Pros
Make a difference in the lives of at risk youth Experience with the life of being a teacher Provided curriculum Low supervision Insurance Vacation time
Cons
Work Load minimum 40 hours/ week (90% of regular teacher responsibilities plus extra responsibilities for program) Extremely low pay for the amount of work done (about 13$ per hour for 9 months but pay is spread out over 13 months) School based management "suggests" lying to district management that everything is perfect because of continued funding Bonuses and rehiring based on student test scores Highly political Fellows receive a great amount of disrespect from staff, admin, kids, parents, ect because they are not "real teachers" even through they do they same amount of work and have the same evaluation system Classes are small but are filled with the "worst kids". This makes most of the classroom time (about 60%) spent dealing with very serious issues (kids throwing chairs, hitting each other, cussing out teachers, ect) with no support from admin or security 2 completely separate and unrelated lessons expected to be taught in a 45 min period (plus do-nows, exit tickets, character assessments/conversations, behavior management, student discussions, student struggle time, ect) Meetings with coordinators/ Professional development spent on group attitude quizzes, reading self help books, and watching motivational speakers on youtube. (we had one meeting at the end of school about how to actually teach math) Students average 3-4 years behind grade level but curriculum stresses teaching grade level Students have very difficult lives (poverty, homelessness, violence/abuse, ELL's, ect) and there is no support or education to help understand how to deal with it. The fellows that I worked with went through symptoms which resembled PTSD. Teachers would break down crying in class, scream, suffered from ulcers, insomnia, rage, and verbal/physical violence. My first year teaching I would cry at least 3 times/ week. This job is incredibly difficult and the expectations are unreasonable. During a meeting with my school staff (at the beginning of the year without the fellows), the CEO of the program told everyone it was a great job for kids right out of college because it would allow them to work at a bar at night. They have NO idea what the job is. It explains everything.
