u/diegotown177

This is one of the more lampooned questions posed at professional development, yet I still see it coming up. There’s one why and its salary and benefits. I need to cover my insulin costs and pay my mortgage. That’s my why! I have yet to meet anyone in my profession that is rich and can pick and choose a job based on some inner desire to do it. Has the word not gotten out yet to the PD people? Do they not know we’re laughing at them when they ask us what our why is? Part of the problem is that nobody has the balls to fess up in person. I’ve never been in one or these meetings and heard someone respond to the why question with…because I want to eat tonight. This is my job!

Teachers gripe about how behaviors and how nothing adequate is done to help. They blame parents and blame admin, but there are some things going on behind the curtain that they may not be aware of. You’ve probably heard the flowery crap about “build relationships” and “restorative justice practices.” These ideas are meant to replace more serious consequences for defiance and classroom disruption. We know they’re ineffective when it comes to certain students. So why do schools persist in pushing it?

The reason is that school districts operate by numbers. What are the graduation rates? How many suspensions have there been? If a site admin suspends a student this sets off a chain reaction. Now the district admin is pissed, because their suspension rate has increased. If too much of that happens the state takes notice and there are state penalties. They might like to help, but it’s their ass if they do.

So don’t expect help. Don’t expect action. Manage the best you can in a system that is permissive to make the numbers work.

It had a very obvious point during the days of prohibition. Alcohol was illegal and people needed a place to party and fly under the radar. Now what the hell is it? Alcohol is perfectly legal if not encouraged. The speakeasy of today seems like a way to trick people into believing they’re cooler than they actually are…hey man I know a speakeasy. Super exclusive. Only the cool people know about it and are welcome there…what? Firstly, it’s a bar. That’s all it is. Plenty of them everywhere. Second, why do people need pretense? What is it about that? Oooh a velvet rope! It’s so douchey.

I’m not against research at all. Obviously we want to learn more about any phenomena if we are to get better. What bothers me is getting overly excited and invested in any one study or series of studies. Research is often political. It can be driven with a cart before a horse. In no field does this seem more prevalent than education. There is an obsession with data and numbers and what we are wanting it to look like on paper. The problem is that paper doesn’t actually tell us much about the actual experience. This is where a lot of the bad ideas and policies come from that leave everyone scratching their heads after the fact…but but we did what the data told us…When will school districts and state governments come around to this reality? The PHD’s writing books and selling you speaking tours don’t actually have the answers you’re seeking. They have their own ideas, based on soft science and many of these ideas are limited in their applications. We overindulge hoping everything will turn out better. It won’t.

We’re all looking for a way out. I will be eligible to retire in 5 years, but I do worry about having enough money. My pension covers about 50% of my pay and I have a 457 worth about 430k right now. At 5-7% with present contributions I’d have 700-800k in five years. A Roth IRA with 45k. Not a horrible position, but also concerned about money lasting.

So I thought about maybe working some more outside of teaching. That would definitely do it, but at 56 years old it would be more difficult finding work and I’ll be damned if I’m subbing.

Then I thought about moving. Never thought I’d want to leave San Diego again. I did it twice before and wanted to be back when I was gone. However, it is expensive and that got me thinking about moving abroad. Philippines specifically. My California pension would be more than sufficient there. Money goes about 3x as far. I’d be sort of wealthy there and I could leave my 457 and IRA alone to grow. Maybe move back later with a bigger purse if I wanted to. What do you think?

I feel like a lot of jobs make you into a crappy employee. These companies are always saying they want the best of this and that, but you often get hammered more for trying to do the right thing. Mediocrity is rewarded. Doing just enough. I’ve been working at a place for 22 years that has drilled this into me. When I took some part time night work on the side to help me meet some financial goals I brought the mediocre attitude right with me. Guess what? I fit right in! They call me all the time for extra shifts. I don’t actually want to be a shitty employee, but I also recognize that this is rewarded. Just be on time, don’t try to fix any problems or outshine any manager. Smile and nod. Don’t try to do your job with your best effort. Give 70%.