I’m tired of being told that teaching is a “calling”

I have been teaching for 28 years. Full time. Without any “gaps” in employment.<br><br>28 years ago, you could still get a teaching contract with a bachelor’s degree and no student teaching experience. <br><br>You could start at about $30,000, and with a full class load, you could earn up $80,000 in year 29 without having to pursue an administrator position. No student loans, because that $30,000 was enough to put yourself through graduate school. Without student loans.<br><br>You could teach with a pulse and a heartbeat. Moron or genius, it didn’t matter. There just weren’t enough people to go around. So you got to teach. <br><br>Now? $50,000 and you have to be in the top 5% of your class in order to qualify for the honor of teaching. <br><br>I am tired of having people tell me that I teach because I have a “calling.” That I am some kind of saint that would actually want to teach and could never imagine doing anything else. <br><br>I got to do something that I love, for a salary that enabled me to pursue my other interests without a second thought, and I will now retire comfortably after having labored for 6 hours a day 5 days a week. I took every single holiday and summer break off, and actually enjoyed my job most of the time. <br><br>I teach because there is nowhere else I would rather be for the pay that I get. I love my subject. I love my students. I am good at teaching.<br><br>If people actually have a calling, they would do it for free. No one has a “calling” to get a six-figure job. And people that have a “calling” to teach will teach somewhere else. Like at a charter school for 40% of the salary but twice the hours that public school teachers put in. <br><br>I’m good. I’m done feeling guilty for being a public school teacher in a time where that means that I’m not a saint. I’m just someone who is good at their job and gets paid well for it.<br><br>Saints teach at charters. Bless their souls. But you won’t find me doing that.<br><br>Edit: I have never considered teaching anywhere except for a public school. I prefer traditional because it is the best choice for my family schedule.