Pros
Not many - work from home is a plus, but you'll be working 12-16 hours a day, including nights and weekends. Enjoyed contact with students.
Cons
Don't think that being an online teacher will be easier. It's not! Extremely low pay, high turnover in teachers and students. No contract, so people leave with no notice. Grueling long hours with no overtime. Stressed out, angry, overworked employees. Management constantly changing policies and duties they require of teachers. Teachers are expected to perform a multitude of secretarial/data keeping tasks which take up most of your time. High caseloads. Special ed teachers will write 90+ IEPs a year along with all the other duties teachers are required to do. Teachers also serve as advisors to a caseload of 40+ students and must have weekly contact by phone with students, many of which don't want to be contacted, so it's like chasing your tail. High pressure from admin to pass students, so teachers change course requirements and fudge grades enabling students to easily pass. Devaluing, meanspirited environment which encourages backbiting between employees. Emphasis on the dollar. Staff meetings focus on getting kids to pass classes and praises those teachers with high pass rates. No professional development. Evaluations center around student pass rates. Constant technology problems. K12 policy does not allow supervisors to give recommendations, which makes it difficult to get another teaching job. They do not promote from within so zero opportunity for advancement.
