Re: Hmmm...Why would anyone teach at a charter school?

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I completely agree with what you are saying. I am currently a
teacher in a charter school and I AM NOT for the charter
school movement. As soon as I get my degree, I am going to
bang on the Chicago Public School's door to get a job.

I am a former sales person with a Bachelor's of Science in
Commerce who decided to go into education. I have been so
smart in the business world and with most things in my life,
so I thought that jumping into teaching would be easy.
WRONG! I also decided that I wanted to work at an elementary
school while I attended graduate school for education to get
experience. It makes sense right? Well, I found a charter
school and started working as an Instructional Assistant. My
experience was a world wind of work, culture shocks,
unorganization and other craziness since my very first day.

My charter school had an extended school day so the kids were
literally at school from 8AM to 4PM (This is not good for the
kids or teachers! The people who came up with this idea have
never been in a room of 30 kids for more than an hour!!!). It
was a full time job for the kids and the teachers. As a
teacher, you work non-stop ALL day. You barely get a lunch
break (maybe 15 real minutes) and you're working non-stop
during that "break" trying to keep your head above water and
plan for your next lesson. I did not get a job description
until the my third month working there. Yes, you read right.

As an Instructional Assistant, I was responsible for teaching
science, word study, and conducting small groups in reading
and math. I ended up having to do a lot more. I had to
decide what homework the kids would have, make the copies, do
weekly lesson plans, grade all of the papers for every
subject, do the report card grades and comments, meet with
parents for report cards, sit in on IEP and RTI meetings, and
teach anything that the Instructor needs (which in my case
made me end up having to teach math and language arts several
times a week). I was also responsible for the students'
results in the state ISAT test and on their NWEA MAP test. I
easily worked 50 hours per week, and so did most of the other
teachers.

Naturally, after having done all of that, I moved to be an
actual teacher this year. Although I am almost done with my
teaching program, I am three classes shy of being certified.
You do not have to be certified to work in a charter school

Most of the teachers in the charter schools are new or in an
Alternative Certification program like Teach for America.
It's sad because since most people in the school have only 0-3
years of teaching experience, it's really more like the blind
leading the blind. Another drawback is that many of these
charter schools are in urban areas that have students from
lower socio-economic condition. Many of these students have
experienced trauma in their lives and it results in EXTREME
behavior problems in the school. For new teachers with little
classroom management experience, this becomes a complete
nightmare. When the inexperienced suburbanites get into the
trenches with the students in the urban school setting, those
rose colored lenses from which they looked at the teaching
profession through get cracked really quickly. Why don't
principals at least warn these idealistic teachers about what
they are getting into at the charter school? As a new teacher
at a charter school, you'll probably work 55-60 hours per week.

The good things about working at my charter school are the
people that I work with. Many of the teachers really have a
passion to help kids and that is refreshing. Also, at the
charter school that I am at now (I was at a different one last
year), the administrative team also have a kids first approach
to the way that they run things. They do their best to
support their staff which is a major reason that I am still
there. At some charters, you also get to learn a lot of
things that other new teachers will not know such as how to
give STEP and BASS Assessments, NWEA Assessments, Balanced
Literacy, FOSS Science, Everyday Math training, Co-Teaching
training and experience, small group workshops, and various
other trainings. After working with kids who are extra
squirmy and who won't give you even a quarter of a second to
not have your eye on them, you will come away with much
stronger classroom management and behavior management skills.

As far as pay, the teachers make significantly lower amounts
than in CPS. The average certified teacher with a master's
degree makes $45,000/year at this extended day charter school
where at a Chicago Public School the teacher would make about
$60,000/year for a standard school day school.

All in all, I would not recommend working at a charter
school. It is not a sustainable position. It doesn't make
sense. If you don't want to end up despising your job and
ultimately not being as great of a teacher as you envision,
choose to work at a union powered school.

The country wants educators to be smart and effective for the
kids. Smart people don't work for free. That's just plain
stupid.
 

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