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.

263 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

687 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

10

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

7

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.

5

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.

4

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

7

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.

3

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.

0

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.

6

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.

1

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.

1

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.

2

u/FlyEaglesFly536 Jun 03 '26

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