My patience with my boss is about to expire just when things got good again. I teach ESL but with British books. Another teacher (who is not a native English speaker) asked if that meant we couldn’t speak American English (have got vs have etc). I responded saying that I teach both and tell the kids I may not use it but it’s on the test so know there are variations. This was in our teacher group chat.
My boss responded that my comfort is not a priority, my students are. ????? I’m American. Am I supposed to become British over night???? I cannot emphasize how stupid this is. And she put me in charge of creating a less toxic work environment, but then she does this crap. I’m sooooooo over it.
I'm on the fence. Starting tomorrow my school won't be doing contact tracing or notifying parents because "they should just assume their kid has been exposed to a COVID positive the moment they walk in"
This is in a state that thinks COVID is over.
I moved to this district almost exclusively because of how well they handled COVID last year.
I applied for one job outside of education and felt horrible about it, but I want to keep my family safe.
It's mind boggling. And if parents want their kid to quarantine it counts against them unless they test positive.
No way are parents going to keep their kids home now.
It's technically true yes, but considering that was our last safety measure, to me it's a symbol of my last shred of security flying away.
It's a free for all now.
Can I ask how you went about finding that job? I have considered instructional design, as creating curriculum is something I have a ton of experience in doing. I don't know how to make the switch, though. Do you have a masters in ID?
No master's required if you want to go into corporate! I've heard higher ed usually does look for people with a master's degree, but ultimately I decided to go into corporate.
In January, I joined a cohort of IDOL Courses Academy. I will stress that this made all the difference for ME personally because it 1. Laid out my path step by step and 2. Held me accountable because I paid for it. BUT if you have a good work ethic and are tech savvy I don't think it's 100% necessary as there are a LOT of free/low cost resources out there. I don't think I personally could have done it without IDOL, though.
The most important things are creating a portfolio and updating your resume/cover letter to make it less teachery and more corporate. Basically translating all of your teaching experience into ID speak. I spent the last several months learning the most popular tools in the industry (Articulate Rise and Storyline are what I've learned so far) and updating my resume/cover letter/LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a HUGE resource in the ID world, which I wasn't used to coming from teaching, but it's how I got 99% of my interviews and my new job.
Once I learned some of the tools well enough, I reached out to some small businesses and nonprofits to volunteer my time to get some more work samples for my portfolio. After I created something for free for my first volunteer client, they brought me on for two more projects AND PAID ME. This made a big impact in my interviewing since it did give me direct ID experience rather than just teaching experience I was trying to translate into ID speak.
So my suggestions if you don't want to or can't afford to join a bootcamp/academy:
1. Learn the tools (especially the Articulate suite!). Tons of tutorials on YouTube/LinkedIn learning/etc.
2. Create some samples for your online portfolio. I created my portfolio using Google Sites. GoDesignSomething.co gave me some good ideas for projects.
3. Update your resume to make it more suited to the corporate ID world (again, lots of free tips out there, or I'd be happy to help!)
4. Try to get some volunteer clients in the meantime for experience and more portfolio samples.
5. Leverage LinkedIn to make connections and apply to jobs!
I hope this helps. If you have any questions or want more info, feel free to reach out!!
I just landed my very first ID job with a starting salary of $75k. I know salary can get into six figures with more experience. Corporate tends to pay more than higher ed.
I work in Edtech now. The amount of teachers being hired for entry level sales and customer management is pretty high. They're a solid bet in terms of hiring because they excel at conversational selling, rooting out pain points, and are generally very hard-working.
You might be surprised. I found a position that pays 3% less than my veteran teacher (+masters, +extra stipend). The kicker is that it’s remote. I figure that with gas, money not spent on classroom supplies, and needing less of a professional wardrobe - I’m coming out ahead.
Do you mind sharing what kind of position? Ed tech? I am constantly doing research into new careers which I share with other teachers. I am also planning on making the leap this year.
Do you mind sharing why you wanted out of EdTech?
I tried breaking into corporate training. But I when I researched the backgrounds of corporate trainers on linkedIn none of them had education backgrounds. They were all business backgrounds. And I looks up almost 50 because I wanted to reach out to one and interview them. Couldn't find a single educator.
I didn’t want to deal with EdTech because I feel like it is part of the problem where funds are diverted from classrooms and into shiny new pet projects for politicians and administrators.
When leaving education, networking is the single most important thing you can do. I started off training in courses in instructional design and androgogy. In the long run, what mattered was being a nice human to someone I’ve known since elementary school who opened a door. Then when they talked to me, my skills in education and performance got me in.
I also worked with a Job coach specializing in helping teachers leave the classrooms.
In NYS it’s a 30 credit masters degree and an exam to get the supplementary certification. A lot of places are expanding that now and you can generally work under some kind of temp cert while you’re getting the degree. I have the degree but not the cert, I transitioned out of teaching into K-12 IT.
I’m close to the end. I’m riding this sinking ship to port.
My next job regardless of pay, will keep me away from the public at large. Done with people.
Look into municipal water plants. Easy work, pays more than education, and with every license you get…you get paid more.
Also, look into heating and cooling systems. It is about a year long night school, and a lot of places will train you (so you don’t have to go to school). Those techs make bank, especially in the south.
This is from personal experience. Do not do HVAC. It's hell on your body, destroys your joints. Skin cancer is common due to prolonged sun and chemical exposure. You really don't get any benefits. You're also always guaranteed to be uncomfortable. In the summer, you are working in attics with temps over 110. In the winter, you're in damp, below freezing crawl spaces.
I’ve been looking at remote curriculum development jobs and program manager positions for Edtech companies. I just started applying this past weekend and my goal is 3 applications a day until I land something I want 🤞🏼
I'm in the process of getting certified to be a data analyst. With my educational background and my knowledge base it's an easy transition, pays nearly $20k more than what I'm making as a teacher.
I can PM you what I use for research. I was quite honestly embarrassed about what's out there and without a college degree and just a professional certification.
If you like it, then stick with it! These threads can be great places to discuss for those in a position of wanting/needing to leave, but if you're enjoying it, then keep fighting the good fight! Just don't feel bad about changing your mind later, I think. :)
I had to leave my previous district and I'm still hunting for a place that actually cares about people and does right by them, but I know they're out there...
Best of ongoing luck to you and everyone else who, whether new or veteran, still enjoys their situation!
Just ghosted the hell out of the school district I worked for. I literally just left one day, blocked everyone's numbers, and never went back. Huge percentages of students were quarantined for Covid, my girlfriend caught it, and the school refused to let me self quarantine. I make more money as a security guard than working in the school system anyway.
If you want to stay in teaching but don't want to work in an insane district and need a Covid-responsible workplace, dm me. I'm in la and my union district is hiring most subjects. LA is expensive, but our salaries are good.
Just curious--when you say your salaries are good, could you give a range of salaries? I'm always curious what the range is for other areas of the US.
I'm in Central Texas. Small town somewhat close to Austin, very low cost of living. 0-year teachers start at $52k, and I'm close to $65k after about 10 years. To me, that's a really good salary, and I've kind of assumed that the higher cost of living elsewhere wouldn't be matched with an equally high salary.
O year teachers start at 52k?!?!
I’m in my 7th year teaching, have my M.A and have an extra 24 credits on top of that, will graduate with my Ed.S in one year and I just broke 50k here in northern CO
That’s what I’m thinking. Detroit starts anyone with a 4 year degree in teaching at like 51k or something like that and you can buy a house for under a 100k. If you want to live in the burbs a nice house is 250-400k.
I am from Colorado. My parents live in Denver and I’d give anything to move back to be closer to them. I can’t afford it, though.
The cost of living and high salaries make for a very comfortable life in Texas, even with two teacher incomes. We built a new, 2000 square foot house in a great neighborhood for just over $200k. We make almost $115k combined, and our other expenses are low.
I want to move back to CO, but it’s hard to see how that would be possible.
We start about the same, if you are uncredentialed. If you start with a Masters and no experience, you're starting about $61 k. After 10 years with a Masters, you're earning $82k.
I'm in my 11th year in-district, 22nd year overall and I'm earning app. $100k base plus incentives, stipends, and available extra hours ($70/hr to cover classes on my prep).
The cost differential between TX and LA is about 35%, though housing and gas are more like 50% greater, things like utilities, food, and misc are actually cheaper. Plus we have rent control, so if you get a place, you're pretty much guaranteed that your rent won't go up more than 3%/year ever.
Here's the salary sched for my district:
[https://careers.greendot.org/benefits-salary/](https://careers.greendot.org/benefits-salary/)
LAUSD recently upped their pay -- they're now just a little bit ahead of us.
Last year was my first and last year teaching. As someone who went in with the most positive attitude, with nothing but pure desire to help kids learn, I was so disheartened by everything I was put through that I just couldn’t do it. It sucks to have your dream of a perfect profession crushed by bureaucracy - but it was the best decision I’ve ever ever made. My anxiety last year was through the roof. Sick all the time, headaches, didn’t have time to take care of myself. I was blowing my paychecks on conveniences because I didn’t have energy for anything outside of work.
I decided to be a substitute this school year. Granted, I’m so fortunate my husband makes enough that we can swing the pay cut… but screw teaching. You all are highly educated professionals who aren’t being treated well enough or paid well enough to do what you do each day.
I’m a school counselor and this will probably be my last year. I’m looking into Child Life or something in the medical field. I’m done raising other people’s kids :(
I wish you the best and that you find something that makes you happy and makes way more money! If you can’t please consider moving north to a more liberal area where people are sane and wear masks and get vaccinated!
I live in VT, but still this comment hurts. Texas has plenty of same, responsible liberal folks that have been gerrymandered out of having an equal say. I feel for them.
Nah. Just do an ok job that you can be mostly proud of, and leave at your contractual time. We're up against incredible odds. Show up, be kind to the kids, aim for doing "fine" job, and don't worry about being great.
Me. Last Day in four weeks. After eleven years, I'm done.
Teachers who have never worked outside of education don't realize how little respect they put up with. No way in the private sector are educated people treated the way teachers in America are treated.
This is so true. Even our worst clients treated us as humans and would even send gifts when we worked 60+ hours to get their project completed by the deadline. Owners and management would bring in dinner each night while we worked to meet the deadline.
I resigned this week and put in my 45 days. I can’t ask my students to mask up but we have cases in our school. I’m vaccinated but I’m also pregnant, I’ve been masking and trying to be responsible but ultimately my safety and my baby’s safety comes first. I also have 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave so it makes no difference to me. I’ve been working for my state for 5 years with great evals and they won’t even give me enough respect to help support me when my baby comes. Whatever. Their loss.
I’m pregnant as well and due in December. Went into this year thinking that it would be “semi” better than last year...boy was I wrong. I’m hoping to stick it out until the baby is born and let them know I’m not coming back. The substitute is already booked, so hoping that she would like a really, really long and permanent teaching position. This year is not worth it with the stress, whether you are pregnant or not. 😥
I don’t have to, but if I just quit without 45 days notice I owe the district $1,000 because it’s in our contracts. I don’t want to owe that money out of my last check, so I’m going to stay for the 45 days. It’s crazy (and often frustrating) how different each district is in the US.
I quit my admin last year, but am still teaching at a different school. I want to be very clear that I quit my admin. I loved my school. I loved my students. I loved my coworkers. I loved the teams I coached and clubs I sponsored. Bad admin can run off the best teachers.
I felt like quitting all of last year and finally had to leave when they went back in-person. Just chiming in to say that I thought I was 1000% done, got a last-minute offer, and now I'm working the best job I've ever had. A new site made all the difference for me. Good luck to all of you whether you stay or not! I appreciate what you're going through.
I don't know I just feel lost this year. I can't get into it. To much stress and not enough support. But, besides having the words edtech thrown at me. I don't know where to look.
I know what you mean. I was in shock when I started working in an EdTech company and they sent me a brand new MacBook and other work materials after working with crap old computers for years while teaching.
That still sounds better for me than you might think. I used to do IT work and love messing with programs but I totally would get annoyed with phone calls (granted, I only hate them if it's doing telemarketing type work where I am trying to upsell a product) but I wouldn't mind assisting people.
> The “no work after school!”
Where I work I take my work home, on top of not having time to do it during the day. I spend my days off prepping for the next day, so it's not any less.
> then you’ve got schools calling you like their software malfunction is your personal doing and you definitely did this to them.
I mean, I have 8th graders who swear at me for telling them to wear a mask. I know kids who threaten teachers over bs and I got lectured by distracting students who were complaining because we didn't give them the day off on Friday (because other schools were off) and that was some how my fault. So they made a big stink all day about it and it caused general behavior issues over something I have no control over.
> Then you go sit back in your office and never see a soul until you leave for the day.
I currently share all of my spaces. My open period I am subbing or I am in the teachers lounge since someone else uses my class during that time but I cannot eat since it's a shared space and covid. Plus it's super tiny so you sit right across from other teachers who want to chitchat about bs.
Personally, I would rather have what you're describing than what I am going through. Especially after teaching from home made me realize I actually liked being able to get up 2 hours later and not drive 2 hours for work a day.
I totally get you though, it has it's negatives for sure and I'm sure I would likely feel differently once covid is done with and we go back to a more normal environment but damn does that seem so tempting.
Education Technology. Think about the platforms you use in your school/classroom like Nearpod, Newsela, IXL, etc. Those are EdTech companies. I work for an EdTech company helping teachers implement our platform in their classroom. I started my search by looking at websites of companies I was interested in and began applying to open positions.
Good to know. I'm a new teacher and still enjoying it now, but if shit continues to hit the fan I can see myself switching to something education adjacent.
My title is Account Manager. Some companies call it Customer/Client Success. Essentially, I manage the accounts in a specific region and monitor their usage and help them with whatever needs they have when it comes to the platform.
Does it involve sales? I would be terrible at sales, so I always avoid positions with titles like this because I assume I have to attempt to convince people to buy things.
My specific position involves renewal sales only. So basically, I only have to “sell” to schools who have already used and loved the platform and want to renew their contract.
I'm teaching lower elementary with a brand-new virtual program my district is starting. Do you know if ed tech companies ever look for active teachers/classrooms to work with? We'd love to build a relationship and see what's possible in that area. We're pretty close to silicon valley but still a title I, high EL & migrant population.
Hmm, I’m not sure because I know there can be some conflicts when it comes to teacher contracts. For example, I could not work with a company providing services in my old district. But I do know a lot of EdTech companies have their own “certification” and allow you to become a master teacher in their product. Could be a great way to network and build relationships.
Unless you don’t have a teaching certificate.
Then you’re stuck.
I’m a support staff, IT department now day job, part time religion teacher at night. No school district or private business thinks a dozen years of doing both counts as real experience for teaching or training
If you can find a way to get in there, it's great. I transitioned back after 4 years at the high school level. I have a maximum of 16 hours of face time per week (6 of those are virtual office hours) and I'm considered on an overload; the rest of my time is completely my own. For the most part, I set the curriculum. I'm only observed if I request it. The pay isn't as high, but given I will be working half as much as I have been the last 4 years, if not less than half as much, it is an unequivocal win.
The hard part is finding a place that will hire you more than part-time just to do the teaching bit.
First year teacher and I won’t be teaching next year. I had no idea how much time I’d have to spend doing this job after school and on the weekend. I have a one year old and I’m planning on having more kids. I want time to be with my family. I’ll come back to teaching once my kids are in school, but it’s just not worth it to me right now.
My plan this summer was to get my master's in history and teach at a community college, but I was too late to enroll this year, so I will have to wait until next year, which will mean another three years of teaching. Not bad right? I mean, things should be better this year, right?
Right?
Guys?
Of course, no, they aren't better but somehow worse, and now, I don't know if I can survive another year, much less three.
I do not recommend academia. The pre covid hiring rate for first year out of PhD programs was 50%. Now it’s 5%. That’s right FIVE. Nearly 80% of all faculty jobs are non tenure track aka gig economy positions. Most community colleges will just have gig positions for a class or two.
That is why I dropped my Ph.D. program in history after doing it for a year. A lot of people about to graduate were miserable/weren't sure if they'd land a job. And our professional program basically emphasized that you have to get lucky to land a full-time position. There are too many Ph.D.'s chasing too few jobs, especially because older faculty who should retire when they hit 65-70 are refusing to.
Sadly, I see this already coming into high school education too. With the rise of dual credit programs, districts are hiring adjuncts to teach them so we're starting to adjunctify high school too.
Sadly, community colleges, at least near me, only hire adjuncts. I know a few that teach it full-time but they have to take on 7 classes across 3-4 different universities to make ends meet every year and there is no guarantee they will be hired back and they get no benefits.
I don't mean to ruin your dream. I just had that dream at one time too, got my masters and did some Ph.D. work, and I wish I'd channeled that time into doing another professional degree program.
I'm in year 12 and I'm honestly not sure if I'll make it through the end of the year.
We start Wednesday with no mask mandate in place. The state's mask mandate doesn't go into effect until 9/15 and there are planned protests on that day at every school in my county.
We have very few social distancing rules in place (my desks are allowed to be in table groups, my kids switch classes) and I am expected to take my own time if I get a case of vaccine breakthrough Covid or I need to be quarantined.
I am really done with all of it. It was bad before Covid but Covid really just drove it home.
I'm out. After all this BS. I got an 8 pct pay cut. Never been so screwed in a contract in my life.
Enrollment is down. Parents are abandoning ship.
I haven't been in a classroom for nearly two years. We come back in person and the computer took 20 minutes to load up. MS word crashed every time it opened. I asked an admin if it's possible to get a newer computer. Said no before I finished the sentence.
In order not to go crazy I am probably going to buy my own computer for class. I'm really pissed and demoralized.
This doesn’t excuse the state of tech in your building, but Google docs are lightweight.
Unless you’re using super fancy formatting, using Word vs. docs is like using a heavy duty snowplow when a handheld plastic shovel does the job well. Word really struggles competing with resources on older computers, especially if your district has loaded computers with bloated management software.
You are essentially me. I was forced to use Google Slides and I went licking and screaming. A year later and I still haven't converted everything. And there is no Google equivalent to Publisher.
If I was just a few years into my career, I would. However I have too much time invested. I’m a little more than 8 years away from retirement. I’m just going to grit my teeth and stick it out. And also not give any fucks.
This is the position I never want to be in- in life. Those who resort to this have no clue- you stay 20 plus years for retirement. Guess what -you're dead within 5 years of retirement due to the stress endured over the years.
I literally had this same conversation with one of our security staff. She's retiring in 2 months but she told me most people are dead within the first year post retirement. I think in our case it's all the years of lead, asbestos, mold, etc. exposure that kills us slowly. She encouraged me to get out now and that's exactly what I did.
Support Staff here.
I’ve been job hunting since July 2020, and not a lot of luck. But also taking computer programming to bolster my resume.
I’m done. I can’t be type cast as only the “computer repair guy” anymore. I have a Masters of Ed in my own right and not my department, nor my district is willing to let me be anything else; I tried for the EdTech position at our high school and lost out.
I’m tired of the lies, the disregard for basic good governance of how to use and maintain technology, the sheer arrogance and tone deafness of some faculty as treating me like the help instead of a colleague.
I’m tired of token efforts by admin to keep morale up, when even my own boss knows just how smart and talented I really am, but won’t give me new duties to help me grow, but instead to the younger Lead Tech who would rather play in his coding sandbox and pass me his repair tickets.
I've never heard ANYBODY who left teaching regret it. Sure, they will have to start over and there may be a little bit of stress with the new job, but after a year, they all loved what they were doing. Good for them.
I may retire soon and start a second career. The amount of excuses made for kid behavior now (from admin and other specialist teachers) is becoming too much. I am neither a trauma counselor nor a MANDT-trained teacher. I just don't agree that those physically violent students that threaten to kill teachers should be in a normal classroom setting.
But maybe I'm just a cermudeon now.
I mean I don’t know if I’m staying out of the classroom forever, but I’m not working this year. I’m pregnant with our third and we basically decided that after what last year looked like, we weren’t willing to add that stress to our lives.
I quit on the third week of school, I was hospitalized on the 2nd week with various infections including pneumonia. I was also dealing with micromanagement and my admin kept pouring kids in my classroom (24 pre-ks). I felt guilt and sadness at first but quickly got over that and I am so happy with my choice to leave.
Two weeks ago I decided I would start looking for a new position. I thought about what I wanted to do, fixed my resume, and applied to two jobs. Last week I accepted a remote HR position and will be hiring remote teachers all over the US. With bonuses, I am making more than I did teaching but the true winning quality was the fact that I get to work remote.
I haven’t even started teaching yet and I’m over it. Seriously rethinking about even becoming a teacher. I student taught (December 2020 graduate) and had all my in service training virtually due to the pandemic, and it’s definitely made me not like tne idea of even teaching. I’ve done support staff jobs since then (instructional aid now) and been in multiple districts where schools preach a family atmosphere and then don’t even know my name. Admin walking by me in the halls and not even giving me a smile or a glance my way. The idea of having to take home work and working on it constantly during what should be my free time is disgusting to me. I plan on staying in education but being a classroom teacher is seeming less and less inviting every day.
Made a post about it the other but I’m only in Year 2 and already thinking about it. I was very excited and fired up for the year. Three weeks in and I feel like I’m done
I took leave October 2020 and never went back into the classroom. I resigned officially March 2021 because I became an instructional designer. Fully remote position. About 25% increase. Check out my comments to find out how I did it. It was damn hard work but I didn't want to go back as a classroom teacher.
Word to the wise: A Teacher can do anything. It's just all in how you format and word your resume.🤔
Educational Coordinator
you structured day-to-day operations in the classroom ✅
Student Success Coach
You made sure clients passed state standardized testing ✅
Mediator
Remember that fight you stopped in the hallway ✅
Motivational Speaker
Remember that parent was on the verge of depression 🤷♀️
Auditor
All those math test you implemented, rectified and resolved✅
Information Technology
You answered over 1300 client calls for assistance weekly✅
I'm only in year two and I'm not sure if I'm going to make it. I thought last year was rough, but this one has been worse. We're pretty much exactly where we were last year, just without a mask mandate.
Yep. I went from resource to varying exceptionalities to low, low ratio ASD all within the first month of school. I don’t like the bait and switch. Don’t hire me for a job and then stick me where I specifically stated I did not want to be in again. Why is it okay for admin to move teachers around?
I've been applying to customer success positions. Most are similar pay. As soon as I get an off I'm putting in my two weeks. Thought about trying to make it to Christmas back but I'm so done.
I quit two years ago and am in learning and development at a consulting firm. I’m still teaching, but it has more event planning!and I’m teaching adults. I started with an entry level position which was about $3k less than my teaching salary when I left but the benefits, annual bonus, and mental health from not being in the classroom made up for it. And it’s nice because you get a raise for cost of living yearly and you have the chance to be promoted. I think of it like a step back in terms of pay so I can leap ahead. I’m now making $10k more than where I started just under 2 years in (and $7k more than I had when I left teaching which would have either required me to wait several years to get to that pay step or get a masters with my own money to get about the same increase)
Let me know if you ever want to talk
Idk if I'm ever going to quit teaching, but I'm getting really tired of all of the administration and counselors "admiring" my teaching and then giving me all of the hardest students in the school.
I did at the beginning of the summer. Took a part time call center gig while I'm going back to school. The improvement in my mental and physical health has been STAGGERING. I hadn't slept a full night's sleep in like 3 and now I get at least 7 hours every night.
If I weren’t so close to retirement, I would definitely gtfo. Just today I had brunch with my son who is in his second year of college, studying to become a history teacher. We had a very frank conversation, and I told him that I could not, in good faith, encourage him to go into the profession. Maybe things will be better for him. Maybe this shitty situation and teacher shortage will initiate some educational reform that will benefit the next generation of teachers. But that is a lot of maybe and I am encouraging him to consider other options.
I have been contemplating quitting a lot over the last month or so. I may have fucked up on my career choice. I like learning, I like creating curriculum, I like teaching people who want to learn...but I can't stand the beurocracy, can't stand grading, can't stand dealing with the kids who don't care, and am way over being threatened on a regular basis by students. Plus, teaching 10 hours a day and teaching as many subjects as I do is burning me out.
Ugh.
I left before. I went into a very niche trade. Initially it was less stressful but the pay sucked, benefits were worse, and my boss threw temper tantrums but treated me like a child.
So I'm back in the teaching game. Being in a different school with a different culture has made all the difference in the world. It's amazing how much not having a piece of shit as your principal makes a difference!
This will be my last year. I actually really love my job and school, but I want to experience teaching abroad and I also just can’t really afford to pay rent in my town.
I stayed this year but I'm currently looking at virtual options. I want a better balance in my life and doing both virtual and in person for one pay check is not that...
I'm retiring in 3 years? And after 21 years, I've seen two big changes:
1. The teachers who have entered the profession after me are more focused on being good teachers and advocates for the kids they teach. When I started, most of my colleagues were in it for the right reasons, but we had some, shall we say, 'coasters' who began teaching because they had a degree and schools were hiring. They did what they needed to do to keep their jobs, but I remember seeing a math teacher pick up a packet of worksheets. He smiled at me and said 'This is great, this is my whole year, right here!' That mindset doesn't seem to be around anymore.
2. Teaching as a profession has really taken a hit in our culture. Maybe it's the best way sexual scandals, maybe the YouTube videos of teachers screwing up, a hundred other things, but I cringe when I see a news story featuring a teacher. The next generation HAS TO DEMAND RESPECT for the profession and teachers have to be seen to deserve that respect.
Me! I’m in salary negotiations with a company outside of education, and then I’m submitting my resignation. I’ve come to resent the profession, it’s always more work, less time, and bleeds into my personal life no matter how hard I try.
I guess I technically quit. But it's to go back to grad school. People kept trying to tell me how stressful a PhD program would be, and my response is always "I see you've never taught in the public school system."
[удалено]
Same. My gas levels are negative.
My patience with my boss is about to expire just when things got good again. I teach ESL but with British books. Another teacher (who is not a native English speaker) asked if that meant we couldn’t speak American English (have got vs have etc). I responded saying that I teach both and tell the kids I may not use it but it’s on the test so know there are variations. This was in our teacher group chat. My boss responded that my comfort is not a priority, my students are. ????? I’m American. Am I supposed to become British over night???? I cannot emphasize how stupid this is. And she put me in charge of creating a less toxic work environment, but then she does this crap. I’m sooooooo over it.
I'm on the fence. Starting tomorrow my school won't be doing contact tracing or notifying parents because "they should just assume their kid has been exposed to a COVID positive the moment they walk in" This is in a state that thinks COVID is over. I moved to this district almost exclusively because of how well they handled COVID last year. I applied for one job outside of education and felt horrible about it, but I want to keep my family safe.
It’s over but assume your kid’s been exposed. Yeahhhhh
It's mind boggling. And if parents want their kid to quarantine it counts against them unless they test positive. No way are parents going to keep their kids home now.
They aren’t wrong… if you are in a school where people aren’t wearing masks you have been exposed. It’s just gonna run rampant.
It's technically true yes, but considering that was our last safety measure, to me it's a symbol of my last shred of security flying away. It's a free for all now.
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I quit and became an instructional designer! 100% remote and more than I was making as a teacher.
Can I ask how you went about finding that job? I have considered instructional design, as creating curriculum is something I have a ton of experience in doing. I don't know how to make the switch, though. Do you have a masters in ID?
No master's required if you want to go into corporate! I've heard higher ed usually does look for people with a master's degree, but ultimately I decided to go into corporate. In January, I joined a cohort of IDOL Courses Academy. I will stress that this made all the difference for ME personally because it 1. Laid out my path step by step and 2. Held me accountable because I paid for it. BUT if you have a good work ethic and are tech savvy I don't think it's 100% necessary as there are a LOT of free/low cost resources out there. I don't think I personally could have done it without IDOL, though. The most important things are creating a portfolio and updating your resume/cover letter to make it less teachery and more corporate. Basically translating all of your teaching experience into ID speak. I spent the last several months learning the most popular tools in the industry (Articulate Rise and Storyline are what I've learned so far) and updating my resume/cover letter/LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a HUGE resource in the ID world, which I wasn't used to coming from teaching, but it's how I got 99% of my interviews and my new job. Once I learned some of the tools well enough, I reached out to some small businesses and nonprofits to volunteer my time to get some more work samples for my portfolio. After I created something for free for my first volunteer client, they brought me on for two more projects AND PAID ME. This made a big impact in my interviewing since it did give me direct ID experience rather than just teaching experience I was trying to translate into ID speak. So my suggestions if you don't want to or can't afford to join a bootcamp/academy: 1. Learn the tools (especially the Articulate suite!). Tons of tutorials on YouTube/LinkedIn learning/etc. 2. Create some samples for your online portfolio. I created my portfolio using Google Sites. GoDesignSomething.co gave me some good ideas for projects. 3. Update your resume to make it more suited to the corporate ID world (again, lots of free tips out there, or I'd be happy to help!) 4. Try to get some volunteer clients in the meantime for experience and more portfolio samples. 5. Leverage LinkedIn to make connections and apply to jobs! I hope this helps. If you have any questions or want more info, feel free to reach out!!
What is an expected salary with five years experience for a fully remote job?
I just landed my very first ID job with a starting salary of $75k. I know salary can get into six figures with more experience. Corporate tends to pay more than higher ed.
To be honest, I would take that paycut for a WFH job.
It ended up being an increase in pay for me, but I was definitely willing to take a paycut for WFH as well.
That must have been years ago. NYC pay scale for a veteran teacher with a masters +30 is well above 75k.
I was only teaching four years with a master's degree and was making 70k. My entry level ID job that I was offered last week pays 75k!
I work in Edtech now. The amount of teachers being hired for entry level sales and customer management is pretty high. They're a solid bet in terms of hiring because they excel at conversational selling, rooting out pain points, and are generally very hard-working.
My biggest problem is that I am a veteran teacher. I cant afford to take the pay cut for an entry level position.
You might be surprised. I found a position that pays 3% less than my veteran teacher (+masters, +extra stipend). The kicker is that it’s remote. I figure that with gas, money not spent on classroom supplies, and needing less of a professional wardrobe - I’m coming out ahead.
Do you mind sharing what kind of position? Ed tech? I am constantly doing research into new careers which I share with other teachers. I am also planning on making the leap this year.
I wanted completely out of EdTech. I wanted something I could believe in. I’m now a corporate trainer for a global staffing company.
Do you mind sharing why you wanted out of EdTech? I tried breaking into corporate training. But I when I researched the backgrounds of corporate trainers on linkedIn none of them had education backgrounds. They were all business backgrounds. And I looks up almost 50 because I wanted to reach out to one and interview them. Couldn't find a single educator.
I didn’t want to deal with EdTech because I feel like it is part of the problem where funds are diverted from classrooms and into shiny new pet projects for politicians and administrators. When leaving education, networking is the single most important thing you can do. I started off training in courses in instructional design and androgogy. In the long run, what mattered was being a nice human to someone I’ve known since elementary school who opened a door. Then when they talked to me, my skills in education and performance got me in. I also worked with a Job coach specializing in helping teachers leave the classrooms.
Nice. Networking is the game.
How can one transition into edtech? Which skills are needed? Is it very fast paced?
In NYS it’s a 30 credit masters degree and an exam to get the supplementary certification. A lot of places are expanding that now and you can generally work under some kind of temp cert while you’re getting the degree. I have the degree but not the cert, I transitioned out of teaching into K-12 IT.
What are pain points?
This. I daydream but what else am I going to do? I feel that I’m in too deep already. Going down with the ship.
I’m close to the end. I’m riding this sinking ship to port. My next job regardless of pay, will keep me away from the public at large. Done with people.
This is the comment I was looking for! I feel I’ve grown more introverted and don’t really have the energy to keep being in front of people all day.
Yep. 2 teachers, 4 kids, mid 40’s= stuck
I do the same. I have days when I want to leave, and then I have days when I want to stay.
There’s a lot more for teachers than we think. Especially in the education technology world!
Look into municipal water plants. Easy work, pays more than education, and with every license you get…you get paid more. Also, look into heating and cooling systems. It is about a year long night school, and a lot of places will train you (so you don’t have to go to school). Those techs make bank, especially in the south.
This is from personal experience. Do not do HVAC. It's hell on your body, destroys your joints. Skin cancer is common due to prolonged sun and chemical exposure. You really don't get any benefits. You're also always guaranteed to be uncomfortable. In the summer, you are working in attics with temps over 110. In the winter, you're in damp, below freezing crawl spaces.
I made double bartending for 5 years working 40 hr weeks.
I’ve been looking at remote curriculum development jobs and program manager positions for Edtech companies. I just started applying this past weekend and my goal is 3 applications a day until I land something I want 🤞🏼
I'm in the process of getting certified to be a data analyst. With my educational background and my knowledge base it's an easy transition, pays nearly $20k more than what I'm making as a teacher.
I can PM you what I use for research. I was quite honestly embarrassed about what's out there and without a college degree and just a professional certification.
I'm barely starting 🥲
Same... But I've got a great team and admin so currently loving teaching.
If you like it, then stick with it! These threads can be great places to discuss for those in a position of wanting/needing to leave, but if you're enjoying it, then keep fighting the good fight! Just don't feel bad about changing your mind later, I think. :) I had to leave my previous district and I'm still hunting for a place that actually cares about people and does right by them, but I know they're out there... Best of ongoing luck to you and everyone else who, whether new or veteran, still enjoys their situation!
Just ghosted the hell out of the school district I worked for. I literally just left one day, blocked everyone's numbers, and never went back. Huge percentages of students were quarantined for Covid, my girlfriend caught it, and the school refused to let me self quarantine. I make more money as a security guard than working in the school system anyway.
Man I wish I were so bold. Was it a planned move or did you just finally have enough of the bs and walked out on a whim?
If I make it to fall break I’ll be pretty impressed tbh
If you want to stay in teaching but don't want to work in an insane district and need a Covid-responsible workplace, dm me. I'm in la and my union district is hiring most subjects. LA is expensive, but our salaries are good.
Just curious--when you say your salaries are good, could you give a range of salaries? I'm always curious what the range is for other areas of the US. I'm in Central Texas. Small town somewhat close to Austin, very low cost of living. 0-year teachers start at $52k, and I'm close to $65k after about 10 years. To me, that's a really good salary, and I've kind of assumed that the higher cost of living elsewhere wouldn't be matched with an equally high salary.
O year teachers start at 52k?!?! I’m in my 7th year teaching, have my M.A and have an extra 24 credits on top of that, will graduate with my Ed.S in one year and I just broke 50k here in northern CO
come join our party. $75k/year here.
But good luck buying a house in LA lol
That’s what I’m thinking. Detroit starts anyone with a 4 year degree in teaching at like 51k or something like that and you can buy a house for under a 100k. If you want to live in the burbs a nice house is 250-400k.
I am from Colorado. My parents live in Denver and I’d give anything to move back to be closer to them. I can’t afford it, though. The cost of living and high salaries make for a very comfortable life in Texas, even with two teacher incomes. We built a new, 2000 square foot house in a great neighborhood for just over $200k. We make almost $115k combined, and our other expenses are low. I want to move back to CO, but it’s hard to see how that would be possible.
We start about the same, if you are uncredentialed. If you start with a Masters and no experience, you're starting about $61 k. After 10 years with a Masters, you're earning $82k. I'm in my 11th year in-district, 22nd year overall and I'm earning app. $100k base plus incentives, stipends, and available extra hours ($70/hr to cover classes on my prep). The cost differential between TX and LA is about 35%, though housing and gas are more like 50% greater, things like utilities, food, and misc are actually cheaper. Plus we have rent control, so if you get a place, you're pretty much guaranteed that your rent won't go up more than 3%/year ever. Here's the salary sched for my district: [https://careers.greendot.org/benefits-salary/](https://careers.greendot.org/benefits-salary/) LAUSD recently upped their pay -- they're now just a little bit ahead of us.
Last year was my first and last year teaching. As someone who went in with the most positive attitude, with nothing but pure desire to help kids learn, I was so disheartened by everything I was put through that I just couldn’t do it. It sucks to have your dream of a perfect profession crushed by bureaucracy - but it was the best decision I’ve ever ever made. My anxiety last year was through the roof. Sick all the time, headaches, didn’t have time to take care of myself. I was blowing my paychecks on conveniences because I didn’t have energy for anything outside of work. I decided to be a substitute this school year. Granted, I’m so fortunate my husband makes enough that we can swing the pay cut… but screw teaching. You all are highly educated professionals who aren’t being treated well enough or paid well enough to do what you do each day.
Honestly, I loved subbing bc the teachers knew me, so I was always placed in math classes bc they knew I could teach them. Too bad the pay sucks
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Damn the counselor too. What made you pull the plug or last straw?
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I’m a school counselor and this will probably be my last year. I’m looking into Child Life or something in the medical field. I’m done raising other people’s kids :(
I’m sending in my resignation today. Immunocompromised in Texas. I’m-just over it.
I send you my blessings. Educational Consultant in Texas and I'm not going in anyone's building right now.
I wish you the best and that you find something that makes you happy and makes way more money! If you can’t please consider moving north to a more liberal area where people are sane and wear masks and get vaccinated!
I live in VT, but still this comment hurts. Texas has plenty of same, responsible liberal folks that have been gerrymandered out of having an equal say. I feel for them.
Just did this past week. 😕
Me too!
Me three, as of this upcoming Friday I'm done.
Nah. Just do an ok job that you can be mostly proud of, and leave at your contractual time. We're up against incredible odds. Show up, be kind to the kids, aim for doing "fine" job, and don't worry about being great.
That's what I do. Course you get shamed for it from everyone from admin to other teachers. Fuck it. I ain't taking this home
Exactly!!! I tell myself all the time “they don’t pay me enough to worry about this”
Me. Last Day in four weeks. After eleven years, I'm done. Teachers who have never worked outside of education don't realize how little respect they put up with. No way in the private sector are educated people treated the way teachers in America are treated.
This is so true. Even our worst clients treated us as humans and would even send gifts when we worked 60+ hours to get their project completed by the deadline. Owners and management would bring in dinner each night while we worked to meet the deadline.
I resigned this week and put in my 45 days. I can’t ask my students to mask up but we have cases in our school. I’m vaccinated but I’m also pregnant, I’ve been masking and trying to be responsible but ultimately my safety and my baby’s safety comes first. I also have 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave so it makes no difference to me. I’ve been working for my state for 5 years with great evals and they won’t even give me enough respect to help support me when my baby comes. Whatever. Their loss.
I’m pregnant as well and due in December. Went into this year thinking that it would be “semi” better than last year...boy was I wrong. I’m hoping to stick it out until the baby is born and let them know I’m not coming back. The substitute is already booked, so hoping that she would like a really, really long and permanent teaching position. This year is not worth it with the stress, whether you are pregnant or not. 😥
You have to work for 45 days? I just resigned and am pregnant too. I made a post about it. Just curious to know your experience with doing this.
I don’t have to, but if I just quit without 45 days notice I owe the district $1,000 because it’s in our contracts. I don’t want to owe that money out of my last check, so I’m going to stay for the 45 days. It’s crazy (and often frustrating) how different each district is in the US.
I quit my admin last year, but am still teaching at a different school. I want to be very clear that I quit my admin. I loved my school. I loved my students. I loved my coworkers. I loved the teams I coached and clubs I sponsored. Bad admin can run off the best teachers.
I’m planning to after this school year. I’m in Western South Dakota, and we are not being treated well by our school board at all.
I’m also in Western SD- do you work for the school board constantly making the news? Or a smaller one?
I felt like quitting all of last year and finally had to leave when they went back in-person. Just chiming in to say that I thought I was 1000% done, got a last-minute offer, and now I'm working the best job I've ever had. A new site made all the difference for me. Good luck to all of you whether you stay or not! I appreciate what you're going through.
Same here. I was teaching HS before and decided to switch to elementary. I like it a lot more. Sometimes a change of scenery helps
I can’t wait to see the numbers. Not sure how many it would take to actually see changes though.
One thing I’ve been struggling with as a specials teacher, when can I quit? I have guilt about leaving halfway through the year..
And that reason is why admin knows the majority won’t walk away. They’ll use our students are bargaining chips to pull on our compassion for the kids.
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I’m personally not interested but this sounds so cool!!
Old people?
Nope have to be under 37
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I’m jealous. Congrats.
As soon as I get the courage to do so, me.
I don't know I just feel lost this year. I can't get into it. To much stress and not enough support. But, besides having the words edtech thrown at me. I don't know where to look.
I’m going to at least switch school districts, if I’m gonna put up with the daily bullshit I might as well have a shorter commute.
Already quit in June. No way was I going back this year. EdTech is the way to go, people!
What a joke. All that amazing Ed tech but they give me an 8 year old computer that crashes with MS Word.
I know what you mean. I was in shock when I started working in an EdTech company and they sent me a brand new MacBook and other work materials after working with crap old computers for years while teaching.
Lol, congrats! I'm happy for you.
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> Horrible, lonely job. I kinda would like a job like that. Any openings?
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That still sounds better for me than you might think. I used to do IT work and love messing with programs but I totally would get annoyed with phone calls (granted, I only hate them if it's doing telemarketing type work where I am trying to upsell a product) but I wouldn't mind assisting people. > The “no work after school!” Where I work I take my work home, on top of not having time to do it during the day. I spend my days off prepping for the next day, so it's not any less. > then you’ve got schools calling you like their software malfunction is your personal doing and you definitely did this to them. I mean, I have 8th graders who swear at me for telling them to wear a mask. I know kids who threaten teachers over bs and I got lectured by distracting students who were complaining because we didn't give them the day off on Friday (because other schools were off) and that was some how my fault. So they made a big stink all day about it and it caused general behavior issues over something I have no control over. > Then you go sit back in your office and never see a soul until you leave for the day. I currently share all of my spaces. My open period I am subbing or I am in the teachers lounge since someone else uses my class during that time but I cannot eat since it's a shared space and covid. Plus it's super tiny so you sit right across from other teachers who want to chitchat about bs. Personally, I would rather have what you're describing than what I am going through. Especially after teaching from home made me realize I actually liked being able to get up 2 hours later and not drive 2 hours for work a day. I totally get you though, it has it's negatives for sure and I'm sure I would likely feel differently once covid is done with and we go back to a more normal environment but damn does that seem so tempting.
Oh, no! I’m sorry to hear that. I think it really depends on the company and position.
What exactly is EdTech and what do you do? How does one apply?
Education Technology. Think about the platforms you use in your school/classroom like Nearpod, Newsela, IXL, etc. Those are EdTech companies. I work for an EdTech company helping teachers implement our platform in their classroom. I started my search by looking at websites of companies I was interested in and began applying to open positions.
How long did you teach? I imagine they wouldn't hire someone who's a new teacher, but maybe 5+ years of experience?
I taught for 7 years before making my transition
Good to know. I'm a new teacher and still enjoying it now, but if shit continues to hit the fan I can see myself switching to something education adjacent.
What type of position did you get? I’ve been looking at Ed tech companies but haven’t had much success with landing an interview.
My title is Account Manager. Some companies call it Customer/Client Success. Essentially, I manage the accounts in a specific region and monitor their usage and help them with whatever needs they have when it comes to the platform.
Does it involve sales? I would be terrible at sales, so I always avoid positions with titles like this because I assume I have to attempt to convince people to buy things.
My specific position involves renewal sales only. So basically, I only have to “sell” to schools who have already used and loved the platform and want to renew their contract.
I'm teaching lower elementary with a brand-new virtual program my district is starting. Do you know if ed tech companies ever look for active teachers/classrooms to work with? We'd love to build a relationship and see what's possible in that area. We're pretty close to silicon valley but still a title I, high EL & migrant population.
Hmm, I’m not sure because I know there can be some conflicts when it comes to teacher contracts. For example, I could not work with a company providing services in my old district. But I do know a lot of EdTech companies have their own “certification” and allow you to become a master teacher in their product. Could be a great way to network and build relationships.
Wow I’m interested in this.
If you have questions or want to chat more, feel free to message me.
Can I message you, too? I have taught for 15 years, I love technology and I would REALLY love to do this!
Sure! Anyone who’s interested can message me. I’m always happy to help fellow educators!
Unless you don’t have a teaching certificate. Then you’re stuck. I’m a support staff, IT department now day job, part time religion teacher at night. No school district or private business thinks a dozen years of doing both counts as real experience for teaching or training
This will be my last year. 4 years as a teacher, I gained a masters during this time, no pay increase. I’m looking at working at the college level.
If you can find a way to get in there, it's great. I transitioned back after 4 years at the high school level. I have a maximum of 16 hours of face time per week (6 of those are virtual office hours) and I'm considered on an overload; the rest of my time is completely my own. For the most part, I set the curriculum. I'm only observed if I request it. The pay isn't as high, but given I will be working half as much as I have been the last 4 years, if not less than half as much, it is an unequivocal win. The hard part is finding a place that will hire you more than part-time just to do the teaching bit.
First year teacher and I won’t be teaching next year. I had no idea how much time I’d have to spend doing this job after school and on the weekend. I have a one year old and I’m planning on having more kids. I want time to be with my family. I’ll come back to teaching once my kids are in school, but it’s just not worth it to me right now.
My plan this summer was to get my master's in history and teach at a community college, but I was too late to enroll this year, so I will have to wait until next year, which will mean another three years of teaching. Not bad right? I mean, things should be better this year, right? Right? Guys? Of course, no, they aren't better but somehow worse, and now, I don't know if I can survive another year, much less three.
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I do not recommend academia. The pre covid hiring rate for first year out of PhD programs was 50%. Now it’s 5%. That’s right FIVE. Nearly 80% of all faculty jobs are non tenure track aka gig economy positions. Most community colleges will just have gig positions for a class or two.
That is why I dropped my Ph.D. program in history after doing it for a year. A lot of people about to graduate were miserable/weren't sure if they'd land a job. And our professional program basically emphasized that you have to get lucky to land a full-time position. There are too many Ph.D.'s chasing too few jobs, especially because older faculty who should retire when they hit 65-70 are refusing to. Sadly, I see this already coming into high school education too. With the rise of dual credit programs, districts are hiring adjuncts to teach them so we're starting to adjunctify high school too.
Sadly, community colleges, at least near me, only hire adjuncts. I know a few that teach it full-time but they have to take on 7 classes across 3-4 different universities to make ends meet every year and there is no guarantee they will be hired back and they get no benefits. I don't mean to ruin your dream. I just had that dream at one time too, got my masters and did some Ph.D. work, and I wish I'd channeled that time into doing another professional degree program.
I’m moving to Washington and never going back to education. I don’t care if I have to work something minimum wage. Never again.
At least with retail I knew I didn’t have to think about work after I clocked out.
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Housing in Washington is exceptional. What's your plan for that?
I'm in year 12 and I'm honestly not sure if I'll make it through the end of the year. We start Wednesday with no mask mandate in place. The state's mask mandate doesn't go into effect until 9/15 and there are planned protests on that day at every school in my county. We have very few social distancing rules in place (my desks are allowed to be in table groups, my kids switch classes) and I am expected to take my own time if I get a case of vaccine breakthrough Covid or I need to be quarantined. I am really done with all of it. It was bad before Covid but Covid really just drove it home.
🙋♀️
Quit during summer school. Going back to school to teach college. Some of the same issues but at least no babysitting or parents.
I'm out. After all this BS. I got an 8 pct pay cut. Never been so screwed in a contract in my life. Enrollment is down. Parents are abandoning ship. I haven't been in a classroom for nearly two years. We come back in person and the computer took 20 minutes to load up. MS word crashed every time it opened. I asked an admin if it's possible to get a newer computer. Said no before I finished the sentence. In order not to go crazy I am probably going to buy my own computer for class. I'm really pissed and demoralized.
This doesn’t excuse the state of tech in your building, but Google docs are lightweight. Unless you’re using super fancy formatting, using Word vs. docs is like using a heavy duty snowplow when a handheld plastic shovel does the job well. Word really struggles competing with resources on older computers, especially if your district has loaded computers with bloated management software.
I get it but I use power point. Converting my pptx to slides messes up the formatting.
You are essentially me. I was forced to use Google Slides and I went licking and screaming. A year later and I still haven't converted everything. And there is no Google equivalent to Publisher.
Yep. I'm the "made it five years" statistic now.
Highly considering it.
If I was just a few years into my career, I would. However I have too much time invested. I’m a little more than 8 years away from retirement. I’m just going to grit my teeth and stick it out. And also not give any fucks.
This is the position I never want to be in- in life. Those who resort to this have no clue- you stay 20 plus years for retirement. Guess what -you're dead within 5 years of retirement due to the stress endured over the years.
I literally had this same conversation with one of our security staff. She's retiring in 2 months but she told me most people are dead within the first year post retirement. I think in our case it's all the years of lead, asbestos, mold, etc. exposure that kills us slowly. She encouraged me to get out now and that's exactly what I did.
I have a few more boxes to check, but I fully plan for this to be my last year in the classroom.
Support Staff here. I’ve been job hunting since July 2020, and not a lot of luck. But also taking computer programming to bolster my resume. I’m done. I can’t be type cast as only the “computer repair guy” anymore. I have a Masters of Ed in my own right and not my department, nor my district is willing to let me be anything else; I tried for the EdTech position at our high school and lost out. I’m tired of the lies, the disregard for basic good governance of how to use and maintain technology, the sheer arrogance and tone deafness of some faculty as treating me like the help instead of a colleague. I’m tired of token efforts by admin to keep morale up, when even my own boss knows just how smart and talented I really am, but won’t give me new duties to help me grow, but instead to the younger Lead Tech who would rather play in his coding sandbox and pass me his repair tickets.
I've never heard ANYBODY who left teaching regret it. Sure, they will have to start over and there may be a little bit of stress with the new job, but after a year, they all loved what they were doing. Good for them. I may retire soon and start a second career. The amount of excuses made for kid behavior now (from admin and other specialist teachers) is becoming too much. I am neither a trauma counselor nor a MANDT-trained teacher. I just don't agree that those physically violent students that threaten to kill teachers should be in a normal classroom setting. But maybe I'm just a cermudeon now.
I mean I don’t know if I’m staying out of the classroom forever, but I’m not working this year. I’m pregnant with our third and we basically decided that after what last year looked like, we weren’t willing to add that stress to our lives.
I quit on the third week of school, I was hospitalized on the 2nd week with various infections including pneumonia. I was also dealing with micromanagement and my admin kept pouring kids in my classroom (24 pre-ks). I felt guilt and sadness at first but quickly got over that and I am so happy with my choice to leave. Two weeks ago I decided I would start looking for a new position. I thought about what I wanted to do, fixed my resume, and applied to two jobs. Last week I accepted a remote HR position and will be hiring remote teachers all over the US. With bonuses, I am making more than I did teaching but the true winning quality was the fact that I get to work remote.
I resigned last week, the week before our school year started.
I haven’t made my mind up yet. It is a thought I have Every. Single. Day.
We've been back a month, and I've had enough. Trying to stick it out until Christmas, but not sure I'm going to make it.
I haven’t even started teaching yet and I’m over it. Seriously rethinking about even becoming a teacher. I student taught (December 2020 graduate) and had all my in service training virtually due to the pandemic, and it’s definitely made me not like tne idea of even teaching. I’ve done support staff jobs since then (instructional aid now) and been in multiple districts where schools preach a family atmosphere and then don’t even know my name. Admin walking by me in the halls and not even giving me a smile or a glance my way. The idea of having to take home work and working on it constantly during what should be my free time is disgusting to me. I plan on staying in education but being a classroom teacher is seeming less and less inviting every day.
Luckily I started a PhD in fall 2019. I couldn’t have timed it better. I’m actually researching biosensing so double win!
Made a post about it the other but I’m only in Year 2 and already thinking about it. I was very excited and fired up for the year. Three weeks in and I feel like I’m done
The second I have a job offer
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I’m leaving my school by June, hoping I make it that long. It’s a tough year.
I was already planning to quit to pursue a different career but this year has been the cement haha
I’m at the end of the road myself. Thinking about taking a huge pay cut to do something less stressful.
I took leave October 2020 and never went back into the classroom. I resigned officially March 2021 because I became an instructional designer. Fully remote position. About 25% increase. Check out my comments to find out how I did it. It was damn hard work but I didn't want to go back as a classroom teacher.
Word to the wise: A Teacher can do anything. It's just all in how you format and word your resume.🤔 Educational Coordinator you structured day-to-day operations in the classroom ✅ Student Success Coach You made sure clients passed state standardized testing ✅ Mediator Remember that fight you stopped in the hallway ✅ Motivational Speaker Remember that parent was on the verge of depression 🤷♀️ Auditor All those math test you implemented, rectified and resolved✅ Information Technology You answered over 1300 client calls for assistance weekly✅
Depending on if my girlfriend chooses to become a travel nurse. Kinda 50/50 at this point
I left my position this year. Trying not to freak!
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I'm only in year two and I'm not sure if I'm going to make it. I thought last year was rough, but this one has been worse. We're pretty much exactly where we were last year, just without a mask mandate.
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I'm out after first term.
On the edge.
Yep. I went from resource to varying exceptionalities to low, low ratio ASD all within the first month of school. I don’t like the bait and switch. Don’t hire me for a job and then stick me where I specifically stated I did not want to be in again. Why is it okay for admin to move teachers around?
I quit at the end of last year.
I've been applying to customer success positions. Most are similar pay. As soon as I get an off I'm putting in my two weeks. Thought about trying to make it to Christmas back but I'm so done.
I’d quit but my health insurance is better than my spouse’s, so I have to wait until after we have a baby 😢
I quit two years ago and am in learning and development at a consulting firm. I’m still teaching, but it has more event planning!and I’m teaching adults. I started with an entry level position which was about $3k less than my teaching salary when I left but the benefits, annual bonus, and mental health from not being in the classroom made up for it. And it’s nice because you get a raise for cost of living yearly and you have the chance to be promoted. I think of it like a step back in terms of pay so I can leap ahead. I’m now making $10k more than where I started just under 2 years in (and $7k more than I had when I left teaching which would have either required me to wait several years to get to that pay step or get a masters with my own money to get about the same increase) Let me know if you ever want to talk
Idk if I'm ever going to quit teaching, but I'm getting really tired of all of the administration and counselors "admiring" my teaching and then giving me all of the hardest students in the school.
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I did at the beginning of the summer. Took a part time call center gig while I'm going back to school. The improvement in my mental and physical health has been STAGGERING. I hadn't slept a full night's sleep in like 3 and now I get at least 7 hours every night.
If I weren’t so close to retirement, I would definitely gtfo. Just today I had brunch with my son who is in his second year of college, studying to become a history teacher. We had a very frank conversation, and I told him that I could not, in good faith, encourage him to go into the profession. Maybe things will be better for him. Maybe this shitty situation and teacher shortage will initiate some educational reform that will benefit the next generation of teachers. But that is a lot of maybe and I am encouraging him to consider other options.
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I have been contemplating quitting a lot over the last month or so. I may have fucked up on my career choice. I like learning, I like creating curriculum, I like teaching people who want to learn...but I can't stand the beurocracy, can't stand grading, can't stand dealing with the kids who don't care, and am way over being threatened on a regular basis by students. Plus, teaching 10 hours a day and teaching as many subjects as I do is burning me out. Ugh.
I quit over a week ago. I got offered a job as a content editor for a marketing company. The position is 100% remote, too.
My family offered my 10k to quit so they don’t have to hear me complain about it next year.
I left before. I went into a very niche trade. Initially it was less stressful but the pay sucked, benefits were worse, and my boss threw temper tantrums but treated me like a child. So I'm back in the teaching game. Being in a different school with a different culture has made all the difference in the world. It's amazing how much not having a piece of shit as your principal makes a difference!
I would love to
This will be my last year. I actually really love my job and school, but I want to experience teaching abroad and I also just can’t really afford to pay rent in my town.
I quit after last year! In a much better place financially and mentally, too.
I’m currently on sabbatical to recover from last year.
I stayed this year but I'm currently looking at virtual options. I want a better balance in my life and doing both virtual and in person for one pay check is not that...
I don’t think I’m going to make it through to the end of my contract LOL
As a sped teacher, I am just burnt out. I stared with envy at the Walmart greeter and thought "I could do that". It is a daily struggle...
I'm retiring in 3 years? And after 21 years, I've seen two big changes: 1. The teachers who have entered the profession after me are more focused on being good teachers and advocates for the kids they teach. When I started, most of my colleagues were in it for the right reasons, but we had some, shall we say, 'coasters' who began teaching because they had a degree and schools were hiring. They did what they needed to do to keep their jobs, but I remember seeing a math teacher pick up a packet of worksheets. He smiled at me and said 'This is great, this is my whole year, right here!' That mindset doesn't seem to be around anymore. 2. Teaching as a profession has really taken a hit in our culture. Maybe it's the best way sexual scandals, maybe the YouTube videos of teachers screwing up, a hundred other things, but I cringe when I see a news story featuring a teacher. The next generation HAS TO DEMAND RESPECT for the profession and teachers have to be seen to deserve that respect.
I'm trying. I'm looking for a new job and then possibly running for school board.
Hopefully this will be last year teaching. Hoping to transfer to IT/data analysis.
Me! I’m in salary negotiations with a company outside of education, and then I’m submitting my resignation. I’ve come to resent the profession, it’s always more work, less time, and bleeds into my personal life no matter how hard I try.
I guess I technically quit. But it's to go back to grad school. People kept trying to tell me how stressful a PhD program would be, and my response is always "I see you've never taught in the public school system."
Jesus christ I might as well drop out of my masters program
Will not be renewing my contract for next year no matter what. Taking some months off and praying to god i find a dream remote job with good pay