Assistant Principal Tells Teacher That Her Students Are 'Suffering' Since She Refuses To Work An Extra 20 Unpaid Hours Weekly
It's time we start fighting for better treatment of our educators.
Max Fischer / Pexels Teaching is already a difficult profession as is. Between constant lesson planning, wrangling unruly students, and now the constant threat of school shootings looming in the U.S., it is no secret that teachers are some of the most underappreciated and underpaid people in the workforce.
With 44% of U.S. teachers in K-12 schools reporting that they are often or always burnout at work, according to a Research.com report, can you really blame them if they do not wish to do any additional work outside school hours?
One assistant principal did not hold back on how he felt about a teacher’s work ethic after she scaled back on working beyond her paid hours. His treatment toward her depicts the unfair treatment that teachers across the country are subjected to.
The assistant principal believed that the teacher should work over 20 hours beyond her paid hours.
The story was shared by the teacher's husband on the Reddit forum, r/antiwork. He began his post by revealing that his wife is a fifth-grade English teacher in Washington D.C. Recently, she has been experiencing burnout at her job due to the demanding schedule that extends outside of typical school hours.
“After talking with me, her union representative, and her therapist, she decided to scale back the amount of work she was doing for her school,” the man wrote.
Recently, his wife’s assistant principal held a meeting after school to discuss her work performance. During the two-hour meeting, her assistant principal and school administrators ridiculed her work ethic, with one administrator replying with, “we can tell” after she informed them that she had taken a step back from working outside school hours.
Additionally, the assistant principal claimed that her students were ‘suffering’ due to her performance outside of work.
They were apparently struggling with their teacher “only doing work during work hours.”
“This profession is toxic. Stay away,” her husband warns. Given that the average teacher salary in the state of Maryland is a little under $60,000 annually, she may have been struggling herself, especially if she was not receiving additional pay for the work she performed outside of the classroom.
Other teachers related to the burnout that the man’s wife was experiencing due to the challenges the job entailed.
“I used to be a part-time college professor while also running my private music studio. Was teaching 38 hours per week and practicing, writing publications, and performing. That s–t added up to 60+ hours per week of work until I got super burned out,” one Redditor shared. “I loved teaching and my students were sad when I left them, but the profession just isn’t healthy anymore. I’m sad that the country is losing so many passionate and talented teachers, but I can tell you, the future is brighter for you.”
“After 20+ years of teaching, I quiet quit. If it can’t get done during contract hours, maybe it just doesn’t get done,” another user commented.
“It’s been about five years of this, and it has saved my life and mental health.”
Other former teachers suggested different career paths burnt-out teachers could take where they could far fewer hours for better pay using their teaching credentials, such as a job in marketing or a bank. Education is a crucial part of our lives and we must ensure that our educators are getting the reasonable hours and pay that they deserve to keep it thriving.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.