teacher

elementary school teacher

english teacher

preschool teacher

high school teacher

Oklahoma City Public Schools

I see around 60-70 students a day. The school day is split into 4 different classes with a lunch in the middle. I see high school first thing in the morning and end my day with middle school every afternoon. We try to start with bell work and work on some aspect of music for our lesson. I have one plan period designated for me each day, however, that's usually filled up with covering another class or a professional development training or a meeting. I have amazing co-workers. They are always looking for ways to improve their performance and ways to help others. Being a first year teacher, this year has been very challenging. I have learned a lot about what I'm looking for in a work environment, as well as, how much I can tolerate from a day to day basis. The hardest part of the job is doing your job if there happens to be no support from specific parts of the building workers. The most enjoyable part of my job is being able to teacher and relate and bond with young people who have an amazing outlook on life. It's incredible work to help young people realize their dreams/aspirations and help them work toward that passion.

I joined this district under a great supervisor. They began making a ton of changes regarding documentation, billing OHCA, caseload sizes (80+ students), etc. and they demoted her and put somebody in charge of both the SLPs and the OT/PT department, which is too much for one person with a district of over 50 schools. My caseload size more than doubled after that and my supervisor and administrators have no working knowledge of OT or PT. Then they stopped hiring OT and PT department employees through the district and only hire through contract companies and initially were encouraging current employees to move to one company in particular, which didn't even provide paper contracts to sign. 

I love working with the kids and most of the people in the buildings are great to work with but the administration at OKCPS is not it. They preach staff retention but then give extreme workloads and micromanage employees. We've filled out 3 or 4 calendars for our weekly schedules, not just buildings we're in but which students we're seeing and when. I've talked with enough people across several departments to know that it is not specific to the related services department. 

I wouldn't recommend OKCPS to any OT or PT under the current administration. 

Compared to other jobs in the area, Oklahoma City Public Schools pays teachers well, but assistants, clerical workers are paid peanuts. Compensation is rated a 3. (I could not get it to stick.)  The district puts a lot of stress on teachers, overloads them with paperwork. Everything is blamed on the teachers. Teachers are basically on their own and are scapegoats for the ills of the district. Leadership (for the most part) is poor. I gave job security a one star because after you get close to the top of the payscale, it is well known that you are not wanted anymore. It does not matter how good you are. If you have connections with the right people you have job security. If not, well you had better take tough skin because you will be accused of anything and everything to push you out. The administration is not competant to keep records straight, so you have to watch everything with a great amount of detail. You will have to watch you paycheck closely for errors or intended mistakes. The district hopes that you don't look at the check too closely.  The values are very liberal. People with conservative values will have a difficult time reconciling their personal values with district policy. 

Depending on what dept you work in, the days could be stressful or pretty lax. Most of the people with the stressful jobs are doing triple the work of those with the relaxed jobs not putting in much effort to cover what needs to be done. And the pay that some directors and leadership management get here is way more than you would expect while the people that get all the day to day work dumped on them get paid well below average. They do not work with you if you try and continue your education unless you are a teacher that qualifies within a certain grant like special ed... If you complete a degree while employed you will not be compensated nor promoted unless there is a vacant position you apply for and somehow get hired for. If you are hired in as a director or other executive level then you're all good, but if not expect there to be a communication barrier where your voice will not be heard. Even making an official complaint to HR dept does not give you a voice. The PTO and Insurance allowances are great, and I have heard stories of this once having been a great place to work but it has since turned into something not as pleasant.

I taught middle school for one year in Oklahoma City. I did not have a classroom of my own; I had to roll a cart from one room to the next with all of my materials loaded on it. I did not have any textbooks for my subject or district-supplied materials, such as dictionaries (I taught foreign language) or even pencils and paper, which I had to supply out of my own funds. As a new teacher, I received no meaningful mentoring or support from the school or district. Student discipline was non-existent as the principal consistently chose to side with students to undermine teacher effectiveness. This same principal often screamed at teachers, or scolded them for minor infractions over the intercom for the entire school population to hear. In order to develop curriculum and grade the required number of assignments for the 150 students I taught each semester, I worked an average of 3 hours a night after school. For this I earned $30k a year with benefits so bad that I opted to use my husband's benefits instead. And people wonder why teachers leave the profession.

Principals and I don't always see eye to eye. The Vice Principal doesn't seem to get Special Ed. But I just do what I have to do.  Most of the time we get along and even laugh together.  Culture isn't so bad.  People get frustrated with Principals and Admin.  micro managing and not getting back to them. They are constantly in a meeting or not reading e-mails. Though my aides talk too much, they are the most understanding of special ed. kids I've seen.  They were also used to being in the classroom with teachers that did not care, like their job, or were always absent before me.  My aides will go at bat for me and I will them.  The kids are the reason for the job.  They surprise me and make me smile every day.  Parents are great if they know you care and expect a lot for their child.  Paperwork isn't so hard since it's all on computer now. IEP's aren't so scary.  There's a tutorial for that and with a little guidance it's fine.

While working here I encountered some of the worst examples of manipulation and cut-throat backstabbing. This job played out like a bad daytime soap opera. As an executive assistant, it was hard to get any meaningful work done because most of the time I was playing referee or mediator to grown people acting like the children we were in care of during the school day. I worked for several administrators and it was always obvious who the favorites were and were not, and they were treated accordingly(Unfair as it may have been!) The support personnel union was a joke. No help for the many complaints that they surely took in. If you're planning on working at this company plan on doing your job and going home. To succeed in this job your politic playing and manipulation techniques better be on point.

There are (or were) lots of pros about working for OKCPS as a teacher. Lots of autonomy on lessons, more accepting of teachers with different kinds of beliefs and ways of life, and overall was a great place to work.

Not anymore. There is no communication in administration (but they'll still expect you to know everything and attend things that were announced at the last minute) and everything we teach is being controlled. This specifically isn't just an OKCPS issue, I'm sure, but I wanted to address it since teacher autonomy was one of the biggest reasons I taught here for so long. 

Leadership will be sure to patronize and treat you as if you don't know what you're doing. You also get no say in defending yourself without being labeled as the villain. Let's just say this -- it's clear that this district does not care in the slighest about keeping teachers happy and safe or keeping them, period. The lack of respect from leadership is proof of that enough. 

Arrive early, greet children, and attempt to bring out the best in each child.

I learn each day that no matter our age, race, or financial status, we can learn something from everyone.

Managing a classroom while the home room teacher is absent can be quite challenging, but the rewards far outweigh any challenges. Home room teacher notes assist a great deal.

Other teachers are there to assist when needed which relieves pressure.

The hardest part of my job is enforcing the established classroom discipline procedures (because they look so sweet and innocent).

The most enjoyable part of my job is leaving proud/praise notes for the home room teacher. Another enjoyable part of my job is witnessing a child grasp a concept that they have been struggling with.

A typical day at work included clerical duties (Microsoft word/Excel/Windows-computer literate) coping and filing confidential, private information. Interacting with students and keeping them organized with their academic studies and prompting correct behavior skills. Maintaining open lines of communication with parents and co-workers. No supervision needed to successfully function on the job. The most enjoyable part of this job was seeing students understand academic concepts or accomplish a physical exercise that brought joy to the student. The co-workers were encouraging and very easy to work along side of. The hardest part of this job is knowing the students will be promoted to the next grade and contact with each of them will be minimal and saying good-bye over the summer to the children and co-workers.
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Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Teacher 1 salary reported	$28.00 per hour
Elementary school teacher 2 salaries reported	$28.00 per hour
English teacher 1 salary reported	$28.00 per hour
Preschool teacher 9 salaries reported	$2,026 per month
High school teacher 3 salaries reported	$47,667 per year

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