Teacher's Dream or Teacher's Nightmare?

Homeschooling is a teacher's nightmare. . . .

• The pay is even worse than usual.
  


• Regardless of their specializations, faculty are required to teach every subject, every day.
  


• Every year requires a new prep. Faculty are prohibited from teaching the same grade twice.
  


• Faculty are expected to provide the entire budget—for equipment, resources, help from specialists, extracurriculars, everything—out of their own personal finances.
  


• The students see the faculty as parents first and teachers second: there is no “professional distance.”
  


• There are no free periods; no solitude during lunch or recess.
  


• Opportunities for professional development are underfunded.
  


• Instructors cannot count on NEA support. Sometimes the NEA actively opposes them.
  


• September doesn't bring a new crop of students. Teachers don't get to start fresh or meet new faces.
  


• The retirement plan stinks. So does the medical. And the insurance.
  


• Little peer support is available. Faculty don't share lunch in the lounge.
  


• Instructors don't ever teach the same topic twice. They have no opportunity to rework or improve a lesson during the next class or the following school year.
  


• There is no janitorial staff. Teachers are responsible for cleaning their rooms.
  


• The institution doesn't offer any on-the-job training or refresher courses. Keeping up with the latest educational thinking is left to the faculty.
  


• The school day never ends.
  

Homeschooling is a teacher's dream. . . .

• The class sizes are small.
  


• All parents are fully committed to their children's education.
  


• Instructors control their own curricula.
  


• Classrooms have windows. The thermostats work.
  


• None of the students come from dysfunctional homes.
  


• Ample opportunities exist to bond with students outside of the classroom setting.
  


• No union membership is required.
  


• There are no faculty meetings.
  


• Teachers can hug the students without being charged with sexual harassment.
  


• The institution is always open to new ideas, methods, and subjects.
  


• Students don't disappear into the void every June, never to be heard from again.
  


• The work environment is warm, inviting, and free of cockroaches. There is adequate faculty parking.
  


• Coordinating cross-disciplinary lessons is a breeze. (The history teacher, for example, is always willing to offer lessons on the Civil War while the English teacher is working on The Red Badge of Courage.)
  


• Instructors don't have to “teach to the test.”
  


• Parents invariably support faculty decisions.
  


• Faculty can choose their own textbooks and instructional materials.
  


• No overpaid consultants sell the school on “systems,” “methodologies,” or other easy answers.
  


• Teachers do not hear from lawyers if they give unsatisfactory grades or discuss religious beliefs in the classroom.
  


• The schedule is flexible.
  


• The cafeteria is excellent, though self-serve.
  


• The administration doesn't dictate an instructor's pedagogical methods.
  


• Teachers see the long-term fruits of their work.
  


• The school doesn't even have a mission statement, but education is, truly, its number one concern.