You're generally working on products that serve some useful function in the world. However, at the same time, you do get the sense that Scholastic sales hammers the US educational system for as much money as possible -- especially with regard to the software products. Like any software maker, the goal is to sell, sell, sell, then do it all over again, regardless of whether schools really need all of this software. Once you see this giant machine moving forward for a while you realize that it's not always in the educational system's best interests. Our nation's schools might be better off hiring better teachers at higher salaries rather than purchase multi-million-dollar software systems.
Just like any company, you want to be on the right team at Scholastic. I was unfortunate to be working on a losing team (our product was consistently unprofitable) with weak management. I strongly disliked the person I was reporting to, and the person on the next level up as well. So that was a bummer. But I did get the sense that I could have found another home elsewhere in the company that I could have been happy at; I did have friends in other areas that totally loved their jobs. But ultimately I took a job at a different company and haven't really looked back.
