teacher

bus driver

substitute teacher

lifeguard

special assistant

Fort Wayne Community Schools

Hopefully, the clamp is still on the door, which should keep the racoons out, upon arrive to your bus most days in the dark.  It's very quiet on the bus as you perform a '10 minute pre-trip' inspection to ensure the bus is in excellent condition - road worthy, clean and safe. Looking over documentation regarding new riders, new stops, discontinued stops, closed bridges, road construction ...watching the clock to be sure you're leaving on time or 1 - 2 minutes early for traffic. Watching the clock to ensure you are on schedule, for each stop, being a defensive driver, watching mirrors every 5-10 seconds for safety (hazards: road conditions, vehicles, people), greeting the students "good morning" as they board the bus, sometimes I may say "good morning Mr ____ (last name)" or "Miss _____ (word on jacket or shirt), in a cheery tone to welcoming them. Thanking those who throw their trash in the can.  Sometimes I get on the microphone to remind _____, your seat is #10, or ____, keep your hands to your self  (if it is a repeated behavior usually just saying their name is enough). I have learned that when students invite me into their conversation I use the time to give wise counsel, having learned not to answer every question - "don't attend every party" student(s) invite you to,  a bus driver is not just transporting students from home to school and back again - there are social issues and distorted perceptions they are trained up in at home that are counter-productive in society. As a "teacher, grandmother, mother, aunt or helper" role in the eyes of the students - allow them to teach me who they are.  Some co-workers are very helpful with tips and ideas on certain situations or giving you information on how to proceed in a matter. The hardest part of the job: today, there are so many laws on the books, disciplining/educating children according to the standard has been hindered - parents threatening law-suits rules, confusing children. Do to limits of authority and personnel it is difficult at times to manage 110 children with my back to them and drive safely - numerous times having to pull the bus over to regain safety and order or have police come to talk and /or remove students. The most enjoyable part of this job is the drive into school in the morning, or when troubled students are not riding the bus home in the afternoon,  when I am facing students engaged in conversation  regarding doing what is right, or finding out what their interests, desires and dreams are,  helping them to deal with problems in school/home/bus, when I step off the bus to attend a school program, or have lunch with students, talking with teachers about student behaviors, taking groups of students with other adults to events, places, programs to experience life/education in a different setting other than the school building

After a handful of years as a teaching assistant, it is clear to me that I entered the realm of childhood education with dreams that simply were not meant to be. I can not recommend the role of teaching assistant to anyone like myself who wants to work in a good system of checks and balances. Someone like myself who wants the doors to administration to be open, not slammed shut out of disrespect to the workers on the frontlines. Someone like myself who wants results when work is being performed. 

I am not the only one who values communication, purposeful group meetings, open and honest dialogue about issues with the idea of solving problems in mind. However, my mindset is not compatible with that of the modern elementary school. My passions shouldn't be answered with what essentially translates to "if you don't like it, leave." The culture at-large seems to be driven by a bizarre concept of wearing a veil to what clearly ails the system: the problems of apathy and parental non-involvement, and administration's policies on coddling parents rather than holding them accountable for their children's behavior. 

While I may take away from the job a fairly strong sense of compassion for the students I connected with, I can't say the same for my peers; particularly those who have the power to make change, but choose to not use it. I would concede that my frustrations are limited to my particular role as assistant, but I worked with teachers daily who shared my same critical analyses of the system as a whole. They're stressed and bothered, many to the point of leaving education altogether. It shouldn't be that way.

I appreciate the good things, but simply can't let the bad things go. They're too plentiful to be swept under rugs, ignored, and disintegrated by excessive focus on 'positive reinforcement interventions.'

Overall this was a very poor experience at FWCS, although I fully will admit that was unfortunately due to my achool and not necessarily reflective of the broader district. The principal had a very poor view of their position. They were far more focused on the school's academic success and performance on standardized tests than they were on the students' or staff's well being. The environment and culture was overall very poor. Most of the staff was friendly to one another and supported each other well. The building coach was exceptional and much more helpful and supportive than the principal. Student behavior overall was out of control. The principal's approach and response to behavior was very poor and they had a tendency of sending students back to the classroom very shortly after they were removed, only for the student to continue their disruptive and inappropriate behaviors. Staff would fairly consistently voice their dissatisfaction to the principal, and the principal would respond with a dismissive "it is what it is" attitude. We were expected to be very flexible and adaptable to constant changes in the schedule and operations of the school, yet the principal would not accept or hear any of our ideas in turn for them to be more flexible or adaptable with us. Consistent and pointless meetings and "optional" teams that we were actually mandatory for us to join took up much of our plan time. This experience gave me a very poor taste in teaching for the large public school corporation and I would not recommend this teaching experience to others.

I worked as a student advocate. The job was at times very enjoyable as you got to work hands on with students. That was the best part. This role is a fairly new position and as a result many things were not clear/communicated well.  You are given some basic standards to follow by, but that  quickly all falls apart. Your direct supervisor is within the security department yet you work in the building under a Principal. Thats where the problem comes in, as you will be tasked and graded on things happening in the building yet your supervisor is hardly around to know what's happening. The leadership in the building I worked for was very ego driven and there was a huge emphasis on hierarchy. It's more about respecting those in power and less about doing what's right for the kids and families. I felt like the mission was not about the kids/students at FWCS. There is a huge disconnect between the security department that you work for and the school you actually work in. That makes it very challenging to do well in the job, since you have to try to appease to both. I brought forth these concerns, yet they were thrown under the rug and not taken seriously. I was told I'm the problem. Even though the job of working with the kids was rewarding, the uncertainty and lack of clarity with the position makes it extremely difficult to succeed. There is too much focus on people pleasing. Lastly, there is no clear path for growth at FWCS in the role. Overall, I would not recommend the job.

The day begins with everyone in our building greeting children no matter what your role is during the day.  Every child at our building knows they are going to be welcomed in the morning and wished a great day.  Every child is also offered breakfast and then reports to their classroom.  We have professional learning meetings and learn the most effective ways to work with students.  I have worked under very friendly principals, great leaders and I have also worked under principals who don't even greet you when you come in each morning nor know how to manage a building.  Sometimes the turnover doesn't seem bad and other times it feels we're constantly replacing staff.  The most difficult part of the day is trying to figure out what is most effective with certain behaviors of children.  The most enjoyable part of the job is definitely seeing the student's progress and observing their joy of learning, especially when it just clicks for them!  There are virtually no insurance opportunities for classified staff!

Had a long career at FWCS, until I moved out of state. If you happen to be a Network Technician, listen closely. You will be pulled in many ways, always have "a ton" to do and will have more "bosses" than you will want. My honest opinion is that you are like a little lemming doing whatever they throw at you. Your opinion will only matter if no one above you can decide/ certain people agree with you. Start of school expect 100's of tickets to do. Close to winter break that number will be down. Plus don't get offended by how many things you MUST cover...phones/ projectors/ computers/ laptops/ ipads/ smart boards/ networking drops/ paperwork/ meetings and so on. The best things are that you will have a full day, good benefits, and more work than you can handle on most days. Bad parts are: you will have at least 3 bosses telling what to do, have to attend "worthless" meetings and "bend" the rules when needed. You will also have a director that has been quoted as stating "if you don't like what we do here, feel free to find a different job". And forget about advancing, unless someone dies or leaves their job.

A typical day at work was the teaching experience with a follow-up of application or project based learning.  I am not bragging, but I was a master at classroom management and organization.  Teachers in the midwest are more relaxed and teaching is more of a natural flow.  I am substituting now in Florida where teaching is a little more stressful and about 10 years behind in curriculum and development.  There hardest part of my job was trying to meet the needs to pass the statewide testing, because it often took away from the natural flow of learning in a sequential order.  The most enjoyable part of teaching was noticing the complete understanding of a lesson from a student that had difficulty at first.  I also enjoyed the personal relationship and commonality of culture having grew up in the inner-city of Cleveland, Ohio.  I enjoy teaching period.

A typical day at work sign and start at 9:00 a.m., go to the class room to assistant the teacher or student. around 11:00am take the students to wash their hands and take them to the lunch room, before I leave the lunch room help wash the tables down and them take kids  outside for 15 min for recess, and then line kids up and returned back into the building and help out again, then leave at 1:00p.m signout. I learned to work with kids and I learned they say the crazy things.Management was unorganizated.  There was no communication among the staff.  i got along with everyone...but there were staff when I got there were talking about each other..that I didn't want to hear...I just wanted to do my job.. like everyone, so I was not on anyone side, staying out of people business. 
Most enjoyable part of the job teaching the kids how to jump rope, hotscotch, and playing marbles that they never played any of these activities before.

Teachers endure principals coming in multiple times a month to stare at them and nitpick. Teachers are docked for poor classroom management for things beyond their control. Children are rewarded for disruptive behaviors by administration. Teachers are forced into hour long meetings after a long teaching day 3+ times per week, forcing them to take their work home on a daily basis or stay late to put their classrooms back together. District is always changing curriculum entirely so every year feels like you’re a brand new teacher. Lesson plans must be turned in weekly like you’re an untrusted child. Principals assign seats during meetings so that you’re not sitting by your “friends”. Teachers are treated like children versus professionals, and until you leave the profession entirely, you truly do not see how far from a professional you were treated. It’s a different world within the walls of public schools for this particular career. 

Working here for 7 years has been stressful. I’ve loved all of my students, but leadership and accountability on their part has never been a strength of theirs. They have big ideas but lack follow through and they do not listen to teacher input despite their surveys they send out. They’ll shell out money for ineffective programs that have been proven to lack the outcomes they claim to achieve. Instead of trusting their teachers they force these programs on us that go against best practice. We are held to higher standards than those above our pay-grade. They ask why retention is low and then dismiss our voices. The union is weak so they can’t be relied upon to protect us from bad building principals and the district ignores it or makes excuses. I stay for my students and my coworkers, but new programs being pushed are creating workers instead of learners and many of us are looking elsewhere as we are being transformed into proctors and facilitators instead of teachers. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Teacher 3 salaries reported	$56,667 per year
Bus driver 1 salary reported	$25.04 per hour
Substitute teacher 6 salaries reported	$125 per day
Lifeguard 6 salaries reported	$16.00 per hour
Special assistant 2 salaries reported	$16.07 per hour

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