Reply to NY times op ed on the teacher crisis

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I absolutely adored my job as a high school math teacher.  Seriously, the 7:30-3:30 part was amazing.  The kids were fun, the teaching was meaningful, and I enjoyed the challenge.

I quit in June.

I found a job making $50k more than my teaching salary making slide decks for a government contractor.  How do you turn that down?  $70k-$120k is a no brainer.  It's going to pay for my kids to go to college.[/quote]

Do you work the same hours? Have the same amount of time off?[/quote]

Way way way less hours, way more flexibility.  I have gone to sleep by 11 pm every night since I started the new job.  In teaching, the kids left at 3:30 but I always brought piles of work home.  I'd work until 10 pm on a good night, 2 am on a rough night, and usually at least 5-6 hours on the weekend.  The amount of effort it takes to make good lessons and provide real feedback is unreal.  I was sick all the time from lack of sleep, and I had taught for almost 15 years.  It wasn't 1st year teacher burnout.

Now?  I get to work from home 3 days a week.  If I have a doctor's appointment I flex an hour instead of having to create an entire day's worth of sub plans in addition to my regular work.  I have 6 weeks PTO plus the week between Christmas and NYD my company is shut down, so less than a teacher but not drastically so.  My contract as a teacher was 195 days - 5 PTO days = 190 days (38 weeks), my contract with my new employer is 260 days - 10 holidays - 30 days PTO - 5 days shut down = 215 days = 43 weeks.  So 5 weeks (13%) more than before, but they're at home and they're 40-50 hour weeks max, instead of 60+.  Plus, 70% more money.

Regardless, I can't pay bills with time off.  College tuition can't be paid with winter break.  Private sector salaries have ballooned in the last decade, while after 13 years of teaching I only made $11k more than I did when I started.  If pay can't keep up, anyone who has the skills to leave is going to. [/quote]

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