A Question For Public School Teachers

[G5052]

Yes, this is my struggle exactly! I absolutely loved my students, colleagues, and the novels/literature I taught, but the system (now that I'm out of it and can recognize it for what it is) is one I'm not sure I want to work in anymore. I can definitely see approaching it the way your friend does--as a way to help the students who are "stuck" in the system as well as I am able.

 

Lots to think about over the coming years! :-)

 

Yes, my friend and I discussed this quite a bit because at the time she made the decision, we were both teaching homeschool classes and loving it. She was planning selective colleges for her children, and I was looking at having to take over as the breadwinner.

 

She ended up taking the "career changer" program through a local college that lead to a provisional license. Despite being the top graduate, she had a tough time getting a job, but finally got one at a middle school with a 90 minute commute each way. She did that for two years and then moved over to a school 20 minutes from home that gave her exactly what she wanted. She gets the ones that have failed the state exams twice, and they let her do anything it takes to get them up. And she's very successful at it. But the reports and pressure do get to her at times.

 

For numerous reasons, it's been better for me to just contract for private school teaching and continue with the community college teaching I've done for years. I don't need the benefits, and I need to be able to control my hours. But at one of the community colleges, I'm seeing the numbers game there, and this is my last semester with them. I need to adjust my hours anyway. I've got too much work right now.

[ereks mom]

I taught in public and private schools prior to having children, and then for a opulent of years after my oldest was born. I HATED having to leave him with the babysitter every day while I went to work at a job I despised. I wanted to love teaching--and I would have IF I had been free to teach and wasn't swamped with paperwork and disciplinary issues. The school system in my area is notoriously awful, and I was not going to put my children through that. I had toyed with the idea of homeschooling even before my children were born, but I didn't seriously consider it until I taught in the local public school system and saw firsthand how bad it was.