For YEARS those of us in the education field have been vilified. We have pensions (which we sacrifice higher pay for the way I see it) We have "summers off with pay" (Nope, we spread our checks out over 26 weeks vs weekly - and many districts let you opt in to the 21 pay which means no pay over the summer and bigger checks in the year. It's a choice. We don't work hard (meanwhile most teachers who don't stay after school flee home for different surroundings before firing open the laptop and starting again) we don't do enough for the kids (We already parent them for you 40 hours a week and aren't allowed to ask you to parent them the rest of the time -- we feed them, give them supplies, try our best to teach our content, etc.) -- in short, there was nothing we in the field of education could do right. And now, factor in a pandemic where many in the field question whether or not they should be in school "in person" and you get the spiel one of our local superintendents blasted at the last Sups meeting "These people are lazy and selfish." - that same Sup hides in her office all day everyday -- just for the record.
I have been in the educational field for ten years(I am 35 years old as I am writing this), and I am in another program to leave the educational field due to how I have been treated. I am originally from New Jersey and received my NJ certification here. In my ten years, I never received tenure so I never received any pay for the summer. I was even denied unemployment even though I was not chosen to teach in the summer and even applied to teach in the summer because tenure faculty in my school were given a small check for the summer until school started again. I could not live like this so I have to leave the profession.
In NJ, there isn't a teacher shortage from what I have seen. There are a lot of teachers who are non-tenure and are hired via third party systems like Kelly Education to fill in classrooms which creates problems like having to buy your own health insurance.
@dannyboy Why can't I find paper towels anywhere? And it's just paper towels, Lysol wipes are still plentiful which makes ZERO sense.
@dannyboy Why can't I find paper towels anywhere? And it's just paper towels, Lysol wipes are still plentiful which makes ZERO sense.
A lot of people have been buying paper towels lately in bulk at our local CVS.
@sam I'll buy some paper towels for you and ship them to you if you can do the same for me for Clorox wipes ??.
@charmandernat There are a lot of teachers who are non-tenure and are hired via third party systems like Kelly Education to fill in classrooms which creates problems like having to buy your own health insurance.
I don't know what Kelly Education is but it sounds awful just from the one sentence above, and NJ can keep it! Don't give our teacher bashing legislature any ideas!
@dannyboy I might take you up on that lmao. Why can't people shop normally I don't get it.
I'm a teacher and I AM POOPED. Like- bone tired. Which is also a key symptom for covid- so every time I walk up the stairs I convince myself I am infected. (Of course I am just BONE TIRED). My job is not very physical (except the stairs)- but mentally and emotionally right now- HOLY GUACAMOLE. And I expect it to get worse. AND I am in a great school with wonderful people. We are at 50% capacity with two student cohorts (one face to face and one remote) so we see half our kids two days per week and then switch. We have pretty solid cleaning procedures and protocols in place. We also are remote every Wednesday for both groups for thorough cleaning and planning to help us with our remote kids. If I had stayed in my last job under my last principal- I.can't.even. So- here I am in the best-case scenario as a teacher, and I am struggling to keep it together- so I don't know how teachers in less than ideal situations are doing it. I really do not. It is a lot. Fingers crossed that things will improve greatly after the new year.
I feel so much for you. My daughter is an elementary school music teacher. She currently has a full schedule of kids and teaches all grades either in person or remotely. The principle increased the amount of time all the special teachers teach in-person classes because the regular classroom teachers at totally stressed. Regular in -person and virtual teachers are still required to do state testing this year...can you imagine that? She has 10 minutes between classes to clean but now has a shorter lunch. 3 teachers have already quit this year, 2 of them teaching major state testing grade levels.
She has over 150 parents to contact for the virtual kids alone regarding grades, missing assignments, and tech issues. Lots of tech issues. There isn't enough time in the week to contact them all because she is full time in the classroom too and planning double the lessons. Some kids are not doing any of their work and she is worried about their mental health status.
They have been seeing raising district covid cases recently. Some teachers in her school have quit.
She is in a brand new school and it is beautiful, a plus. She wishes the district would go remote after Thanksgiving until a week longer than than the scheduled return in the New Year. Her district has a week off for Thanksgiving and she believes cases will soar after that holiday.
Hugs to you Honeybee. I don't think anyone other than another educator understands the stress you are under. We are asking you to do the impossible.
@lovendures Hugs to you and your daughter. Your daughter's situation sounds terrible, but I am sure that the music that she gives to the kiddos makes a big difference in their day. Our guidance counselor was in my room with my kids last week and was talking about how music can be such a stress reliever. So- she is having a huge impact on their lives right now. What a gift.