Quote:
Originally Posted by Dadhawk
I wouldn't say it's a shit gig, it can be a lot more rewarding than my job in IT, but the pay potential definitely sucks.
I actually looked at switching to teaching a few years back, trying to give something back and having a little more time at home. Problem was, they would give me zero credit for real world experience so I would have started at step 1, even though they were desperate the time for computer science type teachers. I just couldn't do it.
|
"more time at home" Hehehehe. The shittiness of teaching comes in several varieties.
1. Poor pay. I now make easily 4-5 times what I'd make if I'd stayed in public school. Not only that, I surpassed peak public school pay within about 3 years of being on my own.
2. Low respect. Sure, the kids and parents respected me, but not the other teachers and definitely not the administration or district. It didn't matter how effective I was in my first few years, equaling more experienced teachers. No, gotta do as you're told, no matter how shitty the teaching.
3. Long hours. 12 hour days 2+ days a week all school year long. The rest were 8 hour days. Oh sure, I could have left shortly after the bell, but I wanted to do a good job. Get all my planning and grading done in an hour a day? Hah! Good classroom teaching takes planning, and planning takes time. I've seen one estimate of 400 hours of unpaid work per year by teachers, which essentially means it's the equivalent of a full year's job in 9.5 months.
4. Job insecurity. I was laid off 3 years in a row when I started teaching. If the kids move away or the district restructures, say bye to your job. They pass a law to make classes larger? Same thing. There was absolutely no stability.
If teaching wasn't a shit gig, then it would not be the case that "Nearly 50 percent of new teachers leave the profession within their first five years." --
https://www2.ed.gov/documents/respec...sion-facts.doc
It really is a painful profession. For all those reasons, it's a calling.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dadhawk
Yea I always say "Based on my current 401K, and my extensive life planning I can happily say I've gotten my retirement age down from 7 to 4 years after I'm dead"
|
That's the second time somebody totally outdid me today. Damnit!
Yesterday, no joke, a bacon and salami truck on the 580 caught fire. I just made some jokes with my employees, and then one of them says, "I guess they never brought the bacon home." Damn her!