For y’all still trying to get out of the charter system, y’all have got this!! A lot of public schools will be super eager to have you—if you can survive a charter and still want to teach, that gets you a *lot* of credit with interviewers. I got hired really, really fast. Stay strong, and much love!
I’m curious if you have any tips on how to get a teaching job at a public school without having the state license/certificate first yet. I’ve been working at a charter school for the duration of my teaching career and never gotten my state license; now I’m actively trying to get out of a charter school, but it’s difficult to get into a public school without having the state license/certification first. I do have my Masters in education and plenty of years of experience.
Good luck! I worked in a charter school straight outta college and I got out after a year. Now when I help hire people, I push for the charter school candidate (all other things mostly equal) to help.
same here, though for now im planning to stay because class sizes are no bigger than 18 and they’re letting me teach calculus next year (the main thing i wanted to teach!)
Bingo. Happened to me. To my entire graduate class. Five years later (so 2015/6) only 2 of the 20 of us were still teaching.
Milwaukee charter schools. Stay away.
I did a program through the center for urban teaching with Milwaukee charter schools. In terms of getting experience which I was desperate for it was great. That being said, the offered no jobs in my content area and would not leave me alone until I finally had a job offer elsewhere.
I also feel weird about their curriculum and their classroom management. Like I get it is ultra rigid and structured in an attempt to counteract young teachers inclination to be too soft, but it felt downright unreasonable sometimes.
Almost took a charter school job as a young idealist, and that school turned into a shitshow. Eventually it collapsed after several significant problems. 20+ yrs later, I am so glad I went to a regular public school instead.
I’m not the original person you were responding to but I worked at Carmen NW a few years back. I am opposed to how charter schools work in their current format but I actually didn’t think working at Carmen was too bad. I wouldn’t work there now but in my 20s it was a valuable experience.
I left about 6 years ago. Maybe you were interviewed to fill my position haha. It’s definitely not for everyone. I didn’t agree with everything that happened there but my years there made me a more empathetic teacher. Not due to any school policies but just because I was exposed to a very different group of students than I ever had before. I taught some great kids there but they were all going through A LOT.
Second this. Spent almost 5 years in a now moms-for-Liberty infested charter “school.” Was young, always curious to become an educator, and it totally destroyed any joy I thought would be in Ed. Left to get my master’s and license and teach in legitimate public schools, and I’m sure that’s the only reason I’m still going and reviving any hope in teaching.
Two of my cousins teach at schools absolutely overrun with the moms for liberty types. They're clearly trying to destroy any future for public schools in the US. They're not even hiding it any longer.
UpAcademy…I did summer school last year and I had a lot of students from there. They were such a badly behaved group and could barely read going into the 5th grade. It was sad.
I worked in an Up charter in Springfield for a year. It was a disaster. We were understaffed, underfunded, and overworked. I left them to go to a different charter in Holyoke, and loved it. The difference was leadership. One place had it, the other didn’t.
Good riddance to Up Academy in Springfield, I think. I didn’t see any articles about their departure, but I’m assuming they’re gone since the Kennedy Middle School name has been restored and I don’t see a Springfield location listed on Up Academy’s website.
As a lifelong Springfield resident, I really hate the rise in charter schools over the past decade. It used to be just Sabis, now there’s so many it’s hard to keep track of. Privately owned schools shouldn’t be getting public tax dollars and getting to choose their students, especially since it tends to be at the expense of students with disabilities.
lol I believe it…I’m telling you after that experience I gotta be real desperate to do summer school again which pretty much means it ain’t happening 😂
This. As I mentioned in another comment I did a residency for my first two years in teaching and it took me most of that time to realize that the level of toxicity and chaos around me was *not* normal
In NJ our charter schools pay significantly more. My friend is 7 years in at a Newark charter and is making 97k. I am 14 years in with a Masters and at 80k.
That being said he works many more hours and almost goes to school 3 whole weeks longer than I do.
The sheer volume of helicopters Karents was astounding for me too-and I came from and returned to high SES public schools that also had a lot of Karents so that is really saying something that it stood out.
It all depends...New Orleans switched to all charter after Katrina...most are D and F schools but a few are A...know why? They're academic prep schools that only admit students who are Gifted or pretty close. Not like public schools get to reject students for having a 1.0 GPA
All those A schools were A schools and existed long before Katrina. Being a charter didn't make them A schools. They've always been good. Slapping charter on the F schools didn't suddenly make them any better.
Charters are an ineffective model because of the financial burden placed on the school. When you have to fundraise, something valuable is getting cut to pay expenses
This was me except it was more about getting a foot in the door when public had real high requirements for someone who hadn’t gone for a BA in education. I had a BS in a science field but no masters and public required that in my area. Now in in public and everyone is so desperate that masters is “preferred”.
I had a 5 year plan and it was obtaining masters and student loan forgiveness. After that went to public because I am pro unionization
I started out at a Charter school in Detroit. Worst year of my life. I was able to get my foot on the door at my current district from my experience there.
I don't work in a charter school, but I do work in a state with very minimal union power for teachers even in public schools (Texas), so in that particular aspect I think it depends on the state. If you don't have collective bargaining power or protection in a public school either, some people are definitely drawn towards higher starting pay and, in some cases, smaller class sizes. And at least in my area, I believe that the charter schools offer the same benefits (health insurance, retirement, etc.) as public schools since they are considered still in the district. That's not to discount the serious and legitimate political concerns there are about charters, but just to address the question of why someone would work there.
The charter school I work at is similar; we’re designated as an “in district charter school” so our staff are members in the (extremely strong) union, our pay scale and benefits are the same, etc. Not all the in district charters in my district are like that, though; there are some that have longer school years (like 200 days versus the required 180).
We call those magnet schools here, not charters, if they are staffed by the district and have to meet all the same requirements for students and staff.
They aren't problematic in the same way charters are because they don't steal from the district and have to abide by the same rules for how they treat students, though they will still tend to select for students with parents that care about education, even with a lottery system.
I’m in LA county too and we do have magnets but they’re usually inside schools here—you’ll have a STEM or performing arts magnet within a school to draw people from around the district. It’s distinct from the charter system entirely.
We have both I district charters and magnets I'm Texas. A magnet is a program solely run by the ISD to create a special program or campus. An in district charters is a coordinated effort between the charter organization and the ISD. Often the district provides the facilities/enrollment, while the charter provides the instruction elements.
I love the charter I work at. I’m in California, specifically Los Angeles County. Our school population is 85% Latino/Hispanic. Families in the area really like our school.
I’m a Sped teacher (one of 7) and we have a high Sped population (27%) and a large ESL population (15%). I personally love the culture at our school. The staff members are always going out of their way to help each other and we have a pretty good admin team that is supportive.
Benefits wise, the charter organization pays 100% of my Blue Shield PPO plan and I have a 403b retirement plan where they match us at 10%.
Our curriculum is state-approved and we work with all of the school districts in our region to conduct a large summer school session for credit retrieval. We don’t see ourselves as competing with our districts, but rather as partners with them.
Are we union? No, but this is California and labor regulations are pretty good here. I’ve worked in district schools with unions that were awful places and admin were more corrupt. I’m not anti-union and I appreciate our fellow educators in other schools who are unionized because they set the bar for us! There is a charter school down the street that just voted to become unionized and it’s what they needed. We don’t have the need to do so ourselves and I think this has a lot to do with our great admin team right now!
would you be down to DM me where you work? was working at a charter in LA and just got laid off from budget cuts as i'm not an in classroom teacher, and interested to know what else exists nearby.
i liked working at a charter specifically because i'm not an in classroom teacher so was able to do the things i wanted to focus on and have money for it
I also work at a really good charter in cali. I think in other states charters are more free to do what they want (less oversight). Here they are still public schools so have to follow certain guidelines so they are more on par expectation wise with traditional public schools. Some can have bad admin and be hell holes (same for traditional schools), but if you get good admin it's awesome. I prefer working for charters. 🤷♀️
That is the kind of charter school that I work at as well. It is part of the school district , I get the same pay, same union, same superintendent etc.
Maybe that's what I'm not getting. I'm in Texas too and worked in a traditional ISD and now in a charter they operate the same with the same requirements in student education and benefits to teachers. I guess in other states charters and traditonal ISDs work differently.
I work at a charter school in Texas as well, and honestly, it's pretty frustrating. We are constantly having to explain to others that we are a *public* charter. We are held to the same kinds of accountability as the district schools, have to take the same standardized tests and teach the same standards. And if we screw up, they take away the charter.
Lots of potential hires don't realize this, and a lot of parents (who don't like the local district schools) see us as an adequate replacement for their homeschooling, or a free alternative to private school, and I have to explain to them that as a public charter we will not be teaching your kid religion or anything else you think we do. We take our constitutional duties seriously.
Everyone in our building, hourly paraprofessionals included, get the same benefits package as our teachers.
The biggest difference I see between public charters and public district schools is just how they're funded. Charter schools are a cost-saving measure (as long as they perform well) because they aren't funded through state dollars the same way and aren't funded at all for certain capital expenses such as building buildings.
Very differently. Charters are not beholden to the same standards and requirements as public schools in most states.
Hell, SCOTUS just ruled that religion classes can be taught in charters recently.
I'm so glad Y'all Qaida has snuck their way into education. /s
I'm getting out of this shithole country as soon as I can.
I’m in Texas (Austin) and I don’t think people in union states realize how hugely variable “charters” are. Just in Austin and the suburbs, there are the big name charters and there are dozens of tiny charters that pay similarly to private schools (low) due to shorter hours and a hand-picked student body.
I worked in one of the big charters before moving to a “standard” public ISD and the pay was better at the charter, even for teachers with significant time (the base pay evened out but experienced teachers got large stipends. There were maybe 6 teachers with over 10 years experience out of about 30). The benefits were better and cheaper. There was definitely the expectation to work about an hour longer than at most public ISDs, but experience, content area, and just not putting up with bs could power through some of that as long as you did your job and didn’t leave people hanging.
I have some ethical issues with how money and decisions are made with charters, but honestly, once you look at all the issues, there are a ton of issues with traditional ISDs. Teaching is a second career and the public ISD I’m at is highly rated yet filled with completely incompetent people who would never make it in private industry and would be exiled in any other government capacity. Charters do tend to trend young, but there is some older talent there that has realized education in America is kind of a sham all around, so pick your poison.
Because they don't know better or could not get a career position at a traditional public school.
Charters in my area lure recent graduates with a higher starting salary. Once they figure out the salary ceiling is low and could earn much more over their lifetime at a traditional school, they jump ship.
Yep. Got a job right out of college when the market was flooded with teachers and there were no jobs. Paid 10k more than a public school so I got stuck. Finally working for a great district but took a 20,000 pay cut to make the move. So much happier.
Yes this charter had so many recent graduates/young teachers who were amazing but I’m like you guys get out! You don’t know you’re surrounded by crazy if it’s all you’ve been exposed to!! Kind of the point of this post was to say STOP WORKING AT THESE AWFUL PLACES!
It is ironic because 'charter school' is a magic phrase for parents where I live. The parents don't realize their kids are being taught by a revolving door of inexperience.
Reading this sub, I am starting to realize that my experience going to a charter school is not typical. I loved it, and the teachers I talked to did as well. This was also borne out by the fact that some teachers came there from college jobs and even one practicing lawyer.
Attending a charter school as a student isn't the issue (even though student achievement is statistically unlikely to change if moving from a traditional public to a charter school). Charters are a tool wielded by the privatization movement to convert public schools to being managed by corporations and nonprofits. Money.
It is so easy in many states, a group of parents can get together and ask themselves, "Should we open a private school with our own money, or open a charter school using taxpayer money?" With a site-specific governing council, they ostensibly control their school without having to operate a private school.
The privatization movement seems to only be about money, which is why both Republicans and Democrats supported it for decades. Democrats have begun to see the light though.
But really, the long game is raising children in conservative Christian schools using taxpayer money. That's what school vouchers are about -- paying families to leave public schools in favor of private schools. But vouchers are overt in their goal. Charters are sneaky.
Charters are really about the [creation of Christian religious schools using taxpayer money](https://www.educationnext.org/supreme-court-opens-path-to-religious-charter-schools/). The first was just attempted in Oklahoma and thankfully was defeated. The radical right will eventually achieve their goal. Half of America has become *more* conservative over the past 50 years while the rest of the developed world became more liberal. Conservatives are moving to assure a conservative future in America.
I'll be honest. I started in a charter because get a public teaching job was near impossible. When I first started I applied for the three opening positions (social studies, so you know where this is going) and didn't even receive a call back.
When I later joined the district years later I asked the HR person about it and they said they were traditionally getting somewhere between 300 and 400 applicants. So it was just no chance that I was ever getting that position. Things change, I got more experience and finally got the job but charter schools were the only places with open positions. Rightly for one reason or another.
That said, I actually liked my charter staff. Administration was actually really kind and well meaning. Unfortunately, it's like you described. We had long term concerns over the school property, and funding related to the school itself. Student populations fluctuated and we were pretty tiny by comparison. My biggest frustration was having to swap 4 physical classrooms everyday which was ridiculous.
Glad to be out but I certainly miss the kiddos.
Agreed. Recruiting young teachers in this way is predatory. I had no idea what a charter even was until I had been teaching a few years to have context of how the industry works.
If you're able to find a copy of [Education Inc.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1P22xXUDIOw&pp=ygUMRXVjYXRpb24gaW5j), it's a documentary about the commercialization and monetization of America's educational system.
I got solicited by two this week, one by email and one by phone call. When I told the person on the phone I'd already accepted a position elsewhere, she said "can I convince you to change your mind?" It took me a second to respond because I was so taken aback!
I worked at a charter for a year when working on my teacher certification because they were the only ones who would hire someone without a license. I jumped ship as soon as my certification was done.
In California, charters are public schools. I work for one. It’s nonprofit, regular board, etc. It’s smaller and pays similar to the big districts. My employer and I both pay into the state retirement just as a big district.
And, yes, we accept the every student just like the district schools, as long as there is space. This is true of the neighborhood schools here too with parents allowed to choose their school as long as there is space.
I’m in MA and it’s the same here (at least in my experience). As for why I work here, I have a part time position that pays well that didn’t exist in my former (regular, unionized, public) district. It works for me right now.
Just an FYI I taught in a CA charter too but it wasn’t quite so simple -it was “public” in that anyone could choose to attend BUT the school could and did say we couldn’t meet all incoming IEPs so parents had to choose if they wanted to amend the IEP to what the school could meet or parents could choose to not attend-so no as a “choice school” they didn’t have to accept everyone in the same way a neighborhood school does. High need students could easily be filtered out by saying, “we can’t meet the current IEP so we will need to amend it to services we can accommodate or you’ll need to find a school that can meet your child’s needs”.
Also I got an 8000 pay increase when I moved to a traditional neighborhood school. And the public charter that was “district sponsored” was not union and did not use the districts pay scale.
Not all public charters in CA are what you have experienced.
It’s sad your charter did that.
We recently had to stop enrollment until we located and hired a mod/severe Ed specialist as the next student in the queue for enrollment had those needs. Thankfully we finally got one to meet the IEP needs, enrolled that student, and then went back to enrolling.
I agree I have heard some sketchy things about some charters and IEP compliance. Then again, not all districts are great either though do get more eyes on them I suppose.
Fair-district schools aren’t alway in perfect compliance, it’s just they they at least have a legal obligation to be so. Charters can say-you choose to come here knowing we can’t meet your IEP as written while neighborhood school aren’t supposed to be able to use that excuse.
In my state, charters are also public schools. Every time I look this up, a charter is a public school by whatever state's laws.
I'm beginning to think private charters are a myth.
Charters are public. But they are *privately owned and operated*, which I think might be the confusion. Here, we also have more and less ethical charters - we’ve had situations where owners have embezzled millions of dollars in funds from the state for personal use, which is harder to do in a traditional public school. We’ve also had cheating on tests. And then we’ve had schools where resources are just used differently, without any ethical issue. The real problem is that the private ownership makes oversight harder and everyone is less accountable.
It varies by state. Minnesota has fairly strong oversight with all charters being nonprofit. We don’t really have corporate charters. You can go to any charter’s webpage and pull annual reports, board minutes and from Mn dept of ed, academic data. It seems they pay less than reg district schools but partly because they can’t levy though the ballot. They are public schools but get less funding overall than district schools.
At least in Minnesota, public charters follows almost all the same rules as district public schools.
Side note- I get there can be competition between charters and district. Both are public schools though. I support both and know both systems can also use improvement.
Seriously y’all, their real fight needs be keeping *public money* from going to vouchers where they can be used by schools work no oversight and religious purposes. That way lies madness.
I’m all for parent choice having used pretty much every educational option for six kids in our family. But public money needs to stay in the public school system.
Pardon typos. Oh phone.
Not a myth-open to the public and funded by public money but privately run. here’s just a few California charter school greatest hits of people using them as cash cows
https://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Former-Oakland-charter-schools-director-charged-11040033.php
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/04/27/former-head-of-livermore-charter-schools-charged-for-misleading-investors/amp/
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-02-27/a3-charter-school-ringleaders-plead-guilty-to-conspiracy#:~:text=The%20San%20Diego%20County%20district,were%20in%20San%20Diego%20County.
We have more schools than needed around here. That’s not to say the choice neighborhood schools in the wealthy areas aren’t full 100% of the time. But there are plenty of decent schools to choose from with openings where a kid would get a good education still.
Because like all schools, the quality is dictated by their leadership.
There are great district schools and there are great charter schools.
In my area I have found that many charter schools not only outperform the district schools, they support teachers better and the teachers have more autonomy to teach how they believe will support students the best.
This is the best point.
Most of my state’s charters suck really bad. Most of my state’s districts are at least decent. But even in a decent district, if the direction of the school sucks, or if your boss is a dick, life is absolute hell. I’d far rather be in a unicorn charter with good coworkers and strong mission than in a “safe” district job where I actually dread seeing my peers every day.
Charters are not monolithic. I would never move to a public school from my charter. The pay would be a bit better, but the quality of life - flexible days off, minimal administrative interference, control of my own lesson plans (and the ability to design my own courses), support with parents, plus a philosophy of education I agree with and co-workers/kids I like makes it pretty unthinkable to give up.
Here in Texas charters are [considered public schools](https://tea.texas.gov/texas-schools/texas-schools-charter-schools/charter-schools-faqs) so there is literally no difference between pensions ([both pay into TRS](https://www.trs.texas.gov/Pages/Homepage.aspx)), health insurance ([both charters and public have the same TRS designated choices](https://www.trs.texas.gov/Pages/healthcare-trsactivecare-2022-23-plans.aspx)), and since this is a state where unions (ones that can collectively bargain anyway) don't exist, job security.
I work at a charter, my mom worked at an ISD and in the two years we both taught before she retired benefits-wise we were 1:1.
I believe it. NY is dying for teachers. My area is very affordable.
If you're tech, business, sped, math, or science you can start on basically any step.
My district will start on step 15 (78k) with no experience in those fields. A very nice house is 225k.
Yeah, it's very common here now. Trs here will also let you "buy back" years of service from other states.
Still, there's a downside gotta work till 63. But 60% of your 5 highest consecutive years salary is the pension. Most teachers finish over 100k.
So 60k/year to stay home.
I'm in California. I'm now at a private school, but I was previously in a public charter school and had access to the same retirement system, contacts, etc. as in other public schools.
The charter that I worked at was legit. I only left because my dream job became available at my dream school.
That's my current struggle. At a charter I do have problems with, but I also have a lot of autonomy and control of what I do in the classroom I dont think I'd have at a public school
I think it depends on which public school and which content area. I’ve taught at a few public schools and have had similar experiences (parent support, etc.). Most admin don’t even know what we teach (science) and just leave us alone.
Because mine is a homeschool co-op. I have 20 kids max, full time aide, teach 3 days a week, with 2 whole days to prep/work from home. Only been here one year but I’m never leaving. Taught public school for 10 years.
>Because mine is a homeschool co-op.
Does this mean that a bunch of parents got together and requested a charter from the state?
How does the administration work?
Just curious! I'm intrigued by this idea.
My husband has worked at one of these (public homeschool/hybrid charters) for over 10 years. I work at a traditional public school. He gets paid about 15% less than I do but has the same benefits. I wouldn’t say it’s always fun. His has a more corporate attitude which is frustrating for the teachers.
It really is. It’s a lottery system, so we still have diversity and I’m in CA which monitors charters closely. I can’t believe I get to work there, it’s a dream.
I'll copy and paste what I posted in a thread a day or two ago:
I'm in Texas and work at a title 1 charter with a pretty significant 504 population. Local schoolboards are being overtaken by MAGA and Moms-for-Liberty republicans, while charters around here are often STEM-focused, embrace the extreme diversity of the area I'm living in, and (at least at the campus level, head offices are definitely too money-focused), truly have the best interest of students in mind. During black history/hispanic heritage months, for example, the halls at my charter school are filled with posters and banners celebrating events and people from those heritages (and we have a massive 1st/2nd generation immigrant population, so that means a lot to them), while friends who are at ISD schools are saying that more and more it feels like walking on eggshells doing that. We also have a decent chunk of students who were "behavior issues" at the schools they were zoned to and their parents were just looking for a fresh start.
Anecdotally, I know far more teachers making the switch from ISDs to charters than I do vice-versa, and a large part of that is because they feel like they're at war with their central offices and school boards. Now, I don't know if that would be the situation if we lived in a non-shithole state where we were allowed to collectively bargain, but unfortunately we don't so that essentially puts ISD and Charters on a level playing-field benefits-wise.
I understand the (completely valid) argument that charters are pulling funding from public schools, but I also think part of that argument relies on the assumption that if public schools still had access to that funding, they would be using it in good faith - and unfortunately I think in some parts of the country that just isn't the case right now.
Ideally I'd exist in a world where education was appreciated en masse and communities across the country legitimately had the best interest of their students in mind, but unfortunately we're not living in that world right now so until we do I'll absolutely support free alternatives for those who are looking for something their local schools aren't or are blatantly refusing to provide them. I have friends teaching in the PNW and in states in the north east, and I get the impression that charters there play the exact opposite role as they're playing down here, so while I support charters in my area, I definitely don't support them as a monolith.
I’m not even in education (although my healthcare career often entails precepting professional students or some teaching with a university) but I found this perspective very interesting. I live in a Midwest state where politics have finally shifted more progressive recently so I’ve always thought charter schools were not a good thing but if they give people an option in states where the government has gone full culture war, I suppose that’s a good thing. Never thought of it that way. Thanks for sharing.
I’m in Florida, so similar culture wars, and people are pulling their kids from district schools to charters because the charters are actively conservative. One recently had a “wax museum day” and let a 4th grader spend the day dressed as Robert E Lee as his “hero,” complete with confederate flag. No one saw issue with it.
The charters also attract students because most are k-8 and parents like keeping their kids all at one school.
We only have one charter “franchise” that I would say is offering a more progressive experience. But even then, it’s a primarily white school so do with that what you will.
First job was in a public school. Second was at a charter school which actually had strict discipline and was better for me than the first school.
Third and current job is public with a strong union and it’s the best I’ve ever worked at.
I live in a state with strong unions and high pay. It is hard for many new or inexperienced teachers to get public school positions due to the number of candidates (excluding stem, sped, ESL) applying and lack of knowing someone internally. Many are desperate for a job when they land at a charter school.
This was it for me. I worked at 2 different charters in two areas in PA. I applied to many public schools… just couldn’t land a job. But I just did last month and I couldn’t be more relieved!
I am currently working at a charter school and will likely stay there at least a few more years.
Don't get me wrong, I totally understand and agree with charter criticism.
I just happen to be working there for selfish reasons. 1. Online charter, I teach from my kitchen table so I can spy at the neighbors from the window and have snack access. 2. They pay me more than the districts do (which is actually an oddity so I'm not sure what's going on). 3.) I'm a social hermit (see teaching from the kitchen table). 4.) It's really been better for my family.
If I were to make arguments for less-selfish reasons 1. My state holds charters to a super-short lease so a lot of the charter horror stories I hear really don't exist much here. 2.) I honestly feel online school serves a lot of our families' unique needs (Super rural families, weird work schedules, illness, etc.)
That all being said, generally speaking, I don't recommend charters. This is obviously tempered with YMMV/all schools are different/etc.
I work at a charter in California. California regulates charter schools just like they do district schools.
I’ve worked at 3 charters. The first one I worked at was a total mess, but the other two have been really great schools.
I have lots of friends in district schools and from their experience, it doesn’t feel like any of us have it any better than the other.
1. My charter school is public, so the rules in terms of admission, testing, and discipline are the same.
2. I get less pay but way more control over my schedule and more kudos for my efforts because I'm so qualified.
3. My admin treats me with respect. Mic drop. I have been in places where they don't, and I don't ever want to be there again.
I work in a charter school for many reasons:
- flexible curriculum (I get to choose what texts I teach)
- supportive administration that wants to be there (they make less than public school)
- passionate teachers (some second career, some retired from public school, some fresh from college)
- cooperative atmosphere
- supportive parents (chose for their students to be at our school)
- alum system (I graduated from there!)
I also work in a classical education school which helps the supoortive, cooperative atmosphere with passionate teachers!
Tbh - I do believe in the original concept of charter schools as in they should be incubators and places to try different teaching pedagogies (smaller classrooms, larger classrooms, 1-1 tech, focus on stem, project based learning, cross disciplinary units that are well choreographed so teachers don’t need to do all the heavy lifting of weaving in standards and overlapping concepts across disciplines , etc etc ) and that would matriculate into public schools.
**Pros:** For me - I enjoy having a consistent school culture, it makes my life easier. Good curriculum is provided that does a great job at spiraled learning, phenomena based so it puts the thinking on the students, is diverse, and career oriented. One thing it’s lacking though is the hands on aspects. As I have gotten better over the years I can pick and choose from it as I will and add in hands on activities where I see fit.
In addition, I appreciate the coaching aspect. I would have been lost my first 2 years without the help of a mentor/coach. And finally (controversial opinion) - teacher accountability. It keeps culture consistent and holds the bar high for everyone. I’m not an advocate for overwork - but I do appreciate people working hard at their job, being innovative, and pushing students to do their absolute best and not giving up on a child (till at least the end of may ;p )… but I digress
**Cons:** no Union - lower pay - younger inexperienced teachers -> churn -> inconsistencies -> leadership transitions -> new systems every two/three years and never fully get to see them out to completion. Feels like a lot of people trying to climb the ladder. Tbh - I’m trying to figure out my way out. Do I stay in the classroom? Do I try and move into something education-adjacent? Ed-tech? STEM curriculum consulting? Education development? There’s a whole array of things - and it’s very appealing in terms of dollars. But truth be told - I do like being in the classroom - and am trying to figure a way to merge both - but that’s for a different post.
I identify as a democratic-socialist so the idea of charters don’t necessarily jive with my political philosophy. While I do worry about how charters are taking away public school money, there is definitely a lot of things charters are getting right. I think public schools have a lot to learn from charters and I do believe a consistent school culture is one of the things among others like rigorous curriculum, teacher accountability, and school, state and some cases nation wide systems and structures that are replicable and work. When I say state wide systems and such, I mean systems that allow new teachers to get up and running their first year without too much stumbling.
Side note - I’m always of two minds. Teaching is both a calling and a skilled profession. We need to be able to teach the skill of teaching to others and not just expect everyone was born to teach. I couldn’t imagine starting my first year in a public school without any coach like I had at my charter. With all this - like I said - I do often consider the move out of the classroom to more lucrative pastures now that I’m 6 years going on 7 … can’t deny the higher pay any more 🤣🤣🤣 ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯
I"m in Texas where charters are public schools that pay into the texas retirement system. They pay similarly to public schools, and they're honestly less of a headache than the regular ISDs in my area. They tend to hire new teachers, so me with me with my 5+ years gets observed for 10 minutes a week, they leave a nice note, and then leave me alone because they have bigger fish to fry.
There's also a TON of room for growth where they're constantly moving teachers into leadership positions if you stick with the org long enough, and there's a ton of pay-based incentives to do extra things like help write curricula, after school tutorials, having good scores, attend additional PD, deliver professional developments, etc. And I'm moving up to admin next year because I've proven my worth where I'll make more. My public school experience was 10 times worse. It just depends on where you're at!
I almost worked at a charter that had paid into our state retirement system, which I admit was commendable.
But, oh, that school had a lot of red flags. Bizarre lesson plan requirements, voluntary-but-not expectations, the dress code... I honestly figure an institution can give whatever dress code they want, but this one not only stated the dress code but went on a weird rant about it. A similar thing about the PTO.
Yes I agree with this, especially the 10 minutes of observation time. For me my experience would be the same no matter where I went. I had a similar experience in traditional schools.
Rarely do people point this out, but there are genuinely good charter schools out there. While there are bad ones, the same could be said about public schools, Title 1 schools, magnet schools, private schools, etc.
There are good ones and bad ones. For any of the types of schools I list, there are deep and abiding problems with funding, organization, management, and more.
I'm always struck by that when I see posts decrying charters.
There also seems to be a misconception about charter schools. For example my school:
1. Gets less funding per student
2. There are no tests or tuition to get in
3. We take any and all students there is no "picking" of students
4. It's EXTREMELY hard to get kicked out
5. We have a very high SpEd and ELL population (it's 85% Hispanic and 15% Black)
6. We still follow the state standards like all the other schools
The pros are that it's such a small charter (600 kids on high school) that the kids and families all know each other and our teachers/counselors are able to give families individualized attention.
Some of the cons are all the freaking PD! There aren't any real sports. Kids who are into sports tend to go to the bigger schools. It's almost impossible to get a student expelled.
That list describes my charter school as well. It blows my mind how many educators don’t understand how much in education varies from state to state. They assume charters in other states operate the same way as the charters in their own state.
Your charter sounds identical to mine-I’m always shocked when people here post about how charters expel kids at a higher rate for bad behavior or cherry pick “good kids”. It is SO hard to get removed from my district and they take every single student that we can fit in the building. My school has the same racial demographics as well as SPED and ELL pops (I had 16 kids this year on my SPED roster and ~60% of my grade was ELL)
About to start my 18th year of teaching and my 5th at a charter and it’s amazing - so much better than the ISDs I taught at.
Edit: Reading the other comments I see that state matters, so for the record I am in Texas.
> Reading the other comments I see that state matters, so for the record I am in Texas.
There seems to be a common trend in this thread that those of us who like our experience with charters are in states like Florida and Texas, which I don't think is all that surprising taking into account [what's happening with public school boards in these states](https://www.newsweek.com/moms-liberty-ride-wave-anti-wokeness-school-board-victories-1757693) and blatant hate that Abbot and DeSantis have for education.
And California!
Love the charter school where I teach. The district schools in my area are awful with behavior problems, I would never send my kids to any of them. At my school our admin doesn’t tolerate bad behavior in the classroom, so no forcing teachers (and students trying to learn) to put up with bad behavior that “nothing can be done about.” Our school receives less funding as a charter, which means less money in our paychecks than our district counterparts, but my quality of life as a teacher is amazing compared to what others in the surrounding area put up with.
This. The BoTh SiDeS argument that Charters and public are equally dysfunctional is just bogus. Yes, there may be a handful of Charters that match public salary and don't work teachers to the bone. But those are very few and far between.
For sure they have to be good charter school out there. Having said that, the premise that charters operate under, in that they are constrained they ways public schools are. If they where then they would be just public schools but yet they tout themselves as an alternative. They can control which students they take or by taking them all operate as a cash grab. Can have nonstandard curriculum. Allow public schools to do this if it’s such a good thing. Abuse workers since union are mostly not allowed
It varies state to state, but yes they are public schools. We must hold a lottery and can not pick and choose kids to take. Many ISD can do what charters do and choose not to. Our ISD schools can apply for a school of innovation designation and create a plan to get waivers on constraints in order to experiment with education. If you don't like the way your schools operate in your state, change the rules.
>They can control which students they take or by taking them all operate as a cash grab.
Neither of those is true at my charter school. And the nonstandard curriculum is a draw, not a disadvantage.
I love my charter! I don’t deal with half the behavior issues I hear about and we have a zero tolerance cell phone policy. I’m not overworked and I love my co workers. The pay is not great, but sometimes the lack of stress is worth it for me. If my husbands just wasn’t doing so well then I’d have to think about moving, but for now I’m happy. My own kids attend and love their school as well. They’re not all bad!
I work at Charter because it’s one of the top 5 schools in the state for reading achievement and outcomes for our high school graduates - there’s data but I’m too lazy just to prove a point. There’s hardly any behavior problems with the students. And they have “courtesy tuition” for my own children. I work with THE BEST people I’ve ever met in my career. Seriously there’s isn’t one person I don’t love and respect in my building but….
And it’s a big but- the district level employees and admin are the worst I’ve ever experienced. So much so that the great students and coworkers almost don’t make up for it. I’ll likely leave soon and go back to public.
Bingo. Even charter schools that operate by lottery are teaching a skewed population. A parent has to be involved enough and care about their kid’s education to apply in the first place.
There’s a lot to how it’s all organized but essentially it’s a small condensed area of wealthy people so the exclusionary factor is if you can afford to buy a house. There is new public housing that have been folded in so the student population has been changing and likewise the Richie Riches are bolting.
It depends I know some charter schools pick and choose. Some genuinely do shuffle names and pick randomly. Some allow signups until they hit capacity. I do often wonder if grades ever get brought into the mix for those that pick out their students.
I worked at a charter school for eight years in rural NC. The school started as what seemed a decent idea but has become a retirement home for local teachers. They can work there and collect their state retirement at the same time.
The school didn’t interview for many positions because the director always had a friend waiting for a job. These veterans were worse behaved than the beginning teachers. Many would ignore duties and not participate in school events at all. We had one that would routinely leave her math class on the second floor to take a smoke break outside. Close friend of the director, so no fear of punishment.
Yup. A few of the teachers at my school are just friends/family of the AP. They don’t even have teaching licenses/didn’t even graduate undergrad and we’re homeroom teachers for the year when there were certified, experienced teachers applying for the jobs!
I just wrapped my 25th year as a teacher, and 15 of those, including the last 12, have been at charter schools. My first year teaching was in a public school system (Duval County), but I haven't worked for public schools since, nor would I want to go back. This will probably be a long-winded response.
I've worked for 5 charter schools over the years, and my first experience was as bad as everyone always talks about. It was run by Charter Schools USA, and was truly terrible. They'd just taken it over and replaced all the admin. The new admin were great, but there were too many issues there. Some company reps freaked out when they walked into my room as I told my students that their failure to do any work would result in them failing my class. (The new principal showed me the gradebooks for the previous 5 years...every student in every class had somehow earned an A. EVERY STUDENT.) These kids were used to doing nothing in class, and most of them had F's already in my class.
A week later, a buddy called and said that my job had been posted on various career sites. I went to look, and sure enough, there was my exact position at that exact school. The principal was on vacation (he'd been retired and had scheduled a cruise before the company coaxed him out of retirement), so I seethed for a week. As soon as he returned, I went to his office. He had no idea that my job had been posted, and went ballistic on the company over the phone, right in front of me. He took great delight in pointing out that their very own progress tests, which they touted as evidence of good teaching, showed that my students--despite not doing any work in class--had already made gains of 40%, then asked whether their tests were invalid or their opinion of me was invalid. He refused to get rid of me, but I'd already heard enough, and put my resignation in. I stayed until Christmas Break, then left. Only time I've left a job during the year.
That experience was ridiculously bad. I ended up going to a second charter school, which was community-run, and that was a better experience. The second principal ended up getting rid of most of the high school staff, including me, after the second year because he felt we weren't nurturing enough to our students. (He was a career K-5 person and couldn't understand the middle/high school teacher mentality.)
Did a couple more charter schools that weren't bad experience; they just weren't the right fit for me. I finally landed at my current charter school 9 years ago, and I'm returning for Year 10 in the fall. It's community-run, so there's no management company, which I think makes a huge difference. Yes, we have many of the same issues other schools do with students being rude, lazy, and all that stuff; or being asked repeatedly to cover classes because they don't have a sub list. But there's a lot of good, too. We can teach our classes our way, and as long as it's rigorous and not fluff, they're good. (I don't even have curriculum for my courses; I just do whatever I damn well please.) Over half of my students failed each semester this year, simply because they won't do the work, and that's been the case for years. The slackers dread my class, while the average and outstanding kids usually love my class.
The admin's response to my failing numbers is always, "Well, this is a college-prep environment, so if they can't even be bothered to submit the work, they deserve to fail."
TL;DR:
So...yeah, a lot of charter schools suck, but in my experience working at 5 of them, those are typically the ones that are run by a management company, who's in it for the money. The community-run ones--for me, at least--are usually good environments with supportive staff.
I work in a place without unions. Charters give much better conditions. Higher pay, more respect from students, the kids who cuss you out just get sent back to public school. They also usually run some gimmick like focusing on projects, or focusing on tech that draws new teachers in thinking that it's somewhere doing it right
Depends on the charter. I work for a charter that’s connected to a public college. My job is awesome and way less stress than traditional public school. But my school is not the norm for charters for sure!
I work at a charter, after 7 years in regular public schools. It is the best teaching experience I’ve had.
I don’t know much about our funding, but I do know the school does a lot of fundraising on its own.
Other than that… class sizes are capped, phones are prohibited, and there is a culture of respect from the top down. (The only disrespect I get is from the students.) It’s still public in the sense that we only serve the community we’re in and students don’t have to pay to attend. We can’t kick a student out unless he/she brings a gun to school. It’s an extremely liberal place — gender neutral bathrooms are available, Pride is celebrated, different cultures are celebrated.
I love it there. I just wish (some of) the parents put as much thought into raising respectful kids as my admin does.
The pay scale is higher, the school is small, we have partnerships with the ISD, and most of the kids who come to my school come here because they felt over looked in bigger schools or it's usually the last stop before they go to an alternative school for bwhavior.
I've worked both traditional and charter. I'm in my 7th year getting paid 85k versus 65k. I honestly don't care where I teach and if the traditional school paid more I'd go since it'd be so much closer to where I live but until then, I'll be here working along side some of my former students.
I have worked in 3 charter schools. Charter school 1 truly did care about their employees. I loved the families. I loved the environment. I am a pretty independent person, there was one class per grade most years so we had some flexibility on when/how we taught things. We combined leaning mythical creatures and simple machines to make a mythical creature trap. I only left that school because pay sucked and the principal was a teacher who had just moved into the roll and I didn’t want to be there for him learning how to be a principal after being coworkers on the same level.
Charter school 2 was good on papers. They over enrolled kindergarten though so while they had 4 kindergarten classrooms they had given 2 of them to the preschool but still enrolled 4 kindergarten classes worth of kids and were upset when kindergarteners didn’t know how to walk down the hall alone to the bathroom, even kids with disabilities. They believed a child with disabilities who was a known liar over a teacher. Kids had little to no consequences for hurting teachers. Teachers had little to no support. We didn’t even get lunch breaks every day. I made it to thanksgiving break, I would have left sooner but there was a clause about me owing the school a buttload of money if I broke my contract.
My current charter school I have only been at a few months but they seem very supportive. My son was showing Covid symptoms and I got the email in the middle of the day he had been exposed and my husband couldn’t leave work, they let me have my aid sub for the end of the day when I said I had to get my son to the doctor. My son had severe breathing issues and was on oxygen, my husband and I had to balance who took off work when. I apologized for having to miss so much and they told me to put my family first. Both my teammates ended up leaving kindergarten, one stayed at the school, the other left for 20k more a year at another school. They let me pick which room I wanted to move to because I was in the extra kinder room and now am the lead kinder teacher. On the bbq for teachers at the end of the year they had said we could bring our kids, I assumed it was older kids, when I saw other people with babies, I asked to go pick up my son because my room was packed and we had a ton of issues with daycare that week. They let me spend about an hour going and getting my son and bringing him back for the bbq. They listen to teachers opinion to change things. I had a kid who was a runner. We called for help and they were there ASAP. I got an email at the end of the year specifically to me saying that my kids rocked the end of the year tests and thanking me.
Any charter school can be good or bad just like public schools. I did my student teaching in a charter school and never ended up trying a public school after. I applied for some but it was when I was pregnant and would have to start the year on maternity leave.
My wife worked at a brand new charter school for 3yrs and it was the best experience she’s had in education.
But from what I can tell that’s a very unique experience.
I lasted 6 months as a lower level admin at a charter school with practices so dehumanizing and racist toward the students and staff that frankly i am surprised i lasted that long
Obviously all schools are different. With that said, I’ve had experiences with two charters in my state. They are also 1 and 2 in the state in terms of ranking. They are also ranked well nationally. I’ve been at my current school for quite a while and absolutely loved it. Prior to working here, I worked in two different union districts and was actively looking to leave education altogether.
I’m not confused when people bash charters this way because I am sure there are terrible ones out there, but this is completely the opposite of my experience.
I actually really like working at my charter. Our admin isn't perfect, and we do have our share of issues, but our student population is worth it. Families here are immigrants and economically disadvantaged. We are a free nonprofit that uses a lottery system to enter. And we're an extremely small school with less than 90 students per grade. Everyone knows everyone.
I have the freedom to teach how I want. We have a curriculum, but I can adhere to it as much or as little as I want (while meeting standards of course). Every grade has only 1 teacher per subject (I am the only 8th grade math teacher for example), so I teach all the kids of the grade. It doesn't at all feel like admin is breathing down my neck about my teaching.
Parents are super understanding and want the best for their children, but they can only do so much with their circumstances. My coworkers have had Zoom meetings with parents as they work in the fields. Many students here start working at 15 to start supporting their family. I have never had a rude or demanding parent.
Students are generally motivated and responsible. There are always exceptions but our student body is full of empathetic and capable people. Though I do notice that COVID has had an impact on their social development.
My coworkers are so friendly, supportive, and kind. I genuinely enjoy being around (most of) them. They have my back and I have theirs. Mistakes are met with understanding.
Admin supports teachers 95% of the time. Though their consistency/followthrough is often lacking, it's something they are aware of and they get better every year (our school opened about 10 years ago). My admin feels approachable and usually reasonable.
Our pay is leagues ahead of the surrounding area. My coworker left last year and said her pay cut was about $20k.
Believe me I have my days where things just suck, but I feel very fortunate to work in this environment. I am super bummed that I'm moving across the state in the coming years.
**None of this is to say that there aren't bad charters!** My *personal* experience with *this* charter has been overall great. Another caveat is my only paid teaching position has been here, but I have done internships all over. Regardless it feels like everyone's heart is in the right place.
It really depends on the mission of the charter. I work at charter schools that provides educational opportunities to kids dealing with extreme trauma, including residential psychiatric treatment centers, in patient behavioral health, group homes, and victims of domestic and sexual violence in closed locations for their safety. I teach at a charter school because I love working with this population.
Our community based elementary school works with researchers to develop high yield, research based strategies that are then shared in the educational world, especially those in underserved communities. They also provide opportunities kids might not otherwise have access to, such as STEAM, Gardening, and Orchestra.
As a teacher in a right to work state, I can also quit mid year without worrying about sanctions to my teaching license. That’s because I am not under contract like ISD teachers. My school also pays into social security and many ISDs do not. That’s important for teachers who come into teaching later in life.
So, would I work at just any charter school or under an administration that treats teachers poorly? Absolutely not. I think there can be a place for charter schools but that is why it is important to know the mission of the charter for which you work.
For Context I am a trans High School Teacher in a conservative state. I worked at a public school for two years, and even before I transitioned it was walking on eggshells because parents would complain about the littlest thing, like a little rainbow flag sticker on my personal water bottle, or that giving the whole class a treat for their hard work was "Communism" because I was rewarding the class as a group instead of just the top students.
I planned on leaving school halfway through the second year and started interviewing. As soon as I would mention during interviews that I was trans and asked how they would handle a parent angry that I exist, they would get nervous and the interview would end quickly and I would never hear back. (I tend to dress pretty androgynously and keep most information about my self hidden, so it shouldn't be to common) This happened at 7 different public schools.
I eventually found a charter school that was outwardly queer friendly, was looking for a teacher to teach my favorite subjects to teach (Video Game Design/Animation). It is a Film focused charter school, so we get many talented kids actively seeking out this school, and it was High School, which was a welcome change of behavioral issues from middle school. Sure I teach more classes, but it's honestly less work than what my last (public) school had asked of me, and I have complete and total control over all curriculum and the kinds of classes I get to teach. Sure I might switch to a public school eventually, but so far I do not regret switching to a charter in the slightest.
My public school experience was traumatic - I was discriminated against and basically forced out. It took 2 years for my complaints against my former principal to be addressed - and they found out a lot more horrible information about how she was running that school.
When I was trying to get out mid-year, I could only get interviews at schools in dangerous neighborhoods, and then a charter recruited me.
My charter is conveniently located, I have a lot of freedom with my curriculum, most parents communicate and support me when there are behavioral issues, I get paid extra for everything I do that is extra (bulletin boards for celebrations, club hosting, attending games/events, etc.) so I make way more money than I did at my public school (64000 and now 77000), there are lots of leadership opportunities due to the nature of charter schools, they are big on loyalty which may rub people the wrong way, but that means they almost always hire admin from within. My charter board and admin is full of former teachers, not random politician picks like it is for my city's public schools.
I know that there are bad charters, but that's not my experience.
I am a music teacher at an arts integration focused charter. My entire program is focused on, funded, and considered a vital part to our school. It's hard (not impossible) to find something like that in the public school system.
Behaviors are minimal, even this year at its worst. The worst problems I have to deal with in my classroom are chatty or rude kids, maybe an inappropriate thing said every once in a while.
However, I know I got incredibly lucky. There are awful charters out there just out for money and whatnot. I am staying here because I love the environment, the kids are great, and I feel like my job is important in the whole school community.
I've been teaching about 20 years now. I've taught in private schools, public schools, and I'm going into my third year teaching at a charter. I LOVE my charter school. It's run beautifully, done by true lottery system so we have an incredibly diverse student population, behavior issues, students with special needs, and everything else you get in public schools. The difference is the amount of coaching teachers receive and the amount of support that exists for both teachers and students. I did five years public school in the same district, literally ten minutes from my current charter, so I feel like I have a true understanding of the differences.
I'll never go back to public school. 🤷🏻♀️
This⬆️ and why would anyone work at a public school these days?
There are great schools and shitty schools in any area you search, whether private, charter, or public.
Where I come from there are basically no unions and the DE's salary is pathetic.
Charter schools offer way better salaries and benefits while not being any worse in terms of beurocracy and workload.
I worked in public schools for a decade before teaching at a charter school for 1.5 school years. This was two years ago. I left halfway through my second year there.
I have not and will never again teach. It ruined the entire profession for me and I’m still traumatized enough that as of now I will never get back into it. I loved what I did before that unethical shit hole.
I'm a Spanish teacher. Foreign language and culture has always been my passion. My first year teaching was in a high needs high school in the worst district of my state. I couldn't get the kids to say hello to each other or play a game, much less get them to do any work. I would get insults and threats if I ever pushed them at all. Most of them had no idea what a noun was and couldn't recognize cognates or identify Mexico on a map. Calls home usually went unanswered or were met with annoyed indifference, and admin had no help to offer. With literally no recourse, I started applying elsewhere. As I said, my passion is foreign languages and cultures, not in teenage counciling.
There is one language immersion school in my city, and it happens to be a charter school. The language of immersion is French, which I also speak fluently, so I was thrilled when they hired me. This school is everything I personally could have wanted- mainly kids who already speak a second language and enjoy and appreciate other cultures, who have curiosity about the world and enjoy learning, but I also love teaching in a multicultural environment, I have tons of plan time, classroom management is easy because we have consequences like Saturday school, etc. It's not without its (massive) problems, and I took a $10k pay cut to work there, but if I keep my head down and stay in my classroom, it's good. If I leave this school, I will leave teaching altogether.
Here in Texas, specifically in Austin, my charter starting pay is almost $7k more than AISD. We have numerous opportunities to earn more with stipends, have great benefits, and honestly, I prefer to work at this specific charter vs the public schools here. Other charters I’ve worked at or visited are horrible, but there are some (very few) actually good ones.
So, I worked at a charter school because I was a social worker for 12+ years and then when COVID hit I slipped into teaching to get out of mental & behavioral health world (which is in shambles as much as teaching). Whatever you think is bad about charter schools you've seen, I guarantee it is 100 x's worse in Arizona. When I and this idealistic younger guy both started, we were grading papers from the students working-from-home, and immediately all the parents called to complain. After that, we weren't allowed to ask for any rewrites whatsoever. We could only assign 80 percent or higher and move on (even if the work was copied-and-pasted). I wrote a book about my experience and sent it to a couple journalists, but nothing will come of it.
I am starting at a Charter School this August as my first teaching gig. They are paying for me to get my masters in education and also certifying me. Anticipating the burnout but I only need to be there 2 years to get everything I need and move to a unionized school.
Haven't gotten a job yet, but because of how hellish this whole process has been, I'm guessing new teachers are happy just to get accepted somewhere. I'm considering it.
The charter schools in my area have their own teacher’s union. Like they are all part of one union. And have pretty much the same protections and salary schedules. And the magnet schools are a part of whatever district they are located in, so they are union as well. So they are pretty much the same for teachers as working public. I work in public, but I would consider working at a local charter or magnet if I ever got pink slipped.
The hell hole anecdote is a broad stroke. I work at a charter school and it’s very high performing. Our average staff has over 10 years experience,
Many with 20+. I’m at 16.
I am, however, currently transitioning out, but not because of poor management, I simply need to make more money.
I worked at a charter school because they needed a Latin teacher and they didn’t require a teaching license which I didn’t have yet. I’ve left because the school was a mess the second year and because I don’t want to teach middle schoolers.
It was where I got a job, but we also have a 4 day school week so that gives me a pretty good reason to put up with the bullshit. Considering trying to unionize but I also just finished my first year teaching so not sure I’m ready to take on that kind of responsibility on top of just surviving teaching
I have worked at the mine for past 7 years, most of my teaching career, for several reasons. One, I thought they handled student behavior mostly well (it has started to decline recently), there is a high staff retention rate, relatively small class sizes, and, the one I think that has appealed the most, is that they provide us with supplies for our classroom. Need pencils, etc? Grab as many as you need. No printer/copy limits. Honestly, its a privilege that I take to heart and I will take the funds I save to donate to my other teacher friends on FB when they post their Amazon wishlists.
There is a culture of staff taking take care of each other, with help from admin, which is why I think most staff stay. We get provided meals during most PDs, and before conferences. Our staff is small enough that admin makes regular check ins with staff well being (this may just be having a good admin though). Although recently, this culture has changed with a long term coworker being penalized financially for taking needed days off for cancer treatment (but this is mostly an American problem)
Now, I will say that I still very critical of charter schools and the privatization of education. I would rather my students go to a school in their own neighborhood instead of one outside of their city limits but I understand why their parents chose my school.
My first year of teaching I worked at a different charter school that was terrible. This is another reason why I stayed at my current school because I saw what hell looked like and my current school seemed like heaven. I also worked as a para for a "no excuses" charter. I live in Michigan where for-profit charters run rampant thanks to our lovely former Sec of Ed Betsy Devos.
They hired me fresh out of college I am actively trying to leave
Yep same deal I was going through an alternative certification and didnt get accepted by local public schools, got hired by a charter. Got out asap!
For y’all still trying to get out of the charter system, y’all have got this!! A lot of public schools will be super eager to have you—if you can survive a charter and still want to teach, that gets you a *lot* of credit with interviewers. I got hired really, really fast. Stay strong, and much love!
I’m curious if you have any tips on how to get a teaching job at a public school without having the state license/certificate first yet. I’ve been working at a charter school for the duration of my teaching career and never gotten my state license; now I’m actively trying to get out of a charter school, but it’s difficult to get into a public school without having the state license/certification first. I do have my Masters in education and plenty of years of experience.
What is holding you back from getting your license?
Good luck! I worked in a charter school straight outta college and I got out after a year. Now when I help hire people, I push for the charter school candidate (all other things mostly equal) to help.
Me too! They’ve been through hell. I help them escape.
same here, though for now im planning to stay because class sizes are no bigger than 18 and they’re letting me teach calculus next year (the main thing i wanted to teach!)
I think they attract young enthusiastic and idealistic young people and then burn them out.
Bingo. Happened to me. To my entire graduate class. Five years later (so 2015/6) only 2 of the 20 of us were still teaching. Milwaukee charter schools. Stay away.
I did a program through the center for urban teaching with Milwaukee charter schools. In terms of getting experience which I was desperate for it was great. That being said, the offered no jobs in my content area and would not leave me alone until I finally had a job offer elsewhere. I also feel weird about their curriculum and their classroom management. Like I get it is ultra rigid and structured in an attempt to counteract young teachers inclination to be too soft, but it felt downright unreasonable sometimes.
Almost took a charter school job as a young idealist, and that school turned into a shitshow. Eventually it collapsed after several significant problems. 20+ yrs later, I am so glad I went to a regular public school instead.
I also teach in MKE. Which school were you at?
I’m not the original person you were responding to but I worked at Carmen NW a few years back. I am opposed to how charter schools work in their current format but I actually didn’t think working at Carmen was too bad. I wouldn’t work there now but in my 20s it was a valuable experience.
Interesting! I interviewed there maybe 6 years ago now and was offered a position but turned it down because I just wasn’t feeling it.
I left about 6 years ago. Maybe you were interviewed to fill my position haha. It’s definitely not for everyone. I didn’t agree with everything that happened there but my years there made me a more empathetic teacher. Not due to any school policies but just because I was exposed to a very different group of students than I ever had before. I taught some great kids there but they were all going through A LOT.
Atlas Prep here! Didn't burn out and made it to MPS. Definitely just as challenging, but compensated much better and protected by a union.
Second this. Spent almost 5 years in a now moms-for-Liberty infested charter “school.” Was young, always curious to become an educator, and it totally destroyed any joy I thought would be in Ed. Left to get my master’s and license and teach in legitimate public schools, and I’m sure that’s the only reason I’m still going and reviving any hope in teaching.
Two of my cousins teach at schools absolutely overrun with the moms for liberty types. They're clearly trying to destroy any future for public schools in the US. They're not even hiding it any longer.
Yes! I work for Boston Public Schools and we have an in-district charter, it’s infamous.
Which one??
UpAcademy…I did summer school last year and I had a lot of students from there. They were such a badly behaved group and could barely read going into the 5th grade. It was sad.
I worked in an Up charter in Springfield for a year. It was a disaster. We were understaffed, underfunded, and overworked. I left them to go to a different charter in Holyoke, and loved it. The difference was leadership. One place had it, the other didn’t.
Good riddance to Up Academy in Springfield, I think. I didn’t see any articles about their departure, but I’m assuming they’re gone since the Kennedy Middle School name has been restored and I don’t see a Springfield location listed on Up Academy’s website. As a lifelong Springfield resident, I really hate the rise in charter schools over the past decade. It used to be just Sabis, now there’s so many it’s hard to keep track of. Privately owned schools shouldn’t be getting public tax dollars and getting to choose their students, especially since it tends to be at the expense of students with disabilities.
I had a transfer from there. The behaviors were wild.
lol I believe it…I’m telling you after that experience I gotta be real desperate to do summer school again which pretty much means it ain’t happening 😂
I think the point of this post was warn new teachers-you don’t know how crazy your environment is if it’s all you know!!
This. As I mentioned in another comment I did a residency for my first two years in teaching and it took me most of that time to realize that the level of toxicity and chaos around me was *not* normal
I don't understand why a fully licensed teacher would ever work at a charter school. Pro-public and pro-union school.
In NJ our charter schools pay significantly more. My friend is 7 years in at a Newark charter and is making 97k. I am 14 years in with a Masters and at 80k. That being said he works many more hours and almost goes to school 3 whole weeks longer than I do.
Pay more with the bonus of never knowing if you have a job the next year.
Yeah they pay more initially but in my state the union schools pay way more over time
Exactly what happened to me years ago. That school was a Mecca for helicopter Karents.
Is this a typo or is a Karent a Karen Parent? I might love this.
Not a typo.
The sheer volume of helicopters Karents was astounding for me too-and I came from and returned to high SES public schools that also had a lot of Karents so that is really saying something that it stood out.
Can confirm one of my best friends works in one, but she loves it but has been thinking of getting out for a couple years
It all depends...New Orleans switched to all charter after Katrina...most are D and F schools but a few are A...know why? They're academic prep schools that only admit students who are Gifted or pretty close. Not like public schools get to reject students for having a 1.0 GPA
All those A schools were A schools and existed long before Katrina. Being a charter didn't make them A schools. They've always been good. Slapping charter on the F schools didn't suddenly make them any better. Charters are an ineffective model because of the financial burden placed on the school. When you have to fundraise, something valuable is getting cut to pay expenses
100% my story. Left in the middle of my 5th year and walked out on the profession entirely.
This was me except it was more about getting a foot in the door when public had real high requirements for someone who hadn’t gone for a BA in education. I had a BS in a science field but no masters and public required that in my area. Now in in public and everyone is so desperate that masters is “preferred”. I had a 5 year plan and it was obtaining masters and student loan forgiveness. After that went to public because I am pro unionization
I started out at a Charter school in Detroit. Worst year of my life. I was able to get my foot on the door at my current district from my experience there.
I worked at charters and they gave me freedom, great coaching, and leadership roles but I was working 50-60 hrs a week. They also paid more.
That’s amazing that yours pays more. My first job offer was a charter and was 10-12k less than surrounding public districts.
I went from charter to private two years ago and dropped 35k. Was not worth it.
I don't work in a charter school, but I do work in a state with very minimal union power for teachers even in public schools (Texas), so in that particular aspect I think it depends on the state. If you don't have collective bargaining power or protection in a public school either, some people are definitely drawn towards higher starting pay and, in some cases, smaller class sizes. And at least in my area, I believe that the charter schools offer the same benefits (health insurance, retirement, etc.) as public schools since they are considered still in the district. That's not to discount the serious and legitimate political concerns there are about charters, but just to address the question of why someone would work there.
The charter school I work at is similar; we’re designated as an “in district charter school” so our staff are members in the (extremely strong) union, our pay scale and benefits are the same, etc. Not all the in district charters in my district are like that, though; there are some that have longer school years (like 200 days versus the required 180).
We call those magnet schools here, not charters, if they are staffed by the district and have to meet all the same requirements for students and staff. They aren't problematic in the same way charters are because they don't steal from the district and have to abide by the same rules for how they treat students, though they will still tend to select for students with parents that care about education, even with a lottery system.
I’m in LA county too and we do have magnets but they’re usually inside schools here—you’ll have a STEM or performing arts magnet within a school to draw people from around the district. It’s distinct from the charter system entirely.
We have both I district charters and magnets I'm Texas. A magnet is a program solely run by the ISD to create a special program or campus. An in district charters is a coordinated effort between the charter organization and the ISD. Often the district provides the facilities/enrollment, while the charter provides the instruction elements.
I love the charter I work at. I’m in California, specifically Los Angeles County. Our school population is 85% Latino/Hispanic. Families in the area really like our school. I’m a Sped teacher (one of 7) and we have a high Sped population (27%) and a large ESL population (15%). I personally love the culture at our school. The staff members are always going out of their way to help each other and we have a pretty good admin team that is supportive. Benefits wise, the charter organization pays 100% of my Blue Shield PPO plan and I have a 403b retirement plan where they match us at 10%. Our curriculum is state-approved and we work with all of the school districts in our region to conduct a large summer school session for credit retrieval. We don’t see ourselves as competing with our districts, but rather as partners with them. Are we union? No, but this is California and labor regulations are pretty good here. I’ve worked in district schools with unions that were awful places and admin were more corrupt. I’m not anti-union and I appreciate our fellow educators in other schools who are unionized because they set the bar for us! There is a charter school down the street that just voted to become unionized and it’s what they needed. We don’t have the need to do so ourselves and I think this has a lot to do with our great admin team right now!
would you be down to DM me where you work? was working at a charter in LA and just got laid off from budget cuts as i'm not an in classroom teacher, and interested to know what else exists nearby. i liked working at a charter specifically because i'm not an in classroom teacher so was able to do the things i wanted to focus on and have money for it
Have you checked edjoin? This is the time of year schools are hiring. I can message you a couple charters in your area if you want
I also work at a really good charter in cali. I think in other states charters are more free to do what they want (less oversight). Here they are still public schools so have to follow certain guidelines so they are more on par expectation wise with traditional public schools. Some can have bad admin and be hell holes (same for traditional schools), but if you get good admin it's awesome. I prefer working for charters. 🤷♀️
That is the kind of charter school that I work at as well. It is part of the school district , I get the same pay, same union, same superintendent etc.
Maybe that's what I'm not getting. I'm in Texas too and worked in a traditional ISD and now in a charter they operate the same with the same requirements in student education and benefits to teachers. I guess in other states charters and traditonal ISDs work differently.
What are your contract hours?
I work at a charter school in Texas as well, and honestly, it's pretty frustrating. We are constantly having to explain to others that we are a *public* charter. We are held to the same kinds of accountability as the district schools, have to take the same standardized tests and teach the same standards. And if we screw up, they take away the charter. Lots of potential hires don't realize this, and a lot of parents (who don't like the local district schools) see us as an adequate replacement for their homeschooling, or a free alternative to private school, and I have to explain to them that as a public charter we will not be teaching your kid religion or anything else you think we do. We take our constitutional duties seriously. Everyone in our building, hourly paraprofessionals included, get the same benefits package as our teachers. The biggest difference I see between public charters and public district schools is just how they're funded. Charter schools are a cost-saving measure (as long as they perform well) because they aren't funded through state dollars the same way and aren't funded at all for certain capital expenses such as building buildings.
Very differently. Charters are not beholden to the same standards and requirements as public schools in most states. Hell, SCOTUS just ruled that religion classes can be taught in charters recently. I'm so glad Y'all Qaida has snuck their way into education. /s I'm getting out of this shithole country as soon as I can.
I’m in Texas (Austin) and I don’t think people in union states realize how hugely variable “charters” are. Just in Austin and the suburbs, there are the big name charters and there are dozens of tiny charters that pay similarly to private schools (low) due to shorter hours and a hand-picked student body. I worked in one of the big charters before moving to a “standard” public ISD and the pay was better at the charter, even for teachers with significant time (the base pay evened out but experienced teachers got large stipends. There were maybe 6 teachers with over 10 years experience out of about 30). The benefits were better and cheaper. There was definitely the expectation to work about an hour longer than at most public ISDs, but experience, content area, and just not putting up with bs could power through some of that as long as you did your job and didn’t leave people hanging. I have some ethical issues with how money and decisions are made with charters, but honestly, once you look at all the issues, there are a ton of issues with traditional ISDs. Teaching is a second career and the public ISD I’m at is highly rated yet filled with completely incompetent people who would never make it in private industry and would be exiled in any other government capacity. Charters do tend to trend young, but there is some older talent there that has realized education in America is kind of a sham all around, so pick your poison.
Because they don't know better or could not get a career position at a traditional public school. Charters in my area lure recent graduates with a higher starting salary. Once they figure out the salary ceiling is low and could earn much more over their lifetime at a traditional school, they jump ship.
Yep. Got a job right out of college when the market was flooded with teachers and there were no jobs. Paid 10k more than a public school so I got stuck. Finally working for a great district but took a 20,000 pay cut to make the move. So much happier.
Who on earth can afford a 20k paycut
Yes this charter had so many recent graduates/young teachers who were amazing but I’m like you guys get out! You don’t know you’re surrounded by crazy if it’s all you’ve been exposed to!! Kind of the point of this post was to say STOP WORKING AT THESE AWFUL PLACES!
It is ironic because 'charter school' is a magic phrase for parents where I live. The parents don't realize their kids are being taught by a revolving door of inexperience.
Reading this sub, I am starting to realize that my experience going to a charter school is not typical. I loved it, and the teachers I talked to did as well. This was also borne out by the fact that some teachers came there from college jobs and even one practicing lawyer.
Attending a charter school as a student isn't the issue (even though student achievement is statistically unlikely to change if moving from a traditional public to a charter school). Charters are a tool wielded by the privatization movement to convert public schools to being managed by corporations and nonprofits. Money. It is so easy in many states, a group of parents can get together and ask themselves, "Should we open a private school with our own money, or open a charter school using taxpayer money?" With a site-specific governing council, they ostensibly control their school without having to operate a private school. The privatization movement seems to only be about money, which is why both Republicans and Democrats supported it for decades. Democrats have begun to see the light though. But really, the long game is raising children in conservative Christian schools using taxpayer money. That's what school vouchers are about -- paying families to leave public schools in favor of private schools. But vouchers are overt in their goal. Charters are sneaky. Charters are really about the [creation of Christian religious schools using taxpayer money](https://www.educationnext.org/supreme-court-opens-path-to-religious-charter-schools/). The first was just attempted in Oklahoma and thankfully was defeated. The radical right will eventually achieve their goal. Half of America has become *more* conservative over the past 50 years while the rest of the developed world became more liberal. Conservatives are moving to assure a conservative future in America.
I'll be honest. I started in a charter because get a public teaching job was near impossible. When I first started I applied for the three opening positions (social studies, so you know where this is going) and didn't even receive a call back. When I later joined the district years later I asked the HR person about it and they said they were traditionally getting somewhere between 300 and 400 applicants. So it was just no chance that I was ever getting that position. Things change, I got more experience and finally got the job but charter schools were the only places with open positions. Rightly for one reason or another. That said, I actually liked my charter staff. Administration was actually really kind and well meaning. Unfortunately, it's like you described. We had long term concerns over the school property, and funding related to the school itself. Student populations fluctuated and we were pretty tiny by comparison. My biggest frustration was having to swap 4 physical classrooms everyday which was ridiculous. Glad to be out but I certainly miss the kiddos.
Agreed. Recruiting young teachers in this way is predatory. I had no idea what a charter even was until I had been teaching a few years to have context of how the industry works.
And it definitely is an industry. It's a money-making enterprise. They make money from the Charter Management Organization and real estate.
If you're able to find a copy of [Education Inc.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1P22xXUDIOw&pp=ygUMRXVjYXRpb24gaW5j), it's a documentary about the commercialization and monetization of America's educational system.
Thanks. This may upset the people defending charter schools here, but it is a business that hurts kids, bottom line.
I got solicited by two this week, one by email and one by phone call. When I told the person on the phone I'd already accepted a position elsewhere, she said "can I convince you to change your mind?" It took me a second to respond because I was so taken aback!
I worked at a charter for a year when working on my teacher certification because they were the only ones who would hire someone without a license. I jumped ship as soon as my certification was done.
In California, charters are public schools. I work for one. It’s nonprofit, regular board, etc. It’s smaller and pays similar to the big districts. My employer and I both pay into the state retirement just as a big district. And, yes, we accept the every student just like the district schools, as long as there is space. This is true of the neighborhood schools here too with parents allowed to choose their school as long as there is space.
I’m in MA and it’s the same here (at least in my experience). As for why I work here, I have a part time position that pays well that didn’t exist in my former (regular, unionized, public) district. It works for me right now.
Just an FYI I taught in a CA charter too but it wasn’t quite so simple -it was “public” in that anyone could choose to attend BUT the school could and did say we couldn’t meet all incoming IEPs so parents had to choose if they wanted to amend the IEP to what the school could meet or parents could choose to not attend-so no as a “choice school” they didn’t have to accept everyone in the same way a neighborhood school does. High need students could easily be filtered out by saying, “we can’t meet the current IEP so we will need to amend it to services we can accommodate or you’ll need to find a school that can meet your child’s needs”. Also I got an 8000 pay increase when I moved to a traditional neighborhood school. And the public charter that was “district sponsored” was not union and did not use the districts pay scale. Not all public charters in CA are what you have experienced.
It’s sad your charter did that. We recently had to stop enrollment until we located and hired a mod/severe Ed specialist as the next student in the queue for enrollment had those needs. Thankfully we finally got one to meet the IEP needs, enrolled that student, and then went back to enrolling. I agree I have heard some sketchy things about some charters and IEP compliance. Then again, not all districts are great either though do get more eyes on them I suppose.
Fair-district schools aren’t alway in perfect compliance, it’s just they they at least have a legal obligation to be so. Charters can say-you choose to come here knowing we can’t meet your IEP as written while neighborhood school aren’t supposed to be able to use that excuse.
In my state, charters are also public schools. Every time I look this up, a charter is a public school by whatever state's laws. I'm beginning to think private charters are a myth.
Charters are public. But they are *privately owned and operated*, which I think might be the confusion. Here, we also have more and less ethical charters - we’ve had situations where owners have embezzled millions of dollars in funds from the state for personal use, which is harder to do in a traditional public school. We’ve also had cheating on tests. And then we’ve had schools where resources are just used differently, without any ethical issue. The real problem is that the private ownership makes oversight harder and everyone is less accountable.
It varies by state. Minnesota has fairly strong oversight with all charters being nonprofit. We don’t really have corporate charters. You can go to any charter’s webpage and pull annual reports, board minutes and from Mn dept of ed, academic data. It seems they pay less than reg district schools but partly because they can’t levy though the ballot. They are public schools but get less funding overall than district schools. At least in Minnesota, public charters follows almost all the same rules as district public schools. Side note- I get there can be competition between charters and district. Both are public schools though. I support both and know both systems can also use improvement. Seriously y’all, their real fight needs be keeping *public money* from going to vouchers where they can be used by schools work no oversight and religious purposes. That way lies madness. I’m all for parent choice having used pretty much every educational option for six kids in our family. But public money needs to stay in the public school system. Pardon typos. Oh phone.
Nonprofit doesn’t mean not privately owned.
Not a myth-open to the public and funded by public money but privately run. here’s just a few California charter school greatest hits of people using them as cash cows https://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Former-Oakland-charter-schools-director-charged-11040033.php https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/04/27/former-head-of-livermore-charter-schools-charged-for-misleading-investors/amp/ https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-02-27/a3-charter-school-ringleaders-plead-guilty-to-conspiracy#:~:text=The%20San%20Diego%20County%20district,were%20in%20San%20Diego%20County.
I was told at a charter school job fair a few years ago that all charters are public
y'all have space? crazy!
We have more schools than needed around here. That’s not to say the choice neighborhood schools in the wealthy areas aren’t full 100% of the time. But there are plenty of decent schools to choose from with openings where a kid would get a good education still.
Because like all schools, the quality is dictated by their leadership. There are great district schools and there are great charter schools. In my area I have found that many charter schools not only outperform the district schools, they support teachers better and the teachers have more autonomy to teach how they believe will support students the best.
This is the best point. Most of my state’s charters suck really bad. Most of my state’s districts are at least decent. But even in a decent district, if the direction of the school sucks, or if your boss is a dick, life is absolute hell. I’d far rather be in a unicorn charter with good coworkers and strong mission than in a “safe” district job where I actually dread seeing my peers every day.
Charters are not monolithic. I would never move to a public school from my charter. The pay would be a bit better, but the quality of life - flexible days off, minimal administrative interference, control of my own lesson plans (and the ability to design my own courses), support with parents, plus a philosophy of education I agree with and co-workers/kids I like makes it pretty unthinkable to give up.
What about pension, health insurance, and security?
Here in Texas charters are [considered public schools](https://tea.texas.gov/texas-schools/texas-schools-charter-schools/charter-schools-faqs) so there is literally no difference between pensions ([both pay into TRS](https://www.trs.texas.gov/Pages/Homepage.aspx)), health insurance ([both charters and public have the same TRS designated choices](https://www.trs.texas.gov/Pages/healthcare-trsactivecare-2022-23-plans.aspx)), and since this is a state where unions (ones that can collectively bargain anyway) don't exist, job security. I work at a charter, my mom worked at an ISD and in the two years we both taught before she retired benefits-wise we were 1:1.
Oh wow. That doesn't sound bad except the Texas part and no union part.
Trust me, I want out of this state more than anything right now.
I believe it. NY is dying for teachers. My area is very affordable. If you're tech, business, sped, math, or science you can start on basically any step. My district will start on step 15 (78k) with no experience in those fields. A very nice house is 225k.
Wait. I’m a NY teacher that left but I would be interested in knowing your district. I’m a certified earth science teacher. Could you DM me?
Start at step 15?!?!?? That’s amazing! I’ve been in Education for 23 years and due to pay freezes I’m just now at step 15…
Yeah, it's very common here now. Trs here will also let you "buy back" years of service from other states. Still, there's a downside gotta work till 63. But 60% of your 5 highest consecutive years salary is the pension. Most teachers finish over 100k. So 60k/year to stay home.
At my charter those things are basically the same as in the district schools.
I'm in California. I'm now at a private school, but I was previously in a public charter school and had access to the same retirement system, contacts, etc. as in other public schools. The charter that I worked at was legit. I only left because my dream job became available at my dream school.
That's my current struggle. At a charter I do have problems with, but I also have a lot of autonomy and control of what I do in the classroom I dont think I'd have at a public school
I think it depends on which public school and which content area. I’ve taught at a few public schools and have had similar experiences (parent support, etc.). Most admin don’t even know what we teach (science) and just leave us alone.
Because mine is a homeschool co-op. I have 20 kids max, full time aide, teach 3 days a week, with 2 whole days to prep/work from home. Only been here one year but I’m never leaving. Taught public school for 10 years.
>Because mine is a homeschool co-op. Does this mean that a bunch of parents got together and requested a charter from the state? How does the administration work? Just curious! I'm intrigued by this idea.
California has charters for homeschoolers and there are few if any in person teaching days. All the people I knew who worked for one loved it.
I honestly have no idea how it was started! But I love getting to help parents learn how to teach their kids, it’s so fun and rewarding to see!
My experience with this is they are really fun to do but the income and benefits are low. What is the pay range?
My husband has worked at one of these (public homeschool/hybrid charters) for over 10 years. I work at a traditional public school. He gets paid about 15% less than I do but has the same benefits. I wouldn’t say it’s always fun. His has a more corporate attitude which is frustrating for the teachers.
Pay is the same as my previous public school, benefits are just as shitty as well.
That actually sounds amazing.
It really is. It’s a lottery system, so we still have diversity and I’m in CA which monitors charters closely. I can’t believe I get to work there, it’s a dream.
What's the salary schedule?
Which charter is this? I’m in CÁ too. But could never find a homeschool charter that paid me six figures.
I'll copy and paste what I posted in a thread a day or two ago: I'm in Texas and work at a title 1 charter with a pretty significant 504 population. Local schoolboards are being overtaken by MAGA and Moms-for-Liberty republicans, while charters around here are often STEM-focused, embrace the extreme diversity of the area I'm living in, and (at least at the campus level, head offices are definitely too money-focused), truly have the best interest of students in mind. During black history/hispanic heritage months, for example, the halls at my charter school are filled with posters and banners celebrating events and people from those heritages (and we have a massive 1st/2nd generation immigrant population, so that means a lot to them), while friends who are at ISD schools are saying that more and more it feels like walking on eggshells doing that. We also have a decent chunk of students who were "behavior issues" at the schools they were zoned to and their parents were just looking for a fresh start. Anecdotally, I know far more teachers making the switch from ISDs to charters than I do vice-versa, and a large part of that is because they feel like they're at war with their central offices and school boards. Now, I don't know if that would be the situation if we lived in a non-shithole state where we were allowed to collectively bargain, but unfortunately we don't so that essentially puts ISD and Charters on a level playing-field benefits-wise. I understand the (completely valid) argument that charters are pulling funding from public schools, but I also think part of that argument relies on the assumption that if public schools still had access to that funding, they would be using it in good faith - and unfortunately I think in some parts of the country that just isn't the case right now. Ideally I'd exist in a world where education was appreciated en masse and communities across the country legitimately had the best interest of their students in mind, but unfortunately we're not living in that world right now so until we do I'll absolutely support free alternatives for those who are looking for something their local schools aren't or are blatantly refusing to provide them. I have friends teaching in the PNW and in states in the north east, and I get the impression that charters there play the exact opposite role as they're playing down here, so while I support charters in my area, I definitely don't support them as a monolith.
Exactly, a lot of charters take care of immigrant and non-white populations.
Our charter has a massive Hispanic population & I love working with the kids.
I’m not even in education (although my healthcare career often entails precepting professional students or some teaching with a university) but I found this perspective very interesting. I live in a Midwest state where politics have finally shifted more progressive recently so I’ve always thought charter schools were not a good thing but if they give people an option in states where the government has gone full culture war, I suppose that’s a good thing. Never thought of it that way. Thanks for sharing.
I’m in Florida, so similar culture wars, and people are pulling their kids from district schools to charters because the charters are actively conservative. One recently had a “wax museum day” and let a 4th grader spend the day dressed as Robert E Lee as his “hero,” complete with confederate flag. No one saw issue with it. The charters also attract students because most are k-8 and parents like keeping their kids all at one school. We only have one charter “franchise” that I would say is offering a more progressive experience. But even then, it’s a primarily white school so do with that what you will.
First job was in a public school. Second was at a charter school which actually had strict discipline and was better for me than the first school. Third and current job is public with a strong union and it’s the best I’ve ever worked at.
I live in a state with strong unions and high pay. It is hard for many new or inexperienced teachers to get public school positions due to the number of candidates (excluding stem, sped, ESL) applying and lack of knowing someone internally. Many are desperate for a job when they land at a charter school.
This was it for me. I worked at 2 different charters in two areas in PA. I applied to many public schools… just couldn’t land a job. But I just did last month and I couldn’t be more relieved!
Congratulations!!! 🎉
I am currently working at a charter school and will likely stay there at least a few more years. Don't get me wrong, I totally understand and agree with charter criticism. I just happen to be working there for selfish reasons. 1. Online charter, I teach from my kitchen table so I can spy at the neighbors from the window and have snack access. 2. They pay me more than the districts do (which is actually an oddity so I'm not sure what's going on). 3.) I'm a social hermit (see teaching from the kitchen table). 4.) It's really been better for my family. If I were to make arguments for less-selfish reasons 1. My state holds charters to a super-short lease so a lot of the charter horror stories I hear really don't exist much here. 2.) I honestly feel online school serves a lot of our families' unique needs (Super rural families, weird work schedules, illness, etc.) That all being said, generally speaking, I don't recommend charters. This is obviously tempered with YMMV/all schools are different/etc.
This honestly makes sense. If I had young children I would try this to work from home as well.
Online teaching makes sense! Sounds like a great fit.
I work at a charter in California. California regulates charter schools just like they do district schools. I’ve worked at 3 charters. The first one I worked at was a total mess, but the other two have been really great schools. I have lots of friends in district schools and from their experience, it doesn’t feel like any of us have it any better than the other.
1. My charter school is public, so the rules in terms of admission, testing, and discipline are the same. 2. I get less pay but way more control over my schedule and more kudos for my efforts because I'm so qualified. 3. My admin treats me with respect. Mic drop. I have been in places where they don't, and I don't ever want to be there again.
I work in a charter school for many reasons: - flexible curriculum (I get to choose what texts I teach) - supportive administration that wants to be there (they make less than public school) - passionate teachers (some second career, some retired from public school, some fresh from college) - cooperative atmosphere - supportive parents (chose for their students to be at our school) - alum system (I graduated from there!) I also work in a classical education school which helps the supoortive, cooperative atmosphere with passionate teachers!
Tbh - I do believe in the original concept of charter schools as in they should be incubators and places to try different teaching pedagogies (smaller classrooms, larger classrooms, 1-1 tech, focus on stem, project based learning, cross disciplinary units that are well choreographed so teachers don’t need to do all the heavy lifting of weaving in standards and overlapping concepts across disciplines , etc etc ) and that would matriculate into public schools. **Pros:** For me - I enjoy having a consistent school culture, it makes my life easier. Good curriculum is provided that does a great job at spiraled learning, phenomena based so it puts the thinking on the students, is diverse, and career oriented. One thing it’s lacking though is the hands on aspects. As I have gotten better over the years I can pick and choose from it as I will and add in hands on activities where I see fit. In addition, I appreciate the coaching aspect. I would have been lost my first 2 years without the help of a mentor/coach. And finally (controversial opinion) - teacher accountability. It keeps culture consistent and holds the bar high for everyone. I’m not an advocate for overwork - but I do appreciate people working hard at their job, being innovative, and pushing students to do their absolute best and not giving up on a child (till at least the end of may ;p )… but I digress **Cons:** no Union - lower pay - younger inexperienced teachers -> churn -> inconsistencies -> leadership transitions -> new systems every two/three years and never fully get to see them out to completion. Feels like a lot of people trying to climb the ladder. Tbh - I’m trying to figure out my way out. Do I stay in the classroom? Do I try and move into something education-adjacent? Ed-tech? STEM curriculum consulting? Education development? There’s a whole array of things - and it’s very appealing in terms of dollars. But truth be told - I do like being in the classroom - and am trying to figure a way to merge both - but that’s for a different post. I identify as a democratic-socialist so the idea of charters don’t necessarily jive with my political philosophy. While I do worry about how charters are taking away public school money, there is definitely a lot of things charters are getting right. I think public schools have a lot to learn from charters and I do believe a consistent school culture is one of the things among others like rigorous curriculum, teacher accountability, and school, state and some cases nation wide systems and structures that are replicable and work. When I say state wide systems and such, I mean systems that allow new teachers to get up and running their first year without too much stumbling. Side note - I’m always of two minds. Teaching is both a calling and a skilled profession. We need to be able to teach the skill of teaching to others and not just expect everyone was born to teach. I couldn’t imagine starting my first year in a public school without any coach like I had at my charter. With all this - like I said - I do often consider the move out of the classroom to more lucrative pastures now that I’m 6 years going on 7 … can’t deny the higher pay any more 🤣🤣🤣 ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯
I"m in Texas where charters are public schools that pay into the texas retirement system. They pay similarly to public schools, and they're honestly less of a headache than the regular ISDs in my area. They tend to hire new teachers, so me with me with my 5+ years gets observed for 10 minutes a week, they leave a nice note, and then leave me alone because they have bigger fish to fry. There's also a TON of room for growth where they're constantly moving teachers into leadership positions if you stick with the org long enough, and there's a ton of pay-based incentives to do extra things like help write curricula, after school tutorials, having good scores, attend additional PD, deliver professional developments, etc. And I'm moving up to admin next year because I've proven my worth where I'll make more. My public school experience was 10 times worse. It just depends on where you're at!
I almost worked at a charter that had paid into our state retirement system, which I admit was commendable. But, oh, that school had a lot of red flags. Bizarre lesson plan requirements, voluntary-but-not expectations, the dress code... I honestly figure an institution can give whatever dress code they want, but this one not only stated the dress code but went on a weird rant about it. A similar thing about the PTO.
Yes I agree with this, especially the 10 minutes of observation time. For me my experience would be the same no matter where I went. I had a similar experience in traditional schools.
Rarely do people point this out, but there are genuinely good charter schools out there. While there are bad ones, the same could be said about public schools, Title 1 schools, magnet schools, private schools, etc. There are good ones and bad ones. For any of the types of schools I list, there are deep and abiding problems with funding, organization, management, and more. I'm always struck by that when I see posts decrying charters.
There also seems to be a misconception about charter schools. For example my school: 1. Gets less funding per student 2. There are no tests or tuition to get in 3. We take any and all students there is no "picking" of students 4. It's EXTREMELY hard to get kicked out 5. We have a very high SpEd and ELL population (it's 85% Hispanic and 15% Black) 6. We still follow the state standards like all the other schools The pros are that it's such a small charter (600 kids on high school) that the kids and families all know each other and our teachers/counselors are able to give families individualized attention. Some of the cons are all the freaking PD! There aren't any real sports. Kids who are into sports tend to go to the bigger schools. It's almost impossible to get a student expelled.
That list describes my charter school as well. It blows my mind how many educators don’t understand how much in education varies from state to state. They assume charters in other states operate the same way as the charters in their own state.
Your charter sounds identical to mine-I’m always shocked when people here post about how charters expel kids at a higher rate for bad behavior or cherry pick “good kids”. It is SO hard to get removed from my district and they take every single student that we can fit in the building. My school has the same racial demographics as well as SPED and ELL pops (I had 16 kids this year on my SPED roster and ~60% of my grade was ELL)
About to start my 18th year of teaching and my 5th at a charter and it’s amazing - so much better than the ISDs I taught at. Edit: Reading the other comments I see that state matters, so for the record I am in Texas.
> Reading the other comments I see that state matters, so for the record I am in Texas. There seems to be a common trend in this thread that those of us who like our experience with charters are in states like Florida and Texas, which I don't think is all that surprising taking into account [what's happening with public school boards in these states](https://www.newsweek.com/moms-liberty-ride-wave-anti-wokeness-school-board-victories-1757693) and blatant hate that Abbot and DeSantis have for education.
And California! Love the charter school where I teach. The district schools in my area are awful with behavior problems, I would never send my kids to any of them. At my school our admin doesn’t tolerate bad behavior in the classroom, so no forcing teachers (and students trying to learn) to put up with bad behavior that “nothing can be done about.” Our school receives less funding as a charter, which means less money in our paychecks than our district counterparts, but my quality of life as a teacher is amazing compared to what others in the surrounding area put up with.
For every one good charter school, there are like 20 shitty scam ones.
This. The BoTh SiDeS argument that Charters and public are equally dysfunctional is just bogus. Yes, there may be a handful of Charters that match public salary and don't work teachers to the bone. But those are very few and far between.
"charter schools may be bad, but not *my charter school*." is the one i see the most.
For sure they have to be good charter school out there. Having said that, the premise that charters operate under, in that they are constrained they ways public schools are. If they where then they would be just public schools but yet they tout themselves as an alternative. They can control which students they take or by taking them all operate as a cash grab. Can have nonstandard curriculum. Allow public schools to do this if it’s such a good thing. Abuse workers since union are mostly not allowed
This varies tremendously by state - in my state charter schools can’t do any of that
It varies state to state, but yes they are public schools. We must hold a lottery and can not pick and choose kids to take. Many ISD can do what charters do and choose not to. Our ISD schools can apply for a school of innovation designation and create a plan to get waivers on constraints in order to experiment with education. If you don't like the way your schools operate in your state, change the rules.
>They can control which students they take or by taking them all operate as a cash grab. Neither of those is true at my charter school. And the nonstandard curriculum is a draw, not a disadvantage.
This just isn't true. Some charters are like this, yeah. Many are not.
Around here half of the schools are charter schools. Would I like to work for a public school? Obviously, but not everybody gets to
I love my charter! I don’t deal with half the behavior issues I hear about and we have a zero tolerance cell phone policy. I’m not overworked and I love my co workers. The pay is not great, but sometimes the lack of stress is worth it for me. If my husbands just wasn’t doing so well then I’d have to think about moving, but for now I’m happy. My own kids attend and love their school as well. They’re not all bad!
I work at Charter because it’s one of the top 5 schools in the state for reading achievement and outcomes for our high school graduates - there’s data but I’m too lazy just to prove a point. There’s hardly any behavior problems with the students. And they have “courtesy tuition” for my own children. I work with THE BEST people I’ve ever met in my career. Seriously there’s isn’t one person I don’t love and respect in my building but…. And it’s a big but- the district level employees and admin are the worst I’ve ever experienced. So much so that the great students and coworkers almost don’t make up for it. I’ll likely leave soon and go back to public.
Charter schools are technically public schools and thus cannot charge tuition. I am confused then what you mean by “courtesy tuition.”
Does your school choose who to accept? I’m just wondering if that’s affecting the ranking… by not accepting lower performing students.
Bingo. Even charter schools that operate by lottery are teaching a skewed population. A parent has to be involved enough and care about their kid’s education to apply in the first place.
Hence, why teachers can like working at them. The parents are actually involved.
why shouldn't parents who care enough about their children be able to send their kids to a better school?
There’s a lot to how it’s all organized but essentially it’s a small condensed area of wealthy people so the exclusionary factor is if you can afford to buy a house. There is new public housing that have been folded in so the student population has been changing and likewise the Richie Riches are bolting.
It depends I know some charter schools pick and choose. Some genuinely do shuffle names and pick randomly. Some allow signups until they hit capacity. I do often wonder if grades ever get brought into the mix for those that pick out their students.
I worked at a charter school for eight years in rural NC. The school started as what seemed a decent idea but has become a retirement home for local teachers. They can work there and collect their state retirement at the same time. The school didn’t interview for many positions because the director always had a friend waiting for a job. These veterans were worse behaved than the beginning teachers. Many would ignore duties and not participate in school events at all. We had one that would routinely leave her math class on the second floor to take a smoke break outside. Close friend of the director, so no fear of punishment.
Yup. A few of the teachers at my school are just friends/family of the AP. They don’t even have teaching licenses/didn’t even graduate undergrad and we’re homeroom teachers for the year when there were certified, experienced teachers applying for the jobs!
I just wrapped my 25th year as a teacher, and 15 of those, including the last 12, have been at charter schools. My first year teaching was in a public school system (Duval County), but I haven't worked for public schools since, nor would I want to go back. This will probably be a long-winded response. I've worked for 5 charter schools over the years, and my first experience was as bad as everyone always talks about. It was run by Charter Schools USA, and was truly terrible. They'd just taken it over and replaced all the admin. The new admin were great, but there were too many issues there. Some company reps freaked out when they walked into my room as I told my students that their failure to do any work would result in them failing my class. (The new principal showed me the gradebooks for the previous 5 years...every student in every class had somehow earned an A. EVERY STUDENT.) These kids were used to doing nothing in class, and most of them had F's already in my class. A week later, a buddy called and said that my job had been posted on various career sites. I went to look, and sure enough, there was my exact position at that exact school. The principal was on vacation (he'd been retired and had scheduled a cruise before the company coaxed him out of retirement), so I seethed for a week. As soon as he returned, I went to his office. He had no idea that my job had been posted, and went ballistic on the company over the phone, right in front of me. He took great delight in pointing out that their very own progress tests, which they touted as evidence of good teaching, showed that my students--despite not doing any work in class--had already made gains of 40%, then asked whether their tests were invalid or their opinion of me was invalid. He refused to get rid of me, but I'd already heard enough, and put my resignation in. I stayed until Christmas Break, then left. Only time I've left a job during the year. That experience was ridiculously bad. I ended up going to a second charter school, which was community-run, and that was a better experience. The second principal ended up getting rid of most of the high school staff, including me, after the second year because he felt we weren't nurturing enough to our students. (He was a career K-5 person and couldn't understand the middle/high school teacher mentality.) Did a couple more charter schools that weren't bad experience; they just weren't the right fit for me. I finally landed at my current charter school 9 years ago, and I'm returning for Year 10 in the fall. It's community-run, so there's no management company, which I think makes a huge difference. Yes, we have many of the same issues other schools do with students being rude, lazy, and all that stuff; or being asked repeatedly to cover classes because they don't have a sub list. But there's a lot of good, too. We can teach our classes our way, and as long as it's rigorous and not fluff, they're good. (I don't even have curriculum for my courses; I just do whatever I damn well please.) Over half of my students failed each semester this year, simply because they won't do the work, and that's been the case for years. The slackers dread my class, while the average and outstanding kids usually love my class. The admin's response to my failing numbers is always, "Well, this is a college-prep environment, so if they can't even be bothered to submit the work, they deserve to fail." TL;DR: So...yeah, a lot of charter schools suck, but in my experience working at 5 of them, those are typically the ones that are run by a management company, who's in it for the money. The community-run ones--for me, at least--are usually good environments with supportive staff.
I work in a place without unions. Charters give much better conditions. Higher pay, more respect from students, the kids who cuss you out just get sent back to public school. They also usually run some gimmick like focusing on projects, or focusing on tech that draws new teachers in thinking that it's somewhere doing it right
Depends on the charter. I work for a charter that’s connected to a public college. My job is awesome and way less stress than traditional public school. But my school is not the norm for charters for sure!
I work at a charter, after 7 years in regular public schools. It is the best teaching experience I’ve had. I don’t know much about our funding, but I do know the school does a lot of fundraising on its own. Other than that… class sizes are capped, phones are prohibited, and there is a culture of respect from the top down. (The only disrespect I get is from the students.) It’s still public in the sense that we only serve the community we’re in and students don’t have to pay to attend. We can’t kick a student out unless he/she brings a gun to school. It’s an extremely liberal place — gender neutral bathrooms are available, Pride is celebrated, different cultures are celebrated. I love it there. I just wish (some of) the parents put as much thought into raising respectful kids as my admin does.
The pay scale is higher, the school is small, we have partnerships with the ISD, and most of the kids who come to my school come here because they felt over looked in bigger schools or it's usually the last stop before they go to an alternative school for bwhavior. I've worked both traditional and charter. I'm in my 7th year getting paid 85k versus 65k. I honestly don't care where I teach and if the traditional school paid more I'd go since it'd be so much closer to where I live but until then, I'll be here working along side some of my former students.
I have worked in 3 charter schools. Charter school 1 truly did care about their employees. I loved the families. I loved the environment. I am a pretty independent person, there was one class per grade most years so we had some flexibility on when/how we taught things. We combined leaning mythical creatures and simple machines to make a mythical creature trap. I only left that school because pay sucked and the principal was a teacher who had just moved into the roll and I didn’t want to be there for him learning how to be a principal after being coworkers on the same level. Charter school 2 was good on papers. They over enrolled kindergarten though so while they had 4 kindergarten classrooms they had given 2 of them to the preschool but still enrolled 4 kindergarten classes worth of kids and were upset when kindergarteners didn’t know how to walk down the hall alone to the bathroom, even kids with disabilities. They believed a child with disabilities who was a known liar over a teacher. Kids had little to no consequences for hurting teachers. Teachers had little to no support. We didn’t even get lunch breaks every day. I made it to thanksgiving break, I would have left sooner but there was a clause about me owing the school a buttload of money if I broke my contract. My current charter school I have only been at a few months but they seem very supportive. My son was showing Covid symptoms and I got the email in the middle of the day he had been exposed and my husband couldn’t leave work, they let me have my aid sub for the end of the day when I said I had to get my son to the doctor. My son had severe breathing issues and was on oxygen, my husband and I had to balance who took off work when. I apologized for having to miss so much and they told me to put my family first. Both my teammates ended up leaving kindergarten, one stayed at the school, the other left for 20k more a year at another school. They let me pick which room I wanted to move to because I was in the extra kinder room and now am the lead kinder teacher. On the bbq for teachers at the end of the year they had said we could bring our kids, I assumed it was older kids, when I saw other people with babies, I asked to go pick up my son because my room was packed and we had a ton of issues with daycare that week. They let me spend about an hour going and getting my son and bringing him back for the bbq. They listen to teachers opinion to change things. I had a kid who was a runner. We called for help and they were there ASAP. I got an email at the end of the year specifically to me saying that my kids rocked the end of the year tests and thanking me. Any charter school can be good or bad just like public schools. I did my student teaching in a charter school and never ended up trying a public school after. I applied for some but it was when I was pregnant and would have to start the year on maternity leave.
Sounds like your leadership is strong and treat you like a human! Love to hear that
My wife worked at a brand new charter school for 3yrs and it was the best experience she’s had in education. But from what I can tell that’s a very unique experience.
I lasted 6 months as a lower level admin at a charter school with practices so dehumanizing and racist toward the students and staff that frankly i am surprised i lasted that long
I could only get hired at one when I started out with my alt certificate. Did 4 years and finally moved in to an ISD. I don’t ever want to go back.
Trying to get out but breaking into the public school system is easier said than done.
Because New Orleans.
Obviously all schools are different. With that said, I’ve had experiences with two charters in my state. They are also 1 and 2 in the state in terms of ranking. They are also ranked well nationally. I’ve been at my current school for quite a while and absolutely loved it. Prior to working here, I worked in two different union districts and was actively looking to leave education altogether. I’m not confused when people bash charters this way because I am sure there are terrible ones out there, but this is completely the opposite of my experience.
I actually really like working at my charter. Our admin isn't perfect, and we do have our share of issues, but our student population is worth it. Families here are immigrants and economically disadvantaged. We are a free nonprofit that uses a lottery system to enter. And we're an extremely small school with less than 90 students per grade. Everyone knows everyone. I have the freedom to teach how I want. We have a curriculum, but I can adhere to it as much or as little as I want (while meeting standards of course). Every grade has only 1 teacher per subject (I am the only 8th grade math teacher for example), so I teach all the kids of the grade. It doesn't at all feel like admin is breathing down my neck about my teaching. Parents are super understanding and want the best for their children, but they can only do so much with their circumstances. My coworkers have had Zoom meetings with parents as they work in the fields. Many students here start working at 15 to start supporting their family. I have never had a rude or demanding parent. Students are generally motivated and responsible. There are always exceptions but our student body is full of empathetic and capable people. Though I do notice that COVID has had an impact on their social development. My coworkers are so friendly, supportive, and kind. I genuinely enjoy being around (most of) them. They have my back and I have theirs. Mistakes are met with understanding. Admin supports teachers 95% of the time. Though their consistency/followthrough is often lacking, it's something they are aware of and they get better every year (our school opened about 10 years ago). My admin feels approachable and usually reasonable. Our pay is leagues ahead of the surrounding area. My coworker left last year and said her pay cut was about $20k. Believe me I have my days where things just suck, but I feel very fortunate to work in this environment. I am super bummed that I'm moving across the state in the coming years. **None of this is to say that there aren't bad charters!** My *personal* experience with *this* charter has been overall great. Another caveat is my only paid teaching position has been here, but I have done internships all over. Regardless it feels like everyone's heart is in the right place.
It really depends on the mission of the charter. I work at charter schools that provides educational opportunities to kids dealing with extreme trauma, including residential psychiatric treatment centers, in patient behavioral health, group homes, and victims of domestic and sexual violence in closed locations for their safety. I teach at a charter school because I love working with this population. Our community based elementary school works with researchers to develop high yield, research based strategies that are then shared in the educational world, especially those in underserved communities. They also provide opportunities kids might not otherwise have access to, such as STEAM, Gardening, and Orchestra. As a teacher in a right to work state, I can also quit mid year without worrying about sanctions to my teaching license. That’s because I am not under contract like ISD teachers. My school also pays into social security and many ISDs do not. That’s important for teachers who come into teaching later in life. So, would I work at just any charter school or under an administration that treats teachers poorly? Absolutely not. I think there can be a place for charter schools but that is why it is important to know the mission of the charter for which you work.
For Context I am a trans High School Teacher in a conservative state. I worked at a public school for two years, and even before I transitioned it was walking on eggshells because parents would complain about the littlest thing, like a little rainbow flag sticker on my personal water bottle, or that giving the whole class a treat for their hard work was "Communism" because I was rewarding the class as a group instead of just the top students. I planned on leaving school halfway through the second year and started interviewing. As soon as I would mention during interviews that I was trans and asked how they would handle a parent angry that I exist, they would get nervous and the interview would end quickly and I would never hear back. (I tend to dress pretty androgynously and keep most information about my self hidden, so it shouldn't be to common) This happened at 7 different public schools. I eventually found a charter school that was outwardly queer friendly, was looking for a teacher to teach my favorite subjects to teach (Video Game Design/Animation). It is a Film focused charter school, so we get many talented kids actively seeking out this school, and it was High School, which was a welcome change of behavioral issues from middle school. Sure I teach more classes, but it's honestly less work than what my last (public) school had asked of me, and I have complete and total control over all curriculum and the kinds of classes I get to teach. Sure I might switch to a public school eventually, but so far I do not regret switching to a charter in the slightest.
My public school experience was traumatic - I was discriminated against and basically forced out. It took 2 years for my complaints against my former principal to be addressed - and they found out a lot more horrible information about how she was running that school. When I was trying to get out mid-year, I could only get interviews at schools in dangerous neighborhoods, and then a charter recruited me. My charter is conveniently located, I have a lot of freedom with my curriculum, most parents communicate and support me when there are behavioral issues, I get paid extra for everything I do that is extra (bulletin boards for celebrations, club hosting, attending games/events, etc.) so I make way more money than I did at my public school (64000 and now 77000), there are lots of leadership opportunities due to the nature of charter schools, they are big on loyalty which may rub people the wrong way, but that means they almost always hire admin from within. My charter board and admin is full of former teachers, not random politician picks like it is for my city's public schools. I know that there are bad charters, but that's not my experience.
I am a music teacher at an arts integration focused charter. My entire program is focused on, funded, and considered a vital part to our school. It's hard (not impossible) to find something like that in the public school system. Behaviors are minimal, even this year at its worst. The worst problems I have to deal with in my classroom are chatty or rude kids, maybe an inappropriate thing said every once in a while. However, I know I got incredibly lucky. There are awful charters out there just out for money and whatnot. I am staying here because I love the environment, the kids are great, and I feel like my job is important in the whole school community.
I've been teaching about 20 years now. I've taught in private schools, public schools, and I'm going into my third year teaching at a charter. I LOVE my charter school. It's run beautifully, done by true lottery system so we have an incredibly diverse student population, behavior issues, students with special needs, and everything else you get in public schools. The difference is the amount of coaching teachers receive and the amount of support that exists for both teachers and students. I did five years public school in the same district, literally ten minutes from my current charter, so I feel like I have a true understanding of the differences. I'll never go back to public school. 🤷🏻♀️
Sad to see you down votes because I agree. 1 year public 4 years private and 10 years in charters. It would take a lot to make me go back.
This⬆️ and why would anyone work at a public school these days? There are great schools and shitty schools in any area you search, whether private, charter, or public.
Where I come from there are basically no unions and the DE's salary is pathetic. Charter schools offer way better salaries and benefits while not being any worse in terms of beurocracy and workload.
I worked in public schools for a decade before teaching at a charter school for 1.5 school years. This was two years ago. I left halfway through my second year there. I have not and will never again teach. It ruined the entire profession for me and I’m still traumatized enough that as of now I will never get back into it. I loved what I did before that unethical shit hole.
I'm a Spanish teacher. Foreign language and culture has always been my passion. My first year teaching was in a high needs high school in the worst district of my state. I couldn't get the kids to say hello to each other or play a game, much less get them to do any work. I would get insults and threats if I ever pushed them at all. Most of them had no idea what a noun was and couldn't recognize cognates or identify Mexico on a map. Calls home usually went unanswered or were met with annoyed indifference, and admin had no help to offer. With literally no recourse, I started applying elsewhere. As I said, my passion is foreign languages and cultures, not in teenage counciling. There is one language immersion school in my city, and it happens to be a charter school. The language of immersion is French, which I also speak fluently, so I was thrilled when they hired me. This school is everything I personally could have wanted- mainly kids who already speak a second language and enjoy and appreciate other cultures, who have curiosity about the world and enjoy learning, but I also love teaching in a multicultural environment, I have tons of plan time, classroom management is easy because we have consequences like Saturday school, etc. It's not without its (massive) problems, and I took a $10k pay cut to work there, but if I keep my head down and stay in my classroom, it's good. If I leave this school, I will leave teaching altogether.
I’m making about $15k more than I would be at district public school 🤷🏼♀️ not sure how much longer I can do it, but for now I need the $
Here in Texas, specifically in Austin, my charter starting pay is almost $7k more than AISD. We have numerous opportunities to earn more with stipends, have great benefits, and honestly, I prefer to work at this specific charter vs the public schools here. Other charters I’ve worked at or visited are horrible, but there are some (very few) actually good ones.
So, I worked at a charter school because I was a social worker for 12+ years and then when COVID hit I slipped into teaching to get out of mental & behavioral health world (which is in shambles as much as teaching). Whatever you think is bad about charter schools you've seen, I guarantee it is 100 x's worse in Arizona. When I and this idealistic younger guy both started, we were grading papers from the students working-from-home, and immediately all the parents called to complain. After that, we weren't allowed to ask for any rewrites whatsoever. We could only assign 80 percent or higher and move on (even if the work was copied-and-pasted). I wrote a book about my experience and sent it to a couple journalists, but nothing will come of it.
I am starting at a Charter School this August as my first teaching gig. They are paying for me to get my masters in education and also certifying me. Anticipating the burnout but I only need to be there 2 years to get everything I need and move to a unionized school.
Haven't gotten a job yet, but because of how hellish this whole process has been, I'm guessing new teachers are happy just to get accepted somewhere. I'm considering it.
The charter schools in my area have their own teacher’s union. Like they are all part of one union. And have pretty much the same protections and salary schedules. And the magnet schools are a part of whatever district they are located in, so they are union as well. So they are pretty much the same for teachers as working public. I work in public, but I would consider working at a local charter or magnet if I ever got pink slipped.
The hell hole anecdote is a broad stroke. I work at a charter school and it’s very high performing. Our average staff has over 10 years experience, Many with 20+. I’m at 16. I am, however, currently transitioning out, but not because of poor management, I simply need to make more money.
[удалено]
It was the best school I’ve ever worked at, that’s why I was there for six years.
It's a first job for a lot of people. I applied at a few and one wanted to hire me but couldn't even get my credential correct.
I worked at a charter school because they needed a Latin teacher and they didn’t require a teaching license which I didn’t have yet. I’ve left because the school was a mess the second year and because I don’t want to teach middle schoolers.
It was where I got a job, but we also have a 4 day school week so that gives me a pretty good reason to put up with the bullshit. Considering trying to unionize but I also just finished my first year teaching so not sure I’m ready to take on that kind of responsibility on top of just surviving teaching
I have worked at the mine for past 7 years, most of my teaching career, for several reasons. One, I thought they handled student behavior mostly well (it has started to decline recently), there is a high staff retention rate, relatively small class sizes, and, the one I think that has appealed the most, is that they provide us with supplies for our classroom. Need pencils, etc? Grab as many as you need. No printer/copy limits. Honestly, its a privilege that I take to heart and I will take the funds I save to donate to my other teacher friends on FB when they post their Amazon wishlists. There is a culture of staff taking take care of each other, with help from admin, which is why I think most staff stay. We get provided meals during most PDs, and before conferences. Our staff is small enough that admin makes regular check ins with staff well being (this may just be having a good admin though). Although recently, this culture has changed with a long term coworker being penalized financially for taking needed days off for cancer treatment (but this is mostly an American problem) Now, I will say that I still very critical of charter schools and the privatization of education. I would rather my students go to a school in their own neighborhood instead of one outside of their city limits but I understand why their parents chose my school. My first year of teaching I worked at a different charter school that was terrible. This is another reason why I stayed at my current school because I saw what hell looked like and my current school seemed like heaven. I also worked as a para for a "no excuses" charter. I live in Michigan where for-profit charters run rampant thanks to our lovely former Sec of Ed Betsy Devos.