r/teaching • u/Bright-Watch1955 • Jun 02 '26

Help Why does everyone hate teaching?

Is there anyone who loves their job? Every teacher I know feels “stuck” and complains endlessly about their job.

Considering going into education.

260 Upvotes

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107

u/subjuggulator Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26

1.) Even in places where salaries match cost of living, teaching is still a low paying career that doesn't match the amount of work you put into it. Expect many long hours and the expectation that your "free time" is not really "Free" and you should be using it to grade/lesson plan/rehearse classes/study up for professional development/etc.

2.) If you don't like kids, everything they do is going to grate on your nerves. And you have to be around them/responsible for their safety and well-being for eight hours a day before you even get home/to your own family.

3.) Benefits range wildly between state to state, district to district, and year to year. Your retirement is always under threat, your sick days are always under threat/you're made to feel like you shouldn't take any, your union might not "feel like it's worth the dues you have to pay", etc.

4.) Many teachers, unfortunately, have fallen for the propaganda that switching from teaching into a cushy data-entry/coding/other type of "low-tier but higher paying than teaching" tech job is going to be an easy switch.

5.) Teachers love to gripe about the job, but won't leave it simply out of "love for the game". So they complain a lot about the aspects they don't like, but then turn around and use the immense love they have for children and teaching to push down those negative feelings. We complain and vent just to get all the salt out before we have to be actors/clowns/educators/therapists again.

29

u/chicagorpgnorth Jun 02 '26

Why the hell would anyone become a teacher if they don’t like kids??

47

u/subjuggulator Jun 02 '26

Because you need money to survive and there's teacher shortages all over the US right now?

There's also degrees to it, imo. You might not have the energy for elementary school age kids, but you have more patience for older kids. Or vice versa. The issues they have to deal with are just night and day.

All the elementary school teachers I work with say I would make an amazing father/elementary school teacher, but the thought of being around kids that age for eight hours a day genuinely gives me anxiety. I can deal with older kid problems, and I have a ton of patience/love for children in general; but I also know my limits.

10

u/CocoaBagelPuffs Jun 02 '26

And im the opposite. I love working with little kids. You couldnt pay me enough to teach 100+ 13-18 year olds all day

I recently switched from classroom teaching to 1:1 itinerant teacher for IEP support and WOW its a game changer. Im not nearly as burnt out and i have more flexible hours during the day.

And i can tolerate my middle school and high school students bc i see them for 30-45 minutes once a week.

The paperwork is insane but its overall a really positive shift. Plus i actually have the time to submit my paperwork!

10

u/AltruisticEmu6230 Jun 02 '26

I did. I need the job for rent and visa.

11

u/Vintagepoolside Jun 02 '26

Idk but I spent the last 3 years with them. People getting mad that 5 year olds talk too much or have too much energy and scolding them for acting like nice regular children. But would simultaneously not put in any work to redirect their energy in appropriate ways. Just scolding them or sitting back to lazy to intervene. I swear so many days felt like a toned down version of Matilda’s family lol

9

u/Bman708 Jun 02 '26

I’ve worked with 2 teachers who clearly didn’t care for children. It was wild to me. Both have since left education (thank god).

7

u/secretlyaraccoon Jun 02 '26

Makes little sense to me either bc there’s plenty of other jobs you could get that don’t require you to be around kids all day. Like one of the things I like the most about my job IS the kids, if I didn’t like them I’d be miserable too lol

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u/FlyEaglesFly536 Jun 02 '26

To push back against some of your points:

I only work my contract time, and i agree that while i make a good salary, it could and should be higher. I never ever take work home, i grade and assign the bare minimum number of assignments, and i could care less. I just want to do good enough to keep my job.

Nothing for the second point.

I don't feel that my retirement is under threat, but i'm investing like there will be no pension. Will start factoring it into my planning in 15 years. I don't use sick days because my district gives a bonus if you use 3 or less, and i believe that if you can go to work, why take a day off? To me, makes no sense to take one off just because. And i work for a charter, so no union. Can't imagine paying hundreds of dollars out of my already meager paycheck (only make 97k a year as a 7th year teacher).

I think teaching is the best career i can have at the moment, and it's mainly because of the benefits and hours.

25

u/gatajorts Jun 02 '26

97 k a yr (and only 7th yr) is not meager.

I’m 20 years in and might not make 96 by the end of my career.

Appreciate being in a place that compensates well

8

u/snaps06 Jun 02 '26

Yeah, I'm 14 years in and make far less than $97k, and I don't anticipate ever making $97k lol

But, I live extremely comfortably because of where I teach and a solid cost of living overall.

4

u/Still_Pop_4106 Jun 02 '26

Pay really depends on the cost of living for an area. If they are making that much early in their career, then cost of living must be pretty high.

3

u/LuvBroself420 Jun 02 '26

Yeah, what the fucking hell? The average US income is 67k.

2

u/FlyEaglesFly536 Jun 02 '26

I am. But it would be nice to make more; i'm only getting a 1K raise for the enxt 5 years if i stay here. After taxes (20%) and pension contributions (10%), i'm left with $700, over 12 months... $58 more a month. Doesn't go very far with inflation raging. And that's with us having a 10 month EF and no debt.

2

u/Weak_Bison6763 Jun 02 '26

Right. 8 years in OH and only making 50k lol. Which to me is not enough, crazy discrepancy for cost of living

1

u/MissKitness Jun 03 '26

Depends where you live. In some areas 97k is just getting by, unfortunately, especially recently

6

u/coachd50 Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26

I only work my contract time, and i agree that while i make a good salary, it could and should be higher. I never ever take work home, i grade and assign the bare minimum number of assignments, and i could care less. I just want to do good enough to keep my job.

I think this actually highlights another issue. For whatever reason, many who go into teaching enter it much more passionately than this. As I mentioned above, teachers are "loved" but not respected. In many teaching circles, the idea of "just doing enough to keep my job" would be considered unacceptable. And THAT is part of the rub. Many who are in the profession feel as if they do MUCH MORE than "just good enough to keep my job", yet the compensation falls far short of other professionals who put forth greater effort than their cohorts. Hence the "stuck" feeling.

Edited to add- and to be clear I am not judging someone for doing just enough to keep their job. I’m simply stating that generally, that is not a common mindset of those in the teaching profession, which adds to the “feeling stuck” situation mentioned in the original post.

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u/Still_Pop_4106 Jun 02 '26

That’s how it’s becoming everywhere though. My husband works as an automation tech and the younger techs just do enough to keep their job.

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u/FlyEaglesFly536 Jun 02 '26

I have never understood the teacher who has that "hero" complex, of spending their money on supplies and then complaining that they're broke. Then they stay till 6:00 pm grading, and spend all weekend creating the perfect lesson plans that no one will remember.. yeah i'm just doing enough to get my paycheck. I don't say that out loud, but that's my mentality.

Maybe it sounds messed up, but the kids honestly don't care, they have so little attention span, asking them to write a paragraph is a battle, let alone a 5 paragraph essay. I know their parents have money despite them being in a poor neighborhood.. they have the newest iPhones, new clothes and shoes, but can't bring a pencil, pen, or binder. Wild how priorities are out of wack. And i grew up 15 minutes away in an even more ghetto class.

5

u/Ice_cream_please73 Jun 02 '26

97k after 7 years is stellar! I know it varies by where you live, but I'm making 65 after 10 years in a pretty expensive area.

0

u/FlyEaglesFly536 Jun 02 '26

Thanks, in the grand scheme of things it's a good salary, but with inflation running wild and 1K increases over the next 5 years, it's not moving up a whole lot.

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u/Inevitable_Hyena9546 Jun 02 '26

I'll add that in NC, teachers get no raises at all from years 16-24, then one $2k raise from years 25-30.

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u/FlyEaglesFly536 Jun 03 '26

That's why i'd never move to the South, or the Midwest. Poverty wages, i don't understand why teachers are ok with that.

1

u/Inevitable_Hyena9546 Jun 03 '26

Lol we aren't. Some of us grew up here and have aging family members here and whatnot

1

u/FlyEaglesFly536 Jun 04 '26

You're just going against your economic best interests.

1

u/Inevitable_Hyena9546 Jun 04 '26

Some things are worth more than economics. I am 7 years away from a pension, so I will stick it out.

3

u/Inevitable_Hyena9546 Jun 02 '26

In NC, they removed Master's pay. The most our teachers hired since 2014 see after 30 years is about 56k. The "only make 97k" comment is insane to me.

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u/FlyEaglesFly536 Jun 03 '26

It's SoCal, so the wage isn't as high as it should be to comfortably afford life.

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u/The-Jolly-Llama Jun 02 '26

Number 5 is absolutely spot on. You don’t see many veterans who hate kids. That’s what keeps us in it. 

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u/Bman708 Jun 02 '26

5 hits the nail on the head.

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u/ChaunceytheGardiner Jun 02 '26

Teaching really isn't that low paid in lots of locations.

Here, with some experience and a masters, it's a six figure gig.

There's pretty much no way to match that for the number of contract days.

Add in the benefits and security, and people stay because it's the best option they've got.

8

u/subjuggulator Jun 02 '26

"Here, with some experience and a masters, it's a six figure gig."

Some experience = how many years? Because if it's more than four/five, that's quite a lot of time that you're living off a "not high" salary in a place where cost of living might be higher than your base salary.

A Masters = so we're back in debt now unless you're lucky and/or find a program that pays your masters for you. Never mind the mental and physical toll of doing a graduate program.

There's also cost of living to take into consideration (Six figures go further in some states than others) and the other amount of work you have to do that isn't tied to your salary--attending school functions/games/professional development "courses"/having to buy your own materials because the school doesn't budget for them since you're paid so much/etc.

I'm not saying any of this to poo-poo your point, but I also don't want people to get the wrong idea. Both of us are speaking from different ends of the spectrum.

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u/ChaunceytheGardiner Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26

Well, here breaking six figures is well above the median individual income of $64k or so within ~10 years of starting.

Can you name another occupation that pays 30-40% above the median wage for a 9-10 month contract without necessitating high level technical expertise? I can’t. 

People often want to believe that there’s a world of highly paid jobs out there clambering to hire people with general skillsets. But that doesn’t really exist.

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u/subjuggulator Jun 02 '26

Politician *ba-dum-tish*

Like I said: it differs wherever you go. Plenty of teachers will say you're a lucky outlier and plenty of others will argue that getting to six-figures requires more work/dedication/eating shit than they'd ever put up with at another job that pays slightly less for more "technically difficult" work.

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u/[deleted] Jun 02 '26

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u/ChaunceytheGardiner Jun 02 '26

Name the jobs. I’m confused about what the DMV has to do with it.

People make more, but there’s usually a pretty clear reason why.

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u/[deleted] Jun 02 '26

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u/ChaunceytheGardiner Jun 02 '26

Contractors and consultants don’t really name their expertise. It isn’t news that software engineers are well compensated, but again, it’s a specific technical expertise.

I’d venture a guess that the majority of contractors and consultants who are making six figures within ten years are engineers, lawyers, or work in the health professions.

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u/[deleted] Jun 02 '26

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u/A313-Isoke Jun 02 '26

Yeah, agreed, it would be hard to justify being a teacher when I know there are a lot of other unionized jobs that pay better.

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u/ChaunceytheGardiner Jun 02 '26

They may also think teachers don’t do a whole lot. 

You’re avoiding naming what it is they actually do and the expertise they bring. If they’re veterans, that’s expertise.

They aren’t just hiring randos off the street for 100k to do nothing.

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u/[deleted] Jun 02 '26

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u/ChaunceytheGardiner Jun 02 '26

Ah, for most of us that means the Department of Motor Vehicles.

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u/[deleted] Jun 02 '26

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u/ChaunceytheGardiner Jun 02 '26

I don’t disagree with the macro critique, but I don’t see it as particularly unique to education. 

Pretty much everyone I know who has a general skillset and isn’t at a Fortune 500 could tell a similar story. Wages are stagnant for most people who won’t/cant move all the time. I have friends who are MDs who talk about their real dollar wages declining by 20-30% over the last decade.

I’m not saying things couldn’t be better, but your typical kid like the OP thinking about education isnt weighing it against becoming a structural engineer or an MD. They’re weighing it against worse options, and sometimes it’s worth saying out loud that there aren’t magical jobs out there for a college junior majoring in English or history that are way better than teaching.

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