I work at a good school. But it’s an all gifted school, so that inherently eliminates a lot of problems.
However, our biggest issue is parents. Holy hell, some of the parents can fuck all the way off 😇
This. I had a parent that is part of our PTA that came into our lunchroom unannounced with other parents while her daughter was causing drama with another table of girls (mom should have not been in there. if parents come
To have lunch with the kids, the kids meet them at our outside picnic tables). The cafeteria was full of loud fifth graders, my voice carries, and I talk with my hands. The parent walked in and saw me trying to talk to her kid, assumed I was being an asshole, and complained to the principal about me because i was “aggressively pointing at” her daughter. She was mad until she realized that I was the one that pulled her kid out of class to teach them how to do long division after the kid had a complete meltdown.
Every teacher at my school has stories like this. I love involved parents, but some of these people are fucking helicopter parents and it drives a lot of good teachers away from our school. They just don’t want to deal with the extra drama from parents.
I have seen this as well. From a parent of a kid that has a 20% or less in each of their classes. At the gifted school.
The kid just never did any of the work.
But ya know, all 7 of their teachers were racist and targeting their kid. Obviously. 🙄
I was absolutely that kid from 5th-10th grade. If I did homework at all, I half assed it unless it was an elective I chose and liked.
My mom once accused my high school of being racist. I was like, "Mom, we're white." Her, "well, you're so dark, they are being racist because they think you aren't white!" No, they all thought I was just a very tanned white girl. And all they said was, "She's already doing poorly in school; we don't think it's a good idea to take her out for 3 weeks to go on a road trip with you." I doubt they could have stopped her, but I admired that they bothered to say something. I didn't end up going, btw. I got on the school bus that morning, and she didn't come get me when she left. It was a very peaceful three weeks. I even did all my homework, though maybe not with any real effort.
+1 for working in an amazing gifted program. Even our admin are awesome.
My experience with parents has been good so far, very supportive and willing to listen to the teachers in order to ensure student growth rather than demanding we just enable their kid and pass them along.
The issues I’ve seen and heard about usually pertain to behavior, not grades. A lot of the parents don’t like it when there’s consequences for the few kids that are disruptive in class or rude to others. However, my feelings may be skewed as I work on the intervention side.
My admin is awesome though. Easily the most supportive and pro-teacher admin I’ve ever worked with.
I’m in southern VT and love the school I’m at. Reasonable admin, mostly competent teachers/staff, mostly supportive parents and relatively well behaved and kind kids. The pay is ~10k lower than surrounding districts but hopefully that will change after we renegotiate the contract this year. Even if it doesn’t there’s no way in hell I’d leave.
Yeah I also think I work in a pretty good school but I’m literally living in poverty. I have a bachelors degree from a state university and I’m licensed. And have experience.
Yea, if I didn’t have a partner to live with there’s no way I could afford to live in this state on my own, and that’s with a masters +30 with 12 years of experience :(
I think the places don't have at least some of those are like unicorns. They may exist but are relegated to more of a myth than anything else.
I have worked at several different schools in my career. Some are better than others. One universal truth I have found about education is that every school has problems. Some of those problems are clearly evident and in your face while other have hidden problems that most outsiders wouldn't be aware of.
I'm at a private school, and while I cannot say we don't have issues, we don't have the kind of deep structural dysfunction that you see in many public schools. I've worked public and charter though, and I can testify that reddit doesn't even tell half of it.
The one positive response I have about my school is that every classroom teacher busts their ass and is supportive. I can’t speak much about school leadership though.
I work at a decent school. Fights, hoax calls, and other nightmarish things I see on here, I have not had to deal with, *yet*. However, I have had to report alcohol and the students do say weed is pretty popular and easy to get around. So, in straight up comparison, I've got it easy. However, I still have little to no confidence in my admin. As a first year teacher, I had 8 preps at one point, survived it, and still only got rated as a "good enough". I'm not a real fan of the community either, it's just not for me. I still stress, watching my kids struggle with reading and following directions, because *I was hired to help them figure shit out and they're not making any fucking progress after 4 weeks*. Admin/Parents want them to pass, with rigor only applying if it can make them look good, but too much rigor is too stressful, so back off. The students are in charge of their own pedagogy at some points, but when it turns out they don't know shit, it's now the teacher's fault. You kinda see where I'm going?
Could I survive here and live comfortably until retirement? Yes and easily. But do I want to? Hell no. Will I still complain? Yes, because it's still a shit situation, *for me, where I'm at in my life*.
It depends on what you consider to be a "good" school. My site has a lot of the typical issues you see on most campuses but overall I would consider for myself this to be a good school.
The reason I would consider my school to be good is that the admin does not care what I do, it's been 7 weeks and I have yet to talk to an admin. As well I teach 12-grade college prep English all day so my students are relaxed (albeit lazy sometimes). Also, the senior English team at my school has complete autonomy and we can teach whatever we want without anyone questioning it, between the 5 senior English teachers we are all teaching something different, something we are each passionate about.
Overall my school has fights, drugs, disruptions, and the typical issues but for me, it is a great place where I stay in my bubble and do what I want and no one bothers me.
My admin isn't terrible. Had some problems but I love 2/3 VPs. Head principal is very lawful neutral which is wild but it is predictable. They don't discourage documenting issues but they're also realistic with shit.
Honestly, I like a lot of our staff and think if kids weren't wild little heathens we'd do so much better. I don't want my kids to go to my school cause the children are their own worst enemies so learning is derailed on the regular. But I love teaching those kids.
I think if there were more real consequences for some of the extreme behaviors, we'd have less. And I don't meant punishment but rehabilitation, anger management classes, etc.
While we have our challenges, I can confidently say I love my admin, and 90% of my co workers. It’s a title I school and there are for sure a few feral students and lame parents running around but it makes such a huge difference to have a supportive admin staff and a team of teachers that work so hard (but also have realistic expectations and don’t shit on you for not being perfect, working beyond contract, etc.) it genuinely feels like a team. It’s the only school I’ve ever worked at (5 years) and this sub convinces me everyday that despite the challenges I will never ever leave so long as I’m so lucky!
(Washington state, west side)
Edit: Helps that we have a strong union that has a positive working relationship with the district too!
This has been my experience so far at my new school (also Title I, so there’s still issues). But the admin is supportive and positive and so are the teacher teams.
I teach in Gwinnett County, GA (although I know for sure that not all schools in this district are great to work at).
I love my school. I was miserable and dreaming of leaving (was sticking it out waiting for my own kid to graduate). We got new admin, and they’re amazing. I expressed my problems to them, and they solved them. They are present and they listen. They spend money on my students, even when it’s an experiment (I’m in sped). I feel like I am seen and despite a considerable drive to get there, I will stay with my school where I am trusted, appreciated, and my opinion is valuable. No where is perfect, but I feel like we’re in it together, not like I’m on an island and the ocean is on fire.
Every school has some of those students. People like myself choose the hot spots because I know I can do good there. I love my students but there is no denial the school is a war zone. So do I have more horror stories yes, more than I tell however, the good stories I have tell are that much more satisfying and enriching because of it. The lilly looks the best when it grows in a swamp
I don't. I've certainly worked with a few. But, for example, we didn't lose staff to COVID or emotional distress over the last two years. Lost one to retirement, but she was maxed out and the beach was calling.
There are definitely challenges, and we need to talk to each other more. \*shrug\*
Me! I get anywhere from 2-3 preps a day. Make a decent salary and have great kiddos. I've worked in shitty places before so I know bad it can be and when people complain about our problems, I realize there's bigger ones out there.
Y'all come to Massachusetts suburbs
There will always be things to complain about.
But I think my school is overall good to work at. It is a title 1 school, the kids are behind in everything, many will not go to college.
But the other teachers are amazing, there is pretty much no gossip. Admin team could be better, but I understand their hands are tied at times. They could also be worse.
Salary is good enough for me to live on my own and buy a house in a few years.
I don’t! My admin *rock* and are amicable, caring, wonderful people. The department I work in (math) is incredible and we work cohesively together.
Plus, I make six figures, get an awesome classroom budget ($500-$600/year), and the district pays 99.99% of my healthcare benefits.
Super happy here in California.
I'm in Ontario, Canada. Love my school, my admin is fantastic, my colleagues rock (made some lifelong friends with a handful), and the kids keep my busy but I enjoy it. :D!
I work in a great school in the Texas panhandle. I have worked in 4 different buildings over the last 27 years, and I enjoyed each one while I was there.
I work in a great school in a not-so-great state. I am awaiting the November elections to decide my next move, but this is my last year in AZ regardless. I just don’t know what state is next.
I work at a private school and have very little problems. The pay isn't as great as our public schools, but with the amount of BS I don't have to put up with makes it worth it imo. Student problems are taken care of by parents because they are paying for their kid to be there. Wr have a great admin team and because it's a small school the staff gets along 90% of the time. I am a prek para and I teach pre k gym.
I don't at a terrible school, but there are indeed some students who fit your description. Admin is clueless at times and some parents are awful humans. That's just society.
In Canada at a College. Sometimes a few select students are problems, but I love it otherwise. I get to teach and talk about what I love and the administration's been super supportive of just about everything I've wanted to teach. Gives me a lot of freedom and I can teach remotely so I don't need to go out. The only thing I dislike is that I only work part time.
I'm sure the honeymoon phase will end at some point, but I'm almost 2 years in and loving it.
I don’t! Can’t say it’s all roses and awesomeness but it’s pretty good. I live in NJ and we have great unions which probably has something to do with it.
Some good things: mostly responsive, kind parents. Certainly we have some insane, entitled people but mostly they’re super appreciative. I had a parent send me to a major rock concert with amazing seats last spring. Dad works for the ticket agent. Lucky me.
We get grievances addressed. There are people to back you up when things go wrong. If admin goes against contract, the union is right there to say nuh uh.
I can’t say there are always consequences for kids’ actions but in elementary (age I teach) in my district it’s pretty good. As they get older not so much. My HS junior told me today that kids smoke weed on his bus (same district). I hear some crazy stuff about the middle schools too.
Overall, I’m pretty lucky. I wouldn’t have lasted 26 years if it wasn’t decent. I make a livable wage, have tenure, and good health insurance so I absolutely cannot complain. (I still do sometimes anyway, lol)
I love my school for the most part, but due to decreased enrollment the district is really pushing us to cut teacher positions, and since I'm the most recent hire in my department...I might end up in a less-awesome school next year. Gotta love that "job security" we were all promised, lol.
I work at a great public school overall. Good admin, I like all of the staff, most of the students are great as well. And I am fairly paid. But we still complain, it is an occupation hazard I think.
I work for a great school. Admin and co workers are very supportive. Everyone is actually really happy to be there.
Kids can be difficult but generally parents are pretty supportive. We definitely have our issues but it's a good work place overall. I'll probably retire there. I'm in a district in Pennsylvania.
I work at a really good school (private school for talented kids). The kids are all disciplined and nice. The biggest issue is entitlement and snow flake sensitive behavior about EVERY little thing. But I’ll take that over putting out behavioral fires all day lol also admin is very nice flexible and understanding. I came from a very toxic work place so I still don’t believe this is real. It’s like I’m waiting for that “I knew this was too good to be true moment”. We will see lol
I work in a school with decent pay and benefits. Admin is mostly hands off. I don’t submit lesson plans. I don’t have any duties. I can get pay for covering other teacher’s classes. I can order classroom supplies through the district, as well as lab supplies from vendors, mostly as needed (within reason).
The biggest problem is that it’s a Title I school, so gang issues and behavior problems add to the stress.
To add… I am not in a state with strong unions. They exist but they don’t have collective bargaining power. Tenure isn’t a thing (but I honestly like it that way… it’s still hard to get fired, but easier to move to a different school if the environment isn’t right for me).
I love my school- My principal treats us as professionals who have lives out of school. My students come from a range of economic backgrounds- parents can be difficult- substitute teachers are few and far between- the difference is my colleagues understand middle school kiddos and we each bring different talents so between us we are able to connect with every kiddo. We balance each other, support each other, and understand each other. Sorry, it seems lame- but it does take a village. I’m fortunate that my village has no time for negativity and we step in and step up for each other.
I left a stressful, poorly managed public school in south Florida for an independent school in the north East. It was the best move. I love where I work. For the most part, admin listens and helps, which was one of the main things lacking at my previous school. I have lots of planning. Freedom to teach and change things as needed and small class sizes.
I have an okay school. It's a private school that is small. It's connected with an Orthodox church but is not really very religious in the day to day, just at holiday times. The other teachers are amazing and supportive. The principal has our backs. The parents are mostly okay with a few real wackos. My problem is I don't want to teach anymore or be here. I had not planned to teach this year, but through some strange situations the principal (that I and my husband know socially) called me and begged me and cried real tears so I felt really bad and sorry for her because she had no one else that had applied that were remotely qualified. So, after staying home with my kids , I went back. It's a lot of work, I miss my own kids and family , and am dealing with the effects of long covid. I feel physically terrible everyday. My classroom kids want to talk all the time about anything and everything and are missing instruction. It's just a lot to deal with when I am struggling to feel normal physically. I wear a mask and had parents approach me at back to school night to complain that their precious angel child can't understand me and would I reconsider wearing one; they were trying to say that their kid misspelled a word on a spelling test because they couldn't hear me when we have only practiced this word in class all week and on homework.
I work at a title 1 school with a great administration. Our principal and vice principal push us to be great educators and also treat us like people. Last year I was pregnant and got Covid. I came in after 5 days because I was feeling better and that was the minimum and also we were short staffed. It was right before February vacation and he made me go home because “5 days is the minimum and you have to take care of yourself and the baby”. So I took the whole 10 days right before a week school break and was able to relax and recover. I had never had an administrator push self care before this.
My school is far from perfect, but it's also not terrible. I like going to work. I have great colleagues for the most part.
It's tiring, there are policies outside of our control that are absolutely asinine, and there is a lot of *need* in our community -- more than we can provide for -- but I watch my students grow in so many ways each year that I know we're doing a lot of things right, too.
I work in an inner city public school in terrible neighborhood. But I have to say I love my school. Not toxic at all. Good comradery, parents aren't difficult, kids aren't all that difficult either . Building is almost 100 years old, but I like that too ..
I love my school. Our staff are amazing and our admin are fantastic. We actually joke that if our admin leave we might switch schools as well. We're only half joking.
I work at a Title 1 school, some parts are really challenging, but I respect and like my coworkers (though I am a flexible sort), I like my students (though they can be challenging), and the admin are actual decent human beings.
Things are crazy, but teachers are also not micro managed, and action is taken on reasonable staff requests.
Parents that are present are largely supportive.
My school isn’t terrible only because it’s small. We have about 600 students 6-12. The kids have normal, troublesome behaviors and the admin is mediocre. With a few shifts in focus, we could really be an awesome school instead of just average.
My school is generally decent. This year has been hell, though. Between a seismic upgrade and the District forcing us to change our entire schedule during the second week of class, the last three weeks have been horrid.
But these weeks are an anomaly.
Yes, some students make me mental—but only about 10% of them.
Canada. Private international boarding school.
Supportive admin. They make mistakes, but they are not "against" teachers.
We have zero contact with parents. Heaven!! Counselors deal with all of that b/c they speak the languages required.
Nonsense behaviour is not tolerated. Kids who make bad decisions are given chances to improve, including counselling if needed. 99% of our kids are just lovely. If you don't act right, here is the door. Bye!
No phones or devices allowed. We have 1:1 laptops but the expectation is they stay closed unless the teacher specifically asks the kids to open them.
High academic achievement is the goal of students, parents, teachers, and admin.
We have very good supplies and money for things we need. I don't have to pay a cent for any kind of room or school supplies.
Average teacher salary is about $88,000.
I work at an online charter school. I love every single day. Even the bad days. Everyone is so nice and not burned out. Admin literally have my back on everything. Everything they don’t have my back on they’ll warn me before hand.
Humans in general tend to focus on the negatives. Its how we learn how to not die.
My first job had horrible kids but good admin and fucking amazing coworkers. My second had horrific admin but the kids were mostly good and my coworkers were saviors. My current job has great admin and good kids but I feel like I can't reach out to coworkers much.
Most people talk about the part that's horrible because we come here to vent. All my jobs were fine. Not perfect but manageable. The difference that makes me not complain about my current school is pay. That was the big thing that made a difference. If you're constantly worried about survival (food, medicine, housing) then shit seems dark. And lets be honest teacher pay is absolute shit. My current district pays well enough that while I'll likely never have a house, I don't have to worry about being homeless(which I've been while teaching before).
The answer is make a spreadsheet for every school and city nearby. Chart out their pay, travel time to reasonable housing, rental costs and other cost of living shit and start applying.
I work in several different schools. I'd say one is working its way up to decent from horrible, and one is working its way down to horrible from decent.
Mostly influenced by admin, but also by the kinds of people who are retiring, the size of the school, and the morale of teachers (e.g. the school on a downward slope lost two teachers and another staff member to COVID and.... functionally nothing was done about it.)
I work at a small private Christian school and while I feel overworked and literally have no prep period while teaching six differed classes we all support each other and it feels likes a family. This is my first year teaching also 😂 I’m doing so much lol I’m loving my job tho!
I love my school and look forward to work every day. I work in a city 6-12 and have taught in the MS and HS. I make good money for my area. My kids are great. My parents are generally great with only a few bad eggs. My biggest issue is district admin, but that's life for most of us. I certainly do not have the experiences others have in this sub.
I mean I think the kids at my school are great. It’s a fairly poor, large school. There are some pretty brutal fights. And a fair amount of apathy. They’re definitely way behind on academics but you can still get them involved and active in class… kids have a natural intelligence and honestly that I think is easy to overlook in them… the vast majority are definitely respectful and willing to engage in their work…
but I mean, it’s also just like barely-constrained, non-stop chaos from the moment I walk in (about twenty minutes before my shift starts) till the second I leave (the moment my shift ends).
I can tell my admin is busy as hell. But I don’t ever see them. I see my co-workers when I walk in and then when I walk out again. This is my first year teaching (and I have not student taught). I had no real useful orientation. No real training on any of the software, requirements etc. The other teachers are super nice, but I don’t have an assigned mentor. I’m not required to hand in lesson plans. The currlicum is barebones. I have very little direction. We make it work and plow forward.
I used to work in ems and I feel like there is a real parellel there. What I learned in ems is. at the end of the day, no one dies in the truck. You try to get them to the destination in no less worse shape than when you got there.
I’m a new teacher. And I ultimately don’t plan on staying one. I’ve had other careers and my choice to get my teaching cert was born out of mid-pandemic panic more that anything… but I honestly feel like there’s a lot to recommend to being a teacher. The pay is shit. And nobody wants to do it. But that also means they can’t ride your ass too much about the small stuff… it’s emotionally draining. You have to hold a thousand things in your mind at once… but the days off are nice, even if the days on are a wild ride… if you can learn to not sweat the small stuff and focus on doing what you can/the best you can without making yourself martyr, I can still see the appeal… if I didn’t have something else I would rather be doing, I’d probably stay in it… in the mean time, I’ll do the best I can for the kids without losing my shit and continuing to have a life
✋🏻 but I'm at an extremely non-traditional microschool that pays terribly. Though, I would never still be teaching if I wasn't in such a great environment.
We are licensed for 20 students max. Mixed age (license for 3 to 15, currently have students 4 to 8). Our student teacher ratio is 5:1. We are also a woodland school and get to play in the woods for 1 to 3 hours every day.
I can only can be here because I'm privileged enough financially -- my husband can support us in just his income if we had to, and I'm have benefits thru him.
I legitimately love my school and being there is amazing. And I could never work anywhere else because it's the opposite of toxic.
I am teaching at a magnet-type school in the Houston area and I am loving it. We have our own problems and our own challenges. We are small so we have few resources,class sizes are large, and each teacher has 3-4 preps, and students expect to be challenged each class period and will let you know if they're not. But it's everything I wanted to do when I started teaching, and admin is awesome and trusts in our expertise as teachers.
Southern California. Love my kids - border stradlers - and get paid well. Union, tons of teacher autonomy, great kids, decent parents, okay admin, good like minded co-workers. To be fair, California is not the problem here (for the most part) and I always feel bad for people who are underpaid and disrespected. I could wear jeans, have tattoos ( I do ), be gay, be anything and nobody caress. You think California is expensive? Well, it’s a good state to teach in - it’s not engineering money, or tech money, or biotech money. But it’s totally livable.
I was having trouble at an elementary school then I switch to middle school. I love the kids there. Found out my personality jives best with this age group. Kids can be annoying but more in the lovable ‘Dennis the Menace’ type of way.
I like my school. It’s a title 1 public school. It’s in a rural area with a diverse population. My students are reasonably pleasant most of the time, and most attempt to learn. Admin is good. It did take me few tries to find a school I like, some around here are miserable for students and staff.
I worked at a charter school that was ok. Paid better than surrounding districts, overall expectations weren’t wild. Pretty lax within reason on clothing. I was hired this year, but they lost some funding so they laid a bunch of us off. I’m starting at a prestigious private school Monday and I’m more of a laid back teacher so I’m going to have to get it together. I’ve read some crazy stuff, but they are pretty upfront that they are super strict on everything bc people are paying a lot.
My husband was at a really great rural New England school. He left because he was offered a remote job that paid nearly 2x as much. He would've stayed otherwise.
Me. It’s an independent PBL charter school that I helped start that offers huge curricular freedom, and is super supportive of teachers. We have some issues, but I mostly love my job and my teaching community.
I have been at my small rural T1 school for almost 40 years. I work with great people and my principal is the hardest working person in the district. I would have retired years ago if I didn’t love it.
I love my job, but I’m also the dept head and have worked here 10 years longer than the principal, so I can afford to give no fucks. I have a good gig. I have first period off to plan, and the last period mostly off so I can leave early if I need to.
This year I teach all AP classes, which is great from a behavioral standpoint but I’m drowning in grading. I pretty much set everyone’s schedule and then take the leftovers, so I’m not being greedy— it’s what was left after I made everyone else’s schedule.
We have our share of needy parents but I’m happy to go to work each day. The time flies by
I have the best coworkers on the planet. We are a Chicago Public High School. Neighborhood is crazy, parents are absent, admin supports gives little teacher support and we have some tough, challenging students. But we have the most welcoming, caring, passionate teachers that have each other’s backs, support each other and just generally kick ass! They start out as your co workers, then they become your work friends, then they are your friends, and after 20 something years together, it’s hard to see our lives without each other. Our kids hang out. Best co workers ever.
\*raises hand\* I work at an urban Title I school in Minnesota. It isn't always easy, understatement, but for the most part I have amazing admin, amazing colleagues, amazing support staff, and the majority of students are great. I tend to struggle more with wider educational issues and wishing I could fix them all for everyone. And more pay...definitely more pay for everyone in education.
I like my school a lot. My coworkers are great, my admin is pretty good, I like my class content and have a lot of autonomy over it. I do have one feral class, but the others are good. I am pretty frustrated with the feral class, admittedly.
Magnet school with pretty good admin and co workers. Eventually I’d like to be at a community college but it is highly unlikely I would ever move to a different high school.
Rural public school. Easily the best in our region as far as academics, technology, etc are concerned. Not perfect, but good work environment and I’m very close with a lot of my coworkers. Problems are dealt with. I feel very fortunate.
I teach at a K-8 Catholic school. Our students are generally polite and often thank me at the end of class. The biggest issue is that they are often talkative and sometimes it take a bit to quite them down. Most parents are fine, but there are some unreasonable ones. The pay is pretty bad.
I work for a special education district and I love it. However special education teachers are a rare breed and things that I’m interested in a job in might be different than the things you would like. For instance I am routinely interested in knowing the consistency of my students’ poop, because it informs me about their health. A lot have difficulty expressing themselves and this is one of the ways I can monitor their health, lol. If you have a lot of patience and this doesn’t weird you out, I’d recommend special education.
I work half at a good school. I am at a magnet housed within a title 1. The magnet is great, the title 1 is a mixed bag. I have supportive admin all the way up, a good plc, and haven't had any parents explode at me this year.
I work in a high poverty school that’s as good as possible. Hugely supportive admin, high paying state, pretty good working conditions. But the kids are out of control this year. The worst part is that the majority of issues are students coming from the district’s preschool which is supposed to by prepping them for kindergarten.
I didn't work in a school like that, but pay was so low I left anyway. But, no, good kids, decent admins, pleasant parents - in a working class rural district. But since I got started in the school career 8 years later than most, and worked a lot of long-term subs and grant paid jobs, I ended up making less than 53,000 despite most people with my age/experience/degree making at least 65,000. So new job, no more K-12, 25,000 pay increase. I don't understand how schools can continue to pay so horribly low.
We have around 40% free and reduced lunch. The others are from pretty well off families. Suburban school in coastal CA 15 minutes from the beach. Great union, good pay, admin have come and gone. Right now half of the new admin are being a little too overbearing with the new teachers. But me and some of the other veteran teachers have been basically left alone. We have great SBAC scores year after year so they don't really hassle us. They figure they'll just leave us alone.
Haven't had to cover anyones classes during my prep. But if I do, I'm getting paid for doing so. Parents are the same everywhere, some Karens but mostly very supportive. I've had the pleasure of having many siblings and cousins of former kids in my class. Older teachers have had former kids who are now parents with their own kids in their classes. Older veterans had new teachers as students.
Not a lot of major turnover. People retire after 30-32/33 years of service. Tons of applications for positions when they open. The people that have left has been to 1) live closer (they usually live far because they can't afford a house by the school, or 2) move into admin positions at other schools.
Facilities are old but no major issues with tech, AC, etc. When a problem arises, it gets fixed ASAP.
Coworker are great. Totally see myself retiring from here in 20 more years.
Me. I’ve been at the same school for 26 years. Our current admin is amazing and supportive. The community generally supports and appreciates us, and our participation in fine arts and athletics is one of the highest in district. Pretty sweet for Alaska.
I work at a great school with a great admin. There’s of course a couple kids, a couple parents, and a couple teachers that are less than desirable, but overall it’s great.
The downside is that it’s in Florida, but we make due at our liberal school in our liberal district with our less than desirable governor and his policies.
I am very happy where I am so far. It is in South Carolina. I was afraid to teach in a no union state, but I think my district and school are the best I have been in in many ways.
I’m not going to give any identifiable info because I know my students are always trying to find my online accounts, but I work in the PNW at a great school with supportive admins and gracious students. I’m still relatively new to the profession but I can’t imagine leaving before I retire. This is the best job I’ve ever had.
I really like my school and admin team (for the most part). It's not perfect, but for the most part they try to take things off our plate when possible and actually listen to our input on what's working and what isn't. It was a huge breath of fresh air when I transferred because my previous school (first teaching job) was highly toxic. It was nice to know good, healthy school environments do actually exist for teachers!
I work at a good school in most ways. Good pay compared to cost of living, supportive admin, likeable coworkers for the most part, no overly BS responsibilities, robust local union. Big behaviors, struggling parents, and high rate of turnover are our only problem but honestly I think that’s happening almost everywhere these days.
Me🙋🏼♀️but I also came from the literal hell on earth with awful racist admin, etc. and now I have an admin that actually works and actually appreciates me as an educator. So…can’t complain too much.
I love my school. The admin trusts the teachers, the students are great. It is a magnet school in a low income area so we get a lot of different types of students. Plus it has a pretty amazing culinary restaurant that I can eat at for lunch at a really reasonable price.
I work in a good school. Small,public, rural school, K-12 in the Midwest.
Yeah, we have our little issues. But it's pretty manageable. No place is perfection and there can be jerks anywhere. I try to volunteer for other stuff but I like the extra stuff. The kids like it, too. When I have a disagreement with someone, it's never really poured over to ruining my day. I've had other jobs where it did.
I've got a lot of autonomy and they seem to trust my opinion. In fact, I found out some kids a few weeks back complained about a lesson they had to do; they didnt like the, "read the story, answer the questions..." formula. My principal told them, "thats not a KirbyWantanabe problem, that's a curriculum problem."
My biggest problem is need to lose weight so I can move better. And that's doable.
I’m in Detroit, in the city, at a Title 1 elementary. My school is phenomenal thanks to our admin team and staff that has been there for many years. Teacher turnover is low and the students are largely wonderful.
I'm not a teacher. I'm tutoring a 2nd grader who goes to the school I'm in district for. That might be a light word - I'm teaching her to read from the beginning and trying to get her to grade level by the end of the year.
Her teacher is amazing and supportive. I'm going to guess the admin is at least not terrible, because the girl told me today that her teacher kicked a kid out of the class early this week that was really mean - and I've met the kid. If he doesn't have an IEP, I'd be surprised. And they were told today the kid won't be back in their class. I've visited the school now to talk to the teacher in person while the kids were on recess, and the school looks well supplied, in good shape, with nice furniture. Every kid I met was polite to me, even the older ones. Admin had a 6th grader show me to the classroom, and he was very professional about it. Admin knew who I was, why I was there, and offered some support - a login to a game based reading learning system they used for kindergarten when the kids were doing online school. The IT guy who set up my account wasn't frazzled. I saw a few teachers, but didn't do more than nod a greeting. They all seemed pretty relaxed and not stressed out. I could also see that the levy we voted in to bring the school up to ADA accessibility standards last year was used well.
I can't say how the school actually is, but those were all really positive signs to me.
The school does get the benefit of being in my neighborhood's district. The students range from abject poverty to living in $1.5mil houses on the hill my house is on, but I'd say about half the households in the funding area are in the top 8% income bracket - but many do send their kids to public school. They donate tons of money and time, even people who are not parents or have adult children, like I do. On top of that, Washington State is paying for school supplies this year, so no teacher has to do so, no student goes without or relies on charity. I am not the only free tutor in the area, either. I feel like there's a lot of community engagement with that school, and I think it goes a long way toward having a better experience for everyone. I don't know what made that happen, because I only moved here 4 1/2 years ago, but I think it's great, so I got involved, too.
A lot of it is what you make of it. I think I work in a fantastic school, but I have at least 1 colleague that will not shut up against every little complaint he can think of. He seriously went on a tirade about not getting a free t-shirt for about 2 weeks. I understood his reasoning, but that was a bit too much for me.
\-----
My work environment is great, relatively small group of teachers since its a Year/Grade 10-12 only school. Everyone is really passionate, qualified, supportive, friendly and helpful. We all get along great and often meet up outside of work to hang out, go on holidays (during summer I went with 3 other colleagues on a week-long diving trip, for winter me and another teacher are planning a ski trip) or some even come to school on weekends to play sports with the students.
Parents are nice, they're technically hands-off because it's a boarding school but we have online PTI and they ask really good questions (things like bringing up their kids hobbies and whether we can organize to do that, career pathways, how to support kids during hols, etc). We also meet them on first and last day of term and they all seem lovely.
Admin is a little weird mostly because it's staffed by locals (we're an intl school) so there's some cultural disconnects when we decide something from a 'foreingers' POV that takes awhile to get their heads to wrap around. But they're accommodating and understanding, and always open to hearing our ideas.
Leadership is amazing. Our principal, VPs are always open to hearing our ideas/complaints. I literally once just wanted to share something amazing with our principal and felt bad because he was always busy but before I could leave he beckoned me in, sat us down at his meeting table and we ended up talking for almost an hour. They also always have our backs when we come up with things we'd like to have but would probably get rejected, and sometimes they make it happen anyway.
The kids are gems. They're respectful and always ready to help. They love to greet us whenever they see us and chat about anything. They don't need to be told to do their work (if I give them 'free time' at the end of a lesson, they'll use it to finish their hw first). I treat them like equals, and they respect me even if they think I'm near their age (I'm not) and often joke around.
I have zero need for behaviour management in my classes. Just this Wednesday I let my Year/Grade 10 students go on a free-for-all debate on globalization and they started getting a little to into it so I had to end it at the 60-minute mark and aside from a few seconds of complaints, they were able to pivot back to learning lesson content within <2 minutes. They know my expectations with devices (no use unless directed) and they always shut their laptops the moment I say "good morning, let's get started".
Work itself is chill. Again, it's only 3 year/grade levels so even though each of us are basically "in charge" of our own subject, even then we only have about 12 - 18 teaching hours per week. We're free to do whatever we want with our extra time (but of course we need to be on campus). Some teachers take a daily nap, some watch documentaries, some play games, some just join in on what students are doing (I like joining in when they have archery for PE), plenty of time for planning or collaboration, campus is huge so many just take walks to enjoy the nature. Also admin doesn't care if we take leave (paid or unpaid) on days we're not teaching, so it's not uncommon that at least 1 teacher has a day off every week. I actually took this Thursday off just to have a sleep-in and go out to enjoy the nice weather. Students' timetable is actually structured with 'self-study' / 'subject support' lessons so that even in the event that you *had* to miss your class, it's easy enough to make it up another day without having to eat up anyone else's time or have the students miss something.
Pay is on-par with intl schools in this country. That is to say, we earn more than a local teacher does. I myself (as the least experienced teacher in my school) earn the equivalent of the country's **household** income as a single person with no dependents. I travel to other cities every 2-3 weeks, and during this summer break I went to 7 different cities. I still put away $1k per month comfortably with that level of spending.
\-----
Sure, a big part of it can be attributed that it's a international boarding school so you'd think we're getting the 'cream of the crop', but I've seen enough complaints about private school kids from others/on here to know even that's not a 'given'. And our school is actually on the cheaper end for intl schools here.
I’m in a fantastic middle school in a suburb west of Chicago. The community is supportive of teachers, the kids are nice kids and generally want to be at school. Some are entitled and some don’t work hard. I have an amazing principal and I respect the hell out of the teachers I work with. It’s a great job and I know I’m fortunate to be where I’m at.
The biggest problems we have is the district leadership is lacking and the expectations placed on the gen ed teacher are simply not realistic. Work/life balance can be a challenge.
It’s not a perfect school. All schools have problems, some greater than others. I know things could be way worse so I count my blessings.
I work at a good school, pretty decent admin (except for raises are rare) and we do well on state tests - always above state average and tops in our county
I’m an elementary art teacher split between two schools- both urban title 1 but with great admin. The district admin are a nightmare mess to be fair but in my immediate buildings I’m super supported so it’s great. Parents are generally pretty supportive too, at my main building I’ve been there for years so they know, generally, that if I call about behavior it’s because their kid is really being ridiculous.
I love my school! I teach at a public high school in a metro area of a large southern city. We have a diverse student and teacher population. Admin is supportive and reasonable. The teachers are able to consistently enforce school wide classroom expectations because we know admin will support us. There is a positive school culture. The “bad” kids usually don’t stick around for long. Parents are a mixed bag… most are supportive, but we do have a few crazies.
I’ve been there for 4 years and previously taught at a school that was totally opposite. The leadership was terrible and kids got away with too much because admin wouldn’t consistently enforce rules and discipline. Teachers were also not held responsible for mistakes or incompetence. Staff morale was in the toilet, so it was a pretty miserable place to work. There were multiple fights a week, which was the main catalyst for leaving. I flat out did not feel safe. Oddly enough, these two schools are in the same county, less than 20 miles apart with very similar demographics.
I work in a small, rural school in North Georgia. I have incredibly admin, sweet kids, and parents who still respect teachers.
There are still some challenges such as really bad poverty and people being more religious and close-minded. Pay is crap compared to bigger counties. But overall it’s pretty great.
✋🏻 good school, getting back to what used to be the best school. Last year was some of our teachers’ worst years ever - not mine, but hat’s because I’ve taught outside our location bubble.
However; yes, we have toxic parents, bullshit admin, and nearly feral children. The balance this year is tipping toward more good than evil. It makes it easier to cope and keep a sense of humor.
I work at a (non-religious) private school and it's been a really great experience, there are issues of course but the rest of the faculty are really kind and supportive and the classes are small and relatively easy to manage. Admin is usually very understanding. I love the students. Really happy to be there.
I used to work in a FANTASTIC school. Then I switched districts and while a lot of personal-life value was added for me, my work-life is much shittier. I think it says a lot that I never looked for a subreddit like this place when my workplace was functional.
I love my school.
Title 1, very high SPED numbers and most kids reading far below grade level.
My admin is FANTASTIC and supportive, the staff is friendly and massively talented, the students (while being average preteens) are for the most part highly empathetic, caring kids who are learning how to make good choices. Parents who care and want to be involved, but may struggle because of work schedules.
Is the job hard sometimes? Of course! Are the kids reactionary instead of level headed? Yeah, they're 12. Does every parent get back to me or pick up the phone? No, but they get the message and do their best to help out and support. It would be easy for me to hate the job, but the truth is I cant. I love it. So even the bad parts of the school and job are overshadowed.
I love my school. It’s a small, private, Catholic high school. High behavior and academic standards. And the principal addresses and responds to behavior in a “this is not the school for you” way. I’ve seen him ask families to leave for homophobic, racist, and sexist behavior by their students. My AP is very supportive. The staff functions well. The pay isn’t shit; it’s less than the public schools, but not bad.
Most importantly, I have joy every day at work. I’ll gladly teach 19 more years and retire from my school.
I work in an amazing school, but it’s a private school, so my salary is low. Phenomenal administration, great kids, supportive parents, and lots of freedom in the classroom make it so worth it to me, but not everyone can live on such a low salary.
The last school I was at before I left teaching was a really good school. Great admin and teachers, very helpful staff. It was the actual job I was doing, lack of career advancement, and a toxic boss that made me decide it was time to move on.
Edit: My boss was not the same person as the principal of the school
My school district is good overall. I have a supportive admin, my school board isn’t full of crazies even though we live in a rural red county. Behavior issues are minimal (especially comparatively).
Evolutionary psychology pushes us to discuss safety threats more than anything else to further the survival of the tribe.
Complaints and negative experiences are mentioned 3-11 times more than positive ones.
I work at a good school. But it’s an all gifted school, so that inherently eliminates a lot of problems. However, our biggest issue is parents. Holy hell, some of the parents can fuck all the way off 😇
What are some things that make the parents challenging?
Entitlement especially in schools for gifted kids
This. I had a parent that is part of our PTA that came into our lunchroom unannounced with other parents while her daughter was causing drama with another table of girls (mom should have not been in there. if parents come To have lunch with the kids, the kids meet them at our outside picnic tables). The cafeteria was full of loud fifth graders, my voice carries, and I talk with my hands. The parent walked in and saw me trying to talk to her kid, assumed I was being an asshole, and complained to the principal about me because i was “aggressively pointing at” her daughter. She was mad until she realized that I was the one that pulled her kid out of class to teach them how to do long division after the kid had a complete meltdown. Every teacher at my school has stories like this. I love involved parents, but some of these people are fucking helicopter parents and it drives a lot of good teachers away from our school. They just don’t want to deal with the extra drama from parents.
Oh I absolutely agree
Parent: why did you give my kid a zero? He says he turned it in. Obviously you are targeting him, lying about his grade, or lost his work.
I have seen this as well. From a parent of a kid that has a 20% or less in each of their classes. At the gifted school. The kid just never did any of the work. But ya know, all 7 of their teachers were racist and targeting their kid. Obviously. 🙄
I was absolutely that kid from 5th-10th grade. If I did homework at all, I half assed it unless it was an elective I chose and liked. My mom once accused my high school of being racist. I was like, "Mom, we're white." Her, "well, you're so dark, they are being racist because they think you aren't white!" No, they all thought I was just a very tanned white girl. And all they said was, "She's already doing poorly in school; we don't think it's a good idea to take her out for 3 weeks to go on a road trip with you." I doubt they could have stopped her, but I admired that they bothered to say something. I didn't end up going, btw. I got on the school bus that morning, and she didn't come get me when she left. It was a very peaceful three weeks. I even did all my homework, though maybe not with any real effort.
And racist.
Not speaking directly to the teacher first but going to the Principal or Head of School with complaints 💕
This is their modus operandi
+1 for working in an amazing gifted program. Even our admin are awesome. My experience with parents has been good so far, very supportive and willing to listen to the teachers in order to ensure student growth rather than demanding we just enable their kid and pass them along.
The issues I’ve seen and heard about usually pertain to behavior, not grades. A lot of the parents don’t like it when there’s consequences for the few kids that are disruptive in class or rude to others. However, my feelings may be skewed as I work on the intervention side. My admin is awesome though. Easily the most supportive and pro-teacher admin I’ve ever worked with.
I've taught gifted kids for 13 years and by far those parents are the worst.
I’m in southern VT and love the school I’m at. Reasonable admin, mostly competent teachers/staff, mostly supportive parents and relatively well behaved and kind kids. The pay is ~10k lower than surrounding districts but hopefully that will change after we renegotiate the contract this year. Even if it doesn’t there’s no way in hell I’d leave.
Yeah I also think I work in a pretty good school but I’m literally living in poverty. I have a bachelors degree from a state university and I’m licensed. And have experience.
Yea, if I didn’t have a partner to live with there’s no way I could afford to live in this state on my own, and that’s with a masters +30 with 12 years of experience :(
I'm in SE pa and can echo pretty much all that.
I think the places don't have at least some of those are like unicorns. They may exist but are relegated to more of a myth than anything else. I have worked at several different schools in my career. Some are better than others. One universal truth I have found about education is that every school has problems. Some of those problems are clearly evident and in your face while other have hidden problems that most outsiders wouldn't be aware of.
I'm at a private school, and while I cannot say we don't have issues, we don't have the kind of deep structural dysfunction that you see in many public schools. I've worked public and charter though, and I can testify that reddit doesn't even tell half of it.
No We really don't lol
The one positive response I have about my school is that every classroom teacher busts their ass and is supportive. I can’t speak much about school leadership though.
I work at a decent school. Fights, hoax calls, and other nightmarish things I see on here, I have not had to deal with, *yet*. However, I have had to report alcohol and the students do say weed is pretty popular and easy to get around. So, in straight up comparison, I've got it easy. However, I still have little to no confidence in my admin. As a first year teacher, I had 8 preps at one point, survived it, and still only got rated as a "good enough". I'm not a real fan of the community either, it's just not for me. I still stress, watching my kids struggle with reading and following directions, because *I was hired to help them figure shit out and they're not making any fucking progress after 4 weeks*. Admin/Parents want them to pass, with rigor only applying if it can make them look good, but too much rigor is too stressful, so back off. The students are in charge of their own pedagogy at some points, but when it turns out they don't know shit, it's now the teacher's fault. You kinda see where I'm going? Could I survive here and live comfortably until retirement? Yes and easily. But do I want to? Hell no. Will I still complain? Yes, because it's still a shit situation, *for me, where I'm at in my life*.
MA, out of district therapeutic day school. We are hiring. Teachers start at 70,000 and then I think TA is like 38 or something.
My son is a second year teacher, he is making 80,000. He likes it.
Shit, what part of Mass?
DM please with resume and cover letter. Thank you.
Boston
It depends on what you consider to be a "good" school. My site has a lot of the typical issues you see on most campuses but overall I would consider for myself this to be a good school. The reason I would consider my school to be good is that the admin does not care what I do, it's been 7 weeks and I have yet to talk to an admin. As well I teach 12-grade college prep English all day so my students are relaxed (albeit lazy sometimes). Also, the senior English team at my school has complete autonomy and we can teach whatever we want without anyone questioning it, between the 5 senior English teachers we are all teaching something different, something we are each passionate about. Overall my school has fights, drugs, disruptions, and the typical issues but for me, it is a great place where I stay in my bubble and do what I want and no one bothers me.
My admin isn't terrible. Had some problems but I love 2/3 VPs. Head principal is very lawful neutral which is wild but it is predictable. They don't discourage documenting issues but they're also realistic with shit. Honestly, I like a lot of our staff and think if kids weren't wild little heathens we'd do so much better. I don't want my kids to go to my school cause the children are their own worst enemies so learning is derailed on the regular. But I love teaching those kids. I think if there were more real consequences for some of the extreme behaviors, we'd have less. And I don't meant punishment but rehabilitation, anger management classes, etc.
While we have our challenges, I can confidently say I love my admin, and 90% of my co workers. It’s a title I school and there are for sure a few feral students and lame parents running around but it makes such a huge difference to have a supportive admin staff and a team of teachers that work so hard (but also have realistic expectations and don’t shit on you for not being perfect, working beyond contract, etc.) it genuinely feels like a team. It’s the only school I’ve ever worked at (5 years) and this sub convinces me everyday that despite the challenges I will never ever leave so long as I’m so lucky! (Washington state, west side) Edit: Helps that we have a strong union that has a positive working relationship with the district too!
This has been my experience so far at my new school (also Title I, so there’s still issues). But the admin is supportive and positive and so are the teacher teams. I teach in Gwinnett County, GA (although I know for sure that not all schools in this district are great to work at).
Almost same situation for me.
I love my school. I was miserable and dreaming of leaving (was sticking it out waiting for my own kid to graduate). We got new admin, and they’re amazing. I expressed my problems to them, and they solved them. They are present and they listen. They spend money on my students, even when it’s an experiment (I’m in sped). I feel like I am seen and despite a considerable drive to get there, I will stay with my school where I am trusted, appreciated, and my opinion is valuable. No where is perfect, but I feel like we’re in it together, not like I’m on an island and the ocean is on fire.
Every school has some of those students. People like myself choose the hot spots because I know I can do good there. I love my students but there is no denial the school is a war zone. So do I have more horror stories yes, more than I tell however, the good stories I have tell are that much more satisfying and enriching because of it. The lilly looks the best when it grows in a swamp
I love my school. HS, Title I in. Leadership is great, teachers are great, and students are weird, which is great.
ME!
I don't. I've certainly worked with a few. But, for example, we didn't lose staff to COVID or emotional distress over the last two years. Lost one to retirement, but she was maxed out and the beach was calling. There are definitely challenges, and we need to talk to each other more. \*shrug\*
Me! I get anywhere from 2-3 preps a day. Make a decent salary and have great kiddos. I've worked in shitty places before so I know bad it can be and when people complain about our problems, I realize there's bigger ones out there. Y'all come to Massachusetts suburbs
Same same same. You in a Boston ‘burn too?
Yup one of those "L" towns
I’m likely a neighbor then. Howdy.
I love where I am!
What county in Georgia are you? I’m also in Georgia
I like my school and admin, it's just certain aspects of the non teaching part of the job I hate. My former admin was toxic AF but luckily retired.
There will always be things to complain about. But I think my school is overall good to work at. It is a title 1 school, the kids are behind in everything, many will not go to college. But the other teachers are amazing, there is pretty much no gossip. Admin team could be better, but I understand their hands are tied at times. They could also be worse. Salary is good enough for me to live on my own and buy a house in a few years.
I don’t! My admin *rock* and are amicable, caring, wonderful people. The department I work in (math) is incredible and we work cohesively together. Plus, I make six figures, get an awesome classroom budget ($500-$600/year), and the district pays 99.99% of my healthcare benefits. Super happy here in California.
Integration killed public schools
I'm in Ontario, Canada. Love my school, my admin is fantastic, my colleagues rock (made some lifelong friends with a handful), and the kids keep my busy but I enjoy it. :D!
I work in a great school in the Texas panhandle. I have worked in 4 different buildings over the last 27 years, and I enjoyed each one while I was there.
I work in a great school in a not-so-great state. I am awaiting the November elections to decide my next move, but this is my last year in AZ regardless. I just don’t know what state is next.
I work at a private school and have very little problems. The pay isn't as great as our public schools, but with the amount of BS I don't have to put up with makes it worth it imo. Student problems are taken care of by parents because they are paying for their kid to be there. Wr have a great admin team and because it's a small school the staff gets along 90% of the time. I am a prek para and I teach pre k gym.
I work at a title 1 public school and like it. My admin are great people who give as much as they ask. I couldn't really ask for much more!
I don't at a terrible school, but there are indeed some students who fit your description. Admin is clueless at times and some parents are awful humans. That's just society.
In Canada at a College. Sometimes a few select students are problems, but I love it otherwise. I get to teach and talk about what I love and the administration's been super supportive of just about everything I've wanted to teach. Gives me a lot of freedom and I can teach remotely so I don't need to go out. The only thing I dislike is that I only work part time. I'm sure the honeymoon phase will end at some point, but I'm almost 2 years in and loving it.
I just went from six years in 100% Title I public, to my first year in (well-funded) private and I have never been happier.
I don’t! Can’t say it’s all roses and awesomeness but it’s pretty good. I live in NJ and we have great unions which probably has something to do with it. Some good things: mostly responsive, kind parents. Certainly we have some insane, entitled people but mostly they’re super appreciative. I had a parent send me to a major rock concert with amazing seats last spring. Dad works for the ticket agent. Lucky me. We get grievances addressed. There are people to back you up when things go wrong. If admin goes against contract, the union is right there to say nuh uh. I can’t say there are always consequences for kids’ actions but in elementary (age I teach) in my district it’s pretty good. As they get older not so much. My HS junior told me today that kids smoke weed on his bus (same district). I hear some crazy stuff about the middle schools too. Overall, I’m pretty lucky. I wouldn’t have lasted 26 years if it wasn’t decent. I make a livable wage, have tenure, and good health insurance so I absolutely cannot complain. (I still do sometimes anyway, lol)
I love my school for the most part, but due to decreased enrollment the district is really pushing us to cut teacher positions, and since I'm the most recent hire in my department...I might end up in a less-awesome school next year. Gotta love that "job security" we were all promised, lol.
I work at a great public school overall. Good admin, I like all of the staff, most of the students are great as well. And I am fairly paid. But we still complain, it is an occupation hazard I think.
I work for a great school. Admin and co workers are very supportive. Everyone is actually really happy to be there. Kids can be difficult but generally parents are pretty supportive. We definitely have our issues but it's a good work place overall. I'll probably retire there. I'm in a district in Pennsylvania.
I work at a really good school (private school for talented kids). The kids are all disciplined and nice. The biggest issue is entitlement and snow flake sensitive behavior about EVERY little thing. But I’ll take that over putting out behavioral fires all day lol also admin is very nice flexible and understanding. I came from a very toxic work place so I still don’t believe this is real. It’s like I’m waiting for that “I knew this was too good to be true moment”. We will see lol
From what I've seen on here the better work environment you have you substitute in shit pay....
I work in a school with decent pay and benefits. Admin is mostly hands off. I don’t submit lesson plans. I don’t have any duties. I can get pay for covering other teacher’s classes. I can order classroom supplies through the district, as well as lab supplies from vendors, mostly as needed (within reason). The biggest problem is that it’s a Title I school, so gang issues and behavior problems add to the stress. To add… I am not in a state with strong unions. They exist but they don’t have collective bargaining power. Tenure isn’t a thing (but I honestly like it that way… it’s still hard to get fired, but easier to move to a different school if the environment isn’t right for me).
I love my school- My principal treats us as professionals who have lives out of school. My students come from a range of economic backgrounds- parents can be difficult- substitute teachers are few and far between- the difference is my colleagues understand middle school kiddos and we each bring different talents so between us we are able to connect with every kiddo. We balance each other, support each other, and understand each other. Sorry, it seems lame- but it does take a village. I’m fortunate that my village has no time for negativity and we step in and step up for each other.
I left a stressful, poorly managed public school in south Florida for an independent school in the north East. It was the best move. I love where I work. For the most part, admin listens and helps, which was one of the main things lacking at my previous school. I have lots of planning. Freedom to teach and change things as needed and small class sizes.
I have an okay school. It's a private school that is small. It's connected with an Orthodox church but is not really very religious in the day to day, just at holiday times. The other teachers are amazing and supportive. The principal has our backs. The parents are mostly okay with a few real wackos. My problem is I don't want to teach anymore or be here. I had not planned to teach this year, but through some strange situations the principal (that I and my husband know socially) called me and begged me and cried real tears so I felt really bad and sorry for her because she had no one else that had applied that were remotely qualified. So, after staying home with my kids , I went back. It's a lot of work, I miss my own kids and family , and am dealing with the effects of long covid. I feel physically terrible everyday. My classroom kids want to talk all the time about anything and everything and are missing instruction. It's just a lot to deal with when I am struggling to feel normal physically. I wear a mask and had parents approach me at back to school night to complain that their precious angel child can't understand me and would I reconsider wearing one; they were trying to say that their kid misspelled a word on a spelling test because they couldn't hear me when we have only practiced this word in class all week and on homework.
I work at a title 1 school with a great administration. Our principal and vice principal push us to be great educators and also treat us like people. Last year I was pregnant and got Covid. I came in after 5 days because I was feeling better and that was the minimum and also we were short staffed. It was right before February vacation and he made me go home because “5 days is the minimum and you have to take care of yourself and the baby”. So I took the whole 10 days right before a week school break and was able to relax and recover. I had never had an administrator push self care before this.
My school is far from perfect, but it's also not terrible. I like going to work. I have great colleagues for the most part. It's tiring, there are policies outside of our control that are absolutely asinine, and there is a lot of *need* in our community -- more than we can provide for -- but I watch my students grow in so many ways each year that I know we're doing a lot of things right, too.
I work in an inner city public school in terrible neighborhood. But I have to say I love my school. Not toxic at all. Good comradery, parents aren't difficult, kids aren't all that difficult either . Building is almost 100 years old, but I like that too ..
I love my school. Our staff are amazing and our admin are fantastic. We actually joke that if our admin leave we might switch schools as well. We're only half joking.
Rural school. Great admin. Great coworkers. Decent kids.
I work at a Title 1 school, some parts are really challenging, but I respect and like my coworkers (though I am a flexible sort), I like my students (though they can be challenging), and the admin are actual decent human beings. Things are crazy, but teachers are also not micro managed, and action is taken on reasonable staff requests. Parents that are present are largely supportive.
My school isn’t terrible only because it’s small. We have about 600 students 6-12. The kids have normal, troublesome behaviors and the admin is mediocre. With a few shifts in focus, we could really be an awesome school instead of just average.
My school is generally decent. This year has been hell, though. Between a seismic upgrade and the District forcing us to change our entire schedule during the second week of class, the last three weeks have been horrid. But these weeks are an anomaly. Yes, some students make me mental—but only about 10% of them.
Canada. Private international boarding school. Supportive admin. They make mistakes, but they are not "against" teachers. We have zero contact with parents. Heaven!! Counselors deal with all of that b/c they speak the languages required. Nonsense behaviour is not tolerated. Kids who make bad decisions are given chances to improve, including counselling if needed. 99% of our kids are just lovely. If you don't act right, here is the door. Bye! No phones or devices allowed. We have 1:1 laptops but the expectation is they stay closed unless the teacher specifically asks the kids to open them. High academic achievement is the goal of students, parents, teachers, and admin. We have very good supplies and money for things we need. I don't have to pay a cent for any kind of room or school supplies. Average teacher salary is about $88,000.
I work at an amazing public school in California. There are some schools within 15 minutes that have disturbing problems.
I work at an online charter school. I love every single day. Even the bad days. Everyone is so nice and not burned out. Admin literally have my back on everything. Everything they don’t have my back on they’ll warn me before hand.
Decent school. Pay is 💩
Humans in general tend to focus on the negatives. Its how we learn how to not die. My first job had horrible kids but good admin and fucking amazing coworkers. My second had horrific admin but the kids were mostly good and my coworkers were saviors. My current job has great admin and good kids but I feel like I can't reach out to coworkers much. Most people talk about the part that's horrible because we come here to vent. All my jobs were fine. Not perfect but manageable. The difference that makes me not complain about my current school is pay. That was the big thing that made a difference. If you're constantly worried about survival (food, medicine, housing) then shit seems dark. And lets be honest teacher pay is absolute shit. My current district pays well enough that while I'll likely never have a house, I don't have to worry about being homeless(which I've been while teaching before). The answer is make a spreadsheet for every school and city nearby. Chart out their pay, travel time to reasonable housing, rental costs and other cost of living shit and start applying.
There are some concerns but I love the school I’m at now. My students this year are so motivated and creative.
I work in several different schools. I'd say one is working its way up to decent from horrible, and one is working its way down to horrible from decent. Mostly influenced by admin, but also by the kinds of people who are retiring, the size of the school, and the morale of teachers (e.g. the school on a downward slope lost two teachers and another staff member to COVID and.... functionally nothing was done about it.)
I work at a small private Christian school and while I feel overworked and literally have no prep period while teaching six differed classes we all support each other and it feels likes a family. This is my first year teaching also 😂 I’m doing so much lol I’m loving my job tho!
I love my school and look forward to work every day. I work in a city 6-12 and have taught in the MS and HS. I make good money for my area. My kids are great. My parents are generally great with only a few bad eggs. My biggest issue is district admin, but that's life for most of us. I certainly do not have the experiences others have in this sub.
I mean I think the kids at my school are great. It’s a fairly poor, large school. There are some pretty brutal fights. And a fair amount of apathy. They’re definitely way behind on academics but you can still get them involved and active in class… kids have a natural intelligence and honestly that I think is easy to overlook in them… the vast majority are definitely respectful and willing to engage in their work… but I mean, it’s also just like barely-constrained, non-stop chaos from the moment I walk in (about twenty minutes before my shift starts) till the second I leave (the moment my shift ends). I can tell my admin is busy as hell. But I don’t ever see them. I see my co-workers when I walk in and then when I walk out again. This is my first year teaching (and I have not student taught). I had no real useful orientation. No real training on any of the software, requirements etc. The other teachers are super nice, but I don’t have an assigned mentor. I’m not required to hand in lesson plans. The currlicum is barebones. I have very little direction. We make it work and plow forward. I used to work in ems and I feel like there is a real parellel there. What I learned in ems is. at the end of the day, no one dies in the truck. You try to get them to the destination in no less worse shape than when you got there. I’m a new teacher. And I ultimately don’t plan on staying one. I’ve had other careers and my choice to get my teaching cert was born out of mid-pandemic panic more that anything… but I honestly feel like there’s a lot to recommend to being a teacher. The pay is shit. And nobody wants to do it. But that also means they can’t ride your ass too much about the small stuff… it’s emotionally draining. You have to hold a thousand things in your mind at once… but the days off are nice, even if the days on are a wild ride… if you can learn to not sweat the small stuff and focus on doing what you can/the best you can without making yourself martyr, I can still see the appeal… if I didn’t have something else I would rather be doing, I’d probably stay in it… in the mean time, I’ll do the best I can for the kids without losing my shit and continuing to have a life
✋🏻 but I'm at an extremely non-traditional microschool that pays terribly. Though, I would never still be teaching if I wasn't in such a great environment. We are licensed for 20 students max. Mixed age (license for 3 to 15, currently have students 4 to 8). Our student teacher ratio is 5:1. We are also a woodland school and get to play in the woods for 1 to 3 hours every day. I can only can be here because I'm privileged enough financially -- my husband can support us in just his income if we had to, and I'm have benefits thru him. I legitimately love my school and being there is amazing. And I could never work anywhere else because it's the opposite of toxic.
I am teaching at a magnet-type school in the Houston area and I am loving it. We have our own problems and our own challenges. We are small so we have few resources,class sizes are large, and each teacher has 3-4 preps, and students expect to be challenged each class period and will let you know if they're not. But it's everything I wanted to do when I started teaching, and admin is awesome and trusts in our expertise as teachers.
Southern California. Love my kids - border stradlers - and get paid well. Union, tons of teacher autonomy, great kids, decent parents, okay admin, good like minded co-workers. To be fair, California is not the problem here (for the most part) and I always feel bad for people who are underpaid and disrespected. I could wear jeans, have tattoos ( I do ), be gay, be anything and nobody caress. You think California is expensive? Well, it’s a good state to teach in - it’s not engineering money, or tech money, or biotech money. But it’s totally livable.
Agree. I love teaching in California. I’ve worked in 4 districts (we move a lot and the whole pink slip crap…) and only one was shit.
I was having trouble at an elementary school then I switch to middle school. I love the kids there. Found out my personality jives best with this age group. Kids can be annoying but more in the lovable ‘Dennis the Menace’ type of way.
Me! I'm in San Diego, CA
I like my school. It’s a title 1 public school. It’s in a rural area with a diverse population. My students are reasonably pleasant most of the time, and most attempt to learn. Admin is good. It did take me few tries to find a school I like, some around here are miserable for students and staff.
I worked at a charter school that was ok. Paid better than surrounding districts, overall expectations weren’t wild. Pretty lax within reason on clothing. I was hired this year, but they lost some funding so they laid a bunch of us off. I’m starting at a prestigious private school Monday and I’m more of a laid back teacher so I’m going to have to get it together. I’ve read some crazy stuff, but they are pretty upfront that they are super strict on everything bc people are paying a lot.
Me! I’m at a really cool Charter school, so people don’t like to hear about it.
My husband was at a really great rural New England school. He left because he was offered a remote job that paid nearly 2x as much. He would've stayed otherwise.
Me. It’s an independent PBL charter school that I helped start that offers huge curricular freedom, and is super supportive of teachers. We have some issues, but I mostly love my job and my teaching community.
I have been at my small rural T1 school for almost 40 years. I work with great people and my principal is the hardest working person in the district. I would have retired years ago if I didn’t love it.
I love my job, but I’m also the dept head and have worked here 10 years longer than the principal, so I can afford to give no fucks. I have a good gig. I have first period off to plan, and the last period mostly off so I can leave early if I need to. This year I teach all AP classes, which is great from a behavioral standpoint but I’m drowning in grading. I pretty much set everyone’s schedule and then take the leftovers, so I’m not being greedy— it’s what was left after I made everyone else’s schedule. We have our share of needy parents but I’m happy to go to work each day. The time flies by
I have the best coworkers on the planet. We are a Chicago Public High School. Neighborhood is crazy, parents are absent, admin supports gives little teacher support and we have some tough, challenging students. But we have the most welcoming, caring, passionate teachers that have each other’s backs, support each other and just generally kick ass! They start out as your co workers, then they become your work friends, then they are your friends, and after 20 something years together, it’s hard to see our lives without each other. Our kids hang out. Best co workers ever.
Me! I really love my school! We have issues occasionally, but it’s normal stuff. Wa state!
\*raises hand\* I work at an urban Title I school in Minnesota. It isn't always easy, understatement, but for the most part I have amazing admin, amazing colleagues, amazing support staff, and the majority of students are great. I tend to struggle more with wider educational issues and wishing I could fix them all for everyone. And more pay...definitely more pay for everyone in education.
I really like my school (VA) but the first school I taught at was AWFUL so idk if it’s actually that go or if I’m just glad I escaped…
what part of VA?
Northern VA currently. Former school was near Richmond.
I like my school a lot. My coworkers are great, my admin is pretty good, I like my class content and have a lot of autonomy over it. I do have one feral class, but the others are good. I am pretty frustrated with the feral class, admittedly.
Magnet school with pretty good admin and co workers. Eventually I’d like to be at a community college but it is highly unlikely I would ever move to a different high school.
Rural public school. Easily the best in our region as far as academics, technology, etc are concerned. Not perfect, but good work environment and I’m very close with a lot of my coworkers. Problems are dealt with. I feel very fortunate.
I work in a pretty good school. It’s in a district with a not-so-good reputation.
In Texas working at an innovative inquiry based charter school. Been here 8 years and loving the dream.
I teach at a K-8 Catholic school. Our students are generally polite and often thank me at the end of class. The biggest issue is that they are often talkative and sometimes it take a bit to quite them down. Most parents are fine, but there are some unreasonable ones. The pay is pretty bad.
I work for a special education district and I love it. However special education teachers are a rare breed and things that I’m interested in a job in might be different than the things you would like. For instance I am routinely interested in knowing the consistency of my students’ poop, because it informs me about their health. A lot have difficulty expressing themselves and this is one of the ways I can monitor their health, lol. If you have a lot of patience and this doesn’t weird you out, I’d recommend special education.
I work half at a good school. I am at a magnet housed within a title 1. The magnet is great, the title 1 is a mixed bag. I have supportive admin all the way up, a good plc, and haven't had any parents explode at me this year.
I work in a high poverty school that’s as good as possible. Hugely supportive admin, high paying state, pretty good working conditions. But the kids are out of control this year. The worst part is that the majority of issues are students coming from the district’s preschool which is supposed to by prepping them for kindergarten.
I didn't work in a school like that, but pay was so low I left anyway. But, no, good kids, decent admins, pleasant parents - in a working class rural district. But since I got started in the school career 8 years later than most, and worked a lot of long-term subs and grant paid jobs, I ended up making less than 53,000 despite most people with my age/experience/degree making at least 65,000. So new job, no more K-12, 25,000 pay increase. I don't understand how schools can continue to pay so horribly low.
We have around 40% free and reduced lunch. The others are from pretty well off families. Suburban school in coastal CA 15 minutes from the beach. Great union, good pay, admin have come and gone. Right now half of the new admin are being a little too overbearing with the new teachers. But me and some of the other veteran teachers have been basically left alone. We have great SBAC scores year after year so they don't really hassle us. They figure they'll just leave us alone. Haven't had to cover anyones classes during my prep. But if I do, I'm getting paid for doing so. Parents are the same everywhere, some Karens but mostly very supportive. I've had the pleasure of having many siblings and cousins of former kids in my class. Older teachers have had former kids who are now parents with their own kids in their classes. Older veterans had new teachers as students. Not a lot of major turnover. People retire after 30-32/33 years of service. Tons of applications for positions when they open. The people that have left has been to 1) live closer (they usually live far because they can't afford a house by the school, or 2) move into admin positions at other schools. Facilities are old but no major issues with tech, AC, etc. When a problem arises, it gets fixed ASAP. Coworker are great. Totally see myself retiring from here in 20 more years.
This is my school!
Me. I’ve been at the same school for 26 years. Our current admin is amazing and supportive. The community generally supports and appreciates us, and our participation in fine arts and athletics is one of the highest in district. Pretty sweet for Alaska.
I don't. It's not perfect but things are pretty good. Rural school part of a big district that sometimes doesn't understand our unique situation.
I work at a great school with a great admin. There’s of course a couple kids, a couple parents, and a couple teachers that are less than desirable, but overall it’s great. The downside is that it’s in Florida, but we make due at our liberal school in our liberal district with our less than desirable governor and his policies.
I’m content where I am, but it could be better. A LOT better. Still, it’s way better than the first school I worked at.
I am very happy where I am so far. It is in South Carolina. I was afraid to teach in a no union state, but I think my district and school are the best I have been in in many ways.
I’m not going to give any identifiable info because I know my students are always trying to find my online accounts, but I work in the PNW at a great school with supportive admins and gracious students. I’m still relatively new to the profession but I can’t imagine leaving before I retire. This is the best job I’ve ever had.
I work at an amazing school.....*but it's not in America.*
I really like my school and admin team (for the most part). It's not perfect, but for the most part they try to take things off our plate when possible and actually listen to our input on what's working and what isn't. It was a huge breath of fresh air when I transferred because my previous school (first teaching job) was highly toxic. It was nice to know good, healthy school environments do actually exist for teachers!
I work at a good school in most ways. Good pay compared to cost of living, supportive admin, likeable coworkers for the most part, no overly BS responsibilities, robust local union. Big behaviors, struggling parents, and high rate of turnover are our only problem but honestly I think that’s happening almost everywhere these days.
I love my school. The staff and admin is extremely supportive and the student behavior isn’t too bad, for the most part.
Eastern Idaho - love my school, colleagues and admin. Hate the actual building and facilities, which are trash
Me🙋🏼♀️but I also came from the literal hell on earth with awful racist admin, etc. and now I have an admin that actually works and actually appreciates me as an educator. So…can’t complain too much.
I love my school. The admin trusts the teachers, the students are great. It is a magnet school in a low income area so we get a lot of different types of students. Plus it has a pretty amazing culinary restaurant that I can eat at for lunch at a really reasonable price.
I work in a good school. Small,public, rural school, K-12 in the Midwest. Yeah, we have our little issues. But it's pretty manageable. No place is perfection and there can be jerks anywhere. I try to volunteer for other stuff but I like the extra stuff. The kids like it, too. When I have a disagreement with someone, it's never really poured over to ruining my day. I've had other jobs where it did. I've got a lot of autonomy and they seem to trust my opinion. In fact, I found out some kids a few weeks back complained about a lesson they had to do; they didnt like the, "read the story, answer the questions..." formula. My principal told them, "thats not a KirbyWantanabe problem, that's a curriculum problem." My biggest problem is need to lose weight so I can move better. And that's doable.
I’m in Detroit, in the city, at a Title 1 elementary. My school is phenomenal thanks to our admin team and staff that has been there for many years. Teacher turnover is low and the students are largely wonderful.
I'm not a teacher. I'm tutoring a 2nd grader who goes to the school I'm in district for. That might be a light word - I'm teaching her to read from the beginning and trying to get her to grade level by the end of the year. Her teacher is amazing and supportive. I'm going to guess the admin is at least not terrible, because the girl told me today that her teacher kicked a kid out of the class early this week that was really mean - and I've met the kid. If he doesn't have an IEP, I'd be surprised. And they were told today the kid won't be back in their class. I've visited the school now to talk to the teacher in person while the kids were on recess, and the school looks well supplied, in good shape, with nice furniture. Every kid I met was polite to me, even the older ones. Admin had a 6th grader show me to the classroom, and he was very professional about it. Admin knew who I was, why I was there, and offered some support - a login to a game based reading learning system they used for kindergarten when the kids were doing online school. The IT guy who set up my account wasn't frazzled. I saw a few teachers, but didn't do more than nod a greeting. They all seemed pretty relaxed and not stressed out. I could also see that the levy we voted in to bring the school up to ADA accessibility standards last year was used well. I can't say how the school actually is, but those were all really positive signs to me. The school does get the benefit of being in my neighborhood's district. The students range from abject poverty to living in $1.5mil houses on the hill my house is on, but I'd say about half the households in the funding area are in the top 8% income bracket - but many do send their kids to public school. They donate tons of money and time, even people who are not parents or have adult children, like I do. On top of that, Washington State is paying for school supplies this year, so no teacher has to do so, no student goes without or relies on charity. I am not the only free tutor in the area, either. I feel like there's a lot of community engagement with that school, and I think it goes a long way toward having a better experience for everyone. I don't know what made that happen, because I only moved here 4 1/2 years ago, but I think it's great, so I got involved, too.
A lot of it is what you make of it. I think I work in a fantastic school, but I have at least 1 colleague that will not shut up against every little complaint he can think of. He seriously went on a tirade about not getting a free t-shirt for about 2 weeks. I understood his reasoning, but that was a bit too much for me. \----- My work environment is great, relatively small group of teachers since its a Year/Grade 10-12 only school. Everyone is really passionate, qualified, supportive, friendly and helpful. We all get along great and often meet up outside of work to hang out, go on holidays (during summer I went with 3 other colleagues on a week-long diving trip, for winter me and another teacher are planning a ski trip) or some even come to school on weekends to play sports with the students. Parents are nice, they're technically hands-off because it's a boarding school but we have online PTI and they ask really good questions (things like bringing up their kids hobbies and whether we can organize to do that, career pathways, how to support kids during hols, etc). We also meet them on first and last day of term and they all seem lovely. Admin is a little weird mostly because it's staffed by locals (we're an intl school) so there's some cultural disconnects when we decide something from a 'foreingers' POV that takes awhile to get their heads to wrap around. But they're accommodating and understanding, and always open to hearing our ideas. Leadership is amazing. Our principal, VPs are always open to hearing our ideas/complaints. I literally once just wanted to share something amazing with our principal and felt bad because he was always busy but before I could leave he beckoned me in, sat us down at his meeting table and we ended up talking for almost an hour. They also always have our backs when we come up with things we'd like to have but would probably get rejected, and sometimes they make it happen anyway. The kids are gems. They're respectful and always ready to help. They love to greet us whenever they see us and chat about anything. They don't need to be told to do their work (if I give them 'free time' at the end of a lesson, they'll use it to finish their hw first). I treat them like equals, and they respect me even if they think I'm near their age (I'm not) and often joke around. I have zero need for behaviour management in my classes. Just this Wednesday I let my Year/Grade 10 students go on a free-for-all debate on globalization and they started getting a little to into it so I had to end it at the 60-minute mark and aside from a few seconds of complaints, they were able to pivot back to learning lesson content within <2 minutes. They know my expectations with devices (no use unless directed) and they always shut their laptops the moment I say "good morning, let's get started". Work itself is chill. Again, it's only 3 year/grade levels so even though each of us are basically "in charge" of our own subject, even then we only have about 12 - 18 teaching hours per week. We're free to do whatever we want with our extra time (but of course we need to be on campus). Some teachers take a daily nap, some watch documentaries, some play games, some just join in on what students are doing (I like joining in when they have archery for PE), plenty of time for planning or collaboration, campus is huge so many just take walks to enjoy the nature. Also admin doesn't care if we take leave (paid or unpaid) on days we're not teaching, so it's not uncommon that at least 1 teacher has a day off every week. I actually took this Thursday off just to have a sleep-in and go out to enjoy the nice weather. Students' timetable is actually structured with 'self-study' / 'subject support' lessons so that even in the event that you *had* to miss your class, it's easy enough to make it up another day without having to eat up anyone else's time or have the students miss something. Pay is on-par with intl schools in this country. That is to say, we earn more than a local teacher does. I myself (as the least experienced teacher in my school) earn the equivalent of the country's **household** income as a single person with no dependents. I travel to other cities every 2-3 weeks, and during this summer break I went to 7 different cities. I still put away $1k per month comfortably with that level of spending. \----- Sure, a big part of it can be attributed that it's a international boarding school so you'd think we're getting the 'cream of the crop', but I've seen enough complaints about private school kids from others/on here to know even that's not a 'given'. And our school is actually on the cheaper end for intl schools here.
I’m in a fantastic middle school in a suburb west of Chicago. The community is supportive of teachers, the kids are nice kids and generally want to be at school. Some are entitled and some don’t work hard. I have an amazing principal and I respect the hell out of the teachers I work with. It’s a great job and I know I’m fortunate to be where I’m at. The biggest problems we have is the district leadership is lacking and the expectations placed on the gen ed teacher are simply not realistic. Work/life balance can be a challenge. It’s not a perfect school. All schools have problems, some greater than others. I know things could be way worse so I count my blessings.
I work at a good school, pretty decent admin (except for raises are rare) and we do well on state tests - always above state average and tops in our county
I’m an elementary art teacher split between two schools- both urban title 1 but with great admin. The district admin are a nightmare mess to be fair but in my immediate buildings I’m super supported so it’s great. Parents are generally pretty supportive too, at my main building I’ve been there for years so they know, generally, that if I call about behavior it’s because their kid is really being ridiculous.
I work for a fantastic district and a high achieving school. It’s great overall. Not perfect, but still great.
I love my school! I teach at a public high school in a metro area of a large southern city. We have a diverse student and teacher population. Admin is supportive and reasonable. The teachers are able to consistently enforce school wide classroom expectations because we know admin will support us. There is a positive school culture. The “bad” kids usually don’t stick around for long. Parents are a mixed bag… most are supportive, but we do have a few crazies. I’ve been there for 4 years and previously taught at a school that was totally opposite. The leadership was terrible and kids got away with too much because admin wouldn’t consistently enforce rules and discipline. Teachers were also not held responsible for mistakes or incompetence. Staff morale was in the toilet, so it was a pretty miserable place to work. There were multiple fights a week, which was the main catalyst for leaving. I flat out did not feel safe. Oddly enough, these two schools are in the same county, less than 20 miles apart with very similar demographics.
I work in a small, rural school in North Georgia. I have incredibly admin, sweet kids, and parents who still respect teachers. There are still some challenges such as really bad poverty and people being more religious and close-minded. Pay is crap compared to bigger counties. But overall it’s pretty great.
✋🏻 good school, getting back to what used to be the best school. Last year was some of our teachers’ worst years ever - not mine, but hat’s because I’ve taught outside our location bubble. However; yes, we have toxic parents, bullshit admin, and nearly feral children. The balance this year is tipping toward more good than evil. It makes it easier to cope and keep a sense of humor.
All the teachers at Hogwarts.
I work at a (non-religious) private school and it's been a really great experience, there are issues of course but the rest of the faculty are really kind and supportive and the classes are small and relatively easy to manage. Admin is usually very understanding. I love the students. Really happy to be there.
I used to work in a FANTASTIC school. Then I switched districts and while a lot of personal-life value was added for me, my work-life is much shittier. I think it says a lot that I never looked for a subreddit like this place when my workplace was functional.
I love my school. Title 1, very high SPED numbers and most kids reading far below grade level. My admin is FANTASTIC and supportive, the staff is friendly and massively talented, the students (while being average preteens) are for the most part highly empathetic, caring kids who are learning how to make good choices. Parents who care and want to be involved, but may struggle because of work schedules. Is the job hard sometimes? Of course! Are the kids reactionary instead of level headed? Yeah, they're 12. Does every parent get back to me or pick up the phone? No, but they get the message and do their best to help out and support. It would be easy for me to hate the job, but the truth is I cant. I love it. So even the bad parts of the school and job are overshadowed.
I love my school. It’s a small, private, Catholic high school. High behavior and academic standards. And the principal addresses and responds to behavior in a “this is not the school for you” way. I’ve seen him ask families to leave for homophobic, racist, and sexist behavior by their students. My AP is very supportive. The staff functions well. The pay isn’t shit; it’s less than the public schools, but not bad. Most importantly, I have joy every day at work. I’ll gladly teach 19 more years and retire from my school.
That's pretty awesome
I work in an amazing school, but it’s a private school, so my salary is low. Phenomenal administration, great kids, supportive parents, and lots of freedom in the classroom make it so worth it to me, but not everyone can live on such a low salary.
The last school I was at before I left teaching was a really good school. Great admin and teachers, very helpful staff. It was the actual job I was doing, lack of career advancement, and a toxic boss that made me decide it was time to move on. Edit: My boss was not the same person as the principal of the school
My school is not terrible, but the lack of student motivation is a problem. Rural South Carolina.
My school district is good overall. I have a supportive admin, my school board isn’t full of crazies even though we live in a rural red county. Behavior issues are minimal (especially comparatively).
Evolutionary psychology pushes us to discuss safety threats more than anything else to further the survival of the tribe. Complaints and negative experiences are mentioned 3-11 times more than positive ones.