paraprofessional

special education paraprofessional

senior custodian

teacher

elementary school teacher

Clayton County Public Schools

I have recently completed my tenure as a teacher at Clayton County Public Schools, and I feel compelled to share my utterly abysmal experience with this institution. To put it bluntly, my time here was nothing short of a nightmare, filled with backbiting, backstabbing, favoritism, and a complete lack of support from the administration.

First and foremost, the work environment at Clayton County Public Schools is riddled with toxic behaviors. Colleagues frequently engaged in petty office politics, constantly undermining each other in a desperate bid to climb the nonexistent career ladder. This kind of atmosphere not only saps one's morale but also stifles any potential for personal and professional growth.

Furthermore, the blatant favoritism displayed by the administration is beyond disheartening. It is disheartening to see promotions and opportunities handed out based on personal relationships rather than merit and dedication. It is demoralizing to witness educators who genuinely care about their students and their craft being overlooked in favor of those who engage in shameless self-promotion and sycophantic behavior.

One of the most egregious incidents during my time at Clayton County Public Schools involved an administrator walking an irate parent down the hallway to confront an educator. This level of unprofessionalism is inexcusable and raises serious concerns about the school's commitment to creating a safe and supportive learning environment for both students and teachers.

Low morale permeates the entire school system, and it is hardly surprising given the hostile and toxic atmosphere that prevails. It is incredibly challenging to stay motivated and dedicated in an environment where negativity and gossip are the norm. The lack of support from the administration only exacerbates the sense of hopelessness that plagues the staff.

In conclusion, my experience as a teacher at Clayton County Public Schools was nothing short of horrendous. The toxic culture, favoritism, unprofessional behavior, and low morale make it an institution that I would strongly advise any prospective educator to avoid like the plague. My time there has left me deeply disillusioned and disheartened, and I can only hope that this review serves as a cautionary tale for others considering employment at this school district.

A typical work day includes morning duty in the car lane as parents drop off their children. Back to classroom to check student homework folders for notes from parents, and to assist teacher with monitoring student trip to the restroom. Continue to assist the lead teacher in monitoring student behavior, and working with small groups to help improve basic skills, such as reading, math, etc. Monitor students during lunch, and in afternoon bathroom break. Take 30 minutes for lunch. Back to classroom to check over students homework folders, checking off completed work, and making corrections if needed. Mark daily behavioral sheets, put in correspondence from school to parents, and have folders ready for return home. Continue to help with student monitoring until time for dismissal. At dismissal I hand out bus,car, or daycare passes to students and walk them down to cafeteria, then go back to duty at car lane. Finally I return to classroom sanitize tables and sharpen pencils for the next day.

I have learned that entering the classroom with a positive attitude makes the work day go better and that preparation and organization or the key to a successful classroom experience. The administrative staff are on the same team as the teachers, which means they are supportive in providing for student learning, nurturing, and care. Management runs a tight but fair school environment. The co-workers work as a team. The grade levels work together in preparing lesson plains, making worksheet copies for each other, advising each other, and overall supporting one another.

There is not really a hard part to the job, but it is most important to maintain time management when an unplanned event occurs during the day, such as a student having a behavioral outburst in an inclusive classroom. One must keep the other students focused and on task while redirecting the student who had the outburst. The most enjoyable part of the job is to be able to help a child get an understanding and to see the expression on his or her face when it is received.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The students and some dedicated faculty.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?

The lack of leadership among the staff is concerning. Those with the most experience and advanced degrees should be the first to demonstrate proactive problem-solving. Instead, many do not seek to understand; rather, they focus on demanding to be understood.


What is the work environment and culture like at the company?

Given that the building is over sixty years old, it may be beneficial to address environmental concerns such as mold, insect & rodent issues, and dust accumulation to better support staff health and wellbeing. Enhancing the onboarding and integration process for new staff could also strengthen the overall work culture and reduce feelings of isolation. Additionally, providing customer-service and interpersonal-skills training for support staff—particularly those in bookkeeping and attendance roles—may improve communication and ensure that educators, including those new to Georgia’s procedures, receive consistent and helpful guidance. Implementing these improvements could contribute to a more supportive and effective work environment for all employees.


What is a typical day like for you at the company?
A typical day in this environment felt consistently stressful, complicated, disorganized, exhausting, and uncomfortable, ultimately affecting both my wellbeing and my ability to work effectively. The overall culture and environment were deeply unhealthy and could be described as severely toxic.

As a new teacher coming into the field, I have to say that Ccps is not the best school to come into/ start your career. While in other areas of the Departments have their criterias all organized so teachers don't spend too much time organizing their lesson plans and classroom plans off hours, my department does not have that which causes my work life balance to be harder on me. The children are not disciplined due to the area, and really makes it hard for new teachers to feel like they make an impact. 
Several co-workers also has issues with management in the broader ccps Department due to lack of communication and transparency in the area. If you're trying to get teaching hours in to receive your degree I would heavily recommend going to a different county, as the student teaching management is a joke.
While other counties like Henry and Forsyth may not pay as well, I believe the students and management are well more responsible and ready for teachers to have a healthier lifestyle then Clayton County.
Currently this county has a shortage of teachers coming in, and I truly believe that is because of the students disrespect to the teachers that makes many teachers stray away from this County. 
The last thing I'll say is that there paternity leave is straight up a joke. You will only have six weeks of paternity leave before you return back to the classroom as a teacher, and that's after your first year. We as parents need more time for our kids and our spouses during those first few months then what Clayton County is offering.

Although in my profession, Clayton County had a really bad rep. We were literally told, while in school...to "stay away from ClayCo". I'm glad I don't listen and have a rebel mentality. I was given the blessing of being able to work at the elementary, middle and high school. And everyone of the teachers and staff at all three schools were an absolute joy to work with. It sucks that the school of my choice was the only place I had a problem with anyone. And they just happen to be right in my department and my department only. Luckily, I had the backing of all the teachers and principals to help keep me grounded. If I could go back I would. But I'll have to wait till they're all retired out. One down, one to go. I won't hold my breath for that last one though. If only the walls could talk. Back to what I was saying, Clayton County is not as bad as everyone makes it out to seem. It's really not. All the teachers move in one accord. I've never noticed or seen anyone have any problems. And it's a school, there is a LOT of gossip to be had. Stuff spreads like real wildfire. And everyone has the same goal....the children/students. It's nice to know and see a huge group collectively with the same goals in mind, sharing the same passions burning as intensely as the next. I am truly and have always been inspired by Clayton County Public School system and the teachers and staff that work there.

8:00-8:30	
          1. Review my to-do list from yesterday
          2. Re-prioritize my list for today 
          The list has
                • Must do today
                • Should do today
                • I hope I have time for this
          3. Sort through my e-mail
                • Delete worthless messages
                • Answer emails
                • Sort out those that require more time or extra work to answer 
                        – move them to my to-do list.

8:30-10:30	
        Since this is my most productive time of day I try to tackle my most demanding project. 
        This is when I would write important letters, work on a report for the school board, update 
        or refine a data sheet. 

11:00	
        Great time for meetings.  This is a nice to take a break from desk work and it has a 
        definite end time (lunch)

12:00 
        Lunch (Away from my desk, because I need to refresh and rejuvenate)

1:00	
        Return phone calls, respond to emails, work on to-do list

2:30-4:00	
        Do data entry, send or pay bills, prepare mailings, things that are more routine and 
        don’t require as much energy.  This is a good time to get routine jobs complete.

4:00-5:00	
        Burst of final effort to complete my to-do list. Sort out things that can be moved 
        to tomorrow’s list.  This time of day is my best ‘sorting’ time – complete short, 
        easy projects, request information from others for my projects, clean off my desk, etc.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Competitive teacher's pay, diversity, and room for advancement.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
We are a Title I school district so you must be comfortable teaching within that student demographic.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
It truly feels like we are a family. There are many unifying activities meant to bring us all together- holiday festivities, discounts on sports or arts event tickets, special faculty events, etc.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
For me, as a teacher, I am never bored. I report at 7:45, sign in and go to my classroom. Students are released to us by 8:10am and we are expected to stand in the hallway to greet them. Then class begins at 8:20am. I have 3 blocks of students to teach with an average of thirty students per class. I have one block as my planning period where we meet for collaborative planning twice a week, occasional  trainings, and overall personal planning.  By 3:15, the students are dismissed . I tutor or do grading until 3:45 and then I leave for the day. Throughout the day, teachers may have lunch duty, door duty or hall duty, depending on what they are assigned during the semester.
Dealing with children, no day is the same but no one bothers me. I love my students. I do my job and no one disrupts that.

Having the responsibility of transporting students to and from school each day is quite an important position. It was a good feeling to get up and get prepared to meet each student eargerly waiting for me for our commute to the schools each day and likewise, in the afternoon.  

Time management was key in this role and beneficial to me in that I had a 4.5 hour break during the a.m. and p.m. commute. This break allowed me to do other tasks that I had to get done during regular business hours such as doctors appointments, grocery shopping, preparing dinner, or just whatever I needed to get done on any given day. I was able to balance my home and work life more efficiently. After my p.m. commute, I was free to get home to relax and prepare for the next day without any problem.

The most important thing on this job was being on schedule without any delays each day and I was quite successful at doing this.

The most enjoyable part of this position was watching the students receive awards for their school achievements.

Worked for CCPS for 29 years and when I started it was a fun place to work. It was family oriented and when you needed time off for family it was easy to get off. As time went on the culture changed to a political one and if you did not suck up to people you would be over looked. I went back to school to get a BS and then got my MBA because we were told that if we got these things done we could move up in the system. This did not happen for me because of the culture there. When it came to students it was more important to keep them in school so the system could get the money from the Government instead of teaching these kids respect for adults and teach them the things they need to know to finish college. They will tell you that this is not true but over the 29 years that I was there I saw it first hand and even talked to students when they came to work with us for summer. In my opinion this organization is only about what can I get for myself and not what I can do for others. I would not recommend working for this organization until the cultural has been changed and this will not happen until the parents I the county start holding the administration accountable for their actions.

A typical day for me was being on the jobsite at 7:00am and reporting to duty. This duty included controlling and regulating the cars, when parents dropped off their kids. After about 45 mins. of this, I would then prepare to teach a full day of class. I taught all aspects of fine art to kids from grade levels of k-5. My work load included six periods which lasted 40 minutes. Classroom management was a big part of the day. My average class size was 35 students per class. It was this way because, I had to teach a full class, plus 1/3 of another class. Many coworkers were good to work with. At the end of the day, I also had evening duty which lasted another 45 minutes. All of this, plus recording grades for the kids was the entirety of my job description. I would say the hardest part of my job was trying to manage about 700 kids in a week under sometimes hostile conditions. The most enjoyable part of my day was actually reaching a child with a positive experience of what art was about.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Paraprofessional 170 salaries reported	$26,922 per year
Special education paraprofessional 124 salaries reported	$27,315 per year
Senior custodian 36 salaries reported	$32,378 per year
Teacher 3 salaries reported	$55,333 per year
Elementary school teacher 39 salaries reported	$29,139 per year

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