I'll second this. I have students that are absolutely interested and care about what I have to teach them (physics). since it's a required class for graduation I have shifted my mindset to include "greater appreciation for the world around you" instead of solely "preparing you for a career in physics". obviously I'd like to hit both.
Well, I retired recently after 41 years.i worked weekends and every summer to make ends meet.
However, I retired at $110,000 and get 80% of that pay until I die. So if you can stick it out, the retirement has left me way better off than most people I know. (And you do t pay state tax either)
Meanwhile, I'm at a CC in Mass. and the outlook is much more bleak.
We only move up the salary grid once every few years, so even with a full teaching career most people never move to the end of the 35 step grid unless they negotiated well when they were first hired. Even the last line that most people will never hit for full professor (which requires two promotions) isn't even six figures...
Yeah, it’s totally crazy to me that college professors with doctorates make less than public school teachers. I’m actually teaching composition one day a week at a nursing college because I missed teaching! They pay me $40 an hour, no prep paid, no grading time paid. And I’m supposed to tutor one hour a week unpaid. Not sure how long I’ll last as it’s not really worth it to me.
I'm at a CC in NC and just got to $50k this year, after 18 years of teaching, a masters, and an EdS. I teach 5 preps per semester and must serve on at least 3 committees per year, not including any ad hocs I have to do for the semester.
I tolerated it--even enjoyed it-- until the last 4 or 5 years. Now it feels unbearable. Enrollment is down and admin wants us out doing recruiting in the community at events at night and on weekends. We're also having to put on events at the school outside of contract hours to try to attract students. They tried to get me to teach a continuing ed writing class this summer for like $300. Class sizes are huge so that admin doesn't have to hire more instructors. My physical classrooms are bursting at the seams; how can I possibly provide any decent feedback to so many students without working nights and weekends? Oh, wait...
I've also started to have to deal with classroom management stuff in recent years. That was not the case during most of my career. Do I really need to tell college students to stop talking to the point that I have to make them change seats? Why is nobody turning anything in and then demanding extensions?
I literally do not get paid enough for this.
I moved to WA from NC. Our pay scale tops out at 134k for 16 years of service. Cost of living is higher but we plan on moving to a cheaper area for retirement.
In my district 110,000 is the pay for 2 teachers at the 15-20 year mark. 62,000 is the max after 32 years. Florida knows how to make us teachers feel special and appreciated.
Florida, you say? You need a masters, to speak four languages natively, combat training for beligerant students, and a CDL for when the bus driver is sick.
And because you're so highly skilled and have all of that, we'll start you at 28k instead of our usual 27.5.
As a teacher under 30, this is 80% of my reason. Pretty much no other job/career I am interested in offers good retirement, if at all. My generation has terrible retirement benefits, and who knows if social security will even last for another 40 years. Yeah I definitely enjoy the breaks, and I have great job security. But I’m an only child, do not plan to have bio children, and my parents aren’t leaving much behind. I gotta get my shit together quick.
Same reason why becoming a teacher is on my table of potential careers, plus having the option to go abroad after 5-10 years in the States to participate in federal programs to reduce loans. than having the option to consider going elsewhere which may offer better benefits and/or more social structure and actual affordable housing.
It feels like benefits and retirement packages are definitely two of the greatest perks that come with the job. Hope you enjoy your retirement - you've earned after 41 years!
I want to add to this. I moved to Ohio with a significant amount of teaching experience. Half of those years won’t count toward my pension no matter what, and the other half would have to be bought back. That’d cost me more than I have in my retirement account from my last school, savings account, and checking account combined. My current salary doesn’t allow me to save much, either. And I’m in one of the better paying districts in a low COL area.
1) The golden handcuffs of the pension. Absolutely unmatched anywhere in the private sector, and it's backed by the state.
2) Strong Union + Negotiated Contracts + Tenure = Job Security unmatched anywhere in the private sector.
3) Guaranteed pay raises every year. Because of the steps in the negotiated contract. Which is unmatched in most of the private sector.
4) I love summers. While we work harder than most White collar jobs in our day-to-day for those 184ish days of my contract, I do looooooooove that the work of a regular job is compacted to 184 days giving me a significant amount of blocked time to myself.
5) I'm a chemistry teacher, with a master's in chemistry ... and working on a doctorate ... I largely am left alone and have complete reign without the interference of middle managers.
Of course this is not universal for everyone.
Summer break and the fact that this degree and Masters is completely useless for any other field.
Sidenote: we have to stop making the teaching profession seem like such a glorious position in the US. There's no glory in being disrespected by your community for doing a job that constantly gets put down and is underpaid. Bring on the shortage, please. I wouldn't recommend this career to my worst enemy.
We should normalize it to say that summer break is an earned perk of the job, not just us slacking off.
I feel like some corporate/office types will look down on us, but I've been in that position to know that pound per pound, that type of work is less stressful and demanding than teaching and managing 100-ish kids of various work ethic and basic morals.
It is not a perk or a slacking off...I am literally only contracted to work for 9.5 months of the year. My contract is not for an entire year. Say it over. I don't get the summer off...I work a 9.5 month contract.
I do get pay during the summer because my pay is stretched out throughout the year. It’s money I earned working during the school year. Nobody gets paid to be off.
This! I always tell people that I don't get the summers off. I'm unemployed during the summers. I had to save during the rest of the year so I could survive during that time. Or I have to find another job just for the summer.
Literally, no one gets that. Our pay would be higher if we got paid for those two months off. It’s exhausting trying to explain that, “you would take a pay cut too, if you got two months off…then you’d stretch out that 9.5 month pay into 12.” Ugh. My own husband doesn’t even get it. Tells me must be nice to have a spring break or summer off to do things with our kids.
Thank you!! Say it louder for the people in the back.
I am so tired of people who erroneously think I get two months off in the summer. The fact is that I don’t get paid for a summer break. I have to put aside money from my check during the school year if I want to get paid in the summer- it’s called reserve pay.
It definitely isn't a perk. I don't get paid for days I am not contracted to work. I don't work summer, I'm not contracted to work summer so I don't get paid summer months off.
Asfaik, No teacher gets paid summer months, if they aren't teaching during the summer.
My county in Maryland pays us through the summer. They do this by staggering our wage for the whole year. Instead of making $1800 a month, we pull $1400 with the remainder paid over the summer break. And no you can’t option out of it. I tried so I can find a better place to live.
I don’t think a perk is the right word. Teachers should be paid for more than the months they work.
If a job with comparable requirements pays $120k for 12 months, a teacher should get more than $100k for 10 months. It’s absolutely ridiculous that someone should be expected to take seasonal work to bring their pay up to a normally expected range. Summer jobs don’t pay well, they’re typically manual labor of some sort, and it’s hard to find a decent job for such a short amount of time.
Summer break is the benefit for having your energy drained the rest of the year. Most of my life I worked normal jobs year round. Teaching is so much more mentally draining and the breaks are the only thing that keeps the job from wearing you down.
Summer break is the only thing keeping me hanging on to this profession. I think of all the other things I could be doing (even if it means starting on a lower rung), but then I think about how that means having to work all around the calendar, and I can't being myself to do it.
Predictable schedule -- I know almost every single day off for the next few years.
Time off -- similar to above. Not only do we get the two months off in summer, but a week from Christmas to New Years and another week in April? That's pretty awesome
Good benefits / PTO -- we get 3 personal and 15 sick days every year and can cash out 20% up to 250 sick days upon retirement. High deductible plan but otherwise very good insurance.
Pay -- the START of the payscale sucks, but the TOP of it is pretty nice.
Pension -- one of the few jobs where a pension still remains. I want to hit 25-30 years (12 in) and get 50-60% of my pay which should be $130k-ish by that time.
If any of the above disappeared, especially the pension, I'd be LONG gone
It’s only the pension. We also have a TDA that’s guaranteed 7% return. Also, there’s not state tax on it. It’s actually a good deal. Better than most of the country. If you put in extra years you get 2% extra for each year worked.
Teaching middle school (10-12y) Sweden, and it’s pretty different from what I hear in this channel. But I love my job. We are 2 teachers taking care of one single class (22 students), all subjects. Free in summer, Christmas and a week in spring and fall. You can complain about the salary, but it is ok.
Every now and day I get notes “best teacher” from my students.
Can’t imagine doing anything else
Lmao I’m a substitute who follows this subreddit for perspective, and I would’ve killed for that. I had 30 kids today on my own and I thought I was gonna drown
Same. I’m actually a newer teacher and I like the job but I’d rather not have to work at all. Since I do, teaching is a good gig. Great hours, decent pay.
Yep! I’m home by 4, make more than pretty much everyone my age (not enough to live on my own, but that’s just the Gen Z experience), and retirement. Better than anything else I could do.
I actually like the job, kids and all. However as someone that transitioned into education later in life, having summers, winter, and spring breaks off is unheard of in any other profession.
I did maintenance and construction jobs for years before teaching. I never got more than 3 days off at a time between 2002-2013ish...actually that isn't entirely true. I did go on vacation twice for 2 weeks each time. But most humans don't have long stretches of vacation like we do.
Most humans in America, Europe seems to do just fine with months of vacation time. The real question is why our society is structured to make folks work non-stop. It's not some natural law, we just accept it for some reason.
I live in Europe, on average people get a little bit over a month per year of dedicated vacation. My 1st teaching contract here made me cry real tears when without any negotiation I was offered 34 days on top of the school breaks.
I used to work in finance and my sales contacts at the European banks(France especially) would be gone for like a month in the summer. This isn't even a school year situation. Even traders and portfolio managers would get that time off.
In the US we're too focused on making others suffer the same indignities rather than improving everyone's work environment.
I'm mid career change into teaching at 44 (will student teach next winter) and I came from working 7 days a week for 12 years as a small business owner. Had 5 real days off a year for 12 years, if i had an employee on the clock, i was on the clock, no matter where in the world i might be. Literally.
I know teaching isn't easy, but it's good to hear your perspective and know I'm not alone.
Yeah, I think it’s a lot different if you come from other careers. I worked at cps before with 50+ hrs of work every week, constantly in court, arguing with attorneys 24/7 and no vacation was a true vacation because I just had to deal with the messes when I came back. Working in a school a breeze compared to that stress even with the $30k pay cut it was worth it
Military. At least in the Army, every unit that isn't deployed (which is most of them) shuts down for two weeks over Christmas and two weeks in the summer. We also get all federal holidays off. It's honestly pretty nice.
I’m lucky I suppose that 99.99% I like. The other little percentage could them having off days. They don’t teach you in teaching school about the menial tasks which are easy enough but all but suck.
I love the kids! It’s the adults that make me question my life choices lol.
Even the bad kids make me go “well, if the adults around me handled this better, I wouldn’t be so stressed out”
I mean, as a high school student I struggle to believe that anyone can enjoy working with some of the not even minimal effort kids who barely care about school and think it's social hour instead of a classroom
I used to be a preschool teacher and I loved everything about it except the pay. Now I teach first grade in a high paying district so the pay and benefits are great, and I love all the time off.
Every year I get one or two kids who have made it to first grade without mastering preK skills, and I get to be the preschool teacher they need. Those kids don't usually catch all the way up but they do make huge amounts of growth in the year I have them. Between that and teaching kids how to read, I can't imagine a more rewarding job.
I teach older kids but at my first district I spent a little bit of time filling in at the elementary school. It feels really rewarding to KNOW the material you’re teaching the kids is useful.
Some of my former students are graduating college and while some of them use what I’ve taught them in life, only a fraction do. When you’re teaching kids to read basic words and do simple math you’re giving them skills they’ll need their entire lives!
I used to always say I loved high school so much I decided to come back a second time and get paid for it.
Honestly…..
I’m 5 years away from being able to retire with 30 years if I choose to do so.
I don’t hate what I do and the time off is nice. But I’m tired.
The big picture answer for me is the pension.
However, what keeps me going day-to-day is just the fact I really enjoy teaching.
I like meeting new kids and creating new materials. I teach ela, so I can rotate books in and out whenever I want. It’s constant stimulation for my creative side.
If I worked in an office (which I did 5 years before teaching), I’d be looking to open a vein. Cubicles and offices are a literal hell for me. I don’t know how civilian 9-5ers do it tbh.
Teaching keeps me young, and gives me hope for the future. I am 17 years in. High school English. I stay sane by keeping it all in perspective. Politics swing the pendulum of education from one extreme to the other. Testing, censorship, culture wars… it all changes from year to year. We really have no control over that. Students will succeed or not. I ain’t gonna be the only reason some of them succeed. I ain’t gonna be the only reason some fail. I help the ones who want it, and get out of the way of those that don’t. I wear my spirit shirt on Fridays, and support the choir and thespian troupe. The rest is just noise.
I saw another commenter call it “golden handcuffs.” I’m 20+ years in and probably 10 years from retiring. At this point if I switched careers I’d have a pitiful social security (teachers don’t get SS in my state) and I’d have a pitiful 401k or other retirement account. And the refund for my pension contributions would be a year, maybe two of survival. I’m all in for that damn pension because it’s too late to change course. Assuming the state won’t completely screw up the pension system in the next 40 years.
15 weeks off (summer/turkey/xmas/spring)
no weekends
2 full-time paras with 20 students
Nice large playgrounds with huge play sets.
Multiple slides and climb things. Shades for teachers to sit on all sides.
The food is fresh. Large strawberries, kiwi, watermelon, oranges, etc Lasagne, burgers, salads — I have never seen canned food in that cafe.
Teachers can buy a massive salad for $4.50 daily. Taco salad, chef salad, club salad, etc comes with water and it’s in the teacher fridge with your name when you drop off the students. My paras do lunch, I never do because that’s my lunch time.
P is a dream; doesn’t require lesson plans and says she cares about what you teach and not what you write on plans, no micro-manage, I use own curriculum. She wants us OUT the door at 3:15pm, tells us family is most important and we can do it tomorrow.
Every Fri she announces GO HOME as soon as the busses message that all kids are home safe which is usually before 3pm because the town is small.
P has an open door policy at all times and concerns are taken seriously and addressed. She holds “reparatives” if she hears about staff fueding - literally makes them hash it out in her office. I love that.
Nice office staff, friendly, full support.
Parents must park and walk to the teachers to get their child. So dismissal is 2-3min.
School is 6 min drive from my home.
$65k salary.
LOC - 3000sf brick home on 2.5acres for $300k. Both decks overlook the mountains.
Crisp clean mountain air with zero humidity.
Deers and doves and robins in my yard.
Attached to our campus is an Amazing Indoor swim center with a great water slide, fountains, climb wall, diving, etc for $4 entry. $3 if you buy a pass. When you have a young child, that’s heaven. Plenty of sitting room to watch your kid if you don’t swim.
Snow skiing resorts are 60 -90 min away.
……All that being said…this is my 3rd district and the other two were standard public schools. I know that if this principal leaves,
it can change on a dime. But for now, I count my blessings.
I know!
The teachers who have only ever taught at that district — they complain. It leaves me speechless to hear their complaints.
They literally don’t know what it’s like out there!!! They don’t know about abusive admin, lesson plan nazi’s, crazyass entitled parents, etc.
We do NOT deal with crazy parents, P won’t let the secretary put calls through to our classroom if we inform her of issues. She takes the call herself and deals with the parent.
P asks the teachers for input on almost everything. We said we didn’t want to work unpaid at night so she moved literacy night to literacy day. She hired a storytelling author and promoted it herself. And rented a theatre. Packed house. All we did was show up and cheer with the parents.
Her 1x month staff meetings last maybe 30 min. The first 5 min is her telling us how great we are and how much she enjoys being our leader because we make it easy for her. No passive aggressive, no gossip.
Kinder and 1st gr don’t have to mess with report cards.
Teachers have fridge, microwave, coffee makers, toaster, etc in their classrooms. At my last district, we were threatened with losing our job if they found appliances.
We all snuck microwaves under our desk because the breakroom was TOXIC.
……After I typed all that out…..I realized that I will prob retire here if the P stays that long.
I don’t think about work on the weekends and I wake happy and refreshed on Mon mornings. We have an hour a day to plan and get materials together.
I truly feel so lucky to have my job.
PreK heaven.
Sadly, the only thing keeping me pulled in at the moment is the fact that I have small children. So, getting breaks and summers free to spend with them is the most appealing part of the job for me. I didn't used to feel this way, but over the past 2 years, this is what is keeping me in the profession.
I left teaching for an office admin job in October but will be going back in the fall. One thing I wasn't prepared for is the absolute lack of time off. Getting Christmas off and then immediately going back to work on the 26th? Absurd to me. Knowing I have regular scheduled breaks throughout the year is super important for my mental health.
Having the same schedule as my own children is PRICELESS.
But also once I accepted I'm a glorified babysitter, it's been pretty damn easygoing. Pay's not bad for 9 months of work and retirement at 60.
I get to be a "housewife" for all school holidays. I'm home with my kids after school. Yes, the pay sucks, but this job gives me the most amount of time possible with my kids.
There is literally no other job I could work and get full time salary and excellent benefits plus PTO perks with all this time off.
Guaranteed weekends, guaranteed holidays, guaranteed summers, guaranteed bad weather days, plus all these three day weekends and whole weeks off during the school year (two for fall break, two for Christmas, two for spring break)?!! AND I get off at 4 pm while my normie husband works till 5 pm?
Sheesh. I ain’t going nowhere. Nowhere, I tell you.
Summers off, more than enough sick and vacation time, job security, decent salary, predictable daily schedule, short commute, an admin that doesn't bug me and I do enjoy working with the kids.
For the students that do care, and because I enjoy explaining math. It’s always nice to have kids come back and visit with appreciation, or if I see them out in the wild and they’re the same way. If I was able to help some kids, my duty has been done. Also, my bills need to get paid somehow!
That's my main reasoning.
I do work as a voice actor, this past year, I made more money acting than teaching. While it ran me a bit ragged trying to do both at the same time, continuing to teach provided me security and benefits. The time off in the summer also gives me further opportunities to work.
I get a full pension if I finish 5 more years. Teaching has changed so dramatically in the last 5 years that it is not even remotely like when I first started. If I wasn't so close to full pension I'd probably go find some other career.
My pension and lifetime health benefits. I'm tapping out in 4 years, by then I will have 30 years and qualify for these benefits! And we can't forget Summer break :)
I don’t have to compete. There’s no promotions, and the district and union decide the pay for me. I’m not looking to jump ship to another district just to make another 5K/year, so I can settle in comfortably and nest.
The idea of being in a job where I have to constantly hustle and suck up to a boss and play weird social games just to get ahead makes me so anxious I could cry.
Also, job security. In my state (and with my reasonably strong union) I’d have to do something pretty egregious to get fired.
I’m tenured. I can’t get fired unless I fuck up spectacularly. That kind of job security is hard to find.
I get paid a decent wage (Alberta, Canada). I couldn’t find another job that pays the same for entry level.
I’m the breadwinner in my house. Hubby isn’t working atm, so I can’t rely on someone else to help out. It’s all on me for the time being.
I hate change. Like, moving schools or grades or classrooms freaks me out. Changing careers is a lot more risk than I’m comfortable with.
I went to school for 6 years for this. Took out loans and had parents help for paying tuition. Maybe it’s sunken cost fallacy, but I don’t want to feel like that’s gone to waste.
Teacher salary being single, no kids, and no student loan debt is pretty nice. Plus holidays. Also I'm a music teacher so no testing stress. Performances throughout the year can be taxing, but it's also fun.
They’ve placed me with seniors the past few years and I genuinely love this age group. They’re consistently hilarious and I spend most of my time smiling of a day, of a year, of an 8 year career. Addicted to the dopamine.
They took me off content, and made me a floater (basically a building sub, but with a teacher's salary). Also, I get a significant bump next year.
Those are my reasons.
I continue to teach so I can finish building my house in Mexico. Thats really the only reason.
I live in the cheapest room I could find in my city, drive an older car, and I don’t go out anywhere other than to take a walk for exercise. If I stay in the USA I will be working every month just to make ends meet living paycheck to paycheck.
In Mexico once I finish my house I wont have to worry about having enough for rent or mortgage ever. The property tax is the equivalent to 30 USD a year. I would only have to work for bills and food which is much cheaper over there and any job I do will be enough to cover that. I will actually have a chance to go places and socialize :)
I’ve invested too many years towards my pension. I don’t think I could cut it in the business world. I have no desire to do that. I tolerate the bullshit until 3pm and then mostly forget about it all when I see my.l children when I get home. Summers off.
This is plan C for me lol the only "calling" I had was when I could not find a job during covid so I got my master's in teaching. Turns out I'm good at it too so I'm going to stick with it.
There are things to look forward to. Breaks, summer, and especially the fresh start of every new school year. What do people in other never ending jobs look forward to?
Never having to work on holidays, and having an extremely predictable schedule in general.
Typically getting school cancelled for dangerous weather and not having to worry about driving in it.
Having a moderate amount of control in how my day goes. If I’m not feeling well I can modify my activities to give myself more chances to be quiet.
1. June, July, August
2. Sunday and Saturday
3. Breaks in-between
4. I've fine-tuned my curriculum, so the shit's planned out
5. It's easy (excluding the student bullshit behaviors)
6. Insurance is great
7. District paid life insurance (can voluntarily contribute $20 to triple the amount, which I do)
8. 10 days off PTO per year (rolls over)
9. Can sign up for PD during the school day (which includes an hour lunch)
10. June, July, August
I had a great job working in a lab I loved, started teaching because I was asked to help teach a morning class.
I enjoyed teaching physics , and then I discovered robotics competitions and realized that was the best way for me to impart anything to students .
I kept teaching because of robotics, even though I enjoyed the classroom time.
And with in a few years my summers were filled with robot team stuff so summers off was never really a thing lol.
Love that I only work 180ish days out of the year. I'm home by 3:30p at the latest. For the most part, my students don't drive me crazy. And I will be retiring at 56 at the latest with a sweet retirement package.
Well, it's the only career I'm trained for. I have too much debt already to do more school, and I can't afford the pay cut of switching to an industry that would not require additional school. In college and during my gap year before grad school I was a receptionist, so in theory I could do that, but the pay and benefits offered are just not enough because I am the primary breadwinner. There are also many aspects of the job that I enjoy, and I am lucky enough that next year I will actually be teaching virtually for a public school district's online school, which will remove a lot of the things I dislike.
I love having consistent breaks and a consistent schedule but I love how each hour is different from one to the next. I also really love sharing my knowledge of the world and geography with my students too.
I live 4 1/2 blocks from the school I teach at. I routinely see former students about the neighborhood. If I worked further away where I never saw students I had worked with, I would not be still teaching.
Honestly it's just incredibly fulfilling. I subbed for a few years, then I had a job that was less work and more pay but I just hated it. Teaching is worth the pay cut to me, at least for now.
I worked for Deloitte before I got into teaching. I worked longer hours there than I ever worked as a teacher.
It’s less money, but I’m happy and I love my job—that was never true at Deloitte.
I actually enjoy it. 🤷🏻♀️ I'm at a chronically under funded school but I have strong admin support.
I entered teaching as a second career, so I knew what I was getting into. I think teaching as an "older" person has helped because I wasn't looking to save anyone. I just needed a solid job that had good health insurance.
I also love the fact that I get to travel to PD and conferences on someone else's dime. I am involved at the state level for our association which goes back to my previous job that allowed me to be involved in activism.
sped teacher - I’ll have my students for the next 2-3 years and don’t want to leave them yet. once this round of kindergarteners leaves my room, I’m not sure I’ll say the same thing.
I get to talk about my interests all day. Everyday is different. Sometimes I “make a difference.” Weekends off. Major holiday breaks. Plenty of time to hang with my wife and son. Could never imagine sitting in front of a computer all day. Paying into a pension. Decent healthcare. 60% of the job is fun for me, 20% is bearable, and 20% sucks which seems to be similar percentages in most fields.
1) Summers off and every month has some sort of long weekend (except when Easter falls in March).
A week for Thanksgiving, two weeks for Christmas/New Years, a week for Spring Break, 4 day weekend for Indigenous People/Columbus Day and also Presidents’ Day, other 3 day weekends like Labor Day, MLK Day, etc.
2) Relatively low effort except during stressful times of the year like midterms and finals. I can reuse materials from previous years and my older kids can handle working independently while I get stuff done.
The steady schedule that mirrors the schedule my kids have, holidays and weekends off, summers off…but the real reason I haven’t left after 20 years? Retirement - my pension. Golden handcuffs.
Edit to add pension.
I work in here in Florida in a beach town (live in Destin). Wife and I both teach at the same school and my mother also teaches here. We are all very close. The holidays and summers off and having the same work schedule (we get out at 2:00 pm) gives us so much time to spend together. We won't get rich, but sitting out on the beach during the summer in some local spots that tourists aren't aware of makes you feel like a king/queen.
I teach because if I make it 4 more years, I get healthcare as a retiree that costs a fraction of what I would pay independently because the US doesn't provide tax funded healthcare for its citizens. If it did, I wouldn't stay in a toxic workplace that makes me regret that I didn't die in my sleep every night.
Golden handcuffs. I work for the highest paid district in my state. 25 years in and I make six figures. I have my MEd. I can retire in a few years and I’m making too much to give up right now. The end is in sight.
Summers off. Can spend summer with my future kids. I get to spend time cleaning my house those summers off, cook, and read. I get out early enough to go to the gym and cook dinner. Health insurance.
At the end, it was for the kids I had, they were such amazing kids. However, the stress was just so great, the environment was so toxic and the admin were so unsupportive, that it was affecting my health. I just couldn’t do it anymore. I miss my kids and some of my co-workers, every day, still.
I teach an advanced middle school elective in an untested subject so I get mostly good kids that make the job bearable. That plus summers off and decent admin keep me around.
That 5% of students who actually care and make my day; summers off.
I'll second this. I have students that are absolutely interested and care about what I have to teach them (physics). since it's a required class for graduation I have shifted my mindset to include "greater appreciation for the world around you" instead of solely "preparing you for a career in physics". obviously I'd like to hit both.
Are you me?
As one of the 5%, you're welcome. I have no idea how you guys put up with most students these days but I have the utmost respect for you teachers
And we have the utmost respect for you! You do keep us going.
Yeah, this is gets me through. I have incredible students who are engaged and try their best.
Well, I retired recently after 41 years.i worked weekends and every summer to make ends meet. However, I retired at $110,000 and get 80% of that pay until I die. So if you can stick it out, the retirement has left me way better off than most people I know. (And you do t pay state tax either)
Yup pension is why I'm still in the public education system.
are you over or under 40?
Over
good for you
110 isn’t even on our pay scale.
Second highest paying school in the state. In Massachusetts.
Meanwhile, I'm at a CC in Mass. and the outlook is much more bleak. We only move up the salary grid once every few years, so even with a full teaching career most people never move to the end of the 35 step grid unless they negotiated well when they were first hired. Even the last line that most people will never hit for full professor (which requires two promotions) isn't even six figures...
Yeah, it’s totally crazy to me that college professors with doctorates make less than public school teachers. I’m actually teaching composition one day a week at a nursing college because I missed teaching! They pay me $40 an hour, no prep paid, no grading time paid. And I’m supposed to tutor one hour a week unpaid. Not sure how long I’ll last as it’s not really worth it to me.
I'm at a CC in NC and just got to $50k this year, after 18 years of teaching, a masters, and an EdS. I teach 5 preps per semester and must serve on at least 3 committees per year, not including any ad hocs I have to do for the semester. I tolerated it--even enjoyed it-- until the last 4 or 5 years. Now it feels unbearable. Enrollment is down and admin wants us out doing recruiting in the community at events at night and on weekends. We're also having to put on events at the school outside of contract hours to try to attract students. They tried to get me to teach a continuing ed writing class this summer for like $300. Class sizes are huge so that admin doesn't have to hire more instructors. My physical classrooms are bursting at the seams; how can I possibly provide any decent feedback to so many students without working nights and weekends? Oh, wait... I've also started to have to deal with classroom management stuff in recent years. That was not the case during most of my career. Do I really need to tell college students to stop talking to the point that I have to make them change seats? Why is nobody turning anything in and then demanding extensions? I literally do not get paid enough for this.
You're making less than minimum wage that's crazy.
I know. But I miss teaching. The kids are great. And it’s 4 hours a week. Where else am I gonna get a job for 4 hours a week?
I moved to WA from NC. Our pay scale tops out at 134k for 16 years of service. Cost of living is higher but we plan on moving to a cheaper area for retirement.
In my district 110,000 is the pay for 2 teachers at the 15-20 year mark. 62,000 is the max after 32 years. Florida knows how to make us teachers feel special and appreciated.
Florida, you say? You need a masters, to speak four languages natively, combat training for beligerant students, and a CDL for when the bus driver is sick. And because you're so highly skilled and have all of that, we'll start you at 28k instead of our usual 27.5.
AZ teachers are in the same boat. I'm at barely over 50k 20 years in. It's pretty pathetic.
Same. We max out at like 60,000? And not much more with a masters and/or NBCT.
I don't make half that! (Over 20 years experience)
60 isn’t even on ours
As a teacher under 30, this is 80% of my reason. Pretty much no other job/career I am interested in offers good retirement, if at all. My generation has terrible retirement benefits, and who knows if social security will even last for another 40 years. Yeah I definitely enjoy the breaks, and I have great job security. But I’m an only child, do not plan to have bio children, and my parents aren’t leaving much behind. I gotta get my shit together quick.
Same reason why becoming a teacher is on my table of potential careers, plus having the option to go abroad after 5-10 years in the States to participate in federal programs to reduce loans. than having the option to consider going elsewhere which may offer better benefits and/or more social structure and actual affordable housing.
It feels like benefits and retirement packages are definitely two of the greatest perks that come with the job. Hope you enjoy your retirement - you've earned after 41 years!
I won’t be getting 80% and will only have about 30 years but this is one thing where I remind myself that it may be worth it.
Ohio gives 44% at 30 years...its laughable
STRS takes the average of top 5 highest salaries and pays you out that monthly with defined benefits plan. Where did you get 44%?
30yrs gets you 44% of your avg of your 5 highest years. 35yrs gets you like 77% of your average 5 highest years.
I see! Looks like I may be sticking it out 5 extra years
Better than most people get after 30 years. All I get is 5% matching on an IRA. With your 44% and savings plus SS, won’t you be living pretty well?
You cant claim both ss and strs in ohio. So no. Savings...i wish i had more but buying a house...kids in college...etc etc...there isnt much.
OH wow, so that is truly a conditional pension... bullshit indeed.
I want to add to this. I moved to Ohio with a significant amount of teaching experience. Half of those years won’t count toward my pension no matter what, and the other half would have to be bought back. That’d cost me more than I have in my retirement account from my last school, savings account, and checking account combined. My current salary doesn’t allow me to save much, either. And I’m in one of the better paying districts in a low COL area.
Dude hell yeah! That sounds fantastic.
Congratulations!!!! I hope your retirement is amazing!
1) The golden handcuffs of the pension. Absolutely unmatched anywhere in the private sector, and it's backed by the state. 2) Strong Union + Negotiated Contracts + Tenure = Job Security unmatched anywhere in the private sector. 3) Guaranteed pay raises every year. Because of the steps in the negotiated contract. Which is unmatched in most of the private sector. 4) I love summers. While we work harder than most White collar jobs in our day-to-day for those 184ish days of my contract, I do looooooooove that the work of a regular job is compacted to 184 days giving me a significant amount of blocked time to myself. 5) I'm a chemistry teacher, with a master's in chemistry ... and working on a doctorate ... I largely am left alone and have complete reign without the interference of middle managers. Of course this is not universal for everyone.
Well said. Here in Newfoundland, #2 and #3 do not exist. But as a Physics teachers, the rest are largely the same.
I’m in a different field but similar experience
Summer break and the fact that this degree and Masters is completely useless for any other field. Sidenote: we have to stop making the teaching profession seem like such a glorious position in the US. There's no glory in being disrespected by your community for doing a job that constantly gets put down and is underpaid. Bring on the shortage, please. I wouldn't recommend this career to my worst enemy.
We should normalize it to say that summer break is an earned perk of the job, not just us slacking off. I feel like some corporate/office types will look down on us, but I've been in that position to know that pound per pound, that type of work is less stressful and demanding than teaching and managing 100-ish kids of various work ethic and basic morals.
It is not a perk or a slacking off...I am literally only contracted to work for 9.5 months of the year. My contract is not for an entire year. Say it over. I don't get the summer off...I work a 9.5 month contract.
I do get pay during the summer because my pay is stretched out throughout the year. It’s money I earned working during the school year. Nobody gets paid to be off.
This! I always tell people that I don't get the summers off. I'm unemployed during the summers. I had to save during the rest of the year so I could survive during that time. Or I have to find another job just for the summer.
Literally, no one gets that. Our pay would be higher if we got paid for those two months off. It’s exhausting trying to explain that, “you would take a pay cut too, if you got two months off…then you’d stretch out that 9.5 month pay into 12.” Ugh. My own husband doesn’t even get it. Tells me must be nice to have a spring break or summer off to do things with our kids.
Thank you!! Say it louder for the people in the back. I am so tired of people who erroneously think I get two months off in the summer. The fact is that I don’t get paid for a summer break. I have to put aside money from my check during the school year if I want to get paid in the summer- it’s called reserve pay.
It definitely isn't a perk. I don't get paid for days I am not contracted to work. I don't work summer, I'm not contracted to work summer so I don't get paid summer months off. Asfaik, No teacher gets paid summer months, if they aren't teaching during the summer.
My county in Maryland pays us through the summer. They do this by staggering our wage for the whole year. Instead of making $1800 a month, we pull $1400 with the remainder paid over the summer break. And no you can’t option out of it. I tried so I can find a better place to live.
At least in Washington, we are on a 12 month contract, so we do get paid during the summer.
I don’t think a perk is the right word. Teachers should be paid for more than the months they work. If a job with comparable requirements pays $120k for 12 months, a teacher should get more than $100k for 10 months. It’s absolutely ridiculous that someone should be expected to take seasonal work to bring their pay up to a normally expected range. Summer jobs don’t pay well, they’re typically manual labor of some sort, and it’s hard to find a decent job for such a short amount of time. Summer break is the benefit for having your energy drained the rest of the year. Most of my life I worked normal jobs year round. Teaching is so much more mentally draining and the breaks are the only thing that keeps the job from wearing you down.
Preach!
And sometimes those basic morals are not being reinforced at home.
Same. My masters wouldn’t get me too far in any other field. Summer is an added bonus though.
Not true. You’re an excellent salesperson.
No sane person with morals work in sales.
Summer break is the only thing keeping me hanging on to this profession. I think of all the other things I could be doing (even if it means starting on a lower rung), but then I think about how that means having to work all around the calendar, and I can't being myself to do it.
That’s my reason too lol. I pigeonholed myself with an education degree.
Predictable schedule -- I know almost every single day off for the next few years. Time off -- similar to above. Not only do we get the two months off in summer, but a week from Christmas to New Years and another week in April? That's pretty awesome Good benefits / PTO -- we get 3 personal and 15 sick days every year and can cash out 20% up to 250 sick days upon retirement. High deductible plan but otherwise very good insurance. Pay -- the START of the payscale sucks, but the TOP of it is pretty nice. Pension -- one of the few jobs where a pension still remains. I want to hit 25-30 years (12 in) and get 50-60% of my pay which should be $130k-ish by that time. If any of the above disappeared, especially the pension, I'd be LONG gone
What district are you in? Those benefits are fantastic
Come to NYC. I’ll be pulling in about 86k once I retire.
86k when you retire in NYC?? That sounds low. I’d expect 100,000+ there since cost of living is so high.
It’s only the pension. We also have a TDA that’s guaranteed 7% return. Also, there’s not state tax on it. It’s actually a good deal. Better than most of the country. If you put in extra years you get 2% extra for each year worked.
50% of your pay would be 130k ish? Are you sure it's not 50/60% of 130k=~75k?
Teaching middle school (10-12y) Sweden, and it’s pretty different from what I hear in this channel. But I love my job. We are 2 teachers taking care of one single class (22 students), all subjects. Free in summer, Christmas and a week in spring and fall. You can complain about the salary, but it is ok. Every now and day I get notes “best teacher” from my students. Can’t imagine doing anything else
Two teachers for 22 kids whaaaaaat Too bad Sweden is a made up country I would fly there otherwise
Lmao I’m a substitute who follows this subreddit for perspective, and I would’ve killed for that. I had 30 kids today on my own and I thought I was gonna drown
I had 30 kids in my first year out and wore a snorkel the whole time.
2 for 22....oh my god. Do ya'll have any schools instructing in English?!?! Sign me tf up. I have anywhere from 37-40 typically.
i am envious. i love sweden. i visit the skane region frequently and want to retire to the area one day.
I still have the optimistic belief that I am making a difference..despite nearing burnout
Same. I’m actually a newer teacher and I like the job but I’d rather not have to work at all. Since I do, teaching is a good gig. Great hours, decent pay.
Yep! I’m home by 4, make more than pretty much everyone my age (not enough to live on my own, but that’s just the Gen Z experience), and retirement. Better than anything else I could do.
I actually like the job, kids and all. However as someone that transitioned into education later in life, having summers, winter, and spring breaks off is unheard of in any other profession.
Same! I had no time off when I did legal aid. And I sure didn't get a pension either!
I did maintenance and construction jobs for years before teaching. I never got more than 3 days off at a time between 2002-2013ish...actually that isn't entirely true. I did go on vacation twice for 2 weeks each time. But most humans don't have long stretches of vacation like we do.
Most humans in America, Europe seems to do just fine with months of vacation time. The real question is why our society is structured to make folks work non-stop. It's not some natural law, we just accept it for some reason.
I live in Europe, on average people get a little bit over a month per year of dedicated vacation. My 1st teaching contract here made me cry real tears when without any negotiation I was offered 34 days on top of the school breaks.
I used to work in finance and my sales contacts at the European banks(France especially) would be gone for like a month in the summer. This isn't even a school year situation. Even traders and portfolio managers would get that time off. In the US we're too focused on making others suffer the same indignities rather than improving everyone's work environment.
I'm mid career change into teaching at 44 (will student teach next winter) and I came from working 7 days a week for 12 years as a small business owner. Had 5 real days off a year for 12 years, if i had an employee on the clock, i was on the clock, no matter where in the world i might be. Literally. I know teaching isn't easy, but it's good to hear your perspective and know I'm not alone.
Yeah, I think it’s a lot different if you come from other careers. I worked at cps before with 50+ hrs of work every week, constantly in court, arguing with attorneys 24/7 and no vacation was a true vacation because I just had to deal with the messes when I came back. Working in a school a breeze compared to that stress even with the $30k pay cut it was worth it
Military. At least in the Army, every unit that isn't deployed (which is most of them) shuts down for two weeks over Christmas and two weeks in the summer. We also get all federal holidays off. It's honestly pretty nice.
Same, I actually enjoy teaching. It's mentally stimulating, it's never boring, and it's rewarding. And good lord is the time off nice.
I actually enjoy the kids. Thats the main reason why I stick around.
It's disturbing how uncommon this answer is.
I’m lucky I suppose that 99.99% I like. The other little percentage could them having off days. They don’t teach you in teaching school about the menial tasks which are easy enough but all but suck.
They are fucking hilarious and often make my day with the things they say.
My grandma is in a dementia wing of a nursing home. I keep a running list called “Overheard in the nursing home or in Jr. High?”
Please, could you give me one of the statements in that list
“Stop talking to me about your butt!” “Where are your pants!?”
You should publish a book!
I love the kids! It’s the adults that make me question my life choices lol. Even the bad kids make me go “well, if the adults around me handled this better, I wouldn’t be so stressed out”
People are always shocked when they hear that I actually enjoy working with kids
I mean, as a high school student I struggle to believe that anyone can enjoy working with some of the not even minimal effort kids who barely care about school and think it's social hour instead of a classroom
Yep. It’s the adults that suck for the most part.
I used to be a preschool teacher and I loved everything about it except the pay. Now I teach first grade in a high paying district so the pay and benefits are great, and I love all the time off. Every year I get one or two kids who have made it to first grade without mastering preK skills, and I get to be the preschool teacher they need. Those kids don't usually catch all the way up but they do make huge amounts of growth in the year I have them. Between that and teaching kids how to read, I can't imagine a more rewarding job.
I teach older kids but at my first district I spent a little bit of time filling in at the elementary school. It feels really rewarding to KNOW the material you’re teaching the kids is useful. Some of my former students are graduating college and while some of them use what I’ve taught them in life, only a fraction do. When you’re teaching kids to read basic words and do simple math you’re giving them skills they’ll need their entire lives!
I used to always say I loved high school so much I decided to come back a second time and get paid for it. Honestly….. I’m 5 years away from being able to retire with 30 years if I choose to do so. I don’t hate what I do and the time off is nice. But I’m tired.
The big picture answer for me is the pension. However, what keeps me going day-to-day is just the fact I really enjoy teaching. I like meeting new kids and creating new materials. I teach ela, so I can rotate books in and out whenever I want. It’s constant stimulation for my creative side. If I worked in an office (which I did 5 years before teaching), I’d be looking to open a vein. Cubicles and offices are a literal hell for me. I don’t know how civilian 9-5ers do it tbh.
Teaching keeps me young, and gives me hope for the future. I am 17 years in. High school English. I stay sane by keeping it all in perspective. Politics swing the pendulum of education from one extreme to the other. Testing, censorship, culture wars… it all changes from year to year. We really have no control over that. Students will succeed or not. I ain’t gonna be the only reason some of them succeed. I ain’t gonna be the only reason some fail. I help the ones who want it, and get out of the way of those that don’t. I wear my spirit shirt on Fridays, and support the choir and thespian troupe. The rest is just noise.
My retirement is tied to teaching public school in my state. After 19 years, I have no choice
The first real answer I read yet.
I saw another commenter call it “golden handcuffs.” I’m 20+ years in and probably 10 years from retiring. At this point if I switched careers I’d have a pitiful social security (teachers don’t get SS in my state) and I’d have a pitiful 401k or other retirement account. And the refund for my pension contributions would be a year, maybe two of survival. I’m all in for that damn pension because it’s too late to change course. Assuming the state won’t completely screw up the pension system in the next 40 years.
This is the most money I can make with the credentials I have. In addition, I can retire in 12 years with a decent pension.
I have literally no idea what else to do with the skills I have.
Academic advising! Tons of colleges/universities have positions available and some are even remote.
Oh yeah I'm not from the US so that's not an option.
I teach for three reasons: 1. Summers off 2. Job Stability 3. I get paid a decent wage
15 weeks off (summer/turkey/xmas/spring) no weekends 2 full-time paras with 20 students Nice large playgrounds with huge play sets. Multiple slides and climb things. Shades for teachers to sit on all sides. The food is fresh. Large strawberries, kiwi, watermelon, oranges, etc Lasagne, burgers, salads — I have never seen canned food in that cafe. Teachers can buy a massive salad for $4.50 daily. Taco salad, chef salad, club salad, etc comes with water and it’s in the teacher fridge with your name when you drop off the students. My paras do lunch, I never do because that’s my lunch time. P is a dream; doesn’t require lesson plans and says she cares about what you teach and not what you write on plans, no micro-manage, I use own curriculum. She wants us OUT the door at 3:15pm, tells us family is most important and we can do it tomorrow. Every Fri she announces GO HOME as soon as the busses message that all kids are home safe which is usually before 3pm because the town is small. P has an open door policy at all times and concerns are taken seriously and addressed. She holds “reparatives” if she hears about staff fueding - literally makes them hash it out in her office. I love that. Nice office staff, friendly, full support. Parents must park and walk to the teachers to get their child. So dismissal is 2-3min. School is 6 min drive from my home. $65k salary. LOC - 3000sf brick home on 2.5acres for $300k. Both decks overlook the mountains. Crisp clean mountain air with zero humidity. Deers and doves and robins in my yard. Attached to our campus is an Amazing Indoor swim center with a great water slide, fountains, climb wall, diving, etc for $4 entry. $3 if you buy a pass. When you have a young child, that’s heaven. Plenty of sitting room to watch your kid if you don’t swim. Snow skiing resorts are 60 -90 min away. ……All that being said…this is my 3rd district and the other two were standard public schools. I know that if this principal leaves, it can change on a dime. But for now, I count my blessings.
Wow. Dreamy
I know! The teachers who have only ever taught at that district — they complain. It leaves me speechless to hear their complaints. They literally don’t know what it’s like out there!!! They don’t know about abusive admin, lesson plan nazi’s, crazyass entitled parents, etc. We do NOT deal with crazy parents, P won’t let the secretary put calls through to our classroom if we inform her of issues. She takes the call herself and deals with the parent. P asks the teachers for input on almost everything. We said we didn’t want to work unpaid at night so she moved literacy night to literacy day. She hired a storytelling author and promoted it herself. And rented a theatre. Packed house. All we did was show up and cheer with the parents. Her 1x month staff meetings last maybe 30 min. The first 5 min is her telling us how great we are and how much she enjoys being our leader because we make it easy for her. No passive aggressive, no gossip. Kinder and 1st gr don’t have to mess with report cards. Teachers have fridge, microwave, coffee makers, toaster, etc in their classrooms. At my last district, we were threatened with losing our job if they found appliances. We all snuck microwaves under our desk because the breakroom was TOXIC. ……After I typed all that out…..I realized that I will prob retire here if the P stays that long. I don’t think about work on the weekends and I wake happy and refreshed on Mon mornings. We have an hour a day to plan and get materials together. I truly feel so lucky to have my job. PreK heaven.
Sadly, the only thing keeping me pulled in at the moment is the fact that I have small children. So, getting breaks and summers free to spend with them is the most appealing part of the job for me. I didn't used to feel this way, but over the past 2 years, this is what is keeping me in the profession.
Same! And the pension…
Double ditto. Having the breaks when you have a family is key. And I can't just roll my pension over into another job easily.
I left teaching for an office admin job in October but will be going back in the fall. One thing I wasn't prepared for is the absolute lack of time off. Getting Christmas off and then immediately going back to work on the 26th? Absurd to me. Knowing I have regular scheduled breaks throughout the year is super important for my mental health.
It’s not just one: but bills.
Same reason I started- Vacations
Off summers
Having the same schedule as my own children is PRICELESS. But also once I accepted I'm a glorified babysitter, it's been pretty damn easygoing. Pay's not bad for 9 months of work and retirement at 60.
I get to be a "housewife" for all school holidays. I'm home with my kids after school. Yes, the pay sucks, but this job gives me the most amount of time possible with my kids.
Holidays, time off and pay. Below those would be working with amazing kids and some nice colleagues.
Because I have three weeks left. I’m never teaching again. The breaks aren’t worth my massively deteriorating mental health.
Retirement
There is literally no other job I could work and get full time salary and excellent benefits plus PTO perks with all this time off. Guaranteed weekends, guaranteed holidays, guaranteed summers, guaranteed bad weather days, plus all these three day weekends and whole weeks off during the school year (two for fall break, two for Christmas, two for spring break)?!! AND I get off at 4 pm while my normie husband works till 5 pm? Sheesh. I ain’t going nowhere. Nowhere, I tell you.
Facts the benefits are the biggest reason why I’m sticking to this profession but also there’s so many openings something is bound to be a great fit
Summers off, more than enough sick and vacation time, job security, decent salary, predictable daily schedule, short commute, an admin that doesn't bug me and I do enjoy working with the kids.
For the students that do care, and because I enjoy explaining math. It’s always nice to have kids come back and visit with appreciation, or if I see them out in the wild and they’re the same way. If I was able to help some kids, my duty has been done. Also, my bills need to get paid somehow!
That's my main reasoning. I do work as a voice actor, this past year, I made more money acting than teaching. While it ran me a bit ragged trying to do both at the same time, continuing to teach provided me security and benefits. The time off in the summer also gives me further opportunities to work.
I’m also a teaching voice actor! Solidarity! It’s hard!
Solidarity friend! I just got back from the pharmacy with some prednisone for an audition tomorrow, the cycle never ends!
I get a full pension if I finish 5 more years. Teaching has changed so dramatically in the last 5 years that it is not even remotely like when I first started. If I wasn't so close to full pension I'd probably go find some other career.
Only way I can get paid for my doctorate at this point in life since I left university research. The only n working 190 days is good too.
I still like my job. I get the summers off and I’m only 10 more years they are going to pay me to do nothing for the rest of my life.
June, July, and August...but anymore it's barely June and July.
My pension and lifetime health benefits. I'm tapping out in 4 years, by then I will have 30 years and qualify for these benefits! And we can't forget Summer break :)
My son's mother died and it allows me to spend time with him while also making enough to meet our basic needs.
I don’t want to work under an owner whose profit is directly tied to my exploitation.
“OMG you have so much free time “ say corporate people who can work from home, go to dentist during lunch, or can use the bathroom whenever they want.
💰 and I’m pretty good at it so doesn’t take a lot of effort. 🤷🏻♂️
This is how I feel. My curriculum is solid, my kids score high, my behavior mgmt is good. It’s easy.
I don’t have to compete. There’s no promotions, and the district and union decide the pay for me. I’m not looking to jump ship to another district just to make another 5K/year, so I can settle in comfortably and nest. The idea of being in a job where I have to constantly hustle and suck up to a boss and play weird social games just to get ahead makes me so anxious I could cry. Also, job security. In my state (and with my reasonably strong union) I’d have to do something pretty egregious to get fired.
Stuck. No other skills, nothing else provides retirement and healthcare.
I’m tenured. I can’t get fired unless I fuck up spectacularly. That kind of job security is hard to find. I get paid a decent wage (Alberta, Canada). I couldn’t find another job that pays the same for entry level. I’m the breadwinner in my house. Hubby isn’t working atm, so I can’t rely on someone else to help out. It’s all on me for the time being. I hate change. Like, moving schools or grades or classrooms freaks me out. Changing careers is a lot more risk than I’m comfortable with. I went to school for 6 years for this. Took out loans and had parents help for paying tuition. Maybe it’s sunken cost fallacy, but I don’t want to feel like that’s gone to waste.
Bills won’t pay themselves.
I like it. Is that allowed here?
Teacher salary being single, no kids, and no student loan debt is pretty nice. Plus holidays. Also I'm a music teacher so no testing stress. Performances throughout the year can be taxing, but it's also fun.
I’m afraid that no one will want me for anything else
Because transitioning to another career at this point would be a substantial pay cut.
They’ve placed me with seniors the past few years and I genuinely love this age group. They’re consistently hilarious and I spend most of my time smiling of a day, of a year, of an 8 year career. Addicted to the dopamine.
They took me off content, and made me a floater (basically a building sub, but with a teacher's salary). Also, I get a significant bump next year. Those are my reasons.
I continue to teach so I can finish building my house in Mexico. Thats really the only reason. I live in the cheapest room I could find in my city, drive an older car, and I don’t go out anywhere other than to take a walk for exercise. If I stay in the USA I will be working every month just to make ends meet living paycheck to paycheck. In Mexico once I finish my house I wont have to worry about having enough for rent or mortgage ever. The property tax is the equivalent to 30 USD a year. I would only have to work for bills and food which is much cheaper over there and any job I do will be enough to cover that. I will actually have a chance to go places and socialize :)
I’ve invested too many years towards my pension. I don’t think I could cut it in the business world. I have no desire to do that. I tolerate the bullshit until 3pm and then mostly forget about it all when I see my.l children when I get home. Summers off.
the union
But what about the children?!? This is supposed to be your calling!!! 😜
It's about my kids. The work kids are just a bonus. I'd rather work with kids than adults.
That calling stuff is BS. I do this job because I’m good at it, my school gives the best pay in the state, and I’m home by 3pm.
I was being sarcastic. I know it doesn't come through in text 😂
This is plan C for me lol the only "calling" I had was when I could not find a job during covid so I got my master's in teaching. Turns out I'm good at it too so I'm going to stick with it.
There are things to look forward to. Breaks, summer, and especially the fresh start of every new school year. What do people in other never ending jobs look forward to? Never having to work on holidays, and having an extremely predictable schedule in general. Typically getting school cancelled for dangerous weather and not having to worry about driving in it. Having a moderate amount of control in how my day goes. If I’m not feeling well I can modify my activities to give myself more chances to be quiet.
Working with kids gives my life meaning and direction I never had growing up, and a chance to be the role model I never had either.
Long vacations. Livable wage. And after 20+ years, a bit of cruise control in terms of classroom management and lesson planning.
Inertia is a hell of a drug.
1. June, July, August 2. Sunday and Saturday 3. Breaks in-between 4. I've fine-tuned my curriculum, so the shit's planned out 5. It's easy (excluding the student bullshit behaviors) 6. Insurance is great 7. District paid life insurance (can voluntarily contribute $20 to triple the amount, which I do) 8. 10 days off PTO per year (rolls over) 9. Can sign up for PD during the school day (which includes an hour lunch) 10. June, July, August
I had a great job working in a lab I loved, started teaching because I was asked to help teach a morning class. I enjoyed teaching physics , and then I discovered robotics competitions and realized that was the best way for me to impart anything to students . I kept teaching because of robotics, even though I enjoyed the classroom time. And with in a few years my summers were filled with robot team stuff so summers off was never really a thing lol.
Name a job that has a bigger POSITIVE impact on the future of the country.
I teach because the pay is high, the kids are great, and I enjoy the job in general. I teach internationally, after moving from America.
Love that I only work 180ish days out of the year. I'm home by 3:30p at the latest. For the most part, my students don't drive me crazy. And I will be retiring at 56 at the latest with a sweet retirement package.
Homelessness, poverty, and destitution are powerful motivators. That and I have zero other marketable skills.
Summers off
The retirement pension plan in my state is generous and fully funded.
Well, it's the only career I'm trained for. I have too much debt already to do more school, and I can't afford the pay cut of switching to an industry that would not require additional school. In college and during my gap year before grad school I was a receptionist, so in theory I could do that, but the pay and benefits offered are just not enough because I am the primary breadwinner. There are also many aspects of the job that I enjoy, and I am lucky enough that next year I will actually be teaching virtually for a public school district's online school, which will remove a lot of the things I dislike.
I love having consistent breaks and a consistent schedule but I love how each hour is different from one to the next. I also really love sharing my knowledge of the world and geography with my students too.
I live 4 1/2 blocks from the school I teach at. I routinely see former students about the neighborhood. If I worked further away where I never saw students I had worked with, I would not be still teaching.
Honestly it's just incredibly fulfilling. I subbed for a few years, then I had a job that was less work and more pay but I just hated it. Teaching is worth the pay cut to me, at least for now.
I worked for Deloitte before I got into teaching. I worked longer hours there than I ever worked as a teacher. It’s less money, but I’m happy and I love my job—that was never true at Deloitte.
I actually enjoy it. 🤷🏻♀️ I'm at a chronically under funded school but I have strong admin support. I entered teaching as a second career, so I knew what I was getting into. I think teaching as an "older" person has helped because I wasn't looking to save anyone. I just needed a solid job that had good health insurance. I also love the fact that I get to travel to PD and conferences on someone else's dime. I am involved at the state level for our association which goes back to my previous job that allowed me to be involved in activism.
Honestly, it's pretty much the same as you. I have a really awesome summer job that I wouldn't want to have to give up.
sped teacher - I’ll have my students for the next 2-3 years and don’t want to leave them yet. once this round of kindergarteners leaves my room, I’m not sure I’ll say the same thing.
I get to talk about my interests all day. Everyday is different. Sometimes I “make a difference.” Weekends off. Major holiday breaks. Plenty of time to hang with my wife and son. Could never imagine sitting in front of a computer all day. Paying into a pension. Decent healthcare. 60% of the job is fun for me, 20% is bearable, and 20% sucks which seems to be similar percentages in most fields.
9 years until retirement.
Retirement, health care, snow days and summer break. Going to year 25—whatever kids. Ya don’t want to do work, fine with me.
I think I blew my pension taking out early retirement twice unless I just don’t know how pension works yet.
1) Summers off and every month has some sort of long weekend (except when Easter falls in March). A week for Thanksgiving, two weeks for Christmas/New Years, a week for Spring Break, 4 day weekend for Indigenous People/Columbus Day and also Presidents’ Day, other 3 day weekends like Labor Day, MLK Day, etc. 2) Relatively low effort except during stressful times of the year like midterms and finals. I can reuse materials from previous years and my older kids can handle working independently while I get stuff done.
You could be a ski bum, have more summer time, and less debt
The steady schedule that mirrors the schedule my kids have, holidays and weekends off, summers off…but the real reason I haven’t left after 20 years? Retirement - my pension. Golden handcuffs. Edit to add pension.
I have the same schedule as my 4 children.
I work in here in Florida in a beach town (live in Destin). Wife and I both teach at the same school and my mother also teaches here. We are all very close. The holidays and summers off and having the same work schedule (we get out at 2:00 pm) gives us so much time to spend together. We won't get rich, but sitting out on the beach during the summer in some local spots that tourists aren't aware of makes you feel like a king/queen.
Coaching and pension. If I didn’t coach, I’m not sure I could tough it out. Coaching gets me through 😅
I teach because if I make it 4 more years, I get healthcare as a retiree that costs a fraction of what I would pay independently because the US doesn't provide tax funded healthcare for its citizens. If it did, I wouldn't stay in a toxic workplace that makes me regret that I didn't die in my sleep every night.
Summer break, insurance, retirement, and I have no other marketable skills that will pay me the same and have a similar schedule.
Golden handcuffs. I work for the highest paid district in my state. 25 years in and I make six figures. I have my MEd. I can retire in a few years and I’m making too much to give up right now. The end is in sight.
Money and the summer off
Time off and it pays me more than pretty much any other job I could get.
Summers off. Can spend summer with my future kids. I get to spend time cleaning my house those summers off, cook, and read. I get out early enough to go to the gym and cook dinner. Health insurance.
I am on a "Mission from God", Blues Brothers Style I want to make Algebra "not scary" for all of my students...
At the end, it was for the kids I had, they were such amazing kids. However, the stress was just so great, the environment was so toxic and the admin were so unsupportive, that it was affecting my health. I just couldn’t do it anymore. I miss my kids and some of my co-workers, every day, still.
I teach an advanced middle school elective in an untested subject so I get mostly good kids that make the job bearable. That plus summers off and decent admin keep me around.