I teach middle school Spanish in Indianapolis. I have been thinking about getting out of teaching for the past year, but my experience with HR really solidified things for me. We are allowed 10 PTO days per year, and each time I’ve asked HR if I can use one of my days, she says that there is no one to cover. Administrators take off whenever they’d like, mind you. But since teachers are actually just there as babysitters, I can’t even use my time off. The only time I have actually gotten off is when I got COVID, and that was a struggle too. I dragged myself into work although I was feeling ill, knowing that any request to stay home would be denied. I got half way through the day when I barely felt like I could walk, let alone teach a room full of 11 year olds. I begged the other Spanish teacher to cover for me, she gladly agreed, and I went to HR to tell her I am very sick and going home. I was crying and clearly weak and ill. She told me “I can’t let you go, take some ibuprofen.” She didn’t even feign concern for my well-being. I told her I got coverage and I AM going home. I immediately tested positive for COVID, and was finally able to take a few days off…only because they had no other choice. I have 2 more days of school and then I am getting OUT of the classroom. I make $50K to deal with post-pandemic, entitled private school kids and the head of school makes $300K to sit in her office and pretend this isn’t a giant dumpster fire.