Would you prefer to be a Teacher or a Secretary?

Answer 1

I worked as a temp secretary for two years before becoming a teacher. Jobs were actually easier to come by than teaching jobs despite the enormous call for teachers on numerous news programs, articles etc.

My experience in both fields have led me to the following conclusions--

1. Teachers are vastly underpaid when compared to secretaries with respect to time they devote to job duties. As a teacher, my schedule calls for a 40 hr week. In reality when you calculate the amount of mandatory meetings teachers have to attend on a weekly basis and the amount of hours to prepare for lessons, grading, and other administrative duties, it's more along the line of a 50-60 hour workweek. As a Secretary, my day was over once my 8 hrs were in. I never worked from home to prepare for the next day. As a teacher, I work "for free" approximately 15-20 extra work hours a week.

2. Secretaries are in greater demand than teachers. Yes you heard it! When you think about it, it makes sense. Secretaries are needed in every work -site on this planet you can possibly think of, including in education. The irony of it all, in our local districts there are secretaries that make far more money than teachers with far less experience, training, and duties involved! Can you see now why there's a 90 percent turnover in teaching within the first two years of entering the profession? Heck, we have custodians that make more than us.

3. When you are a Secretary, your career isn't necessarily over if an employer "lets you go" or if you walk out off the job because you're tired of dealing with incompetent, abusive, tyrant leaders. As a teacher if the Principal doesn't as much as "like you" for whatever reason, they can severely impact your chances of finding a teaching job elsewhere. Principals rely heavily on the "opinion" , rumors, and appraisals made by other Principals, no matter how blatantly dishonest it is. No recommendation from your Principal? Then kiss your career goodbye OR start all over as a substitute teacher somewhere.

4. As a teacher, you are constantly under scrutiny oftentimes due to no fault of your own. But rather, if your Principal is a control freak or they failed in their "leadership" duties it all rolls downhill to you. Most principals will not accept responsibility or accountability when they fail in their duties due to their own incompetence. Instead, they find fault in teachers under them as a way to escape personal scrutiny by the board of education, superintendent etc.

Can you imagine a CEO blaming a Secretary for their own failure to secure an account with a client? Or a CEO blaming a Secretary for losing millions of dollars? I am not saying this has never happened, I am sure it has, however it is not the norm in the secretarial world. At least not in my prior experience or my mother's who was a Secretary for over 25 years.

5. In my two short years as a teacher, I have experienced less job satisfaction than i ever did as a Secretary. Further I have met a greater number of satisfied and happy Secretaries than I have teachers.

6. As a Secretary if you are falsely accused of, say, hitting a coworker you can get fired, at which point you simply move on. As a Teacher you get falsely accused of hitting a kid because that kid simply doesn't like you and you will go to jail (until your innocence is proven), have your license revoked, get fired, and if you're a parent can potentially lose custody of your own kids etc. all on the basis of a false accusation. Basically your whole world implodes. I knew of a substitute teacher falsely accused of hitting a student by students with a longstanding records of behavior problems. Sadly, false accusations happen more often than I care to imagine. Especially among adolescents, that will do and say anything to get out of trouble.

7. By now you may be wondering about those so called "coveted" two months off during the summer and holidays off in the winter time. Here's the dirty little secret--you will spend more time working during the holidays to "prepare" for upcoming return to school than you will having actual days off. As far as the summer goes, those so called two months off don't even begin to compensate you for the previous 10 months in which you worked 60 hr weeks. Furthermore, you will be required to attend summer training or professional development in order to put in the hours required to renew your certification.

　I got into teaching because I enjoy working with kids and wanted to make a difference in the lives of students. The sad reality is that there are far too many students in today's public schools that are disrespectful, unmotivated, manipulative, violent, aggressive, and dishonest. There are far too many parents that are uncaring, unsupportive and treat schools/teachers as babysitters moreso than educators. Far too many incompetent and/or uncaring leaders.

Now ask yourself this--

Which would you rather have a 40K (40hr week) Secretarial job or a 40K (60hr week) grueling teaching job?

For me it's a no brainer. As of June 2010 my resignation will be on my Principal's desk.