Glendale Elementary School District Employee Reviews for Special Education Teacher

What do you like about working at Glendale Elementary School District?

"I love working with like-minded people who are passionate about what they do and helping kids."

Do you have any tips for others interviewing with this company?

"Like any teaching position, if you're passionate about helping others and reaching kids, then communicate it in your interview and you'll be halfway there. Just be prepared to find out that teaching is not really a career so much as it is charity work for people who could probably be doing much more financially rewarding things elsewhere. This is especially the case in Arizona, where teacher pay can be as low as 24,000 a year."

What don't you like about working at Glendale Elementary School District?

"Work-life balance for any teaching job is pretty horrendous. In addition, having just a couple of really uncooperative students can ruin the whole year and make it extremely difficult just to survive at work even while putting in insane hours. I'm actually fortunate in having an awesome class of kids this time around, but last year was real difficult. The problem lies in the bureaucracy and limited power of the school systems. When misbehavior is tolerated on a regular basis, it becomes the culture of the school, and it destroys the potential of everyone else in the learning environment. There's also the issue of self respect. In a retail job, if a customer is rude to you and cusses you out for no reason then the manager would generally be expected to back you up. In a teaching job, if a student is rude to you for no reason and cusses you out then the principal generally assumes there is something wrong with you or the way you do your job. Whether that's justified or not. In addition, teaching as a profession is structured in a way that is deeply destructive to children and teachers alike. Generally speaking, the least experienced teachers wind up with the students who have the highest needs and most disadvantaged backgrounds. The more affluent areas lure away veteran teachers to teach children brought up in a suburban environment with highly educated and active parents. The least affluent areas hire people who require on-the-job training and basically stick them with a class of their own with no safety net. It makes absolutely no sense from a moral standpoint or one that is interested in ensuring all children receive a quality education. In my honest opinion, classes of students should be classified as high need based on their ability compared to their same age peered and possibly their background. Such high needs classes should only be able to be taught by veteran teachers with a proven track record. In exchange for the additional challenges that come with such a class, those teachers should receive an equivalent amount of additional pay."

What suggestions do you have for management?

"We have a great principal. She is one of the best things about my job. However, the work-life balance (or imbalance if you prefer) is what is currently prompting me to consider changing careers."