Current Events > Should I leave my teaching position?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I am so fucking unhappy with this job that I don't even know where to begin. This is year 4 for me, and I cannot do this for another 26.

I never wanted to be a teacher, didn't study education. I studied English - Professional Writing, and minored in Film Studies and Journalism. Was a journalist for a bit, but I made like $25,000 a year and it just wasn't worth it despite it being a fun job.

I was hired at my school because they specifically wanted a male English teacher and I was the only applicant, and I was contracted for 10 months (then) for $38,000. I now make $47,000 for 10 months, and then I help run a summer camp in California to supplement that to right around $51,000 a year.

It used to be fun. But now, there are no consequences for kids, there's no professionalism, the catty nonsense of being the only dude in an English department with 13 women, we're severely understaffed to the point where I have an honors class of 37 students and an inclusion class (kids with IEPs/504s) of 33. My inclusion class also has an autistic student in it, and over half the class is EC, so I'm technically illegally teaching a special education class at the moment as I'm not certified for special ed.

The biggest thing though - I'm going through it mentally and emotionally myself to the point where it's hard for me to be there for my students. My grandma (who raised me) died on July 30 from lung cancer. My dad also has terminal cancer and isn't expected to live much longer.

I have right around $50,000 to my name if you include all my savings.

I'm really thinking about throwing my keys down and walking away. I'm just scared because I've had such poor luck with job searches. Shit, recently, I've had two different offers and both of them were rescinded because it looks like we're heading towards a recession.

I have an interview on Thursday for a Digital Content Producer role at an arts school, so I'm hoping that works out as it's more money and back to more media stuff instead of teaching.

But man, I'm so heavily medicated from all the stress, depression, anxiety, that I just don't care about anything now.

Love you, CE. Thanks for reading if you made it.

Find something before you quit.

Personally, I enjoy teaching, but I understand your gripes.

sorry I don't have much to offer, but yea, I feel like being a teacher is one of those things you have to have some passion for, or you'll eventually be worn out by it.

good luck on your interview.

I read, and thats extremely tough man. I would say try to hold out until you can line up another job if you possibly can.

I hate to be that guy, but gaps in employment and trying to explain how you just walked off a job can be difficult to handle. Switching to a better position is pretty much always acceptable though.

Hope you knock the interview out of the park.

I would suggest that you find something else then leave. You should not stay at a job you do not like. However with a English degree it might be a hard to find work. When I was looking for work it took me over a year, and I have more then one degree lol.

But don't stay at a job that is killing you. PLEASE HEAR ME don't stay at a job that is KILLING YOU. I yelling this because so many of us do it, and so many of are unhappy because of it .

cjsdowg posted...

I would suggest that you find something else then leave. You should not stay at a job you do not like. However with a English degree it might be a hard to find work. When I was looking for work it took me over a year, and I have more then one degree lol.

But don't stay at a job that is killing you. PLEASE HEAR ME don't stay at a job that is KILLING YOU. I yelling this because so many of us do it, and so many of are unhappy because of it .

See, I've never had issues getting interviews with an English degree. It's just issues with the hiring process or going with someone they know, etc.

As a former teacher I understand completely. There were years where I would only have 16-18 students in my classroom, and others where I would have 40 because we didn't have enough teachers. It's a great job, but it can be very stressful. I used to go to the bar after work and have a beer or two to unwind. Then after a while it became a problem where I would just drink all night at the bar especially after having to deal with shitty admins.

Gamingsince1989 posted...

As a former teacher I understand completely. There were years where I would only have 16-18 students in my classroom, and others where I would have 40 because we didn't have enough teachers. It's a great job, but it can be very stressful. I used to go to the bar after work and have a beer or two to unwind. Then after a while it became a problem where I would just drink all night at the bar especially after having to deal with shitty admins.

Luckily, I love my admins. It's just being at a 2000 plus kid school with less than 100 faculty is insane.

May I ask what you do now and how you transitioned out of the classroom?

do not stay at an unhappy job

tl;dr but yes

Spiritlittle posted...

See, I've never had issues getting interviews with an English degree. It's just issues with the hiring process or going with someone they know, etc.

Any tips? I have an English degree with nothing else.

Spiritlittle posted...

See, I've never had issues getting interviews with an English degree. It's just issues with the hiring process or going with someone they know, etc.

It is great that you keep getting interviews. Do you think you might need to work on interview skills or network. That is the thing, knowing the right people can help you so much.

Spiritlittle posted...

Luckily, I love my admins. It's just being at a 2000 plus kid school with less than 100 faculty is insane.

May I ask what you do now and how you transitioned out of the classroom?

My last admin was miserable. She only cared about attendance numbers and standardized test scores. She would rarely do anything to help out teachers in any way.

A series of unfortunate events happened, and I got a settlement from the school district and retired. I miss teaching sometimes and have thought about maybe starting my own tutoring business in the future. For now I'm just enjoying doing nothing.

All I can say is that at my previous teaching job I was so unhappy that I legit wished that I got cancer so I could go on sick leave.
Then I got a job at a different school and I absolutely love it.
While some of the problems with teaching exist everywhere, a different school and different district can make a huge difference.

My advice, finish out the year, doing whatever you can to get through it, then try to find a new gig in a new school.

I have been teaching for 12 years now. I absolutely love it and I couldn't see myself doing anything else.

However, I felt exactly like you did before I switched schools. My old school had no plan for student discipline after reopening from COVID and teacher morale was at an all time low while issues within the classroom between students were growing out of control.

I've seen many fantastic teachers get burnt out and leave the profession to do literally anything. One guy I know who taught history became a brick layer.

50% of all teachers will leave within the first 5 years of teaching. Of those teachers, 50% more will leave within the next 5 years. Teachers who remain after that time are usually lifelong educators. It isn't for everyone. Do not feel shame or anger, it isn't your fault that this happened. The school systems are crumbling under the weight of parent expectations, government interjections with State standardized testing, and staffing shortages.

Best of luck!

50k as a secondary teacher in California? Geesus. Yeah if you are unhappy and don't enjoy it anymore, definitely do an career change.

Move to a country that pays foreign teachers better. I did. Its great.

Probably

This is kind of the case for a lot of teaching jobs. It is never a job you take because it is well organized and has a great support system. The people who stay in it do it because they love it. And if you arent loving it, run. It doesnt get better.

Dont blame you for wanting to leave. Nobody understands how disorganized, unruly, and understaffed schools really are. It is rarely the teachers fault.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


Theres certainly a lot of truth to this if you want to stay where you are.

However, I still maintain that teaching abroad is a good option.

It can lead to higher pay, lower cost of living, decreased working hours, increased benefits, more respect from parents and loads of other benefits.

Glob posted...

Theres certainly a lot of truth to this if you want to stay where you are.

However, I still maintain that teaching abroad is a good option.

It can lead to higher pay, lower cost of living, decreased working hours, increased benefits, more respect from parents and loads of other benefits.

i was gonna do this but alas i get sick every once in a while and i don't really want to get sick abroad

MedeaLysistrata posted...

i was gonna do this but alas i get sick every once in a while and i don't really want to get sick abroad

As long as you get decent coverage from your employer, its not a massive problem.

50k in CA? I dont know how anyone survives there. If you wanted to stay in teaching Id say move somewhere with a lower cost of living.

Reiterating job hunt WHILE you are employed.

You could join a teachers union and voice concerns there too.

Master_Kazuya posted...

Reiterating job hunt WHILE you are employed.

You could join a teachers union and voice concerns there too.

I'm in NC. No unions. Illegal here.

Cuticrusader09 posted...

50k in CA? I dont know how anyone survives there. If you wanted to stay in teaching Id say move somewhere with a lower cost of living.

My summer job is in CA. I teach and live in NC. $50K is pretty comfortable in NC.

GreenMario posted...

Any tips? I have an English degree with nothing else.

Look into local not for profits like a botanical garden, zoo, museum type of thing. All of those institutions have donor communication positions that require a ton of writing and are often filled by people with English degrees. That's what my wife has done with hers and she makes close to 75k a year.