So, You Think You Want to Be a Teacher?

So, you think you want to be a teacher. Really? Well, if you're serious about choosing a career in education, you should get to know the facts first. It is true that teaching has many rewards, but it has even more drawbacks.

The Bad News

We'll start with the bad news first; get ready, there's lots of it!

Salary

Everyone knows teachers are underpaid, but do you know how underpaid they really are? According to a CNN report published by Associated Press, in 2005 the average teacher salary in the country was $ 46,752. Salaries vary by state and district. Currently, Connecticut pays teachers the most with an average $ 57,337 yearly salary and South Dakota pays the least with 33,236. Generally, the higher paid teachers also live where the cost of living is significantly higher, so it all becomes pretty relative. The main problem with teacher salaries is that they do not keep up with inflation rates, causing teachers to actually earn less as time goes by. CNN reports that over the past 20 years the average teacher salary has only increased $ 2,677 when inflation is factored in. If you want to know how much teachers are paid in your area, you can log on to monster.com or hotjobs.com and do a salary search.

On top of the low salaries, teachers wind up spending a great deal of money out of their own pockets for classroom supplies. As funding for public schools decreases, teachers find themselves making up for shortfalls in supply budgets. They buy everything from motivational stickers and prizes to basics like paper, pencils and books out of their own pockets. Also, teachers, being the giving souls that they are, are also known to spend their own money on their most needy students. After all, you can't expect a child to do homework if they don't have their own paper. On the up side, teachers are now able to take advantage of a $400 tax credit for educator expenses, unfortunately surveys show that teachers shell out an average of $ 500 - $1,500 a year.

Time

Teachers work incredible hours. You may think they have it easy as they only have to work from 8:00 to 3:00, but what you probably don't realize is how much extra time they put into their work, beyond school hours. There are school obligations like staff meetings, parent-teacher conferences, workshops, in-services and before and after school programs and duties that take up several hours a week. Then there are the coaching and sponsoring duties. High school teachers, in particular log hundreds of hours a year coaching academic and athletic teams and sponsoring clubs and other school organizations. More often than not, these activities take place on the weekends, out of town, sometimes overnight.

Next are the special events. Every time the elementary school puts on the annual Christmas show, teachers spent countless hours organizing and preparing for the show. And even those teachers not directly involved in the show are expected to show up, usually on a weeknight, to support the show. People outside of education do not realize how much time teachers spend with students outside of regular classroom duties. Then there is the lesson planning and grading. Much of these duties are done on off time as well, as there is little time in the school day to do such tasks. Furthermore, teachers rarely get a full hour for lunch. They have lunchroom and playground duties or club and class meetings to attend, so it is common to see teachers eating lunch standing up while doing something else. Even getting to the bathroom on a regular basis is a challenge!

Outside Influences

Outside of the classroom walls are many people dictating to teachers what to do, how to do it and when to do it. From congress to the local school board to the principal and department chairs, everyone thinks they know what is best for students. Teachers have to take near constant conflicting direction from the administration and put up with criticism about the failings of education. There has been a growing trend in our country to mistrust educators, so parents are often more willing to blame a teacher for their child's troubles in school than work with them to find some solutions. Many teachers fear giving failing grades to students, knowing they will have defend themselves to the parents, rather than the child having to defend their actions. On top of the local issues, every few years a new trend in education comes along and every teacher is expected to get on the bandwagon and learn a new philosophy of education as well as mine their way through the bureaucratic requirements - latest example: No Child Left Behind.
Appreciation

In most professions if you do your job well, you might expect a raise and/or a promotion for your efforts. In education, that is not the case. Salaries are mostly tied to seniority and level of education, and classroom teachers don't work their way up a professional ladder, unless they move into the administration realm. So, there are few professional pats on the back for a teacher. Positive comments on the annual reviews are usually about it. The average teacher hears little in terms of appreciation from administration, parents, students, etc.

The Good News

So, if you are still reading this after all of the bad news, you must still be interested in teaching. Congratulations! There is good news about this crazy profession as well.

Location, location, Location

One great thing about teaching is that you can do it in any town in America. If you love the hustle and bustle of an urban neighborhood, you can get a job in a school in your city of choice. If you prefer the quiet pace of small town life, you can teach in a rural school district. If you are a parent, you can seek out the best place to raise your kids and more than likely, you can get a job in the area. Should you decide you want to live in a different part of the country at some point, you will probably be able to find another teaching position in your new city.

Schedules

Everyone says that teachers have it made because they get summers off and it's true. Most schools operate on some version of a 180 day a year schedule, so whether your school is traditional or year-round, there are going to be extended times when you don't have to work. Unlike other professions that may net a week or two of vacation time a year, teachers traditionally get at least two months off in the summer, as well as two weeks for Christmas break and one week for summer break, plus all of the usual national holidays. Of course, as discussed before, there are some times that school activities will cut into your time off, but teachers really are lucky to have the time to recharge on those breaks.

Creativity

One of the best things about teaching is the opportunity to be creative. Yes, there are those administrative directives to follow and standards to meet, but within those, teachers get to create wonderful new ways to impart learning in their students. Every day there are ample opportunities to try something new, take a risk or make something up. Teachers are freaks about reinventing the wheel. They love to find a way to do something in a new way. Because every kid learns differently, teachers are always coming up with different ways to reach each student.

Kids

It may seem obvious, but certainly, the most important and best aspect of being a teacher is getting to work with kids. Teachers love kids and kids love teachers. Elementary students even hug their teachers. Getting to share in the learning process with young, innocent minds is incredibly exciting. Kids are wild, unpredictable, sometimes incorrigible, but they are always beautiful beings who are just learning about the world. They will make you laugh, scream, gasp, think, grieve, cry, and love.

Self Respect

At the end of the day, there are few professions where a person can actually say they made a positive difference in the life of another human being. Teachers do that every single day. Even on those days when nothing seems to work, the kids are off the wall, the principal is calling another meeting and some parent is breathing down your neck, you will have touched some kid, somehow. It is easy to sleep at night knowing what you are doing is good and right. You will always know why you do what you do. Clearly, it's not money or status that keeps teachers returning to hot buildings every August, it is the need to help others and the knowledge that we are.

So, you still think you want to be a teacher? Great! Go for it! It's the best decision you'll ever make.