Tired of teacher friends complaining

[Anonymous]

It's a professional culture thing. They share memes and posts endlessly.

[Anonymous]

I'm not a teacher but I'm close to a LOT of people who are. My perception has changed significantly, for the reasons mentioned below.

I think a lot of what's been mentioned here is spot-on. The points that resonate most with me are:

- The perception, even by those who plan to go into teaching, that it's easy and then you get there and it's SO HARD. Constantly being 'on' is very, very difficult both physically and emotionally. There is no downtime. I would joke with teachers about how they never had to pee when we were out and they'd say that their bodies had been trained not to after days teaching elementary school. Yes, teachers know the pay is low (and actually, its not THAT low - MCPS teachers regularly make 80-90k and work 9 months a year) but the day to day is more of a grind than most expect.

- The culture of complaining. This is a teacher thing. My in laws are teachers and were so upset when their state discontinued teacher pensions (they'd already gotten them, this was on principle). My husband was like you guys know basically no other profession gets this, right? People don't appreciate teachers enough, and they know it, so they complain to each other. a LOT.

- The hours thing. Yes, they get more time off than the average private sector employee. But they days are LONG - often starting at 7am and finishing at 5 or 6 - with very little downtime. Administration has to be dealt with. Parents have to be dealt with. Stuff has to be graded, lessons have to be planned - it's not like teachers leave with kids at 2:30.

I'd never be a teacher and I have the ultimate respect for those who are good ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

In literally every other job, if you need to go to the bathroom, you get up and go. Have you ever considered that? If a teacher has to go to the restroom, they have to wait a few hours for lunch, or somehow magically find an extra adult that is certified to be alone with the children in the classroom, without leaving the room or using a phone.

Someone pointed that out to me, and that is tortuous.


Nope, I don’t just walk up and go to the bathroom in the middle of a trial or hearing. Or in surgery, or delivering a baby, or caring for a patient.

Exactly. Adults manage fluid intake in situations when they know they will be without a bathroom break for a couple hours. And every classroom has a phone so a teacher can connect with the office or another teacher in the case of a real emergency.

I've taught in five different districts. I've never had a phone in my classroom.

[Anonymous]

Do private school teachers complain more or less?

I assume expectations are higher, but there is a filtering process too.

[Anonymous]

When I found out teachers were earning 80-90k I started rolling my eyes.

I make 60k, working 60 hours a week in HR, year round.

Yes my work supplies me with a computer and pens to do my job, but I’m fairly certain teachers aren’t spending 10-20k per year on their classroom.

[Anonymous]

Pp- also my days often start at 7am and I’d Be working well into 10, 11pm.

Teachers are not the only ones “underpaid” with long hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I found out teachers were earning 80-90k I started rolling my eyes.

I make 60k, working 60 hours a week in HR, year round.

Yes my work supplies me with a computer and pens to do my job, but I’m fairly certain teachers aren’t spending 10-20k per year on their classroom.

How old are you? The 80-90k teachers are the experienced ones. Also, 60 hours a week in HR is NOT typical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here.

I was a teacher for 8 years. Then I worked at a software company (a highly successful DC-based startup that is now global). Then I worked in politics for many years. Now I’m back in teaching. I’ve also worked lots of other summer and short-term gigs.

Nothing is even half as stressful as teaching. Not even running a campaign. Not managing a $10 million book of business. Not facing quarterly sales deadlines or fundraising deadlines.

+1 another former teacher who left for a higher paid, highly selective, fast-paced job.

What next DCUM, will it be a thread griping about law enforcement officer association fundraising?

OP, tell your friends when they've complained too much, and you need a break. But stop reading into what you think their jobs are, or aren't.

[Anonymous]

Imagine you had to run a meeting 6-7 hours a day. You had to lead the meeting--agenda, content, presentations, discussions, work output, materials, everything. During that meeting, you can't check email or make a phone call. And in between the 6-7 hour meeting, you have smaller 20-1 hour meetings.

Imagine 25 of the 30 participants do not want to be there and don't have the ability to pay attention or follow directions. And you have to keep them on track.

Imagine you had to give immediate feedback/evaluations from today's meeting to every participant.

Imagine after running that meeting, you have to plan and prepare for tomorrow's 6-7 hour meeting.

Imagine if your participants fail to perform or have substandard work product, you are blamed.

Imagine never having an off day. Never spending a day just dealing with the little things.

Imagine it keeps going, day after day. It's exhausting to have to plan and manage every minute of every day for 30-150 participants.

I used to be a teacher. I miss it every day. But I'd never go back. The daily grind with no support staff to handle things was just too much. If I got a secretary, Id totally go back.

Until you've done it, you just don't understand.

[Anonymous]

Serious question - WHY don't people who go into teaching know all of this? It's one of the only professions I know where spending a semester in the profession (aka student teaching) is required. You have an entire semester or more working in a school. Are you not talking to the full-time teachers, the administrators, learning about what it takes?

I'm the child of a teacher and yes it is a highly stressful job, but for goodness sakes I see no reason why in this day and age anyone should be surprised by this. Big law associates may complain but they know what they're signing up for. Same with teachers, complain all you want but this shouldn't be a shock. You did your student teaching. Hopefully you engaged in thorough and in-depth interviews to get the job.

I agree we should compensate teachers more than we do, but I don't get the rest of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well it IS kind of normal (and teachers do tend to complain to each other when they are outside of school). And also, they DO get paid ridiculously low salaries for the amount of stress they are under.
Yes, your job is super-stressful too, but you likely get compensated for it in a way that teachers do not. AND, the thing you (and even many teachers before they are IN the job) may not realize is that it is literally one of the only jobs that you simply can NEVER leave "at the office" for the next day. There is always planning to do...and grading...and more planning...and more grading. There is no "down time" to do this at work because they are always ON when they have a class of students. There is no hiding in your office or sitting quietly in a meeting pretending to be paying attention. (I know you don't always do this, OP, but you *could* do it. It's an option. And that's sort of the point.) With teaching, the work is constant and ongoing from the minute you step into the school to the minute you leave. And then you take it with you.

Oops. I accidentally sound just like your friends. LOL

But that is probably why I left the profession after 8 years. And lemme tell ya...I have worked 3 different "office jobs" since--one was a law firm, one was a publishing house, and now I'm at a marketing firm (I have a Masters in English) and I haven't found an environment yet that is as stressful as teaching.

I hear you. But, I also don’t get whole summers off?

It's not a "summer off" because there is no summer pay.

Teachers I know can choose to have their 12 month pay paid out over the school year, or get it stretched out over the full 12 months. Not tricking me. Not our fault you get it throughout the year and don’t plan for the summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Serious question - WHY don't people who go into teaching know all of this? It's one of the only professions I know where spending a semester in the profession (aka student teaching) is required. You have an entire semester or more working in a school. Are you not talking to the full-time teachers, the administrators, learning about what it takes?

I'm the child of a teacher and yes it is a highly stressful job, but for goodness sakes I see no reason why in this day and age anyone should be surprised by this. Big law associates may complain but they know what they're signing up for. Same with teachers, complain all you want but this shouldn't be a shock. You did your student teaching. Hopefully you engaged in thorough and in-depth interviews to get the job.

I agree we should compensate teachers more than we do, but I don't get the rest of it.

I don't disagree with you and it may be a generational thing. Information is way more widespread now. Perhaps it will change? I don't know ANY teacher - and I know a lot of them - who anticipated what the day to day would be like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I found out teachers were earning 80-90k I started rolling my eyes.

I make 60k, working 60 hours a week in HR, year round.

Yes my work supplies me with a computer and pens to do my job, but I’m fairly certain teachers aren’t spending 10-20k per year on their classroom.

How old are you? The 80-90k teachers are the experienced ones. Also, 60 hours a week in HR is NOT typical.

I’m in my 30’s. Every place I have worked, i’ve had long hours.

[Anonymous]

When I found out teachers were earning 80-90k I started rolling my eyes.

I make 60k, working 60 hours a week in HR, year round.

Yes my work supplies me with a computer and pens to do my job, but I’m fairly certain teachers aren’t spending 10-20k per year on their classroom.


How old are you? The 80-90k teachers are the experienced ones. Also, 60 hours a week in HR is NOT typical.

MoCo teacher salary scale: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/departments/ersc/employees/pay/schedules/FY19%20MCEA%20Salary%20Schedules.pdf

A first year teacher makes between $49 - $57k per year depending on education. That's the equivalent of $59 - $68k per year if the job was year-round. That is a fair salary for someone with zero experience.

[Anonymous]

Let’s not get into the “imagine this” scenarios.

Imagine if you were responsible for someone living or dying

Imagine being responsible for whether or not a single mom would have the money to feed her family

Imagine being sexually harassed everyday


Imagine <insert dramatic scenario>

Multiple professions have these.