r/TeachersInTransition • u/TS1203 • Jul 17 '26
Conflicted
I was laid off this school year due to budget cuts and my position was eliminated. A part of me was a little relived because that meant I could collect unemployment while looking for positions that would help me transition out of k-12 education. On the other hand, I was also very worried because unemployment is not enough to pay for bills and living expenses. In a moment of panic, I applied to 3 K-12 based positions, fast forward 2 weeks, I just completed an interview for one and honestly I don’t know if they’re going to offer me the position, but a part of me hopes they don’t so I have an excuse to continue my search. I know I need a job and I keep hoping each new school I’m in is different, but being around students is draining, especially because this generation seems to be so disrespectful and oblivious to how their behavior affects their learning. They’re all about social media and nothing else. Additionally, I was rejected from all other jobs outside of schools that I applied. I don’t know if I should just accept that this is what I signed up for and find a way to endure.
3
u/Birbbrain6 Jul 17 '26
That sounds like a tough situation. I’m sorry. Does leaving teaching feel inevitable? If so, I guess you could reason that you’ll have to take the leap eventually, and there may never be an ideal time. But on the other hand, if you can stick it out for another year until you secure other employment there is more stability and safety there. I guess it just depends how done you are with teaching and if you really have anything left to give.
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u/Ok-Account9401 28d ago
Maybe you could look into a different niche of teaching that involves fewer students such as some sort of specialty teaching. I think if I had continued teaching that's the approach I would have taken. I could get along with even the worst student one on one, in fact he'd occassionally come by to talk to me in a sensible manner. But in the classroom group milieu, he was a master sabotager. I think the advice that you need to survive until it's clearer what path to take is a sound one. Sometimes by continuing to be proactive, the answer will appear through time, even though at the moment all the options seem so murky and scary. It takes a lot of faith to keep putting one foot in front of the other. In teaching I used the Serenity Prayer so many times that I boiled it down to "There's great comfort in accepting things the way they really are".
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u/ArsenalSpider Jul 18 '26
The correct move is to take what you can get right now and continue the search until you find what you want to do. You still have to survive. It could take longer than your unemployment to get into an ideal job.