I worked as a preschool teacher for the majority of the last 2 1/2 years. I got Covid, I worked unpaid overtime, I bought supplies with my own money, and, by the end of it, I couldn't afford to eat and pay my bills even though I was working 40-50 hours a week. I decided to go back to college and finish my degree in my passion. I gave them about a month's notice as a courtesy. Well, after I told them I'd be leaving, things started to get somehow worse. I was moved from my home classroom to other classes without notice and without any pattern. My schedule was repeatedly changed. I was called into the office and told I'd be written up for letting parents know their children had been injured and for another teacher missing his break (I was not scheduled to give him his break). I'd had it. I have poor mental health on a decent day, but this had put me to the edge. I had a few weeks left to work, but I was miserable and literally starving and on the edge of eviction. I thought very seriously about suicide. But, I took a chance and decided it wasn't worth it. I loved the kids in my class, I truly did. But quitting earlier than planned was the healthiest choice I've made in a long time. I feel for the kids right now, but being a teacher is unsustainable, and the retaliation I received after years of being praised and love-bombed, proved to me this was an abusive relationship. I've been doing private nanny gigs, walking dogs, and selling art to make it until my next job as a special fx artist starts. It's a dream job for me and I never would've gotten it if I'd stayed longer. At the end of my employment, I was “donating” plasma to pay rent. I hope the US opens its eyes to the fact that education, even for young children, can't function like this and we will all suffer for it. I hope, too, that the teachers still out there know that they are so, so valuable and that being worn down doesn't mean you don't care for your class. But you can't continue ue to take care of those kids when you can't take care of yourself.
As an aside, thank you to this sub for teaching me to pee on the clock. Changed my whole mindset, actually.