Teachers feel exhausted fighting for better pay
15 posts in the last 60 days, all from r/Teachers.
“if you didn't join the union they can't help you to mediate with admin. also in nj i have to give 60 days to break my contract.”
“At this point I think we just give them their Brawndo so they get their electrolytes and call it a day. I'm getting tired of fighting the fight, chief.”
“Also in central California, but a teacher turned SLP. Making $120k base year 9.”
Teachers are demoralized by salary freezes and systemic issues, leading to burnout and a sense of helplessness. They express frustration with the lack of progress in addressing their concerns.
SOURCES (19)
“Your post implies that she HAS to make a choice. She doesn’t. Most people don’t. You can elect to switch but most people choose to remain in whichever option they elected at the time they were hired.”
Move to the west coast. Pretty good pay. Strong unions. All 3 states.
“Not true in my district, nor most of the districts I work with (I’m a CTA liaison in addition to teaching). This is mostly a myth as the amount of money is negligible to the point that I’ve never actually seen it happen. Districts will pay for teachers they want”
“Don't disagree! I with there were more promotable positions before admin, but most don't come with pay raises.”
“It will never happen. Too many teachers have it too good to want to risk their jobs for the future of the profession. Every time this subject comes up, someone always comments about how they’ll lose their job and their license as if that hasn’t LITERALLY ALWAYS been the case with striking. What that proves is that conditions just aren’t bad enough for enough teachers. - and if they were, those teachers would rather quit and get a job in a different field than fight.”
“Teacher salary, benefits, and working standards are almost entirely determined by local/state level politics, right? I don’t think a national movement is likely to happen based on this.”
“if you didn't join the union they can't help you to mediate with admin. also in nj i have to give 60 days to break my contract.”
“Where are you coming from that PA would be a pay cut? PA is my Home state. I’ve never taught in it as I moved away after college. I taught in a Midwest state that paid really well and had strong unions. I’d be on track to make 85K next year which, for the low cost of area would be great. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons we moved to my husband‘s home state. Only one state over. And I’m at 55K. If I moved to my home state I’d definitely be getting a raise. I daydream about considering Penns”
“I expect a pay cut and a volatile job market. Specifically considering Pennsylvania. Would love to hear your experiences. submitted by /u/wizard20007 [link] [comments]”
“West Virginia had a statewide strike in 2018. No other state has had every public school shut down for that long since 2001. It was started by teachers, not the union, on social media. The union secured a deal later on, but the teachers rejected it and continued to strike. This eventually got them a better deal. It’s hard for them to get more than they have since you can’t get blood out of a stone and the state itself is very poor and historically oppressed. It’s been hard to shake off the after”
“A former principal took a 30k pay cut and took a demotion to be an AP in another state. Dance of the lemmings. CTC is not amused by complaints.”
“At this point I think we just give them their Brawndo so they get their electrolytes and call it a day. I'm getting tired of fighting the fight, chief.”
“Regardless of your salary, freezing your salary should be illegal. They do it here in Pa too. Terrible.”
“Also, I should say that I started out with 60 when I got to the school. But they hired another ENL teacher to split the workload, also a lot of my ELLs tested out at a reasonable rate, bringing my caseload really far down.”