Pros
Great starting salary and really good health benefits.
Cons
Where to start? The "pro" is a good salary. However, the starting salary could have been DOUBLE what it was and it would have still not been worth it. I started after the school year started and had ZERO training. No training on systems, discipline, polices, NOTHING. Everything I learned I learned "on the fly." I was asked to write a curriculum and given no direction as to the format of how they wanted it (even after I asked several times). The time commitment is unwieldy, 7:30am until at least 5pm each day. Much of this time was after school "meetings" or "professional development" which was in no way tracked. They didn't give teachers any proof that and PD was completed (which in NJ is mandatory). I personally had a clash with a student who was physically violent with me. I complained and was told that I just had to "deal with it." I was hired to teach 5 (out of 8) periods per day. I was assigned 6 periods per day with no additional compensation (on our "block" day, I had zero prep periods). I was given curriculum assignment on a Monday (at 6pm) and it was expected to be completed by that Friday. This was to write 7 weeks worth of lessons for 3 grades. When I told the school head that I didn't have time to write these lessons (especially with little to no prep) I was told that the school day is 7:30am-4:30pm and that teachers are "expected" to work 20-30 per week in ADDITION! This place was NOT for me...oh, and they don't comply with state regulations either. They play very "fast and loose" with IEP requirements. Also, since they don't use subs, they had teachers teaching classes for which they were not certified. Like a writing teacher having to teach biology classes on a Maternity situation. Also, teachers were required to walk the streets of an inner city handing out flyers to encourage enrollment...we're teachers...we aren't in the marketing department.
