 |
| This is what I run into every time! |
For 30+ years, I have been teaching. It began with homeschooling my own children; later I took on the children of many of my friends and neighbors. After I finished my bachelor’s in education, I also taught for a full year in my classroom while attending classes in Arizona. I worked for several years as a full-time substitute including at J.W. Eater in Rantoul. I completed my master’s degree while I was working at Eater.
Full-time subbing is like having your own class; at least, that's what it was like for me. I had a full semester as the music teacher and almost a full semester subbing for the 7th-grade math teacher, along with other substitute responsibilities while at Eater, Once I completed my masters’ degree, I went to work for Parkland Adult Education, where until December I taught for six years.
And yet, with all this education and experience, I can't find a teaching job even online without being certified. Why am I NOT certified, you might ask? Well, I finished both my bachelor’ and master’ degrees online through Ashford University, now part of the University of Arizona Global Campus. I was not able to get a position anywhere in Illinois to do my student teaching. I was told - erroneously, apparently - that if I did full-time subbing, that would count as my student teaching. WRONG! It doesn't count, and now the state tells me that even after all that education and teaching, I still need to take another year or more of college classes to be certified...or licensed as they call it here.
I don't want to go back to college. I need to work, and I still owe way too much money for student loans to have to take more.
The problem with finding work, even online, is that everyone hiring is either paying $12 an hour and offering 5-10 hours a week (definitely not enough), or they require you to be certified in the state you live in, or both.
I'm asking you, especially anyone who teaches or is on a school board, or works for the education department in ANY state: DOES THIS SOUND RIGHT TO YOU? IS IT FAIR? And what would you do if you were in my situation at my age? Would you go back to school, or just find something else?
It's just so frustrating after spending most of my life teaching to be stopped now. If it wasn't for my compromised immune system preventing me from going back to live classes, I would still be working at Parkland; but that's no longer possible. I feel like everything I've done to get to this point was for nothing.
Sorry. Just had to rant today. I'll be better tomorrow.
