Many dedicated professionals are leaving teaching these days. It’s a quiet trend in education right now you see. They decided chalkboards and lesson plans no longer offer a sustainable, fulfilling life for them. Realizing this takes time, often coming after much passion and commitment shown. Sometimes that dream job does not quite meet reality sadly. This is like Maggie Perkins story, a former history teacher for younger students. She bravely left the classroom to begin a new chapter at Costco finding surprise there.
Maggie’s journey shows a tough truth many teachers face now. She had put her whole self into her job truly. Yet she felt her worth was not tied only to this work, revealed in a frank letter she sent. Her main priority completely changed she states. “My priority now is to have a clear break between my personal and professional lives I want that space.” She wishes to spend time with her family, her husband and kids. She wants to pursue things truly important just to her. Wanting this kind of balance, a life vibrant outside school, motivates many teachers to change direction.
Demands on teachers are big and often unseen by others. The typical teacher works close to 49 hours every week on average. The National Education Union says teachers frequently expect to work overtime without getting paid for it. They call for better pay and saving schools too. Maggie herself exceeded this average quite a bit. She gave an immense 60 hours weekly to her teaching role. This huge time commitment, mostly unpaid, plus other outside pressures, created a draining situation daily.
Administrative tasks added more complexity and also stress it seemed. Teachers must deal with constant testing rules and lots of bureaucratic hurdles. This pulls focus away from teaching students, their main mission. Maggie pointed out the “administrative pressures” and “testing requirements” herself. These were big reasons for her exhaustion feelings. They are more than small annoyances really. These demands take serious time and energy away. That time could go to preparing lessons or helping students instead.
Teaching requires huge emotional and mental effort too you know. The sheer endurance needed is immense. This was especially true teaching during the pandemic’s peak when Maggie did this. That time pushed many educators right to their limits. She felt utterly “exhausted” from the nonstop pace and pressure it gave her. Beyond the fatigue was a deeper feeling of not connecting. Maggie felt she “lacked purpose” despite giving everything. Feeling she wasn’t making a real impact can really bring you down.
Michael Maguire, an experienced teacher running for union president, agreed with those feelings. He painted a wider picture of system problems driving teachers out. Teachers are forced to leave, he clearly stated. This is because of “ever-increasing demands and ever-shrinking spending power” they face. This bad mix of more work and less money makes things impossible for many. They would stay teaching otherwise because they love their job and students.
Maguire stressed the basic problem of labor not paid for. Teachers regularly take work home at night. They grade papers late and plan lessons on weekends. They never get extra pay for doing this work outside school hours. He insists this doesn’t show appreciation for their efforts at all. Unlike what some people think, teachers do not get paid for summer or school breaks. They get paid a set hourly rate by contract. This rate is for a certain number of hours during the school day only. Any work spilling over is essentially time given freely to the school.
Money matters are truly bleak considering living costs today. Maguire mentioned over the last three contracts teachers received just a small cost of living raise. It averaged only 2.5% each year, quite low. He starkly compared this to needing enough money to live decently. He called these small increases little more than “low fat milk.” They are not enough to keep teachers financially healthy for sure. Remembering their love for teaching does not cover bills does it. A 2% raise won’t help with rising rent, mortgages, groceries, or student loans either.
Some specific policy ideas, perhaps meant well, added more problems too. Maguire talked about the district’s inclusion plan. It gave a small raise two contracts ago if they accepted it. He supports inclusivity as a parent and teacher philosophically. But he saw the big flaw in how they did it. Teachers did not get needed time for students’ specific needs and requirements. The sad outcome, he argued strongly, is that adults feel “overworked and overwhelmed.” As a result, students are then “underserved” unfortunately. He had warned against rushing the model he told them.
Extended learning time is another such policy causing bad outcomes by accident. It was meant for fun activities like art originally. But in many schools, the extra time added academics instead. More schoolwork might seem good for kids on paper. Yet Maguire correctly asked if this is right for small children. He said very young students should not expect to sit longer. Also the longer day often ends when traffic is heavy. This makes young kids spend an hour stuck driving after school. “We must do better,” he argued plainly. This scheduling needs sense and focus on students.
Not having enough planning time during the school day adds huge stress for teachers. It also causes them to work unpaid overtime always. Maguire showed this point clearly using a simple comparison. He likened teachers to Lucy Ricardo hurrying at the chocolate factory. The district speeds up the belt every single year he says. Teachers get just 47 minutes a day, he stated directly. In that short time they must do many things. Plan lessons, gather supplies, grade assignments, make copies if the machine works. They must use the restroom and check emails too. Teachers often use their own phones to call parents as the district doesn’t provide phones. They even restock student supplies themselves mostly buying them. It is simply an impossible task in the time allowed them. Anyone doubting him, he challenged, should visit his classroom to see it themselves he invited them.
Few substitute teachers makes daily problems even worse than before. Maguire said getting and keeping enough subs is absolutely necessary. He feels thankful for the ones already there working hard. But he stated clearly needing “twice or thrice as many” people. He thinks paying substitutes better could really help fix this major need. This shortage means if a teacher is out, students might have many different subs in one day. This messes up learning and makes things shaky in schools overall.
Maguire believes teaching is 80% women mostly. This profession deserves the same respect and treatment as jobs mainly held by men. He thinks every school should have dedicated, qualified, fully paid professionals ready when a teacher is gone. This ensures learning continues and students get support needed. He proposed one idea for the sub shortage solution. Using current grad students from education schools as instant subs he suggested. This helps districts get needed coverage and grad students gain helpful experience he explained it could work well.
Money worries continue right into retirement years. Teachers fund their own pensions during their career. When they retire, they depend on a set amount of money mostly. About 80% of teachers are women he noted. Women usually live longer by statistics. So cost of living raises become vital for financial safety through retirement. Maguire highlighted having a respectful retirement as a top need. Teachers fund their own pensions remember. Fixed incomes risk losing value to inflation. This is a serious worry for retired teachers they shared.
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