Pros
I definitely remember what this system was like when it was afloat. Reasonable staffing numbers, great interpersonal connections, and decent admin that knew how to let their employees breath and be creative. Almost everyone I've worked with, I've at least been positively neutral about. Great benefits! I've really put those to use. It's also rare to have this many staff members at the ground level that you can get along with. I have great memories with every single staff member.
Cons
There is no pay raise system. Instead, you just have to hope that you will get a hefty bonus that year. It's unreliable, which causes anxiety. Some years you might get 8% of your salary as a bonus, and some years you get 25%. There is an unspoken acceptance of our incredibly low academic standards. Having low standards made sense when the messaging of the school system was toward creatively assisting the least successful students into reasonably finishing their high school diploma. However, dwindling staff numbers and over-extending ambitions have led to a sad phenomenon. In the name of funding, we over-enroll students using special programs without thinking if our schools (with severely over-capped numbers) can even handle that amount. It becomes a numbers game instead of an academic one. We want to be portrayed as a prestigious and inspiring program when our day-to-day is janky and flimsy. We are told to have pride for a school that doesn't seem to have pride in itself. It's gotten bad because the language surrounding every metric and meeting is centered around "student retention" and "credit completion," not the actual coursework, policies, or student culture thereof. Teachers that I worked with who used to have energy and enthusiasm have become jaded and passive. Everyone endures the day to get the pay. Tech is outdated, curriculum is outdated, policies are outdated (as if we learned nothing from Covid). The buildings and infrastructure of many of the schools also tend to have issues: plumbing issues, roof leaks, bad design, and temperature problems. I love this ship and its crew, but I can't shake the feeling that it is a sinking boat.