teacher

elementary school teacher

english teacher

academic interventionist

high school teacher

Detroit Public Schools Community District

The position allowed for me to have a good overall insight into the state of public education; the issues that impact students’ lives and pose barriers to learning; connect in a meaningful way with staff and students. The onboarding process was cumbersome and frustrating due to the lack of available HR staff to process new hires. It is common to be promised one salary but given one that is thousands of dollars less due to clerical errors and misunderstandings. It takes a long time to advocate for the pay you deserve and to have it adjusted in your salary. Once in, it is a stable income with a decent amount of vacation and health benefits (but very costly). You have to buy your own short term and long term disability insurance. Even if you receive a raise or bonus, you end of having to pay more benefits, so it balances out. Having the right principal can make or break your success. Principals are under a TREMENDOUS amount of stress and are paid comparatively less than other districts. They appear to have mental health and physical health issues and are pulled in many directions. Central Administration comes up with initiatives and directives at the last minute, which gets puts on principals, which in turn get placed on professional student support staff (i.e. counselors, attendance agents, social workers, master teachers, etc). If you don’t have a classroom assigned, such as support staff, you will be used to substitute, perform lunch duty and even teach classes on a regular basis, if you have a teaching certificate. Furthermore, there is very little appreciation of teachers and staff in general. The only thing that makes the job bearable are the highly skilled, kind and dedicated staff members that you meet along the way. They become your friends for life, as they are the only ones who understand your “mental scars.”

I was a public school teacher in a large urban district.  Teaching can be a very rewarding career as I help to shape my students lives and provide them with knowledge, experiences, and information they would otherwise not likely receive.  The experience I took away from teaching is that no two people are alike.  Everyone has different learning styles and individual needs that must be met in order for successful learning to take place.  I also learned that the actual teaching part of the day sometimes takes a back seat to the other tasks in my daily routine that included: social work, nursing, custodian, problem solver, referee, food provider, and the list goes on.  Teaching in perhaps the most rewarding career that one can choose, it can also be one of the most frustrating.  I can think of no other job that provides as important a service as teaching our young children.  Not only does it prepare them for their future education, it prepares them for life..

What is the best part of working at the company?
The best part of working at this company is working with a terrific staff. I enjoy working with students and connecting with our parents at Boe Elementary Middle School. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
My job is not stressful, but I would say communication with staff at times. But overall we have great support when needed.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment and culture at Bow School is professional and family oriented. We have a great team that supports our students especially with challenges. Every one is treated with respect and loving like a family.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
A typical day for me at Bow School is busy. My position as a Parent Outreach Coordinator can be busy at times, but when it comes to serving our parents and students needs I consider myself the mother of the school.

I thoroughly enjoy working for DPSCD, as my school administrators are great people.; The benefits that come with the job are nice, however... Be Aware- DPSCD ‘offers free employee life insurance’ at 1x your salary match, upon hiring, with no questions. But there is a catch that isn’t disclosed - when   selecting your initial Life Insurance benefits, if you want to purchase additional coverage at a cost and you are denied the extra coverage for any reasons, you CANNOT EVER get the ‘free 1x salary’ benefits. And you also cannot select the free coverage and ‘see if you qualify’ to purchase additional coverage. I felt that it would have been  nice to be told, ‘For the initial enrollment, if you have ANY type of health issues, select only the free coverage, and at open enrollment then attempt to increase the coverage.’ I mean, who wouldn’t take a ‘free Life Insurance’ policy? Fortunately, I have an outside policy, but it just sucked a little to not know, as I felt cheated.

I worked in Central Office and it was, by far, the worst management I have ever had the displeasure of working under. They play favorites, ‘strongly encourage’ their employees to work after hours, ridicule their employees for perceived errors, and disregard any feedback on their management style or the working conditions. They micromanage central office workers while under-managing their principles. 6 people resigned from a 12 person team at DPSCD - Central Office in under a year (2022). Not sure why the high turnover is not a cause for concern with the Superintendent. 

If you pursue a role there, make sure you’re compensated at the top of the scale. The workload will let you know that they were likely lowballing you… oh… and the fisher building has roaches.

Working at DPSCD is a different experience because as a teacher every move you make is calculated. You cannot use any type of work for students outside the curriculum because you will be reminded about how much the district pays for the curriculum and anything that may help students to understand a subject is frowned upon. This district pretty much is going for a robotizied education, basically wanting all classrooms to be the same and teachers to teach the same using a script from the curriculum. They tell you to be creative but only with their approval while spending your own money on supplies. 

I worked as an Art Teacher there; I found it extremely difficult to get through lessons due to the out of control behavior from students. Student behavior ranged from basic disrespect to physical fights, misusing/defacing supplies, climbing and jumping off desks, leaving/skipping class, etc. I found I was doing more disciplining than teaching--it felt like a prison or correctional facility at times. For me, it was a waste of my time and energy and completely unfair to the students who were prepared to learn that my attention was focused elsewhere. I had no personal problems with the administration and the pay was satisfactory for me. Overall, even with the good benefits and schedule, it was very hard to stay motivated.

Being a large district makes much of what they say seem great in practice but not on paper. The Whole Child approach is great if you have enough resources to actually meet their needs. Too large class sizes, not enough funding. I work at a Multicultural School that services ESL students, yet we have not had any actual translators since I started working. I have been given no support on how to meet the needs of non-English speakers. From day one it has been a "just figure it out" attitude, whether it is from having to service those ESL students or implement a half-baked new behavior initiative. No training. No support. Just figure it out. But also while doing 50 other responsibilities teachers aren't responsible for in other districts, like still tracking and updating student 80's files by hand. The only positive is the union. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Assisting Teacher with special needs students and applying my skills in various areas of the building. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
When students do not come to school on a regular basis after excelling very well in the learning process. If there attendance is poor they lose the interest and easy loses what was previously accomplished. That's some what stressful but yearn for there return. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Acceptable yet everyone has a not so good day. I just stay focused with my purpose for which I'm there for " students".

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
My job is always being attentive to the students and staff on a daily basis. Trying to keep busy to make my day productive.

What is the best part of working at the company?
It was a fulfilling experience for many of the years I worked.  Some negative experiences I even learning some tools of the trade.  I also experienced and witnessed negative things that were discouraging.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The students who challenged instruction daily due to their behavioral issues. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
It was positive depending on the staff and it's neighborhood.  If rooted and ground connections were not made, it can be discouraging and depressing to go to work.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Greeting students, taking attendance while they had breakfast, Do Nows, Instruction of lessons, managing student issues and implementing methods that I hope helped.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Teacher 15 salaries reported	$74,837 per year
Elementary school teacher 9 salaries reported	$87,400 per year
English teacher 2 salaries reported	$74,500 per year
Academic interventionist 9 salaries reported	$42,851 per year
High school teacher 8 salaries reported	$2,904 per month

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