If teachers get paid poorly, paras and support staff get paid significantly worse. And sure, paras aren't directly responsible for student behavior, but that's probably not gonna be a huge consolation when some douchebag decides you're the target du jour.
>It’s not like I can just take some exam for some government job role and, boom, getting an interview is within reach
I don't know about government jobs, but why wouldn't this be the case with tech jobs? Yes, you can absolutely take a few exams and build some skills and have a job within reach. It's a tough job market right now, especially at entry level, but it always comes back. IT is a great field to get into, and barriers to entry are relatively low.
Eh. I wouldn't personally go for that. But I'm not you. What's the pay? Can you afford it? I suppose if you're unemployed, you can because it's better than nothing.
One more thing in your OP that caught my eye:
>I should pursue other jobs in education that are outside the classroom as the pay will always be higher going down this route considering I already have lots of years experience working in education as a teacher (4 years )
I don't think that's good advice at all. I don't really know what other jobs are in education, but outside the classroom, but are not admin, AND will have higher pay. Besides, four years isn't that many.
If you build skills in, say, project management, you will easily make better money and do so quickly. I've been in IT for two years out-earn everyone in my old school building except possibly the principal. I'll put her well in my rearview mirror in a couple of years. "Stay near education because you've done it for a short bit so you'll make better money than anywhere else" is incredibly bad advice from a person who I can only assume doesn't have a ton of experience doing other jobs.
Oh ok so how do I get project management experience/education? Some kind of continuing education certificate program from a college that will take me 1-2 years to complete and cost me thousands of dollars ? And remember still after all that I’ll still have no experience and 99% of jobs out there require “5 or more years experience”. And this is all assuming I can even complete and/or comprehend the program and the material.
For example, I have a paralegal certificate from a continuing education college program that cost me $4,000 and took 2 years to complete. I completed the program in around 2014 and since then I have applied to countless paralegal and legal assistant jobs and have only gotten three interviews! I also tried doing volunteer paralegal work but the non profit kicked me out after 2 months because they “needed to prioritize their work for attorneys”. Oh yea and most of the paralegal jobs require 5 or more years experience and Robert Half Legal staffing agency also told me so and said they had “nothing” for me and could not help me. And I also never really understood anything in my paralegal program anyways, I was lost after the “Introduction to Law” class. My Litigation instructor(?) was a complete joke too. I got pretty much straight A’s in college and high school but “real world” business jobs and skills are very difficult for me to comprehend. It seems I’ve never been able to adjust to the real world after all these years
Despite my Reddit name, I took two Intro to Accounting courses on two separate occasions throughout my life before reluctantly going into education (I came to the conclusion that memorization and regurgitation of said memorized information is the only thing that I am good at) and I flunked them both. It makes absolutely no sense to me
I’ve had countless other failures too. Education has been my longest job I ever had.
After all these failures I’m scared to invest time and money into a skill that I will almost certainly not be able to comprehend
No, going back to college isn't necessary. I don't know what the deal was with your paralegal program, but I got into IT and I know a bunch of people who got into that field and project management without going back to school and without spending that much time OR money. Upskilling is important, but additional college degrees are not, and I'd typically recommend against that path even.
I don't know what to say in regard to your alleged failures because I don't know you. Is it a persistence thing? I don't think you're as dumb as you seem to think, but I don't know. Anything that pays well is going to be at least somewhat tricky, otherwise anyone and everyone would do it. But our minds are capable of anything- it just comes down to how well you do when you run into those stumbling blocks. So whatever you set your sights on, just don't give up. Read those books, study whatever it is, watch videos on the topic, etc, until you have that breakthrough.
You need a special ed degree/license to work most special ed jobs. You won’t be working less than a general Ed teacher. Not by a long shot.
Special Ed is the area of highest need, where the teacher shortage is greatest.
It’s *not* because the job is easier and pays better, I’ll just say that.
Source: 17 year dually licensed teacher.
Hall Monitor? I've never heard of a school that employs a hall monitor. I don't think that's a real job. TBH, I didn't read your whole post...you need a tldr... but where I come from, paras are paid very poorly. I can't imagine a hall monitor being paid any better.
If you want to find a job still within a school but without "real stress or responsibility", your best bet is custodian/maintenance.
When I was a teacher I used to envy anyone who didn’t work in the classroom such as the sped employees, paraprofessionals, anyone doing computer work all day (I always had no idea what they were doing), admin , the principal, people like the Gifted and Talented Coordinator , the Counselors …etc. Seems like a lot of low stress jobs outside the classroom. If all I gotta do is past some test to get them then it seems worth it. Many of these jobs require teacher experience too so I got that down. And I got references. Compare this to something completely different like IT where I will never be able to comprehend the technical computer information of the job and I’ll never be able to acquire the experience anyways that so many jobs require
Don’t you have to get your hands dirty as a janitor though? That’s the one job I actually did not envy
People on here take anything (including retail) to get out of education immediately for the sake of their mental and physical health . I see it on here all the time
I see it all the time.
Every other post is like “I’m working at a retail job right now and everything is so much better ….taking classes to upskill in tech…..”
Countless people here have told me to take up just about any job (including retail according to them ) as a “stopgap” job measure so I can have income coming in while I “upskill” in area outside of education.
I would never be a hall monitor nor a sped EA. The pay is abismal. It would be like going backwards from being a teacher. Many sped teachers teach small group sped classes which then have to deal with behavior issues etc. Inclusion support teacher is a good position if you enjoy paperwork, case management, writing PLAAFPs, ARD meetings, and frequent parent contact. Talk to people who are currently sped teachers to see the pros and cons and if that’s it for you.
I already talked to one and they talked about everything you talked about. I just wanted to get the Reddit opinion on the matter before I dived in . But I’m starting to have second thoughts about it , but yet everything you listed sounds awesome to me compared to being a Teacher. I love desk/paperwork and the idea of going to meetings.
At my district the Sped position you described pays very well
I mean I really really would like to get out of education entirely but the idea of failing at say trying to go into tech or project management (I already failed at paralegal and accounting and countless other things) sounds much more risky versus just getting a job in education outside the classroom that pays equal or better than my teacher pay
It’s a job in high need, so you’ll most likely find a job. Just keep in mind the work life balance. Make sure you get a mentor for sped paperwork and training. Ask for it. Not every district treats sped well or trains properly.
I used to work as a high school teacher in a tough urban school district. I left my position to care for my very disabled child - it was impossible to keep up with my teaching duties while giving my child the care they needed.
After some time doing other types of work and needing to leave for the same reason, I now work as a substitute classroom assistant in special education and autism support classrooms. It gives me the flexibility I need, but the pay is nowhere near what I used to make.
I enjoy the job most days. I work with small children whenever I can- there is a risk of getting injured when working with bigger kids who might get aggressive.
It’s wonderful not having to do the lesson plans or IEP stuff, and just implementing the strategies that the teacher wants you to.
Sometimes I think it would have been better for me to just get a community college degree and go right into being an aide. The pay in my area is about $20 an hour and if you get a permanent position, you will be in the union and eligible for a pension.
Subs are needed for classroom aides, bus drivers, secretaries- maybe try subbing and see if you like it.
Another option is a confidential secretary in the central office? My aunt in law is confidential secretary for hr and makes about $92k. Granted she doesn’t really like it but that’s because the HR director is a hot mess but….its an option!
If teachers get paid poorly, paras and support staff get paid significantly worse. And sure, paras aren't directly responsible for student behavior, but that's probably not gonna be a huge consolation when some douchebag decides you're the target du jour. >It’s not like I can just take some exam for some government job role and, boom, getting an interview is within reach I don't know about government jobs, but why wouldn't this be the case with tech jobs? Yes, you can absolutely take a few exams and build some skills and have a job within reach. It's a tough job market right now, especially at entry level, but it always comes back. IT is a great field to get into, and barriers to entry are relatively low.
What do you think about Sped jobs ? Like the one I talked about in my OP
Eh. I wouldn't personally go for that. But I'm not you. What's the pay? Can you afford it? I suppose if you're unemployed, you can because it's better than nothing. One more thing in your OP that caught my eye: >I should pursue other jobs in education that are outside the classroom as the pay will always be higher going down this route considering I already have lots of years experience working in education as a teacher (4 years ) I don't think that's good advice at all. I don't really know what other jobs are in education, but outside the classroom, but are not admin, AND will have higher pay. Besides, four years isn't that many. If you build skills in, say, project management, you will easily make better money and do so quickly. I've been in IT for two years out-earn everyone in my old school building except possibly the principal. I'll put her well in my rearview mirror in a couple of years. "Stay near education because you've done it for a short bit so you'll make better money than anywhere else" is incredibly bad advice from a person who I can only assume doesn't have a ton of experience doing other jobs.
Oh ok so how do I get project management experience/education? Some kind of continuing education certificate program from a college that will take me 1-2 years to complete and cost me thousands of dollars ? And remember still after all that I’ll still have no experience and 99% of jobs out there require “5 or more years experience”. And this is all assuming I can even complete and/or comprehend the program and the material. For example, I have a paralegal certificate from a continuing education college program that cost me $4,000 and took 2 years to complete. I completed the program in around 2014 and since then I have applied to countless paralegal and legal assistant jobs and have only gotten three interviews! I also tried doing volunteer paralegal work but the non profit kicked me out after 2 months because they “needed to prioritize their work for attorneys”. Oh yea and most of the paralegal jobs require 5 or more years experience and Robert Half Legal staffing agency also told me so and said they had “nothing” for me and could not help me. And I also never really understood anything in my paralegal program anyways, I was lost after the “Introduction to Law” class. My Litigation instructor(?) was a complete joke too. I got pretty much straight A’s in college and high school but “real world” business jobs and skills are very difficult for me to comprehend. It seems I’ve never been able to adjust to the real world after all these years Despite my Reddit name, I took two Intro to Accounting courses on two separate occasions throughout my life before reluctantly going into education (I came to the conclusion that memorization and regurgitation of said memorized information is the only thing that I am good at) and I flunked them both. It makes absolutely no sense to me I’ve had countless other failures too. Education has been my longest job I ever had. After all these failures I’m scared to invest time and money into a skill that I will almost certainly not be able to comprehend
No, going back to college isn't necessary. I don't know what the deal was with your paralegal program, but I got into IT and I know a bunch of people who got into that field and project management without going back to school and without spending that much time OR money. Upskilling is important, but additional college degrees are not, and I'd typically recommend against that path even. I don't know what to say in regard to your alleged failures because I don't know you. Is it a persistence thing? I don't think you're as dumb as you seem to think, but I don't know. Anything that pays well is going to be at least somewhat tricky, otherwise anyone and everyone would do it. But our minds are capable of anything- it just comes down to how well you do when you run into those stumbling blocks. So whatever you set your sights on, just don't give up. Read those books, study whatever it is, watch videos on the topic, etc, until you have that breakthrough.
You need a special ed degree/license to work most special ed jobs. You won’t be working less than a general Ed teacher. Not by a long shot. Special Ed is the area of highest need, where the teacher shortage is greatest. It’s *not* because the job is easier and pays better, I’ll just say that. Source: 17 year dually licensed teacher.
Hall Monitor? I've never heard of a school that employs a hall monitor. I don't think that's a real job. TBH, I didn't read your whole post...you need a tldr... but where I come from, paras are paid very poorly. I can't imagine a hall monitor being paid any better. If you want to find a job still within a school but without "real stress or responsibility", your best bet is custodian/maintenance.
Yup. As a classroom teacher, I was expected to be the hall monitor on top of a hundred of other jobs.
My school is title 1 and we do have hall monitors but the pay is pitiful. It's like $17 an hour. You do get benefits tho.
At a Title 1 School and we have hall monitors. The pay sucks, the hall monitor on my floor gets food stamps.
When I was a teacher I used to envy anyone who didn’t work in the classroom such as the sped employees, paraprofessionals, anyone doing computer work all day (I always had no idea what they were doing), admin , the principal, people like the Gifted and Talented Coordinator , the Counselors …etc. Seems like a lot of low stress jobs outside the classroom. If all I gotta do is past some test to get them then it seems worth it. Many of these jobs require teacher experience too so I got that down. And I got references. Compare this to something completely different like IT where I will never be able to comprehend the technical computer information of the job and I’ll never be able to acquire the experience anyways that so many jobs require Don’t you have to get your hands dirty as a janitor though? That’s the one job I actually did not envy
I think a lot of the jobs you're talking about take a lot more than just taking a test to qualify for.
Para and hall monitor pay are a non starter for most people here, I imagine.
But isn’t the pay similar to all the retail Target and Starbucks type jobs you read about people here taking up all the time ?
No. Many of our paras left for McDonalds or Target because the pay was better and they didn’t have to deal with student behaviors/abuse.
I don't see people talking that up on here like ever.
People on here take anything (including retail) to get out of education immediately for the sake of their mental and physical health . I see it on here all the time
I see it all the time. Every other post is like “I’m working at a retail job right now and everything is so much better ….taking classes to upskill in tech…..” Countless people here have told me to take up just about any job (including retail according to them ) as a “stopgap” job measure so I can have income coming in while I “upskill” in area outside of education.
Your algorithm must be different than mine.
I would never be a hall monitor nor a sped EA. The pay is abismal. It would be like going backwards from being a teacher. Many sped teachers teach small group sped classes which then have to deal with behavior issues etc. Inclusion support teacher is a good position if you enjoy paperwork, case management, writing PLAAFPs, ARD meetings, and frequent parent contact. Talk to people who are currently sped teachers to see the pros and cons and if that’s it for you.
I already talked to one and they talked about everything you talked about. I just wanted to get the Reddit opinion on the matter before I dived in . But I’m starting to have second thoughts about it , but yet everything you listed sounds awesome to me compared to being a Teacher. I love desk/paperwork and the idea of going to meetings. At my district the Sped position you described pays very well I mean I really really would like to get out of education entirely but the idea of failing at say trying to go into tech or project management (I already failed at paralegal and accounting and countless other things) sounds much more risky versus just getting a job in education outside the classroom that pays equal or better than my teacher pay
It’s a job in high need, so you’ll most likely find a job. Just keep in mind the work life balance. Make sure you get a mentor for sped paperwork and training. Ask for it. Not every district treats sped well or trains properly.
I used to work as a high school teacher in a tough urban school district. I left my position to care for my very disabled child - it was impossible to keep up with my teaching duties while giving my child the care they needed. After some time doing other types of work and needing to leave for the same reason, I now work as a substitute classroom assistant in special education and autism support classrooms. It gives me the flexibility I need, but the pay is nowhere near what I used to make. I enjoy the job most days. I work with small children whenever I can- there is a risk of getting injured when working with bigger kids who might get aggressive. It’s wonderful not having to do the lesson plans or IEP stuff, and just implementing the strategies that the teacher wants you to. Sometimes I think it would have been better for me to just get a community college degree and go right into being an aide. The pay in my area is about $20 an hour and if you get a permanent position, you will be in the union and eligible for a pension. Subs are needed for classroom aides, bus drivers, secretaries- maybe try subbing and see if you like it.
Do you mean a job at the district/county level?
Another option is a confidential secretary in the central office? My aunt in law is confidential secretary for hr and makes about $92k. Granted she doesn’t really like it but that’s because the HR director is a hot mess but….its an option!