Too Much To Be Effective

"To teach is to touch a life forever."
This popular quote sums up the essence of my position as a teacher.  I take my job very seriously.  However, this year and for the last several years, my ability to teach effectively has been jeopardized greatly.

My class size of 28-31 students, all with varying abilities and behavior issues, makes it difficult to teach and reach those students who are in dire need of services.  In addition, I do not have a classroom of my own.  I float to five different locations within the building, having to use other teachers' classrooms.  Often, the rooms are too small to accommodate my students: a few have to sit in folding chairs when everyone is present.
Finally, the vast amount of paperwork, lesson plans on the server, SLC [School Leadership Committee] meetings and PLC [Professional Learning Community] meetings all eat away at my time.  In addition, I am the advisor for an after-school club, so I'm there many days until 4:00 p.m. and volunteer on weekends in various community service projects.

I love the students and teaching!  However, these factors make it impossible to do my job, and are leading to a burnout of the teaching profession.  I simply cannot continue with these conditions.  The loss of 2% of my salary is a constant reminder that the public and our elected officials do not value my services as they sit by as salary declines.
~Veteran High School Teacher