Education / Teaching thread

Sun Wukong said

I don't want to go into too much detail because nothing is set in stone yet, but there's a very good chance that this will be my final year and I'm getting out. It's a big move (not the kind I usually make) and not without risk, and is a pretty big life reset in my early 40's, but this year has just proven to me I can't keep doing it. This career has taken too much from me and I can't be miserable for scraps while catching sheet from all directions anymore.

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I'm in the middle of year 17 and I don't know if I have another 13 in me to make it to 30. I don't know if my job will exist by the end of that time based on the scrutiny and pressure public schools are facing here, and I dread the idea of starting over. Charters are opening all over and draining what little money we do have. The public in my area won't vote for new taxes to pay us better or improve facilities. There are constant whispers about closing/combining schools.

I love my kids, and if all I had to do was show up, teach band, and go home when the bell rings it would be great, but stuff that happens outside of the classroom and outside of school hours are the things that would make it a fairly simple choice for me if someone offered me $70k a year to work a 9-5 office job when I don't clear $50k doing the job I'm degreed to do.