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I’m a former SPED para looking for part time WFH data entry work — any suggestions or help would be nost appreciated.

Actually it would be “most” appreciated, but I'll play fair and remove “proofreading skills” from my resume…. Bullet List Rant: Used to work a mind-breakingly stressful, underpaying job as a special education paraeducator. Yes, this was in the American public school system. I performed this job for 15 years. I miss my students, but I do not miss the stress, the dangerous conditions, the 4E (dodging fake bullets/barricading classrooms) trainings, the low pay (I started at $8k per year and resigned at a whopping $14k per year!), wage freezes that lasted for years on end, and the angry/stressed/unapologetically checked out coworkers. Do not miss the administrators earning six figures above the rest of us peasants, while simultaneously throwing each and every one of us under the proverbial bus any time a parent had an issue. This happened frequently to the certified staff. Those people sure don't get paid enough, either.…


Actually it would be “most” appreciated, but I'll play fair and remove “proofreading skills” from my resume….

Bullet List Rant:

  • Used to work a mind-breakingly stressful, underpaying job as a special education paraeducator. Yes, this was in the American public school system. I performed this job for 15 years.

  • I miss my students, but I do not miss the stress, the dangerous conditions, the 4E (dodging fake bullets/barricading classrooms) trainings, the low pay (I started at $8k per year and resigned at a whopping $14k per year!), wage freezes that lasted for years on end, and the angry/stressed/unapologetically checked out coworkers.

  • Do not miss the administrators earning six figures above the rest of us peasants, while simultaneously throwing each and every one of us under the proverbial bus any time a parent had an issue. This happened frequently to the certified staff. Those people sure don't get paid enough, either. Paras are more like the grunt labor. Teachers are like the whipping boys. All of us have university degrees. It's hilarious.

Anyone here who has worked in (American) education understands where I am coming from. It is a hell. A soul crushing, life threatening, you'll-also-get-sick-with-something-every-two-weeks hell. Oh! And sometimes there's head lice. (Twice for me!)

Fun times. But hey, they gave us free post-its and highlighters as annual thank you's! Sometimes they'll give you a $5 gift card to Panera. (Meanwhile your wage frozen paychecks go backwards.)

I quit the job in 2020 when my district sent out a farty email boasting that they would not be enforcing face masks. It was political performance art for the large conservative demographic in my area. I'm glad I walked away from the job, because a number of my former colleagues contracted the 2020 “ground zero”, no vaccine Covid and a handful of them are still suffering with complications for which I can guarantee the school district takes no responsibility.

Anyway, after much reflection, and rest, and therapy… I would like to bring in some income to the household. I do not want to go back to my old career. They want me back, but that's a nope from me.

I'm just looking for something part time. You know… 25 hours a week. Like actual part time, not 39.999 hours per week so they can screw me out of dental for full time work.

I also do not want to deal with people's problems — I spent 15 years as a poverty-level “psychiatrist” and teacher to both elementary students and my emotionally disturbed coworkers. I can't do that anymore. The compassion fatigue is real, even now after a two year hiatus. My therapist said that the job gave me PTSD. Who knows. Probably. I'd been physically attacked by dysregulated students so many times, plus the many times we had to go into soft lockdowns. Once there was a hard lockdown because an angry parent (of my student!) pulled up to the school with a loaded shotgun. He was tackled by the cops as soon as he stepped out of his pickup truck — you guys never see headlines about the shootings that almost, but didn't, happen. Lol, they occur a lot! It's awesome. (It's not awesome.)

I'm thinking data entry is low on the “dealing with other people's bullshit” scale.

I only have experience in public education. But I did record a lot of data, because that's expected of all educators these days. Ask any teacher or para.

Working from home seems to be more popular now. I'd prefer that. Gas prices are awful. There is no public transit where I live. My car is also from 2002. It's the vehicle of a public educator!  I'd really like to not spend my hourly wage on car wear and tear, plus gas.

I live in the USA, as stated above. Central Standard time zone. (Aka the bible belt.)

If anyone has part time, WFH suggestions, I'm all ears.

TL;DR
I'm a burned out former paraeducator and after a two year mental health day, I want to earn some money working from home doing something super antisocial like data entry or mundane clerical work or remote/satellite contract killing — you know the normal stuff. Lol

Oh internet gods, please let the redditors have a sense of humor.

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