Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Reconsider a Career in Teaching

Having been a teacher in the public school system for the last four years, I have become quite disillusioned as a teacher, and I feel that it is my duty to warn the innocent before they get in too deep. Here are the top ten reasons why I feel that aspiring teachers should reassess a career in education.

10. Will work for...money

Although it is often bandied about that teachers should make more money, most bystanders have absolutely no idea just how little teachers actually make. Teachers make less money than law enforcement or fire, as well as many other city jobs. For the first couple of years as a teacher, the custodians, clerks, security guards and Instructional Assistants made more money than I did. In the Bay Area (one of the nation's highest cost of living areas), the average first-year salary is approximately $35,000. With the average cost of a home well over $600,000, it's hard to imagine how most teachers survive, let alone prosper. The step increases are about $2,000 a year, which equals $166 a month (before taxes).

All employees receive the same increases, whether or not they are productive, engaging or highly effective, so there are no incentives to motivate overworked instructors. In addition, medical and dental benefits are substantially lower than private business employers. For example, when I worked in corporate America, I received $1,500 a year in dental benefits while the school district gives me $500. By the way, there aren't any stock options, 401ks or Christmas bonuses either.

9. I paid how much?

As a little girl, I always dreamed of being a lawyer, but after paying for a Bachelor's degree at a UC, I decided that I didn't want to spend another boatload of money on law school, let alone stay in school for another three or four years. Boy was I fooled! I had to pay for the CBEST general education exam, CSET single subject exam, a two-year credential program in the California State College system (courses, books, student teaching, administrative fees), TB tests, fingerprinting, California Commission on Teacher Credentialing fees, and I had to acquire additional student loans.

When you apply for a new teaching position, school districts want transcripts from every college that you attended and new TB tests and fingerprinting, which can become quite expensive if you decide to move into a new position. Every five years, your credential must be renewed by paying additional fees to the CCTC and enrolling in additional classes. I have talked to many veteran teachers, and they tell me the requirements have and will continue to increase. The exorbitant cost to become a teacher is inconsistent with the accompanying salary; the total amount of my student loans is equal to my yearly salary.

8. Am I crazy?

You might think that you're losing your mind some days, and the fact that the district has "mental health" days should let you know that you're not alone. Disruptive or volatile student behavior, mounds of paper to grade, pressure from administrators, and endless progress reports and report cards will wear you down faster than a high speed merry-go-round. You will feel like you're being pulled in eleven different ways, and it never lets up until you walk out of the door for summer break. There is a class size cap of 32 students, but I have 45 students in several class periods. I have been urged by administrators to change F's to D's, and there are so many standardized tests that you will begin to wonder where you will squeeze in authentic lesson plans. You are given a wink and a nudge, and basically directed to "teach to the test" because test scores must increase or else... Generally speaking, parents are not as supportive as you would like them to be, so problematic behavior is seldom addressed, leaving you frustrated, weary and frazzled.

Most of the time I feel like a social worker because contemporary teenage behavior will shock you beyond your wildest nightmare. I cannot count the number of pregnancies, abortions, and live births that students have approached me about. Students have also feared that they have contracted STD's but they were too afraid to talk to parents. I spend a lot of my time providing counseling and urging students to communicate with their parents. Students engage in illicit drug use, alcohol and drug sales and paid sex on school campuses. There have been rapes (including female homosexual rapes) in school bathrooms and inconspicuous areas around campus. Naturally, there are the consensual sexual acts that take place just as well. I have heard about students that have collapsed from alcohol poisoning, and the ambulance has been called because students high on Ecstasy were squirming around on the ground in a pool of sweat snatching their clothes off. Long gone are the days of wine coolers and beer; this new crop of teens sip hard liquor and smoke cigarettes like it's going out of style.

The city police will become your saving grace; they have been called for suspicion of weapons and/or drugs, domestic violence and riots on many campuses. Last year, the SWAT team staged a practice drill with K-9s and assault weapons to provide training for a situation when an intruder may enter our campus because a few months earlier four bank robbers actually fled through our campus while they were being chased by law enforcement. Students have been jumped, robbed and extorted, but have been afraid to "snitch" on their attackers. My high school campus has 2,300 students and six security guards, so it is impossible to imagine that they can keep an eye on the entire student body at all times, so just know that the administration will look to you for support.

7. Who's the Boss?

Administrators work for the school district-not you! They are the middle people between the bureaucracy and the staff on site; their hands are tied because they hear the complaints, but they have no power. Principals will merely placate and distract you with professional developments and in-services. Frequently, you will hear the phrase, "You should ask downtown" because they cannot definitively resolve anything! They are figureheads, mere onsite representatives of the school district. Oddly enough, they are your immediate supervisors, but they don't even have the ability to hire or fire anybody; they can only make recommendations to the district. Often the relationship between teachers and the administration is tenuous at best because there is a constant struggle to feel appreciated. Teachers don't feel that principals value them or fight for their needs, and administrators sometimes feel that teachers take advantage of situations and don't always put in as much effort as they could.

6. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

School districts are an unprofessional, unorganized, cesspool of red tape that will frustrate you to the point that you will wonder why workplace violence wasn't named "going schoolteacher". Employees in the district are mean and unsupportive. They make promises they can't fulfill, they make changes to your status without telling you, and they don't have children's interests at heart; they do what makes sense financially. Because of consolidated classrooms (low student enrollment classes are combined), teachers with greater seniority can "bump" teachers with less seniority out of their position. I have had my medical benefits "accidentally" cancelled several times; naturally, I became aware of this when I got to my doctor appointment and they told me that I was not a member.

Human Resources often loses official transcripts and important documents that you will have submitted, or you'll give paperwork to employees that will leave the district, so no one knows where the papers are. H.R. will bend the rules for some employees, but enforce the rules for others. The district does not apply rules and requirements across the board and it appears that they are making up a protocol as they go. The truth is, they don't really know what's going on at individual school sites, and most of the time they're playing catch up. This is why you see lawsuits on television ALL the time because there are no checks and balances in the school system. When I worked for one particular district, a couple of district employees were in cahoots with a contractor, and together they embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars by billing school repairs (construction, paint, roofing etc.) that NEVER took place. There it is--your hard tax dollars at work!

5. The Apple Doesn't Fall Far...

Parents can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Very few of them will be supportive; the majority of them will blame you, the school district and the whole state of California for Little Johnny's "F"! Parents that are buried deeply in denial find it hard to believe when you tell them their precious child cut class, failed to turn in any work, or listened to his iPod all class period. If you didn't call or email the parent every single day to alert them to their student's behavior, it's absolutely your fault if they fail. And then there are those lovely parents that agree to meet with you to discuss their student's inappropriate behavior, and they are just as disrespectful and mouthy as their student! Finally, it becomes clear to you why the student told you to leave him the fuck alone.

4. Budget, Smudget

You can fill out as many supply requests as you would like, but cross your fingers as you leave the lowly slip on the secretary's desk. Teacher's desks are usually as old as the school and the chairs are neither as comfortable nor lavish as the principal's chair. There's never any money in the budget, and your basic teacher supplies will end up coming out of your salary if you want to be able to staple papers, paperclip documents, or file anything. Forget about cute, little borders for bulletin boards, mini metallic stars, and colorful poster board paper. You can probably get your hands on dry erase markers and Post-Its, but don't count on much else. Most teachers have discount cards for Staples and Office Depot because there are some things that you absolutely must have to become a successful teacher.

3. I Have a Dream

Because programs are constantly being cut, bodies are constantly disappearing from positions but the tasks still remain. For example, there are programs that help students find jobs, but that responsibility ends up being heaped on teachers because the one program for the entire district has only three employees. If you think you're going to have a working computer, printer, and telephone you need to stop reading right now and change your future goals immediately. At the beginning of this school year, I begged administrators to alert the tech guy to my unusable computer, but it was never resolved. I didn't have access to the school site's electronic grading system, so I had to format Excel from my laptop to formulate grades.

Depending on how your school is ranked by its value, you may have bigger, better and newer toys than other schools. Most educators realize that segregation truly exists; if your school is zoned near wealthier neighborhoods, you will have all of the bells and whistles because those parents will demand it. If you get stuck at an undesirable school on the other side of the tracks, you better be glad if you can see out of the spray-painted windows. On the high school level, some higher-valued schools may have 22 sports (golf, water polo, lacrosse), while schools that serve the poor may have three or four sports. While some schools may have drama, band, computer labs, and film-making classes, others barely have a working computer in each room. These are just a few examples of the differences between the haves and the have-nots. Clearly, Bay Area schools (and schools around the nation) are separate but not equal.

2. Coffee or Tea?

The extrinsic rewards are few and far in-between. The only perks available in the educational system are the schedule: off by 3 o'clock, federal holidays, two weeks at Christmas, Spring Break and Summer break. When I used to work in the corporate arena, the perks were abundant: recreation rooms with pool tables, large screen televisions, couches, and video games, nap rooms, Christmas parties that we didn't have to contribute to, Summer picnics, family leave days, all expense paid fun days (Disneyland, the beach, Padres games with tailgating, restaurants and movies), opening day at the races, catered weekly meetings, expense accounts, and GREAT supply catalogs. There was a full kitchen with free coffee and tea, beautiful, modern cubicles with high back chairs, clean carpet, plants and artwork on the wall. The computers and printers were always in working condition, and if there was an occasional glitch the IT department sent someone over immediately.

There were frequent all-company meetings where the CEO, COO, CIO, and CFO thanked us for our hard work and held raffles for gift certificates and tickets to concerts and Charger football games. Because you feel valued and handsomely rewarded, you want very badly to live up to the expectation and give an honest commitment to hard work. Turnover was low because employees felt vested and loyal to the executives that treated them fairly and with dignity.

1. What's My Motivation?

The reason that I decided to enter the teaching profession was because I wanted to give back to my community and make a difference in the lives of our children. Yes it sounds very cliché, but it is true. I wanted to share my love of English literature with the kids that society has labeled incorrigible, but lately I have become quite disappointed and disenchanted with the job that I used to be so proud of. I have begun to lose my zest for teaching when countless students beg me for a "D". Many students just want to pass the class; they are disinterested in soaking up the knowledge that I am eager to share. Most students will do the bare minimum to get by without exerting much effort. I have busted so many kids copying one another's papers, cheating on tests, and forging their parent's signatures. If I didn't catch them, students would talk on their cell phones, text message test questions to each other in class, listen to iPods or sleep all period. I have had to call security because I have smelled weed or alcohol on students. I have many students that come to class every single day, but do absolutely no work. They don't understand how they got an "F" when they have never missed a day of school.

I spend my weekends in the library or on the Internet researching engaging lesson plans for only half of the class to do the assignment. At times I feel that all my hard work is in vain; out of 200 students, last term I gave out far more F's than A's and unfortunately the trend is pervasive and increasing across the campus and possibly the district. Naturally, there are some students that bring a smile to your face because of their hard work and dedication, but they are the minority.

Teachers are underpaid, overworked and overstressed-none of us got into it for the money, but it is surprising just how little our future leaders, doctors, lawyers and teachers value their education. I have finally realized that I can't make them want to be successful, but it is a very helpless feeling nonetheless. As long as I remain in the classroom, I will always do all that I can to motivate my students even when they don't think they want nor need it.