teacher

para educator

elementary school teacher

safety officer

bus driver

Highline Public Schools

I was hired with the promise that I would be trained and supported. That never happened. From day one, I was given high-level responsibilities like processing payroll, tracking time, managing absences, handling billing, and correcting pay issues—with minimal instruction or onboarding.

I was never provided with any policy documents or told where to access them. Expectations around things like attendance or scheduling were never explained—yet I was later disciplined based on those exact standards. When I asked for training or clarification, I was often ignored or brushed off.

I eventually received delayed training on part of my role—but it came right before a scheduled and approved vacation, followed by pressure to immediately finish a backlog of tasks with no additional support. I was also spoken to in a way that felt demeaning and overly authoritative, including being “commanded” to do things by a new director. It was clear that management valued control over communication.

Despite all of this, I stayed professional, made up missed time on weekends, and worked hard to keep payroll running smoothly. But the lack of support, structure, and respect made the job unsustainable—mentally and emotionally.

If you’re going to place someone in a critical role, provide the training and structure they need to succeed. Don’t expect silence and compliance to make up for poor leadership. If your employees are burned out or disengaged within 90 days, that’s not a performance issue, it’s a management failure.

From early morning to early afternoon, waves of students flood the hallways as I'm greeted by teachers happy to see that I'm checking on the technology in their classrooms. From laptops to document cameras, it's always a busy environment to ensure every device is working correctly. Two years of this passing by has taught me not only valuable information on operating systems, network troubleshooting and computer hardware and peripherals, but also how to engage your clients on a daily basis. Keeping up with mounds of emails and making sure every person is connected to each other throughout both schools is daunting, but if kept on top, it's a breeze. Establishing a trusted partnership with your co-workers is only hard if you display no effort in the work you do. In some cases, a little bit a passion in the daily efforts you squeeze out can go a long way. Even though I'm still a pawn in the scheme of things, I feel like I still have the empowerment for making my voice loud and clear in the meetings that my department conducts. After all, I help make things happen in my two schools and I'm proud of that. So any chance I get, I'm willing to get down to brass tacks to keep the educational value of our school district at it's optimum.

Highline could be an excellent place to work at or a horrible place to work at — it is what you make it. Also, your experience depends on who is your supervisor and what school/ department you’re working with. For the most part, it’s a decent school district to work at, and most positions offer competitive salaries. The problem with Highline is that it has spent years communicating the great things that are happening in the district, but the reality is that many of those programs or initiatives are not properly implemented, so they don’t feel as great as they sound. This is because most leaders are just making things up as they go, are not being held accountable for actually doing the work, or are more concerned about doing the next best thing ( bigger is better) and not with simplifying the work so that less is done at a higher quality. 

Ask a lot of questions if you are interested in working in Highline so that you make an educated decision and have realistic expectations. 

I was a contracted substitute, working every day, but paid on the teachers pay scale. On most days, I found out where I was teaching after I left home. I learned how to motivate and educate students despite not having a daily experience with them. Managing my students initially was the biggest challenge, but it became less stressful as my time in the position lengthened. Not knowing where I would be was still the hardest part of the job. I could be in a calculus class one day, and a pre-K class the next, and a class of severely handicapped the third day. You learn to adapt very quickly. That actually became something I enjoyed. I still had tough days, where a few students felt that, as a substitute, I did not have as strong a line of discipline as their regular teacher. You learn what battles to fight, and which ones to let slide.

It's a great place to work because either full of opportunities for advancement. Leadership shares the same vision that includes giving back to the community, inclusivoty, equity, and becoming an anti-racist organization. The pay is amazing as well as the benefit and you are guaranteed a raise each new school year. You can swap jobs whenever you see an opening that suits your fancy and they are truly supportive of personal needs, flexibility with working remotely,  and the ability to flex time or work additional hours for overtime or extra pay. I feel valued and cared for at work. 

Split Shifts, often committing to 12 hours a day to receive 8 hours of pay.  Teamsters Union, bid routes, heavy traffic challenging route timeframes.  I have provided 17 school years of service.

Patience is a virtue.  Children are challenging boundaries daily.

I have not received an annual review in 3 years by current management.

High turnover, bus driver shortage, no air conditioning or access to restrooms in route.

I have had the pleasure of driving many wonderful children.  I have driven my grandchildren during my route as well as taken them to 6th grade camp.

high stress
We are surrounded by genuine and caring people. The moto of “great employees only” not only acts as a core value, but truly encompasses our expectations of each other. As a team, we use each other to talk through situations, to stay sane after a rough day, and to push each other to go past our comfort zones. Sure, there are perks like cooking in the kitchen on your birthday month, carpooling and lunch programs, manufacturer trainings, but we also have book clubs, coaching, mentoring, and mindfulness training. It’s not about the perks it’s about the people. Because of the fast paced environment there can be some tougher days, but I do believe that comes along with any career path.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Camaraderie with the people I work with in the maintenance dept

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
No managerial support you are left to problem solve yourself and if wrong you take the fall. Lack of leadership and unavailability of supplies to complete jobs

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
It's good works better without management interference but apart from that very good

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
It can be a chore sometimes with vandalism occurring but mainly enjoyable days

What is the best part of working at the company?
Students and families as well as teacher and staff.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Limited behavior supports for students 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Hard working and mindful. We are very busy. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I arrive at 7:30 and plan for the day or week until 9am. Pick up students, teach one group about core literacy and math standards. At 1:20 I teach a second group of students the same thing. I teach at a dual language school.

What is the best part of working at the company?
great place to work and everyone very supportive and help each other. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
It was not really stressful but sometimes its get pretty intense when things are not working the way people expected.  

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
WORK ENVIRONMENT AND CULTURE PRETTY UNIC AND FRIENDLY.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
My Role was always busy but I enjoined it while helping others.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Teacher 4 salaries reported	$94,498 per year
Para educator 1 salary reported	$26.27 per hour
Elementary school teacher 6 salaries reported	$66,156 per year
Safety officer 1 salary reported	$25.58 per hour
Bus driver 2 salaries reported	$31.97 per hour

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