I work at an elementary school as an educational assistant. I got the job right after quitting another job, where I was making about $3k/month, but was constantly threatened with being fired after being thrown into situations sink-or-swim style. It was a community mental health nonprofit as well, so everything I was threatened with was under the guise of being helpful and healthful.
I love the job I have now. I love the kids, i love the work. Seeing their minds expand as they learn is the absolute most rewarding thing. But I make $900/month full-time. I was given very little information about pay when I was hired because they were so desperate for workers, and I took it because I was so sick of being home doing nothing. I found out that my pay was being split according to the school year, so it’s fixed every month, except in June when I get 3 paychecks (they’re supposed to pay regular employees during the summer months, but I am contracted and it ends in June, so my pay is 5 months of work being split into 8 months of paychecks, with the last three paychecks being given to me simultaneously).
I can’t afford to work here anymore. I work 8hrs/day until 2:45, then go home and do 5-7hrs of remote work for my side job where I make $12.50. I’m losing my mind.
The teacher I work with is amazing, and she believes that I am meant to work in Kindergarten. Her former EA was borderline abusive to the kids that struggle emotionally in the class, which there is a substantial amount of because this school is in a very poor part of my town. I feel awful because the teacher probably both expects me to leave, but hopes I don’t. She called me “a bright light that will always be welcomed in the classroom” in the class’s newsletter. I’m so broken.
Schools need so much more funding so the students can get the attention and help they deserve from staff.