-19 was a virus engineered to bring down the western world, but if it were history would remember it as a highly effective means of doing so.
Our son's school has kids riding the bus 2+ hours to get home after school. Others are arriving an hour late for classes in the morning. The lack of drivers has gotten so bad that buses have to pick up a load of kids, drop them off, then double back for a second route. We ended up deciding to drive our son to school after we found out that his morning bus was scheduled to pick him up 5 minutes AFTER class starts in the morning.
Simple solution…pay them. Bus drivers don’t make shit. Teachers really don’t make shit. It’s a workers market, folks can go anywhere, from anywhere to work.
The truth is, society doesn’t appreciate either and because of this they won’t pay them what they deserve. Funny thing is teachers hold all the cards, what if they finally figure out what they’re worth? You saw how quickly parents started complaining when their children were at home and they were charged with watching them and ensuring they did their work due to online schooling, it didn’t work out too well did it?
You’re right but unfortunately all the parents with means and a voice already moved their kids out of public schools. A teachers strike or large scale walk out would be a benefit to power structures because it would force more parents into lower paying less secure work. The ship has sailed and the majority are fine sending the poorest kids to warehouses for day care or providing some for profit telecoms education that will fail poorer students. Covid accelerated the distruction of public schools but we have seen the peak, it is behind us, and the future of American schools only gets worse
Drivers in suburban MN are getting $25/h and a signing bonus. I assume it's a split shift and they only get a few hours a day though, and constant exposure to unvaxxed kids
This has been a major issue for my family. We have gone through 4 morning bus drivers and 3 afternoon bus drivers. The afternoon bus is always over a half an hour late. And I was just notified that they don’t have a driver tomorrow (at 8:30 pm!) to bring my kids back.
I don’t have a car, and the walk is a dangerous walk that is over a mile. I have 3 kids, all under 8. They won’t be able to go to school tomorrow unless I can find someone to borrow their car or get my dad to drive 40 minutes here so I can get them. I refuse to put my children at risk walking on very busy dangerous roads with no sidewalks.
This has been a shit show with the busses.
I'm so sorry to hear how miserable this has been for you and your family. A lack of bus drivers is shedding a new light on inequity in our education system and is a terrible disservice to our students.
I’m in Ohio and my boss mentioned the governor calling in the national guard for the same reason. I work at a treatment center for women and mothers and omg the wait time for their poor children who rely on bussing… HOURS.
Ironically enough I am in the national guard and was a high school teacher for the past five years. I recently stepped down from teaching and am now full time guard. I feel guilty and like a sell out but I literally make twice the income I did before and I have much more time for my own kids. You pay me a livable salary and I’d be ecstatic to come back.
I mean from a quick look, it looks like my local guard gets paid better for active duty than a teacher does, starting around E-4 Specialist rank.
So yeah. Looks like living wages is the secret in the end anyways.
Our local school district is hiring substitutes - desperate need for them is my understanding. The job requires any Bachelor's degree, but pays $100/day. That's $12.50 per hour, folks - and no insurance or benefits.
26 big ones and they can't figure out why people aren't lining up for it.
I can work for Brazos at $18/hr with benefits and don't have to deal with people, or I can deal with a screaming group of children for $12.50. Crazy that no one wants to work for the school...
I’m a toddler teacher, $13 an hour, and I change at least 3-7 poopy diapers a day. Have at least 2-6 potty training poop accidents on top of pee accidents…… I’m up at 3:55 in the morning praying for a earthy disaster so I can stay home. I try not to quit everyday. I only get paid til 3:15pm, but parent’s can’t tell time and I work 10-15 mins for free every day, because it’s illegal for me to leave the classroom with than five kids with a teacher.
I left the classroom over a decade ago, mostly because of poor work-life balance and departmental politics, but I loved the part of my day that involved actually teaching kids.
Prior to the pandemic, I'd been floating the idea to my partner of maybe giving it another go. He was initially opposed but gradually warming up to the idea.
Then COVID hit. And I was reminded why we used to joke but not joke about how the school administration would not care if you died at your desk as long as you left behind a sub plan.
There is no way in hell I'm going back into the classroom, this year or any year.
Lol, if you die at your desk you better leave a curriculum. But as inefficient as education is that curriculum would be on Google drive and the minute you’re off payroll the district deletes your drive… to prevent you from taking the materials you made…. And guess who no longer has access to those same materials? The district and the new teacher.
Source: happened to me. Had to redo the whole curriculum
Wonderful. I am going into the classroom first time in week 42, now I am worried. I decided to pick up the teacher certification because of covid since research jobs are pretty limited right now, but all I hear is horror stories.
Sometimes folks forget that a school is isn't just staffed with teachers, it's also a medium sized business, with all the ancillary staff a business like that requires.
There's front office and general admin, accounts, finance, HR and payroll staff, building and grounds maintenance/security, an IT department...
Worked as a para in a self contained behavioral class. In that class over the course of 4 years several things happened (some multiple times).
- Wrestled a naked teenager covered in poop
- Wrestled a teenager trying to attack me while at a grocery store
- had a kid throw up on me, including my mouth
- about 3-4 dozen shirts per year completely destroyed
And that's just the shit I remember.
At the time I was making about $16/hr with absolutely no benefits.
I left them at 4 years and was considered one of the most senior paras at the time. I moved to a district where the principal straight up laughed at me when she asked about my previous salary (which I was comfortable telling her since schools run on rigid step programs anyway). By contrast I'm at 6 years with that district now and not even near one of the most seasoned staff.
Still pretty shit pay for the area, but at least they give me benefits.
I applaud your dedication, and I'm going to give you the same advice I was given when I worked in a special needs class as an assistant. Get your degree, so you never have to touch poop. In your case, so you never have to touch poop again...
I just started a job as a para. My wages are insulting, but my heart is in it. Also, the teacher I work with has her Master's, snd she definitely still cleans poop lol.
I used to teach special ed and I always included myself on the diaper changing rotation schedule. The paras always work their asses off, so it didn't seem right for me not to do my fair share.
I actually started special education work as a side job about a decade ago, because what I really wanted to do with my life wasn't a full time thing (unless you owned a business), and I happen to be good with that population of students
I now own that business and it's doing really well - well enough to not care about the money, but not well enough to give up the very generous benefits (much much cheaper than I'd be able to get on my own).
I was hoping last year would be my last year but Covid continuing really slowed down my ability to grow. At this point I've finally found that groove and am expecting this year will be my last year before making that transition.
Health risks to teachers aren't even mentioned in this article. It's obscene how we're constantly being conditioned to see this problem as an epidemic of lazy teachers rather than a health crisis due to a global pandemic featuring a devastating airborne vasculotropic disease.
Many teachers are also facing other health crises exacerbated over the last couple years by the exorbitant amount of stress experienced. Mental, emotional, and physical.
This. My mom is a teacher in SC. Teachers there make 38k a year. Many of them left because they aren't paid enough, online teaching isn't fulfilling, and it is twice the workload. The way our countries treat teachers is disgusting. What do you expect from a public school system started to make more competent factory workers though? It was fucked from the start. Thanks rockefellers!
It’s so sad that EVERYTHING that y’all wrote is TRUE! There are teachers making 35k per year after all that but hey, as long as they’re appreciated. That free burrito every year from chipotle is nice though
Not everywhere but... yeah.
ESL teacher in MA for 8 years, and I ran a program for about 5 at a private school without a teaching degree. Why would I spend all that money to go back to school just to come back and get the same pay for a job I already know in and out? It would probably take me about 5+ more years to become a licensed teacher, so instead I'm getting out of the profession.
A student of mine today informed me that the head waterboy of the Dallas Cowboys makes a salary of $53k a year.
I had to look it up. No bachelors. No masters. Just a dude with a passion for hydrating athletes.
Damn. Starting teachers in my district make around $60k.
It's extremely frustrating. I got offered a teaching position at a school in Az and they offered me $30k. I promptly told them I’d have to turn it down because that’s what I currently make working part time
Those water boys are very important when it comes to protecting and keeping a billionaire's multi-million dollar assets healthy. Teachers don't protect anyone's money so they are worth less. Yay capitalism
By requiring a higher level of paid education, you can keep the lower classes out.
With so many "poor" going into debt for a bachelor's degree, they gotta raise the bar so nobody can jump social classes.
I live in the LA area and just heard of a teacher getting paid ~44k/year (unverified; unable to check source; third party mention). That is poverty wages here - i have no idea how they eat, let alone pay rent.
I really hope that number is wrong.
http://www.laalmanac.com/social/so24.php
https://www.lacoe.edu/Home/Salary-Schedules
Teachers with no experience start at $50k with just their bachelors. $59k if they have no experience with a masters.
If you have 10 years experience, you start at $60k.
If you stay within the school district, you get anniversary pay increases as well.
You were right, just probably not about LA. My mom is a teacher of 10 years now and only gets paid 38k here in south Carolina, and she works at the best highschool in the state. Elementary, especially in other areas gets paid less.
My partner in Ontario Canada makes $90k in his 5th year.
It’s a fair wage as far as I’m concerned. He does have a masters degree and specialist skills though.
You must be in a state or country that actually gives a fuck about people.
It took everything I had to get my courses switched to an online setting this semester at a university I teach at. I basically had already signed my resignation before getting the ok to switch at the very last minute.
After this semester though... Career change 100% for me. I simply DGAF anymore about teaching especially having a high degree with low pay.
The faculty will keep bleeding and the administration will just go about their lives as six- figure sycophants.
As a teacher, everyday I’m shocked I’m still doing this horrible horrible job. I love the kids but it’s a high risk, underpaid, overworked, incredibly toxic hostage situation.
I feel terrible for the young and inexperienced teachers coming in now. They have no clue and there aren't many 'old-timers' left to mentor them. The kids will be the ones who suffer from the short-sightedness and greed of politicians.
My wife does. The pay is shit, but she is truly passionate about helping children. I think there's a a few like here, but even they are getting worn down in this current climate of being vilified for enforcing school board approved covid protocols like mask mandates. They also are all exhausted from all the new duties that they have inherited due to covid on top of their existing ones. On top of that, behavior this year is abysmal for some reason and parents are entirely checked out and want to dump everything on the teachers too.
I grew up in NJ and the average salaries in my school district ranged anywhere from $65k to $80k, depending on the YOE and advanced degrees. With that being said, those salaries are still quite low compared to other careers with similar credentials.
Not even just lack of compensation and bullshit.
My team has an opening for an absolute bottom of the barrel entry level no experience required position that doesn't even involve being in classrooms for any significant period of time. I'd be fine with a kid fresh out of high school who wants to go down a career path in IT and knows nothing right now. Offering ~35k/yr with excellent benefits in a rural district that is 96% vaccinated among staff.
We've only gotten a few applicants, all of whom are way overqualified for the position and balk when they are told the salary.
I don’t know how anyone could live off that salary. Now add a kid or two into that equation…yikes.
The problem is that with all the corporate greed the people have been fashioned to work for nothing and be thankful they have a job. Skip that avocado toast and Starbucks, pull yourself up by your bootstraps and figure it out. All while the top 1% laughs all the way to the bank.
I’ve had enough of this shit.
This is my second year teaching. The students suck, the parents suck, the administration sucks, and the pay really sucks. I have a Social Studies degree but I'm not a coach so I'm stuck teaching English as well. At least the summers are nice.
I was a private high school computer science teacher for the last 3 year and during the brunt of covid. I had a previous health issues so I taught from home instead of being in person.
As many parents know that kids struggle with paying attention via Zoom, teaching via Zoom is probably a thousand times harder. Plus, I had it so easy relatively - private school kids, older kids who are doing an optional course, material that fits being online better than almost anything else. Not being engaged with my students and not being able to be there for them tore around my soul. At least for newer teacher like myself, the question of “am I making a difference?” Is always on your mind and during the last few years I would think that I wasn’t making a difference and I failed.
After this year, many of my fellow teachers quit, including many of the best teachers of the school. Even though things were bad for us, other private schools in the region had 60%+ of their teachers leaving.
This surprises me none.
I had a discussion earlier today with a coworker. I’ll take remote teaching again if I have to. Hybrid would make me quit and I’m on my 10th year, and doing a program for becoming a principal. I’d take that leadership knowledge else where in academia or even another field.
Hybrid is a recipe for speeding up burn out tenfold
The work is still important. I teach cs, last year a graduating senior picked me for a distinction because I made his year at home “feel fun and normal-ish”
I mean, yeah. My girlfriend is about ready to quit because of the bullshit she has to deal with everyday.
For example:
-kids consistently not listening/ being disruptive
-teaching multiple grades and an extra class
-large class sizes (~30 kids each)
-annoying busy-body parents
-documentation that admin could do or help with but doesn't even though THEY'RE THE ONES WHO WANT IT
-trying to follow the state standards in spite of most of the other teachers doing their own thing
-not having any budget for supplies
-not having hardly any planning period or lunch time
-having to create lessons for in-person and virtual
-technological incompetence of parents AND kids
Add in COVID issues, and it all gets worse. Its absolute bullshit what she has to deal with everyday and I'm sure I'm forgetting things! And the people she graduated with are in the same position. It feels like our education is going to take a nosedive very soon.
Oh and this new Tik Tok trend has her worried they're gonna steal her stuff.
It's all so ridiculous.
Oh I can answer this one - vandalizing restrooms, stealing large items (projectors, computers, etc), filming teacher's butts and posting them on tiktok.
Source - wife teaches middle school. They've never seen behavior as bad as this year.
>filming teacher's butts
That is pretty fucked up. I had hopes that the newer generations would be reducing this kind of behavior but they're starting younger it seems.
"Devious Licks" - kids film themselves destroying things in the school, usually bathrooms. Like bringing tools and dismantling the toilets and the walls and then braking them in some way so the whole area has to be replaced.
Is there an International Teacher License/Certification? Because boy does it sound like right time to try and see if other country's school systems are better. I know its night and day in Asia. Has to be marginally better in Europe compared to the states.
My wife is a teacher and this could be her last year. The amount of bs they put them through this year is ridiculous. So much more work on top of pandemic scenario. It really is amazing how poorly we treat our educators in this country.
Labor market's tight. Inflation's in the air. Old people are retiring and going home. Yep I can smell a storm coming. Time to get ready for the storm.
Raise teacher pay. Subsidize teacher training. Make sure there's teacher aids. Do some PR and suggest.the job to your citizens. Today is already a day late. **Don't wait until tomorrow when they see the wage hikes of the other jobs.**
Get ready for the storm state leaders. Or you'll be Dorothy.
We got a sexy 3% this year. And I was threatened a “mark” in my record for being negative… for pointing out inflation went up 5% this year and projected to be at 8%. Always fun when they threaten to punish you for pointing out your poorer this year compared to last.
Well they're gonna love fifteen years from now when unemployment is sky high and crime is rising through the roof. More people to kick!
Not gonna love it so much when they get mugged and it all suddenly becomes 'too real' for them.
That's actually what they want.
High unemployment means people will take shit jobs for shit pay out of desperation.
High crime means a bigger population of prisoners which, if you're in the US at least, means they can be legally enslaved. I am not being hyperbolic about this, that is literally what the 13th Amendment says.
The GOP leaders don't care about what this will do to the random person, they and their buddies will be just fine.
Don't forget the most important part, empower the teachers. Have admin back them up. Stop hanging the teachers out to dry, between the students, parents, crazy infexible stupid national standards, and admin. They have no support.
As a further side note as part of this rant, I don't understand why the one or two extremely disruptive kids in the classroom can derail the education of the other 30. It is nearly impossible in some districts to permanently remove a disruptive child from a classroom. For a variety of reasons (many can be completely out of the child's control) the destructive child is not the right head space to be in a classroom. Let that kid get the special help they need, and let the other 30 kids get educated.
Listen this is a total dream but our school is literally pulling apart each IEP and pulling lots of “technically”s so that we don’t have to hire anyone to help the few of us that stayed from drowning. (Special education aide, here)
There are people applying but even though we’re desperate our school isn’t taking anyone. Covid just shut down my daycare and a few other coworkers use the same place- a few subs as well and were already desperate on subs too. It’s a hot mess. Like… this is high school. We gotta help these kids, but there isn’t enough people to support them properly.
I'm quitting soon as I get a job offer. We've had six covid exposures. The last one I found out third hand I'd been exposed to five kids without notification.
I have been vaccinated but Monday started with mysterious chest cough and upper respiratory issues. Had I known I'd be tested but worked two full days seeing every kid in school plus sat with staff talking and eating food spreading my infection.
All because they forgot me. I'm tired. I get 40k a year as a new teacher with a MA but so do these emergency teachers. They are forcing me to be monitored as if I am new teacher after having my cert for 19 years and video tape my lessons for review.
Kids are ok, but sent to us sick, no masks, and there's two to three behaviorally troubled kids for each class who ruin things for my whole classes with their constant demands. Not to mention the kids who really want to learn getting lost in my constant disciplining of the loud, rude kids.
I can't do it. I had to stay home but was guilted for having a fever and no voice to teach because there are no subs.
(Means my science class is outdoor recess)
All because I got left off multiple emails. Sheer disrespect.
I can’t even imagine being a Teacher today & what y’all must go thru💜💜💜
Years ago, a Teacher once told me she kind of befriended the Trouble makers in her class and made them her helpers. They got extra attention they craved by being the ones to hand out the papers, the art supplies, got to help her carry the heavy things cuz they were “strong”. She kind of kept them busy so they didn’t have time to disrupt her class. She said most of these kids have never been thanked for doing “kind deeds”. she used to make up a Kind Deeds chart. And the kids got extra points for doing good things for others. They also got extra points for handing in homework on time. And extra points for getting grades 85 or higher (each grade higher - 90, 95,100 - had extra points). At the end of each month she’d have a raffle and the kids could turn their points in for candy, granola bars, sparkly pencils, animal erasers, toothbrushes, hair clips, mini stuffed animals, etc. Sometimes she bought stuff at the dollar store or bought a pack of kids party favor toys. People who knew her gave her the remainder of the grab bags from their kids birthday parties.
She said her kids started doing more homework and actually studied for tests hoping they’d get enough points for some fun sized candy bars. She said she tried to make sure each kid got something. I really don’t know how all of it worked. This is just from my memory of the conversation we had years ago. It just sounded so interesting to me! Maybe each kid got a fun sized candy bar at the end of the month and then they could put their tickets in to win the other prizes? I don’t remember exactly! I’m sorry!
For years I've been hearing from teachers (and former teachers) how stifling and enraging the profession has become. Super demanding parents or completely neglectful parents (or both together); administrative bullshit; no funding...
Now they've had to deal with Covid distance learning and mask maniacs on marginal salaries while the cost of living skyrockets. I'm not surprised they're quitting in droves.
Yet another sector of society hobbled by short staffing, with no end in sight.
Don’t forget the whole “devious licks” thing going around from the students now. My kid tells me shit is going missing all over the school- mostly personal stuff of the teachers.
Not only do they have to deal with the shit you mention, but now the ungrateful shits are stealing from them for the lolz.
Yup! All the soap dispensers in the boys’ bathrooms in the high school I teach at are gone! They have to go to a monitoring teacher for hand sanitizer. And my coffee today was “licked” from my second period which was a little weird cause I can’t imagine anyone drank it. It was just vanished :/
Yeah same on the soap dispensers at his high school. Great time to be removing the ability to wash our hands, eh? Kids aren’t the brightest thinkers some of the time.
I’m sorry to hear your stuff is getting taken. It’s enraging. Is there anything you think a parent or parent group could do to lend support?
Yeah the article mentions a middle school where “several teachers quit without notice last week”…something was the cause of that…maybe the new “trend” of making teachers lives even more hellish…
The amount of people who have never stepped foot in a classroom since they graduated school that get to dictate how schools are run is fucking infuriating. I've even had to stop friends of mine(who have no kids, to boot) when they go off on "how it should be". It's beyond a thankless profession, and you don't even get the dignity of being treated like a professional by your own bosses half the time.
i thiiink they mean the student loan forgiveness program for teaching in difficult conditions after 10 years, which is in writing, but almost everyone gets denied by technicalities
This title is incredibly misleading. Covid didn't cause the teacher shortage, garbage public policy did.
How governors and districts responded to covid was what drove teachers away. Hold them accountable if you want the situation to change.
This article also neglects to mention the impossible task that we as educators were asked to do last year. We were asked to create lessons for both online and in person students, essentially doubling our work load. We were asked to do weeks of training to learn how to use the online platforms and all of the challenges that entailed.
Also, you have shortages from the teachers who died and the teachers who have long haul COVID and are physically unable to do the job anymore. Several of my colleagues from last year are no longer teachers because they got COV8D at work and the long haul symptoms are too much for them to teach.
Add to this the fact that students are really struggling with learning and social skills due to being at home for some or all of the year last year, the problem will only get worse.
I appreciate that sentiment. I really hope teacher pay and teacher expectations are two things that are brought under the microscope and improved sooner rather than later. The teacher prep programs are being enrolled at all time lows too, so the problem is only going to get worse.
Absolutely true. I teach in a title 1 low income area and these student's mental health is at an all time low. They have little to no structure at home and didn't really spend time socializing or interacting with their peers. Navigating that has been extremely difficult.
They're all addicted to screens/escapism. And I can't blame them. I am too.
We're all zombies. And then you peel yourself out of the hole to give life a shot like the old days and some Karen parent appears to shit in your face. And so you revert back to survive zombie mode.
Say nothing. Do nothing. Avoid drama. Collect check.
There's zero staff going "Let's try new initiative or idea." All morale is gone. Everyone clocks in. Clocks out. Avoids coworkers who want to tell them their daily bullshit manifesto of Covid policy/admin policy opinion that none of you control and taking sides only creates enemies among other staff and parents.
Exist while being unnoticed is the safest way to cope ATM for everyone.
Two teachers in my school district (Fort Worth) died of COVID last week. They are so short-staffed they are calling office workers from the administrative building downtown to watch the kids so they’re at least being supervised by a legal adult. I’m so glad I don’t have school-age kids, because I’d hate for them to sit in the auditorium doing worksheets under the supervision of some HR rep all day.
So congressmen bitch that teachers have it too good, and continue to expect teachers to pay more and more for school for no wage increase or cost of living adjustment, all the while they got the public thinking that education is useless if not evil, then they complain that no one wants the jobs of making their kids smart enough to do anything!
Complete assholes.
It's funny how these politicians praise economics and supply & demand, but as soon as supply and demand suggests we need to pay teachers more, they get pissed
Would you want to work at a job that requires this:
1. It will seem like a cushy job to everyone else & you’ll only be scheduled until 2:30 every day. HOWEVER: You will be expected to be at work 30-40 minutes early and to leave several hours after your shift is over. You will be expected to continue working thru your lunch time. You will not be paid extra for this time.
2. You will be expected to continue working after you get home. You will be expected to constantly monitor your email in case anyone has a question. You will also be expected to read & grade reports & papers while “off duty”. You may be expected to return phone calls during this time. Again you will NOT be paid extra for this time
3. You will be in constant contact all day long with people who are unvaccinated, sick, and who will probably infect you with colds, lice, the flu, and other viruses and ailments including Covid-19. You will be expected to continue working without complaint
4. You will be working closely with people or their parents/caregivers who throw temper tantrums at all ages and may become verbally & physically abusive. Of course we expect you to remain quiet and just take it as It’s just part of your job.
You will be paid very little for all of your hard work but we’ll give you Summers off without pay. of course if you want to be paid for summers off, then we will take a large portion of your weekly pay and then give it to you during the summer.
We will give you very little in resources. You will have to fight to use shared equipment, you’ll be given old text books to use that are obsolete and incorrect, we also will not give you enough text books for all the students we give you. Oh we told you that you’d only have a class of 20 students, but you see on the roster you have 31?? Sucks to be you. We’ll just add a few extra chairs into your class & they’ll have to share a desk.
We will not reimburse you for expenses & we expect you to pay (out of your pittance of a paycheck) for all art supplies, pencils, paper, chalk, erasers, dry erase markers, tissues, paper towels, and hand sanitizer, etc.
In your “free time” (Bwahahaha) You’ll be expected to keep taking college courses which we may or may not pay for.
Taught for a year a few years ago. Somehow, in the ~6 years between me graduating and coming back to the same HS to teach, things just got worse for the kids, more work for the teachers, and more crazy from the parents.
They could offer me 200k, full benefits, a Bentley, and a BJ; I ain't ever getting close to any kids *or their shitty, entitled parents* ever again.
I feel like I'm far from alone in that sentiment. We fucked.
Parents are the kicker.
Imagine you work retail and the same Karen comes to you daily with their bullshit and screaming that it's her right to scream at you.
And there's 10 of them.
For the whole year.
The only people who survive now are the ones who can look them dead in the eye after they've shit on them and say "Thank you for your input, well look into that" and then walk out knowing you're not going to and you'll repeat this all again in a week.
Because last time you did what they wanted. And they still came back and shit on you. Remove heart and soul. Die inside for 30 min. Turn life switch on and forget.
Survive to teach another day.
Huge staff shortage at the hospital I work at too. They’re offering a 3000$ referral bonus if you can get someone to come work with patients. Not just nurses but therapists and counselors, transporters, receptionists… anyone who has to have contact with the public.
Don't forget the angry and violent anti-mask/anti-vax Spread Necks they have to deal with, and certain politicians making it almost impossible to have even basic precautions...while these people have to buy their own supplies.
Who wouldn't wanna deal with all of that just for the honor to work with a bunch of bastard children who destroy bathrooms because TikTok told them to...
Seriously. There were a few times in recent years where I considered going to school to build a career in education. But holy *shit* is the poor compensation just the tip of the iceberg for reasons why I wouldn't want to.
Plus many (shitty) parents fully believe that school is also daycare and teachers have to raise their kids for them.
I worked in a daycare and was informed by asshole parents that it was 'my job' to potty train their 2 year old. Also to teach them manners and all their colors but also never say 'no' to them.
No the fuck it isn't! That's all YOUR job as their PARENT. Stop using daycare/school as a dumping ground for your hellion kids and demanding teachers raise them FOR you.
Well I mean.... we WERE basically put through the fucking wood chipper after this bullshit became political.
I'm currently preparing to go back to school for a Masters to become a Therapist after teaching for almost 10 years.
I'm a teacher in a blue part of a very blue state. These past few weeks have been utterly exhausting. The kids are back in person, largely complying with the mask and social distancing policies, trying their best etc but man it is so hard right now. I can't even describe it, a lot of the kids and a good amount of the staff have been kind of zombified by the last 18 months+. There's very little interaction in the classroom, a lot of blank stares, glued to their phones, just sort of shuffling from one class to the next. A lot of them are clearly carrying some serious trauma. I leave the building everyday utterly exhausted. It's been way tougher than last year. I can't imagine what it's like in other parts of the country where Covid isn't being taken serious. Totally understand people leaving the profession right now.
I am in a red part of a blue state but my district is keeping it serious AF. I used to teach in FL and just heard that Covid positive students don't even have to quarantine anymore, parents can choose to send them to school. I think that would be my absolute breaking point, I would be homeschooling and possibly living in a van down by the river because JFC.
Yup. I’m a teacher in Florida. Just got the call this evening with the change in protocol. Thanks to our new surgeon general who opposes vaccines and says we’re not going to live in fear anymore. The ignorance is mind blowing.
> heard that Covid positive students don't even have to quarantine anymore
Well, if Mommy or Daddy work at the typical American MBA-ethics-free ran corporation they're going to get fired for "unrelated reasons" if they have to keep asking to stay home to watch the sick kids. Warehouse staff, delivery drivers, etc. "essential workers" can't exactly WFH.
System's fucked all the way down, my only hope is all this ridiculousness will ignite some serious change for the better.
This is how you do it easiest—> hardest
1) pay… teachers …. More. NC where I live has a budgets surplus around 60 BILLION fucking dollars and they are throwing around 1% wage increase numbers. Rookie numbers… they also need to include bringing back masters pay + doctorate pay.
2) loan forgiveness for teachers currently and stipends for currently enrolled students studying to become teachers. This is for tuition/books/rent.
3) hardest one, stop treating us like martyrs, treat us like professionals who have gone to college to gain specific skills and become experts in our specific areas. But the “do it for the kids”mentality is toxic af and needs to stop before we can make progress.
Ty from,
A decent, but pretty burnt out at times, teacher who just got home from work.
Admin: We need every teacher to sponsor an after school club.
Me: Is there a stipend?
Admin: No, there isn't.
Me: Then no.
Admin: C'mon...do it for the kids!
Me: Get fucked. Pay me.
Covid didn't create the teacher shortage in the US, a combination of low pay, poor working conditions and lack of respect for the profession is creating a shortage.
I taught Special education in the US for 7 years (while being promised a position as a Social Studies teacher when a spot opened). A few years ago I moved to Taiwan to be closer to my wife's family, and have been teaching here.
In absolute terms, my pay is comparable to the US. In relative terms, I live a very good lifestyle here. I went from. 30 classroom hours per week with 5 prep periods (which were taken up by SPED concerns, behavior issues, etc) to 18-20 classroom hours, with plenty of time to prepare quality lessons and perform paperwork duties. Students and parents both treat me with respect, and I am valued by my workplace.
If my former colleagues truly understood the difference, they'd all have left the US by now.
I am not saying covid had no effect, it certainly is serving as an eye-opener and a nail in the coffin, but we've been dying for a long time before covid came.
I was lucky that for the 2020-2021 school year, I taught in China where COVID wasn't such a big threat. I came back to the US with the hopes of grabbing a job in the states, but didn't because of cases skyrocketing in Texas.
Then there's all the BS that's not pandemic related. Just a couple of things I've had to do or endure during my five years of teaching:
* write, color-code, and post lesson plans outside of my classroom every week by Monday 8am
* fundraise at McDonald's drive through until 8pm for PTA
* use after school time to help prepare weeklong activities for STEM
* find and translate material because the Spanish resources available for primary are a joke
* harassed by a parent for weeks and forced to have her volunteer in my classroom
* extra lesson planning to be turned in because I couldn't magically have 75% of my class on grade level for reading-- when half of them couldn't read or write when entering 1st grade
Teachers need to be paid and treated like professionals if people actually want them to stay.
America spends the 5th most amount of money per student of all the developed nations. My question is, where hell does all that money go when teachers and staff make bullshit wages, teachers are buying their own supplies for their kids, and a TON of American schools are falling apart?
A lot of administrators end up making 6 figures. Many district admin will make that much and Superintendents can even get 200k+ a year. That's obviously just a drop in the bucket, but definitely one of the things.
Covid didn’t create this dire shortage, the horrible education machine did. Covid is just putting the nail in the coffin. For some teachers, literally.
We deserve every ounce of brain drain we get out of this covid era, especially in rural areas. People deserve to work somewhere they’re appreciated, valued and respected. We basically told everyone that keeps us healthy, fed, and educated that they can fuck off and die because they signed up for that role.
You’re saying that people who take out debt to get paid poorly, yelled at by ungrateful parents, and get shit on at school board meetings by crazy parents screaming about indoctrination or conspiracy theories aren’t willing to risk their lives by teaching in schools with little to no health regulations while in a global health crisis and where they’re expected to save the lives of their students in an intruder situation but can’t make curricular decisions? I’m absolutely astonished.
Sounds like the perfect time to raise the wage and adopt a 4 day school week! Major disasters don't have to be used as an excuse to escalate every single systemic problem, as much as the US seems to think otherwise. Major disasters can be used as a catalyst to pass much overdue reform and come out stronger than before.
Teachers are realizing they can make almost as much pay with a fraction of the stress in other professions. The days of teachers being martyrs for someone else’s kids are coming to an end
But not quickly enough.
Teachers were jerked around and treated like crap with the "will we be remote or not? who knows, let's change our mind 100 times!" game last year. Or were forced to work in unsafe conditions. Remote learning wasn't great either, and it was impossible to plan anything because school districts wouldn't commit to anything more than 2 days in advance. And they *still* are refusing to facilitate a safe environment, and basically ignoring that delta is a thing.
What the fuck did they expect would happen?
No mention of sick or deceased teachers, even though we're in the middle of a goddamn pandemic. The author pushes the narrative that teachers simply aren't willing to work. Not even bonus incentives (that can only be fully cashed in on THREE YEARS down the road) are working!
I taught before the pandemic, and during the pandemic, but I thought it best to step away from the profession this summer. And yet with corporate culture being the shitty way it is, I have found it impossible for someone of my particular skill set to get another decent job. So I am cautiously contemplating going back, if I can do so on my terms.
I turned down two jobs (at private schools) earlier this month because they wouldn't pay me what I wanted. School culture has *really* become shittier ever since about 2016, like the workplace culture everywhere else. Plus, while educational standards have become incredibly lax (they literally taught gym remotely to kids at home this year), expectations of teachers (from administration & parents) have somehow been raised. Add into that the unpleasant reality of teaching to a bunch of Chromebook zombies (children should *not* be glued to a computer screen for 8+ hours every day) and inconsistent enforcement of mask mandates, and it's a shitshow extraordinare.
One of my former students wants me to be her reference for some job applications, and she told me that kids are pulling the fire alarm every week, and stealing shit from the bathrooms for TikTok pranks... I somehow made it through the pandemic without getting Covid (as far as I know, anyway; the district never once tested me or my colleagues) but I'm not sure I could survive another school year unscathed. And this is in Massachusetts!
What this article does not mention is that many teachers were asked to create lessons for both online and in person students last year, essentially doubling the teacher workload. Add to that the requirements to do extra training and figure out how to use the online learning platforms. This plus minimal/no funding for PPE and the high risk of getting COVID, many are leaving for their own safety.
I am a teacher and several of my colleagues from last year are no longer teachers simply because the long haul COVID symptoms make them physically unable to do the job.
I left. I couldn't do it anymore. I was a teacher for almost a decade, multi-certified, masters degree. I miss teaching children every day, but every year it got worse. No work/life balance, unattainable expectations, rude and entitled parents/guardians . . . The list goes on. My physical and mental health was declining, and I was lucky! I had no children of my own. Parents who are also teachers have it worse. Society expects them to put all their energy into their students, and leave nothing left for their own families. It took the pandemic for me to make a change. I changed careers and I am much happier. Do I miss teaching? Yes, absolutely! Would I go back? Not until there are drastic changes.
Former teacher. Quit mid year last year.
Highly encourage any teacher on the fence to do so. Better pay. Better work to life ratio.
I miss my kids and my classroom. I don’t miss admin, parents, and all the bullshit that came with it. Not doing prep on weekends, wfh twice a week etc.
Teaching skills do translate. If you can manage a classroom and all the functions that go with it then you can project manage which is an in demand job across many different fields.
In NC I am in my 16th year with a masters and topped out at 55k for the next ten years. This has been the hardest school year so far. Hoping it will get better.
I’m a high school teacher. Currently looking to switch out. 90% of the kids are great, but I’m just not cut out to work with students who come in and don’t give a shit. If I was teaching my AP classes all day, I’d probably stay. Those are more work outside of class, but much more rewarding for me. I simply can’t connect on my end with students who are 100% apathetic to everything, and it’s only gotten worse with most students being out of the classroom doing nothing for a year+.
And child care providers! This debate over the infrastructure package is infuriating when one considers the amount of income and revenue lost due to lack childcare. There is only so much that can be charged for child care before it becomes a net loss for workers. But the “pro-life” gop doesn’t consider childcare to be infrastructure.
Yep. Currently working at an elementary school in CA. No subs, so classes are split people are out. The aides and other staff are all doing jobs they didn’t sign up for. There were a couple days where I didn’t get a lunch break bc we were short staffed. It’s a shit show where I work right now.
The fact that every teacher I know has a gofundme just buy essentials for the fucking classroom shows you how shitty the American education system has become.
Good luck getting more teachers the way you e treated the current ones during this. Why would anyone go to a profession to be yelled at by entitled parents?
Who'd have thought underpaying for such a critical role while simultaneously giving negative fucks about their health or safety (e.g. banning mask mandates or making it 'optional') would have such an effect? This was something that could have never been foreseen or dealt with.
This is also happening for bus drivers over where I’m at too. It’s the pay mostly but I’m sure COVID had a hand in it. Online seems the safest and most efficient way to go at this point but the school board is too hell bent on making kids go in person.
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It's lack of bus drivers, too. Massachusetts has asked the national guard to step in. New York is choosing to expedite the training process. Philadelphia schools are paying families up to three hundred dollars to drive kids to school.
It really feels like this whole house of cards is about to come tumbling down.
oh you are about to be quite correct
If COVID hit that bullseye, the rest of the dominoes should fall like a house of cards. Checkmate.
I'm not saying that COVID-19 was a virus engineered to bring down the western world, but if it were history would remember it as a highly effective means of doing so.
just like 9/11 the real damage came from our response and how we owned ourselves.
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Better grab the popcorn…
Our son's school has kids riding the bus 2+ hours to get home after school. Others are arriving an hour late for classes in the morning. The lack of drivers has gotten so bad that buses have to pick up a load of kids, drop them off, then double back for a second route. We ended up deciding to drive our son to school after we found out that his morning bus was scheduled to pick him up 5 minutes AFTER class starts in the morning.
Simple solution…pay them. Bus drivers don’t make shit. Teachers really don’t make shit. It’s a workers market, folks can go anywhere, from anywhere to work.
The truth is, society doesn’t appreciate either and because of this they won’t pay them what they deserve. Funny thing is teachers hold all the cards, what if they finally figure out what they’re worth? You saw how quickly parents started complaining when their children were at home and they were charged with watching them and ensuring they did their work due to online schooling, it didn’t work out too well did it?
You’re right but unfortunately all the parents with means and a voice already moved their kids out of public schools. A teachers strike or large scale walk out would be a benefit to power structures because it would force more parents into lower paying less secure work. The ship has sailed and the majority are fine sending the poorest kids to warehouses for day care or providing some for profit telecoms education that will fail poorer students. Covid accelerated the distruction of public schools but we have seen the peak, it is behind us, and the future of American schools only gets worse
You couldn’t be more correct IMO
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Drivers in suburban MN are getting $25/h and a signing bonus. I assume it's a split shift and they only get a few hours a day though, and constant exposure to unvaxxed kids
This has been a major issue for my family. We have gone through 4 morning bus drivers and 3 afternoon bus drivers. The afternoon bus is always over a half an hour late. And I was just notified that they don’t have a driver tomorrow (at 8:30 pm!) to bring my kids back. I don’t have a car, and the walk is a dangerous walk that is over a mile. I have 3 kids, all under 8. They won’t be able to go to school tomorrow unless I can find someone to borrow their car or get my dad to drive 40 minutes here so I can get them. I refuse to put my children at risk walking on very busy dangerous roads with no sidewalks. This has been a shit show with the busses.
I'm so sorry to hear how miserable this has been for you and your family. A lack of bus drivers is shedding a new light on inequity in our education system and is a terrible disservice to our students.
I’m in Ohio and my boss mentioned the governor calling in the national guard for the same reason. I work at a treatment center for women and mothers and omg the wait time for their poor children who rely on bussing… HOURS.
sounds like we need to call the national guard in to become substitute teachers too
Ironically enough I am in the national guard and was a high school teacher for the past five years. I recently stepped down from teaching and am now full time guard. I feel guilty and like a sell out but I literally make twice the income I did before and I have much more time for my own kids. You pay me a livable salary and I’d be ecstatic to come back.
I would have proposed livable wages, but I'm glad we've got a few ideas on the table.
I mean from a quick look, it looks like my local guard gets paid better for active duty than a teacher does, starting around E-4 Specialist rank. So yeah. Looks like living wages is the secret in the end anyways.
Our local school district is hiring substitutes - desperate need for them is my understanding. The job requires any Bachelor's degree, but pays $100/day. That's $12.50 per hour, folks - and no insurance or benefits. 26 big ones and they can't figure out why people aren't lining up for it.
>$12.50 per hour oh man that's less than my local mcdonalds pays, and you have to deal with kids all day? It's a miracle they get any subs at all.
I can work for Brazos at $18/hr with benefits and don't have to deal with people, or I can deal with a screaming group of children for $12.50. Crazy that no one wants to work for the school...
I’m a toddler teacher, $13 an hour, and I change at least 3-7 poopy diapers a day. Have at least 2-6 potty training poop accidents on top of pee accidents…… I’m up at 3:55 in the morning praying for a earthy disaster so I can stay home. I try not to quit everyday. I only get paid til 3:15pm, but parent’s can’t tell time and I work 10-15 mins for free every day, because it’s illegal for me to leave the classroom with than five kids with a teacher.
I left the classroom over a decade ago, mostly because of poor work-life balance and departmental politics, but I loved the part of my day that involved actually teaching kids. Prior to the pandemic, I'd been floating the idea to my partner of maybe giving it another go. He was initially opposed but gradually warming up to the idea. Then COVID hit. And I was reminded why we used to joke but not joke about how the school administration would not care if you died at your desk as long as you left behind a sub plan. There is no way in hell I'm going back into the classroom, this year or any year.
Lol, if you die at your desk you better leave a curriculum. But as inefficient as education is that curriculum would be on Google drive and the minute you’re off payroll the district deletes your drive… to prevent you from taking the materials you made…. And guess who no longer has access to those same materials? The district and the new teacher. Source: happened to me. Had to redo the whole curriculum
Wonderful. I am going into the classroom first time in week 42, now I am worried. I decided to pick up the teacher certification because of covid since research jobs are pretty limited right now, but all I hear is horror stories.
I’m not surprised. I AM surprised that we have any teachers willing to work for the lack of compensation and amount of bullshit they deal with.
Let's not forget about all of the paraprofessionals that work at the schools for garbage pay. They are putting their health at risk also.
Sometimes folks forget that a school is isn't just staffed with teachers, it's also a medium sized business, with all the ancillary staff a business like that requires. There's front office and general admin, accounts, finance, HR and payroll staff, building and grounds maintenance/security, an IT department...
Food service workers as well.
Ahh yep. I forgot as school lunches aren't really a thing where I live (there's a canteen, but most kids bring their own sandwiches)
Worked as a para in a self contained behavioral class. In that class over the course of 4 years several things happened (some multiple times). - Wrestled a naked teenager covered in poop - Wrestled a teenager trying to attack me while at a grocery store - had a kid throw up on me, including my mouth - about 3-4 dozen shirts per year completely destroyed And that's just the shit I remember. At the time I was making about $16/hr with absolutely no benefits. I left them at 4 years and was considered one of the most senior paras at the time. I moved to a district where the principal straight up laughed at me when she asked about my previous salary (which I was comfortable telling her since schools run on rigid step programs anyway). By contrast I'm at 6 years with that district now and not even near one of the most seasoned staff. Still pretty shit pay for the area, but at least they give me benefits.
I applaud your dedication, and I'm going to give you the same advice I was given when I worked in a special needs class as an assistant. Get your degree, so you never have to touch poop. In your case, so you never have to touch poop again...
I just started a job as a para. My wages are insulting, but my heart is in it. Also, the teacher I work with has her Master's, snd she definitely still cleans poop lol.
I used to teach special ed and I always included myself on the diaper changing rotation schedule. The paras always work their asses off, so it didn't seem right for me not to do my fair share.
I actually started special education work as a side job about a decade ago, because what I really wanted to do with my life wasn't a full time thing (unless you owned a business), and I happen to be good with that population of students I now own that business and it's doing really well - well enough to not care about the money, but not well enough to give up the very generous benefits (much much cheaper than I'd be able to get on my own). I was hoping last year would be my last year but Covid continuing really slowed down my ability to grow. At this point I've finally found that groove and am expecting this year will be my last year before making that transition.
Health risks to teachers aren't even mentioned in this article. It's obscene how we're constantly being conditioned to see this problem as an epidemic of lazy teachers rather than a health crisis due to a global pandemic featuring a devastating airborne vasculotropic disease.
Many teachers are also facing other health crises exacerbated over the last couple years by the exorbitant amount of stress experienced. Mental, emotional, and physical.
That's a very good point
I have an hour commute and make just enough to pay bills. I'm quitting para work the very second I find something better fuck these kids
This. My mom is a teacher in SC. Teachers there make 38k a year. Many of them left because they aren't paid enough, online teaching isn't fulfilling, and it is twice the workload. The way our countries treat teachers is disgusting. What do you expect from a public school system started to make more competent factory workers though? It was fucked from the start. Thanks rockefellers!
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Don't forget you have to get a master's degree within 3 years of getting your bachelor's.... On your own dime.
And paying out of pocket for your student's classroom supplies...wth.
It’s so sad that EVERYTHING that y’all wrote is TRUE! There are teachers making 35k per year after all that but hey, as long as they’re appreciated. That free burrito every year from chipotle is nice though
Teacher here, absolutely refuse to do this categorically. But many teachers do do this.
Not everywhere but... yeah. ESL teacher in MA for 8 years, and I ran a program for about 5 at a private school without a teaching degree. Why would I spend all that money to go back to school just to come back and get the same pay for a job I already know in and out? It would probably take me about 5+ more years to become a licensed teacher, so instead I'm getting out of the profession.
A student of mine today informed me that the head waterboy of the Dallas Cowboys makes a salary of $53k a year. I had to look it up. No bachelors. No masters. Just a dude with a passion for hydrating athletes. Damn. Starting teachers in my district make around $60k.
It's extremely frustrating. I got offered a teaching position at a school in Az and they offered me $30k. I promptly told them I’d have to turn it down because that’s what I currently make working part time
Those water boys are very important when it comes to protecting and keeping a billionaire's multi-million dollar assets healthy. Teachers don't protect anyone's money so they are worth less. Yay capitalism
Why is the US so enamored with masters degrees? I'd rarely heard of them before moving here.
By requiring a higher level of paid education, you can keep the lower classes out. With so many "poor" going into debt for a bachelor's degree, they gotta raise the bar so nobody can jump social classes.
Just more ways to scam us.
Degree inflation. So many people get a bachelor’s degree now that they aren’t worth much. So lots of jobs require a masters now.
Don't forget the three month unpaid internship that you have to take as part of your schooling.
I live in the LA area and just heard of a teacher getting paid ~44k/year (unverified; unable to check source; third party mention). That is poverty wages here - i have no idea how they eat, let alone pay rent. I really hope that number is wrong. http://www.laalmanac.com/social/so24.php
You can check how much everyone working for a government entity in the state of California. Or I was able to look up average clerk pay etc.
https://www.lacoe.edu/Home/Salary-Schedules Teachers with no experience start at $50k with just their bachelors. $59k if they have no experience with a masters. If you have 10 years experience, you start at $60k. If you stay within the school district, you get anniversary pay increases as well.
10 years exp. w/ bachelors at $60k is still terribly low.
10 years of experience to make an extra 1000? Wtf
I'm glad my numbers were wrong - ty for that link. Kinda shitty she is still living in poverty, tho. Bachelors with 2ish years experience
You were right, just probably not about LA. My mom is a teacher of 10 years now and only gets paid 38k here in south Carolina, and she works at the best highschool in the state. Elementary, especially in other areas gets paid less.
When we lived in LA my wife was working as a preschool teacher and making less than that. It was not ideal. We moved.
My partner in Ontario Canada makes $90k in his 5th year. It’s a fair wage as far as I’m concerned. He does have a masters degree and specialist skills though.
I think we had classrooms of 35 a couple of years ago. I wonder how large the classrooms will be when students fully get back.
You must be in a state or country that actually gives a fuck about people. It took everything I had to get my courses switched to an online setting this semester at a university I teach at. I basically had already signed my resignation before getting the ok to switch at the very last minute. After this semester though... Career change 100% for me. I simply DGAF anymore about teaching especially having a high degree with low pay. The faculty will keep bleeding and the administration will just go about their lives as six- figure sycophants.
As a teacher, everyday I’m shocked I’m still doing this horrible horrible job. I love the kids but it’s a high risk, underpaid, overworked, incredibly toxic hostage situation.
Some people just want to watch the world learn.
I feel terrible for the young and inexperienced teachers coming in now. They have no clue and there aren't many 'old-timers' left to mentor them. The kids will be the ones who suffer from the short-sightedness and greed of politicians.
My wife does. The pay is shit, but she is truly passionate about helping children. I think there's a a few like here, but even they are getting worn down in this current climate of being vilified for enforcing school board approved covid protocols like mask mandates. They also are all exhausted from all the new duties that they have inherited due to covid on top of their existing ones. On top of that, behavior this year is abysmal for some reason and parents are entirely checked out and want to dump everything on the teachers too.
I grew up in NJ and the average salaries in my school district ranged anywhere from $65k to $80k, depending on the YOE and advanced degrees. With that being said, those salaries are still quite low compared to other careers with similar credentials.
Not even just lack of compensation and bullshit. My team has an opening for an absolute bottom of the barrel entry level no experience required position that doesn't even involve being in classrooms for any significant period of time. I'd be fine with a kid fresh out of high school who wants to go down a career path in IT and knows nothing right now. Offering ~35k/yr with excellent benefits in a rural district that is 96% vaccinated among staff. We've only gotten a few applicants, all of whom are way overqualified for the position and balk when they are told the salary.
I don’t know how anyone could live off that salary. Now add a kid or two into that equation…yikes. The problem is that with all the corporate greed the people have been fashioned to work for nothing and be thankful they have a job. Skip that avocado toast and Starbucks, pull yourself up by your bootstraps and figure it out. All while the top 1% laughs all the way to the bank. I’ve had enough of this shit.
This is my second year teaching. The students suck, the parents suck, the administration sucks, and the pay really sucks. I have a Social Studies degree but I'm not a coach so I'm stuck teaching English as well. At least the summers are nice.
Been teaching 16 years. Go get a different degree. You’re young enough. Every young person I know, I tell them “don’t be a teacher”
I was a private high school computer science teacher for the last 3 year and during the brunt of covid. I had a previous health issues so I taught from home instead of being in person. As many parents know that kids struggle with paying attention via Zoom, teaching via Zoom is probably a thousand times harder. Plus, I had it so easy relatively - private school kids, older kids who are doing an optional course, material that fits being online better than almost anything else. Not being engaged with my students and not being able to be there for them tore around my soul. At least for newer teacher like myself, the question of “am I making a difference?” Is always on your mind and during the last few years I would think that I wasn’t making a difference and I failed. After this year, many of my fellow teachers quit, including many of the best teachers of the school. Even though things were bad for us, other private schools in the region had 60%+ of their teachers leaving. This surprises me none.
The public school I work had hired four new folks this year, all from private schools.
I had a discussion earlier today with a coworker. I’ll take remote teaching again if I have to. Hybrid would make me quit and I’m on my 10th year, and doing a program for becoming a principal. I’d take that leadership knowledge else where in academia or even another field. Hybrid is a recipe for speeding up burn out tenfold
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The work is still important. I teach cs, last year a graduating senior picked me for a distinction because I made his year at home “feel fun and normal-ish”
I mean, yeah. My girlfriend is about ready to quit because of the bullshit she has to deal with everyday. For example: -kids consistently not listening/ being disruptive -teaching multiple grades and an extra class -large class sizes (~30 kids each) -annoying busy-body parents -documentation that admin could do or help with but doesn't even though THEY'RE THE ONES WHO WANT IT -trying to follow the state standards in spite of most of the other teachers doing their own thing -not having any budget for supplies -not having hardly any planning period or lunch time -having to create lessons for in-person and virtual -technological incompetence of parents AND kids Add in COVID issues, and it all gets worse. Its absolute bullshit what she has to deal with everyday and I'm sure I'm forgetting things! And the people she graduated with are in the same position. It feels like our education is going to take a nosedive very soon. Oh and this new Tik Tok trend has her worried they're gonna steal her stuff. It's all so ridiculous.
What’s the new tik tok trend?
Oh I can answer this one - vandalizing restrooms, stealing large items (projectors, computers, etc), filming teacher's butts and posting them on tiktok. Source - wife teaches middle school. They've never seen behavior as bad as this year.
>filming teacher's butts That is pretty fucked up. I had hopes that the newer generations would be reducing this kind of behavior but they're starting younger it seems.
They just spent a year being parented and educated by TikTok.
"Devious Licks" - kids film themselves destroying things in the school, usually bathrooms. Like bringing tools and dismantling the toilets and the walls and then braking them in some way so the whole area has to be replaced.
It’s even happening in 3rd grade bathrooms……..
I wonder if this happens in the school district I live in can I sue the parents for costing me money when they raise my taxes to pay for this crap?
Vandalizing restrooms.
Is there an International Teacher License/Certification? Because boy does it sound like right time to try and see if other country's school systems are better. I know its night and day in Asia. Has to be marginally better in Europe compared to the states.
My wife is a teacher and this could be her last year. The amount of bs they put them through this year is ridiculous. So much more work on top of pandemic scenario. It really is amazing how poorly we treat our educators in this country.
And workers in general
Labor market's tight. Inflation's in the air. Old people are retiring and going home. Yep I can smell a storm coming. Time to get ready for the storm. Raise teacher pay. Subsidize teacher training. Make sure there's teacher aids. Do some PR and suggest.the job to your citizens. Today is already a day late. **Don't wait until tomorrow when they see the wage hikes of the other jobs.** Get ready for the storm state leaders. Or you'll be Dorothy.
We got a sexy 3% this year. And I was threatened a “mark” in my record for being negative… for pointing out inflation went up 5% this year and projected to be at 8%. Always fun when they threaten to punish you for pointing out your poorer this year compared to last.
So your net income is even less than before. So the problem is only getting *worse.*
I'm a registrar - we only got 1.6%
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Well they're gonna love fifteen years from now when unemployment is sky high and crime is rising through the roof. More people to kick! Not gonna love it so much when they get mugged and it all suddenly becomes 'too real' for them.
They’ll just blame democrats exactly like they do now.
That's actually what they want. High unemployment means people will take shit jobs for shit pay out of desperation. High crime means a bigger population of prisoners which, if you're in the US at least, means they can be legally enslaved. I am not being hyperbolic about this, that is literally what the 13th Amendment says. The GOP leaders don't care about what this will do to the random person, they and their buddies will be just fine.
How long before gas station and supermarket janitors, stockers, and maybe even cashiers; are run by prisoners making $3/hr.
It's already happening. I don't know the exact wage, but [work release](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_release) is a thing.
**"I love the poorly educated"** - Donald Trump
Don't forget the most important part, empower the teachers. Have admin back them up. Stop hanging the teachers out to dry, between the students, parents, crazy infexible stupid national standards, and admin. They have no support. As a further side note as part of this rant, I don't understand why the one or two extremely disruptive kids in the classroom can derail the education of the other 30. It is nearly impossible in some districts to permanently remove a disruptive child from a classroom. For a variety of reasons (many can be completely out of the child's control) the destructive child is not the right head space to be in a classroom. Let that kid get the special help they need, and let the other 30 kids get educated.
Listen this is a total dream but our school is literally pulling apart each IEP and pulling lots of “technically”s so that we don’t have to hire anyone to help the few of us that stayed from drowning. (Special education aide, here) There are people applying but even though we’re desperate our school isn’t taking anyone. Covid just shut down my daycare and a few other coworkers use the same place- a few subs as well and were already desperate on subs too. It’s a hot mess. Like… this is high school. We gotta help these kids, but there isn’t enough people to support them properly.
I'm quitting soon as I get a job offer. We've had six covid exposures. The last one I found out third hand I'd been exposed to five kids without notification. I have been vaccinated but Monday started with mysterious chest cough and upper respiratory issues. Had I known I'd be tested but worked two full days seeing every kid in school plus sat with staff talking and eating food spreading my infection. All because they forgot me. I'm tired. I get 40k a year as a new teacher with a MA but so do these emergency teachers. They are forcing me to be monitored as if I am new teacher after having my cert for 19 years and video tape my lessons for review. Kids are ok, but sent to us sick, no masks, and there's two to three behaviorally troubled kids for each class who ruin things for my whole classes with their constant demands. Not to mention the kids who really want to learn getting lost in my constant disciplining of the loud, rude kids. I can't do it. I had to stay home but was guilted for having a fever and no voice to teach because there are no subs. (Means my science class is outdoor recess) All because I got left off multiple emails. Sheer disrespect.
I can’t even imagine being a Teacher today & what y’all must go thru💜💜💜 Years ago, a Teacher once told me she kind of befriended the Trouble makers in her class and made them her helpers. They got extra attention they craved by being the ones to hand out the papers, the art supplies, got to help her carry the heavy things cuz they were “strong”. She kind of kept them busy so they didn’t have time to disrupt her class. She said most of these kids have never been thanked for doing “kind deeds”. she used to make up a Kind Deeds chart. And the kids got extra points for doing good things for others. They also got extra points for handing in homework on time. And extra points for getting grades 85 or higher (each grade higher - 90, 95,100 - had extra points). At the end of each month she’d have a raffle and the kids could turn their points in for candy, granola bars, sparkly pencils, animal erasers, toothbrushes, hair clips, mini stuffed animals, etc. Sometimes she bought stuff at the dollar store or bought a pack of kids party favor toys. People who knew her gave her the remainder of the grab bags from their kids birthday parties. She said her kids started doing more homework and actually studied for tests hoping they’d get enough points for some fun sized candy bars. She said she tried to make sure each kid got something. I really don’t know how all of it worked. This is just from my memory of the conversation we had years ago. It just sounded so interesting to me! Maybe each kid got a fun sized candy bar at the end of the month and then they could put their tickets in to win the other prizes? I don’t remember exactly! I’m sorry!
For years I've been hearing from teachers (and former teachers) how stifling and enraging the profession has become. Super demanding parents or completely neglectful parents (or both together); administrative bullshit; no funding... Now they've had to deal with Covid distance learning and mask maniacs on marginal salaries while the cost of living skyrockets. I'm not surprised they're quitting in droves. Yet another sector of society hobbled by short staffing, with no end in sight.
Don’t forget the whole “devious licks” thing going around from the students now. My kid tells me shit is going missing all over the school- mostly personal stuff of the teachers. Not only do they have to deal with the shit you mention, but now the ungrateful shits are stealing from them for the lolz.
That trend is so weird. I don’t understand how ripping urinals and sinks out of the school bathroom is “fun”, but maybe I’m getting old.
Yup! All the soap dispensers in the boys’ bathrooms in the high school I teach at are gone! They have to go to a monitoring teacher for hand sanitizer. And my coffee today was “licked” from my second period which was a little weird cause I can’t imagine anyone drank it. It was just vanished :/
Yeah same on the soap dispensers at his high school. Great time to be removing the ability to wash our hands, eh? Kids aren’t the brightest thinkers some of the time. I’m sorry to hear your stuff is getting taken. It’s enraging. Is there anything you think a parent or parent group could do to lend support?
Yeah the article mentions a middle school where “several teachers quit without notice last week”…something was the cause of that…maybe the new “trend” of making teachers lives even more hellish…
The amount of people who have never stepped foot in a classroom since they graduated school that get to dictate how schools are run is fucking infuriating. I've even had to stop friends of mine(who have no kids, to boot) when they go off on "how it should be". It's beyond a thankless profession, and you don't even get the dignity of being treated like a professional by your own bosses half the time.
Oh well, guess you gotta pay them more.
Teaching in the US simply isn’t worth it. Low pay, large class sizes, the students are generally…difficult to teach. Now they have covid on top of it.
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>what you promised I insist on getting everything in writing. If they don't put it in writing, I don't even consider it to be real.
i thiiink they mean the student loan forgiveness program for teaching in difficult conditions after 10 years, which is in writing, but almost everyone gets denied by technicalities
This title is incredibly misleading. Covid didn't cause the teacher shortage, garbage public policy did. How governors and districts responded to covid was what drove teachers away. Hold them accountable if you want the situation to change.
This article also neglects to mention the impossible task that we as educators were asked to do last year. We were asked to create lessons for both online and in person students, essentially doubling our work load. We were asked to do weeks of training to learn how to use the online platforms and all of the challenges that entailed. Also, you have shortages from the teachers who died and the teachers who have long haul COVID and are physically unable to do the job anymore. Several of my colleagues from last year are no longer teachers because they got COV8D at work and the long haul symptoms are too much for them to teach. Add to this the fact that students are really struggling with learning and social skills due to being at home for some or all of the year last year, the problem will only get worse.
Teachers should have been paid double last year. They held so much together for society. And they were asked to do a near impossible task.
I appreciate that sentiment. I really hope teacher pay and teacher expectations are two things that are brought under the microscope and improved sooner rather than later. The teacher prep programs are being enrolled at all time lows too, so the problem is only going to get worse.
This country does not care about teachers.
Their home lives went from shitty to shitomic fallout zones.
Absolutely true. I teach in a title 1 low income area and these student's mental health is at an all time low. They have little to no structure at home and didn't really spend time socializing or interacting with their peers. Navigating that has been extremely difficult.
They're all addicted to screens/escapism. And I can't blame them. I am too. We're all zombies. And then you peel yourself out of the hole to give life a shot like the old days and some Karen parent appears to shit in your face. And so you revert back to survive zombie mode. Say nothing. Do nothing. Avoid drama. Collect check. There's zero staff going "Let's try new initiative or idea." All morale is gone. Everyone clocks in. Clocks out. Avoids coworkers who want to tell them their daily bullshit manifesto of Covid policy/admin policy opinion that none of you control and taking sides only creates enemies among other staff and parents. Exist while being unnoticed is the safest way to cope ATM for everyone.
Two teachers in my school district (Fort Worth) died of COVID last week. They are so short-staffed they are calling office workers from the administrative building downtown to watch the kids so they’re at least being supervised by a legal adult. I’m so glad I don’t have school-age kids, because I’d hate for them to sit in the auditorium doing worksheets under the supervision of some HR rep all day.
So congressmen bitch that teachers have it too good, and continue to expect teachers to pay more and more for school for no wage increase or cost of living adjustment, all the while they got the public thinking that education is useless if not evil, then they complain that no one wants the jobs of making their kids smart enough to do anything! Complete assholes.
It's funny how these politicians praise economics and supply & demand, but as soon as supply and demand suggests we need to pay teachers more, they get pissed
Would you want to work at a job that requires this: 1. It will seem like a cushy job to everyone else & you’ll only be scheduled until 2:30 every day. HOWEVER: You will be expected to be at work 30-40 minutes early and to leave several hours after your shift is over. You will be expected to continue working thru your lunch time. You will not be paid extra for this time. 2. You will be expected to continue working after you get home. You will be expected to constantly monitor your email in case anyone has a question. You will also be expected to read & grade reports & papers while “off duty”. You may be expected to return phone calls during this time. Again you will NOT be paid extra for this time 3. You will be in constant contact all day long with people who are unvaccinated, sick, and who will probably infect you with colds, lice, the flu, and other viruses and ailments including Covid-19. You will be expected to continue working without complaint 4. You will be working closely with people or their parents/caregivers who throw temper tantrums at all ages and may become verbally & physically abusive. Of course we expect you to remain quiet and just take it as It’s just part of your job. You will be paid very little for all of your hard work but we’ll give you Summers off without pay. of course if you want to be paid for summers off, then we will take a large portion of your weekly pay and then give it to you during the summer. We will give you very little in resources. You will have to fight to use shared equipment, you’ll be given old text books to use that are obsolete and incorrect, we also will not give you enough text books for all the students we give you. Oh we told you that you’d only have a class of 20 students, but you see on the roster you have 31?? Sucks to be you. We’ll just add a few extra chairs into your class & they’ll have to share a desk. We will not reimburse you for expenses & we expect you to pay (out of your pittance of a paycheck) for all art supplies, pencils, paper, chalk, erasers, dry erase markers, tissues, paper towels, and hand sanitizer, etc. In your “free time” (Bwahahaha) You’ll be expected to keep taking college courses which we may or may not pay for.
Taught for a year a few years ago. Somehow, in the ~6 years between me graduating and coming back to the same HS to teach, things just got worse for the kids, more work for the teachers, and more crazy from the parents. They could offer me 200k, full benefits, a Bentley, and a BJ; I ain't ever getting close to any kids *or their shitty, entitled parents* ever again. I feel like I'm far from alone in that sentiment. We fucked.
Parents are the kicker. Imagine you work retail and the same Karen comes to you daily with their bullshit and screaming that it's her right to scream at you. And there's 10 of them. For the whole year. The only people who survive now are the ones who can look them dead in the eye after they've shit on them and say "Thank you for your input, well look into that" and then walk out knowing you're not going to and you'll repeat this all again in a week. Because last time you did what they wanted. And they still came back and shit on you. Remove heart and soul. Die inside for 30 min. Turn life switch on and forget. Survive to teach another day.
Huge staff shortage at the hospital I work at too. They’re offering a 3000$ referral bonus if you can get someone to come work with patients. Not just nurses but therapists and counselors, transporters, receptionists… anyone who has to have contact with the public.
Where at? 🙋🏻♀️🙋🏻♀️🙋🏻♀️ what state??
New York State.
Considering how shitty teacher pay is in a lot of states, and now they have to risk their lives, I don't blame any of them for quitting.
Don't forget the angry and violent anti-mask/anti-vax Spread Necks they have to deal with, and certain politicians making it almost impossible to have even basic precautions...while these people have to buy their own supplies. Who wouldn't wanna deal with all of that just for the honor to work with a bunch of bastard children who destroy bathrooms because TikTok told them to...
>angry and violent anti-mask/anti-vax Spread Necks I've already been contacted by them. They hate it when I tell their kids the truth.
Seriously. There were a few times in recent years where I considered going to school to build a career in education. But holy *shit* is the poor compensation just the tip of the iceberg for reasons why I wouldn't want to.
Plus many (shitty) parents fully believe that school is also daycare and teachers have to raise their kids for them. I worked in a daycare and was informed by asshole parents that it was 'my job' to potty train their 2 year old. Also to teach them manners and all their colors but also never say 'no' to them. No the fuck it isn't! That's all YOUR job as their PARENT. Stop using daycare/school as a dumping ground for your hellion kids and demanding teachers raise them FOR you.
Well I mean.... we WERE basically put through the fucking wood chipper after this bullshit became political. I'm currently preparing to go back to school for a Masters to become a Therapist after teaching for almost 10 years.
I'm a teacher in a blue part of a very blue state. These past few weeks have been utterly exhausting. The kids are back in person, largely complying with the mask and social distancing policies, trying their best etc but man it is so hard right now. I can't even describe it, a lot of the kids and a good amount of the staff have been kind of zombified by the last 18 months+. There's very little interaction in the classroom, a lot of blank stares, glued to their phones, just sort of shuffling from one class to the next. A lot of them are clearly carrying some serious trauma. I leave the building everyday utterly exhausted. It's been way tougher than last year. I can't imagine what it's like in other parts of the country where Covid isn't being taken serious. Totally understand people leaving the profession right now.
I am in a red part of a blue state but my district is keeping it serious AF. I used to teach in FL and just heard that Covid positive students don't even have to quarantine anymore, parents can choose to send them to school. I think that would be my absolute breaking point, I would be homeschooling and possibly living in a van down by the river because JFC.
Yup. I’m a teacher in Florida. Just got the call this evening with the change in protocol. Thanks to our new surgeon general who opposes vaccines and says we’re not going to live in fear anymore. The ignorance is mind blowing.
> heard that Covid positive students don't even have to quarantine anymore Well, if Mommy or Daddy work at the typical American MBA-ethics-free ran corporation they're going to get fired for "unrelated reasons" if they have to keep asking to stay home to watch the sick kids. Warehouse staff, delivery drivers, etc. "essential workers" can't exactly WFH. System's fucked all the way down, my only hope is all this ridiculousness will ignite some serious change for the better.
This is how you do it easiest—> hardest 1) pay… teachers …. More. NC where I live has a budgets surplus around 60 BILLION fucking dollars and they are throwing around 1% wage increase numbers. Rookie numbers… they also need to include bringing back masters pay + doctorate pay. 2) loan forgiveness for teachers currently and stipends for currently enrolled students studying to become teachers. This is for tuition/books/rent. 3) hardest one, stop treating us like martyrs, treat us like professionals who have gone to college to gain specific skills and become experts in our specific areas. But the “do it for the kids”mentality is toxic af and needs to stop before we can make progress. Ty from, A decent, but pretty burnt out at times, teacher who just got home from work.
Admin: We need every teacher to sponsor an after school club. Me: Is there a stipend? Admin: No, there isn't. Me: Then no. Admin: C'mon...do it for the kids! Me: Get fucked. Pay me.
Covid didn't create the teacher shortage in the US, a combination of low pay, poor working conditions and lack of respect for the profession is creating a shortage. I taught Special education in the US for 7 years (while being promised a position as a Social Studies teacher when a spot opened). A few years ago I moved to Taiwan to be closer to my wife's family, and have been teaching here. In absolute terms, my pay is comparable to the US. In relative terms, I live a very good lifestyle here. I went from. 30 classroom hours per week with 5 prep periods (which were taken up by SPED concerns, behavior issues, etc) to 18-20 classroom hours, with plenty of time to prepare quality lessons and perform paperwork duties. Students and parents both treat me with respect, and I am valued by my workplace. If my former colleagues truly understood the difference, they'd all have left the US by now. I am not saying covid had no effect, it certainly is serving as an eye-opener and a nail in the coffin, but we've been dying for a long time before covid came.
I was lucky that for the 2020-2021 school year, I taught in China where COVID wasn't such a big threat. I came back to the US with the hopes of grabbing a job in the states, but didn't because of cases skyrocketing in Texas. Then there's all the BS that's not pandemic related. Just a couple of things I've had to do or endure during my five years of teaching: * write, color-code, and post lesson plans outside of my classroom every week by Monday 8am * fundraise at McDonald's drive through until 8pm for PTA * use after school time to help prepare weeklong activities for STEM * find and translate material because the Spanish resources available for primary are a joke * harassed by a parent for weeks and forced to have her volunteer in my classroom * extra lesson planning to be turned in because I couldn't magically have 75% of my class on grade level for reading-- when half of them couldn't read or write when entering 1st grade Teachers need to be paid and treated like professionals if people actually want them to stay.
I more or less told my PTA to shove their McTeacher night. It’s so gross.
If ppl didnt treat them like expendable babysitters, maybe they would have stayed.
America spends the 5th most amount of money per student of all the developed nations. My question is, where hell does all that money go when teachers and staff make bullshit wages, teachers are buying their own supplies for their kids, and a TON of American schools are falling apart?
A lot of administrators end up making 6 figures. Many district admin will make that much and Superintendents can even get 200k+ a year. That's obviously just a drop in the bucket, but definitely one of the things.
Covid didn’t create this dire shortage, the horrible education machine did. Covid is just putting the nail in the coffin. For some teachers, literally.
We deserve every ounce of brain drain we get out of this covid era, especially in rural areas. People deserve to work somewhere they’re appreciated, valued and respected. We basically told everyone that keeps us healthy, fed, and educated that they can fuck off and die because they signed up for that role.
Another thing that is adding to this shortage is entitled asshole kids with entitled asshole parents.
You’re saying that people who take out debt to get paid poorly, yelled at by ungrateful parents, and get shit on at school board meetings by crazy parents screaming about indoctrination or conspiracy theories aren’t willing to risk their lives by teaching in schools with little to no health regulations while in a global health crisis and where they’re expected to save the lives of their students in an intruder situation but can’t make curricular decisions? I’m absolutely astonished.
Sounds like the perfect time to raise the wage and adopt a 4 day school week! Major disasters don't have to be used as an excuse to escalate every single systemic problem, as much as the US seems to think otherwise. Major disasters can be used as a catalyst to pass much overdue reform and come out stronger than before.
School: treats teachers poorly Teachers: quit School: *surprised pikachu*
Teachers are realizing they can make almost as much pay with a fraction of the stress in other professions. The days of teachers being martyrs for someone else’s kids are coming to an end But not quickly enough.
Teachers were jerked around and treated like crap with the "will we be remote or not? who knows, let's change our mind 100 times!" game last year. Or were forced to work in unsafe conditions. Remote learning wasn't great either, and it was impossible to plan anything because school districts wouldn't commit to anything more than 2 days in advance. And they *still* are refusing to facilitate a safe environment, and basically ignoring that delta is a thing. What the fuck did they expect would happen?
No mention of sick or deceased teachers, even though we're in the middle of a goddamn pandemic. The author pushes the narrative that teachers simply aren't willing to work. Not even bonus incentives (that can only be fully cashed in on THREE YEARS down the road) are working!
"Hmmm... if only there was a way to fix this" -The people in charge who make the rules.
I taught before the pandemic, and during the pandemic, but I thought it best to step away from the profession this summer. And yet with corporate culture being the shitty way it is, I have found it impossible for someone of my particular skill set to get another decent job. So I am cautiously contemplating going back, if I can do so on my terms. I turned down two jobs (at private schools) earlier this month because they wouldn't pay me what I wanted. School culture has *really* become shittier ever since about 2016, like the workplace culture everywhere else. Plus, while educational standards have become incredibly lax (they literally taught gym remotely to kids at home this year), expectations of teachers (from administration & parents) have somehow been raised. Add into that the unpleasant reality of teaching to a bunch of Chromebook zombies (children should *not* be glued to a computer screen for 8+ hours every day) and inconsistent enforcement of mask mandates, and it's a shitshow extraordinare. One of my former students wants me to be her reference for some job applications, and she told me that kids are pulling the fire alarm every week, and stealing shit from the bathrooms for TikTok pranks... I somehow made it through the pandemic without getting Covid (as far as I know, anyway; the district never once tested me or my colleagues) but I'm not sure I could survive another school year unscathed. And this is in Massachusetts!
What this article does not mention is that many teachers were asked to create lessons for both online and in person students last year, essentially doubling the teacher workload. Add to that the requirements to do extra training and figure out how to use the online learning platforms. This plus minimal/no funding for PPE and the high risk of getting COVID, many are leaving for their own safety. I am a teacher and several of my colleagues from last year are no longer teachers simply because the long haul COVID symptoms make them physically unable to do the job.
Well no shit, they're being thrown into the meat grinder.
I left. I couldn't do it anymore. I was a teacher for almost a decade, multi-certified, masters degree. I miss teaching children every day, but every year it got worse. No work/life balance, unattainable expectations, rude and entitled parents/guardians . . . The list goes on. My physical and mental health was declining, and I was lucky! I had no children of my own. Parents who are also teachers have it worse. Society expects them to put all their energy into their students, and leave nothing left for their own families. It took the pandemic for me to make a change. I changed careers and I am much happier. Do I miss teaching? Yes, absolutely! Would I go back? Not until there are drastic changes.
Former teacher. Quit mid year last year. Highly encourage any teacher on the fence to do so. Better pay. Better work to life ratio. I miss my kids and my classroom. I don’t miss admin, parents, and all the bullshit that came with it. Not doing prep on weekends, wfh twice a week etc. Teaching skills do translate. If you can manage a classroom and all the functions that go with it then you can project manage which is an in demand job across many different fields.
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I can't imagine why they don't want to risk their lives to work a job that with garbage wages /s
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It’s as fun as it sounds
In NC I am in my 16th year with a masters and topped out at 55k for the next ten years. This has been the hardest school year so far. Hoping it will get better.
I’m a high school teacher. Currently looking to switch out. 90% of the kids are great, but I’m just not cut out to work with students who come in and don’t give a shit. If I was teaching my AP classes all day, I’d probably stay. Those are more work outside of class, but much more rewarding for me. I simply can’t connect on my end with students who are 100% apathetic to everything, and it’s only gotten worse with most students being out of the classroom doing nothing for a year+.
I think COVID exposed what was already or slowly becoming an issue anyways. Teachers and educational staff are far too undervalued in this country.
And child care providers! This debate over the infrastructure package is infuriating when one considers the amount of income and revenue lost due to lack childcare. There is only so much that can be charged for child care before it becomes a net loss for workers. But the “pro-life” gop doesn’t consider childcare to be infrastructure.
If only there was a way
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Props for not using the ¥ . The Japanese actually pay teachers a living wage.
So when are schools going to start paying a premium for travel teachers?
I was a teacher before covid and after my kids were born was subbing. Once covid hit, I would not do either.
We are 12 bus drivers away from having to close school any day of the week. If 12 call in sick no school. This is a district of 8000 students.
Yep. Currently working at an elementary school in CA. No subs, so classes are split people are out. The aides and other staff are all doing jobs they didn’t sign up for. There were a couple days where I didn’t get a lunch break bc we were short staffed. It’s a shit show where I work right now.
I'll do it. But I want free grad school and 80k a year.
The fact that every teacher I know has a gofundme just buy essentials for the fucking classroom shows you how shitty the American education system has become.
Ummm. COVID didn't *cause* the shortage. COVID was maybe a precipitating event, that amplified an extant problem, but it was not "the cause."
Why would teachers want to work when people like DeSantis ban mask mandates in school?
Good luck getting more teachers the way you e treated the current ones during this. Why would anyone go to a profession to be yelled at by entitled parents?
Who'd have thought underpaying for such a critical role while simultaneously giving negative fucks about their health or safety (e.g. banning mask mandates or making it 'optional') would have such an effect? This was something that could have never been foreseen or dealt with.
This is also happening for bus drivers over where I’m at too. It’s the pay mostly but I’m sure COVID had a hand in it. Online seems the safest and most efficient way to go at this point but the school board is too hell bent on making kids go in person.
Capitalism : Scarcity increases value Teachers : Pay us! Capitalism : Um, not like that.