The things that frustrate me about being a Teacher

Here are some things that frustrate me about being a teacher:

1. There is no money in teaching. I don’t teach for the money, I teach because I am passionate about melding the next generation and showing them new perspectives through theater, which changed my life. I have been an adjunct professor for what will be five years in January. I have been teaching for the same community college, have had the same bosses for all of those years, and have made the same $2,500 dollars per class. This means that if I teach four classes per semester, which is the maximum amount of classes they allow adjuncts to teach, I can make $10k a semester, and if I teach 4 classes all 3 semesters, I am looking at bringing home 30k a year. But that never happens, and if I am lucky, I bring home around 22k a year. That means I fall into the 150th percentile in the poverty level chart for the United States. How is that okay? How have we allowed this to happen to our teachers? You may say to yourself, well, you should ask for a raise. I have, and they flat-out said no. So, even though inflation is beyond crazy at this point, I will be forever stuck at this amount. 

2. There are no opportunities for growth. What I mean by this is that our education system is beyond screwed up. Adjunct teachers will never have the opportunity to be full-time professors. We discussed this in the newest episode of Break the Cycle featuring scientist Chloe Kirk. So, if you haven’t listened to that episode, here is your sign to listen. I used to think that the tenure system was such an incredible way of showing our teachers that we appreciate them, and now I realize it is a way to not pay people what they are worth. People who go into the education field do it because they are passionate, but when they actually get into the field and start teaching, they start to lose their passion because we are not showing our teachers our appreciation. Now, you might say to yourself, well, it is your own self-worth that is the problem; be proud of yourself. Let's be honest, that is nice to say, but not the reality, I could not be prouder of myself. Also, when people say money doesn’t matter, they are typically people who make a lot of money. The way to show someone you care for them is by paying them what they are worth. I had a conversation with one of my bosses about 2 years ago, saying how I wanted to be a full-time faculty member. Her response, there are no full-time faculty jobs available. And here I am, 2 years later, in the same exact position.

3. Teachers are underappreciated. I often have asked to be a bigger part of my department, and my emails are either never answered or they just give me a bullshit excuse. I know I have some great ideas and that I can help to make positive change in our students' lives, but hearing “no” again and again and eventually, you just give up asking. I had a great idea for our students who want to have more acting opportunities, I sent my boss an email explaining my idea, and she wrote back and said that the students don’t have time. Meanwhile, I am in the classroom with the students who are hungry for more opportunities. So, do you actually know what the students want? I have never been told by a boss that I am doing a good job or that they appreciate me for being a great member of the department. They treat me like a contract worker that can be replaced like that. And that is a terrible way to feel. I understand they have work they have to do to make the department work, but just showing your teachers, and your staff you see them and the work they do, it’s imperative! Because we deserve that.

So, by this point in the blog post you are probably like, why is she ranting about this?

Well, I just had another heartbreaking experience where I was offered two more classes to teach in the Fall, I already have a full class schedule (4 classes), and they were offering for me to teach at the school that is closest to me, so instead of driving 45 minutes I could drive 15. I said yes right away, I had been waiting for this opportunity, and then I received an email that they decided to rescind the offer because they didn’t realize I had a full schedule already.

So, anyway, I guess that brings me to this point: Our education system, our judicial system, and our government are broken. 

This is why I get so annoyed when no one seems to care; how can you not care? 

If you decide to put your head in the sand or scroll for the next 3 hours on TikTok, you are running away from the problems that are hurting our country and our world. 

So, what will it take for you to wake up and realize that you need to take action? 

The future depends on what we do now.

Love always,

A proud educator,

Emily