Pros
As a new teacher there is an intense focus on instructional best practices. This can be very helpful when you’re just starting. Many of the lesson plans are scripted and provide teachers with an outline for how and what to do. The pay is competitive with sign on bonuses for each year of service. Lots of swag and gifts to help with morale (this does not combat the psychological impact of working in this environment but it’s cute) Weekly coaching can be helpful for NEW teachers and assistant teachers receive coaching feedback as well. It is helpful to some degree. Although leaves much to be desired.
Cons
The coaching model for teachers is not transparent. There is no clear measure of how well you’re doing or how you can improve. Your coach is basically giving feedback based on vibes. Coaches/school leaders often recycle feedback to meet their quota for observations. For example, my coach observed the same 15 minutes of instruction for an entire school year, never observing a small group rotation or any other parts of the day. The school day is 9 hours long… Teachers are afraid to provide valuable feedback for fear of retaliation from managers. Managers use staff surveys to bully teachers. The culture at my specific school site has an us versus them culture. The school leader is quoted as saying that teacher leaders need to choose a side, are they for teachers or for admin. School leaders will reprimand and retaliate against staff who share opposing ideas. School leaders use morning huddles at 7:30 am in the morning , to berate and belittle staff. One morning huddle consisted of a school leader telling staff that they do not stick up for her. It was a bit unprofessional and a true waste of company time and resources. School leaders often use their power and influence to bully teachers. School leaders will meet with you to notify you that you’ve taken 6 out of 10 PTO Days, notifying you that you’ve taken too many PTO days. Teachers are told that if they talk about topics other than work during work time they are wasting company time and resources. Managers do not treat teachers like knowledgeable and capable professionals. They resort to micromanaging and use workplace gossip to inform major decisions such as staffing for the following school year. Telling staff members that they may not be up for promotions if they are pregnant. Principals and other administrators are also required to cover classrooms if necessary. This is directly apart of their contracts. During this current teacher shortage classrooms of over 20+ students are not covered by admin but split. While administrators enjoy lunch breaks and mid day naps. Meetings that could be emails are often a waste of valuable planning time. A 30 minute meeting full of upcoming reminders where you are not allowed to do anything planning related while managers drone on about logistics.
