Would you go into teaching? For me, I don't know...

I did for three years at the high school level. I loved it. I wasn't certified but qualified to teach business and criminal justice college prep courses to upper-level students. I enjoyed my time teaching these wonderful students. It was an all-girls Catholic school, so I didn't encounter some of the issues some public urban school teachers face. However, we certainly had our challenges.

 

It really is that bad. For so many reasons. And the related services providers are even worse. We had a ton of kids last year that needed speech services but we couldn’t provide it because there was a Huge shortage in speech pathologists. Same with School Psychologists. It gets even worse because everyone is so overloaded, they get burnt out and some quit. The teachers get so bogged down that we’ve had teachers quit over Christmas break with no word. As an administrative assistant, I had to also serve lunch, mop floors from overflowing toilets, fill in for the nurse, cleaned puke off my desk, waited in an office… with no windows… with a kid who had diarrhea in her pants and vomited on her shirt. Took her mom two hours to come get her. Had a kindergarten kid try to stab her teacher with scissors. Etc etc etc etc.

and there’s no way pay can be increased because residents won’t pass a single tax levy. They’ve cut so many things to stretch the budget.

 

Maybe, but only online. I literally would be more inclined to go work at a prison before a school...

 

One of my kids is a teacher in public HS.
For him its a calling.
The path to become certified teacher or as called earn the teaching credential was challenging as well.
Luckily for him his HS teachers remembered him as a student and were eager to assist with student teaching.
Now he is FT teaching at the same HS school he graduated from.
His first year was the most challenging, as it consumed all of his time.
The work day was not ending at 3:30 PM, it was just a beginning as lesson planning and grading home work and papers took him well in to 11 PM daily and weekends.
NO LIFE.
Second year was a little better as he had to teach the same grade levels and was able to reuse with adjustments the lesson planing from the first year.
But this is not all, as newly credentialed teachers need to clear their credentials, this requires the mentor supervising teacher and the new teacher to attend special meetings submit additional materials, get observed etc.
They are given 4 or 5 years to clear the credential.
And this is not all, as he also got around 40 special need students out of 200. Those require adjusted lessons so this in addition to regular lesson planning.
And there is more.

And all this for modest income in comparison to the effort and his older brother who is an attorney.

But this is what his calling is.

 

LOL. I worked at a prison doing one-on-one counseling, teaching life skills classes, and facilitating group therapy sessions. It had its challenges, but I'd rather be there than K-12.

 

Most of the people I deal with now have been in prison, but at least they are adults and I can predict them easier. I work at a teen rehab once... that was a totally different ballgame. I cannot even begin to imagine what kids might come up with that I would have to deal with.

 

*worked