I want to start this off by fully acknowledging that my complaint is essentially “I get paid too much” and that a ton of people would like to have that problem.
But here it goes:
I am a community college instructor. After working for close to a decade as an adjunct with no guarantee of employment semester to semester, I took a full time job at a different college than the one I used to work at. Well, the new place SUCKS. Not only do they have no consideration of a work/life balance, but the new job is in Wisconsin where the unions have been completely neutered. We teach 22 credits per semester (1.5x standard) and are constantly saddled with additional work that no union worth a damn would allow. Also, I honestly feel like my new college is ripping students off by not providing them with resources that are expected at a college. Our disability (accommodation) specialist is part time and rarely available, we don't have a freaking librarian, the list goes on.
Only problem is that I get paid pretty well. Not a ton more than other full-time positions, but the academic job market is brutal and I haven't even been able to land an interview after applying to a ton of jobs all over the country. So now I feel completely stuck at an institution I find morally repugnant because I'm making money for the first time in my life. I keep telling myself that I'm helping the students I get the best way I can, but it hurts knowing they would be getting a better education at pretty much any other community college.
I have considered a career change, but I worked so hard (and went into so much student loan debt) to be able to teach. What a screwed up system. Go into insurmountable debt just to participate in the scamming of the most disadvantaged students. I'm disgusted by my complicity but don't see a viable way out.