Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

Seance-Fiction t1_itlu7h9 wrote

I quit teaching public high school 5 years ago. I love teaching and would definitely return to it if pay was significantly higher and workload was sane. After ten years of doing it out of a sense of duty I finally had enough.

97

espressoanddoggos t1_itm71b9 wrote

Absolutely agree! I taught for 7 years and left in Feb for a different job in a corporate setting. It pays so much more and my life is completely different for the better. Best decision I've ever made.

30

agnosticdeist t1_itpctv3 wrote

If you don’t mind, how did you get past the HR algorithms? I keep getting hit with “yeah we just don’t want public school teachers” although I’m hopeful about an interview I just had for a tech job.

3

Tylerjb4 t1_itnf90h wrote

If you don’t mind sharing: what did you teach, how much did you make, how many hours did you average per week?

4

Seance-Fiction t1_itnjx08 wrote

I taught art with level T5 certification in Atlanta metro area Georgia from 2006-2017 (budget cuts ended my position and I spent a couple years freelancing and teaching a college course before returning). See link at the end.

Teachers in Georgia were furloughed several times from 2007-2010 and nobody got that paid back. No union.

Hours per week paid? 40. Hours worked? That’s a long answer. Schools routinely took planning period away so grading was on your own time. When I left I was responsible for up to 40 students per class. You had to enter formative and summative grades at least weekly so that’s 120-ish students’ grades to enter at home or after school unpaid. I honestly don’t even know how many unpaid hours I spent doing that. It was mandatory to tutor after school unpaid every week for two hours, and we were required to attend after school events. Parent teacher conferences and faculty meetings were also mandatory and unpaid, not to mention stressful.

At just under 10 years I was making 51k a year with a graduate degree plus a four year fine art degree.

https://www.nctq.org/dmsView/Gwinnett_FY17_Teacher_Salary_Schedule

I now work in the film industry and started with an hourly rate double what teaching for ten years got me, and if I go overtime I’m paid time and a half. Teachers deserve much much more pay than they get.

Edit: I should add Art budgets are always micro so I was spending at least $200 a semester on supplies.

13

espressoanddoggos t1_itnnli0 wrote

I taught Art. Made 46,500. I averaged about 55-60 hours per week.

Some numbers that made me pause (and find another career path):

-I had to submit 15 grades per student per 9 weeks.

-125 students = 1875 grades in the gradebook per 9 weeks

-If I spent 1 min on each assignment for each student (reviewing, grading, entering in gradebook)= 31.25 hours of grading each 9 weeks. This usually happened outside of school hours and could not be accomplished during my prep time alone.

Now I make $10,000+ more and work 40 hours a week. My soul is so much happier.

*Edit I now have more time to work on my own art which brings me so much happiness and extra cash!

11