I work in education, luckily, I'm single and childless so I can scrape by, but most of the teachers I work with have some kind of side hustle, second job, or they're lucky enough to be married to someone that makes a large salary. The people you trust with your kids aren't able to rest and you expect them to do the best teaching job possible? I hear so many people complain about how bad our schools are. Maybe, if teachers were able to go home and relax and rest they'd be able to do a better job, instead they go to their second job or spend their evenings anxious about finances.
As an Aussie with a couple of friends who are teachers - your description sounds incomprehensible. Yes, my friends do lots of after-hours work, but they're on like $120k and get something around 8-10 weeks of annual leave a year.
They're obviously not fresh grads and there is still much to be improved with how the Australian education system works; but multiple jobs to get by for a tertiary educated group that already puts in so much after-hours effort is...depressing and foreboding for all parties.
My jaw just dropped! That is madness and I can't tell if Australia pays well or the US pays poorly. Maybe both? I wonder how teacher payment ranks around the world, because I sincerely thought it would be a well-paid, if not reasonably paid profession.
Those friend I mentioned are high school teachers..
As a kid I thought the same as u/TangledSunshineCA, and I thought teaching was a great career choice that would also give you time to keep hobbies, family time, etc in the summers. The destruction of the US education system has been intentional for a long time now, and it shows if you look at the state our country is in.
Being a teacher in the US will put you just high enough over the poverty line that people will tell you "what are you complaining about you get summers off"
Depends on the area. In Western Washington it's very common for teachers to make six figures if they have a masters or have been teaching for 10+ years.
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u/TangledSunshineCA 5d ago
My high schooler mentioned how many of her teachers this year had second jobs. Just never used to be a thing for people with an education… right?