Teachers serve an invaluable role in society . But despite the necessity of teachers, it seems like, all too often, they’re overworked and underpaid. This can lead to burnout and, eventually, teachers finding different careers.
Abby Norman, who tweets under the handle @abbynormansays, recently tweeted about quitting her teaching job, and it sparked a lively discussion with other teachers who’ve done the same thing.
Here’s Abby’s initial tweet.
She echoes a common complaint many teachers share: there’s just too much work and too many hours to work, with too little in the way of rewards and gratitude to make it all worth while.
The work outside of office hours gets exhausting.
While the school day itself isn’t that long, the fact that teachers are expected to do grading and lesson plans after hours makes for a draining job with little in the way of down time to recharge.
Is this the answer?
This user pointed out that their sister apparently makes a six-figure salary at a private school, and urges OP to hang in there and the salary will increase.
Maybe it isn’t an answer…
A reply to the tweet above points out that someone needs to work the public school teaching jobs, then says it isn’t fair to use this argument against teachers.
Some people just wanted to go after OP.
This guy seems to think that the only reason a teacher should start their career is pure altruism, and that any cash earned on top of that is just a bonus.
This is a good tweet.
We all know that teaching is a crucial job, so it’s kind of rich when someone tries to argue that they should make less.
Burnout is real.
After two decades of teaching, this teacher is exhausted. I think they’ve had it with parents, too.
Some people have a bone to pick with teachers.
This is an unfortunate story, but it feels kind of weird, almost like the poster is using their personal experience to smear all teachers.
Students get it, too.
This student contributed to the thread, acknowledging the fact that kids, high school-age kids in particular, often push the envelope.
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There’s no doubt that teachers deserve to be compensated.
This tweet criticizes the high pay that actors get, which…yeah? I thought we all knew that celebrities have too much money.
She’s almost out of here.
She isn’t a teacher, but she works at a school as a nurse. It sounds like she’s more than ready to go.
Salaries vary wildly.
If you’re willing to move, and do a little research into cost of living, there are areas where a teaching salary can be comfortable.
Elementary school or high school?
I’m sure this mostly comes down to personal taste, but there’s obviously a big difference between teaching small kids and teaching teenagers.
Even if you love your work, it isn’t enough.
This teacher says they love what they do, but that they need to find a job that pays a living wage.
Hard to say no to better pay.
While the first sentence of this sounds like a scam pitch, the rest of it explains why so many teachers are seeking different careers.
Yes, teachers deserve to be paid.
There was a strong theme of, “Teachers should do it for the love of their job, not for the pay,” but this clapback nicely puts them in their place.
That’s an eye-opener.
It must be a weird feeling to be a teenager working an entry-level job, and realize you’re making more than your professionally-qualified mom. That’s either an indictment of the pay or of the number of hours she’s working.
So many teachers are just done with the whole thing.
This story echoes the burnout that many teachers in the Twitter thread are feeling. This one isn’t really pay-related, but instead shows other reasons teaching can be a nightmare.
Is this the future?
We’ll always need schools and teachers for our kids — if for no other reason than we can’t care for them 24/7. It’ll be interesting, and maybe horrifying, to see how this develops in the years to come.
What do you think?
You’ve seen some of the responses in the thread, so now we want to know your thoughts.
Are teachers adequately compensated for what they do? What’s the answer? And if there are any teachers out there, we want to hear about your experiences. Make sure to comment!
