Pros
Depending on where you work, and who your immediate supervisors happen to be, you might find yourself surrounded by passionate, caring people who truly believe they are at the forefront of "the civil rights issue of our time". Benefits are way above average. Professional development is key to the organization's culture, but, as other reviewers have stated, management's idea of PD often differs from the actual needs of staff. The children are the bright spots.
Cons
Unfortunately, the negatives outweigh the positives by far. There's a reason an overwhelming number of AF teachers are under 30: no one with even a minor health issue, or a family (or plans to have one in the near future) could possibly teach here. Teachers routinely arrived before 6:30 AM and stayed past 7PM. As a member of the operations crew, I found the schedule little better, constantly working two to three extra hours per day to keep up with demands. I don't think I ever worked a single 8 hour day. Lunch breaks were practically impossible, unless by "lunch break" you mean ten furtive minutes snatched here or there between crises. Considering my salary, which, granted, was entry-level, I found the bizarre, almost boiler room-like urgency of the office, and the demands coming from multiple quarters with minimal to no instructions or deadlines somehow both ridiculous and terrifying. My immediate supervisor seemed like they would be happier (and more effective) in a mid-level corporate position in midtown, as opposed to an inner-city school populated by bright, vulnerable young people from diverse backgrounds. I can only describe it as that Orwellian universe one dreams about in which one's terrifying 4th grade teacher, who was always a stickler for the difference between "its" and "it's" has become one's boss, and every minor misstep in punctuation is noted in one's report card/file, and puts one that much closer to the termination bin. "High Expectations" seemed to be code for "you don't actually need to eat or sleep, do you?" I might even have been able to tolerate the demands in theory, for a while, if they were given in a respectful, friendly and consistent manner. Instead, I can honestly say that I haven't been addressed in public or private like this since the age of twelve. In terms of job satisfaction, this last was the factor that overwhelmingly skewed my experience to the negative. While there, I observed first graders being subjected to absurd corrective actions which, forgive me, immediately called to mind behavior modification that would have made the Soviets smile. I'm not taking about fights in the hallways. I'm talking about six year old girls skipping and giggling in the hall as they walk from lunch to their next class, as six year old girls are wont to do, and the entire class then walked back down the stairs, back to their seats, and told, firmly, that they could not go to their "specials class" unless they made no sound and no unwanted movement walking to it. Over and over and over again. What on earth? I don't know what exactly these children were being trained to "succeed" in, but it certainly isn't the same kind of "success" their counterparts in Scarsdale are being brought up for. Perfectly good teachers were driven out in months by demands. Most had their personal mail delivered to the school since they were there more often than their homes. They were also on call for hours after the "official" end of the school day. I could go on, but it's too depressing.