Fun working with kids but painfully low pay and way too much paperwork
Pros
The kids can be a blast when they're in a good mood. Even when they're in a bad mood, you feel like your time matters. Unlike working in an office filling in customer data in an Excel spreadsheet. And because I live in the city I don't have to buy a car. I take public transportation to my school every day. Saga subsidizes part of my bus pass. I have to hand it to Saga's marketing team. They're getting more and more contracts with school systems throughout the US. And because they pay Fellows so little but there's a constant queue of recent college grads like me looking for work, Saga will probably be around for a long time.
Cons
Most people my age with a college degree are making WAAAAAAAAAAY more money even though they work fewer hours and have less stress. I understand now why so many teachers are so frustrated. They provide a service society desperately needs but then they earn so little a lot of them are always on the cusp of poverty. And Saga Math Fellows aren't even eligible for any kind of retirement package. So we're losing out on building our own future but at the same time we don't make enough to do a traditional IRA plan because rents are so high. That's a double slam. Saga decreased time off limits for 2023. This is very bad because the workload is so intense you need mental health days. I don't know how I'm going to make it working 55+ hour weeks the whole school year. A huge part of the problem is the paperwork. They have us doing things teachers complain about--filling out reports, teaching to standardized tests, setting up and scoring tests, reaching out to parents every month, and filling out dozens of other online forms that benefit the company but don't seem to benefit the kids. Also, too many different online accounts required. One for pay. Another for keeping in touch with your team. Another for getting company announcements. An account for setting up standardized testing for kids. A different account for scoring the tests. A site for reviewing how kids are doing in their official classes. Different email accounts for work and the school you're assigned to. Of course there's the Americorps site. It's overwhelming. So much that most Fellows I know don't actually do more than the minimum required on each site. Saga talks a lot about diversity and inclusion. I'll give them points for that. But the truth is as a Math Fellow, you're just a low wage laborer. Your opinions don't matter. Unless you're praising the company. And now the company is getting big, it's very tough to get a real job with Saga. Most Fellows I know end up in something unrelated to education because that's all they could get. Even after the Americorps fellowship with Saga.