Unpopular opinion: Rockstar teachers who spend $2,000 of their own money on classroom decor and stay until 7:00 PM every night are actually making things worse for the rest of us. It sets an unsustainable expectation for parents and admin that passion equals martyrdom. I’m a contract hours teacher because I have a family and a soul to maintain outside of this building. Are we allowed to just be good at our jobs without making it our entire personality?

Just settle for not being as good as this other person is. Why do they need to become less so that you feel better?

As Teddy Roosevelt once said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” Teaching is just a job, not a calling. Do the best you can and take care of yourself.

I think it’s ok to keep “teacher hours” to the contract. Yes, it’s ok to stay late sometimes, but it should not be a regular thing. The teacher that stays stays until 7pm tells me one of two things…first, they are a new teacher and don’t have time management skills yet, or two, they are younger and without a family yet. I agree, staying until 7 every night is way beyond the pale. I also don’t agree with Ok answer. That’s the passive aggressive route to making you feel guilty for spending more time with your family. I’m retired now after almost three decades in my 6th grade classroom. Putting in all that extra time doesn’t make one a better teacher, it only makes them putting in more time. Kids need to know you care about them, not that you stayed until 7pm.

Stay until 7 pm??? Who does this?? What school is open until 7 pm??? I wouldn't worry about those rock star teachers. Your life and family time is very important especially after work hours. Be there for your children, make time for yourself and your spouse. And spending $2,000 is way too much money for a classroom expenditures.

I feel like some of this is generational. I’ve met older teachers who put waaaayyy more effort especially money into their classroom where I see it as unfair (give us an adequate budget instead of saying we need to spend it with our own money). No other line of work has this skewed perception that you need to fund your own room like it’s your home-it’s. A. Job

"5 and Drive" they call people like you. It's petfectly fine, as long as you spend the "five" teaching and not indoctrinating kids on leftwing BS!

Don't be ridiculous. There is nothing wrong with someone who wants to work harder than others. Most of us put our own money in up to our comfort level. I routinely stayed until 7:00 pm when I was trying to figure things out. Don't be critical of someone else's priorities if they don't match yours.

I only stay later if my daughter is participating in something after school and wants me to pick her up later. Next year, I won't stay late at all, as she will be in college.
I do spend money though, usually because I want to teach something that we don't have the supplies for, or I want something different than my school district can get on their limited approved distributors. Most of the time it's yarn. (I teach art) The catalogs have the lease attractive string and gross looking textures and colors for their choices, so I go to Walmart or Hobby Lobby for nice colors and textures. Other than that type of thing, I have a few incentive items I get because I discovered that middle school kids like them as much as the elementary kids did.
I was moved to middle school this year- and am loving it!

So our school starts at 720 am and I am here everyday at 5 am to get ready for the day. Most of the time I am out of here by the end bell at 220pm. I try not to take anything home on weekends and most of the time I do not work on weekends at all. I also find ways to not buy too much for my classroom but find free ways to get product. Like Gilder Lehrman has a monthly give a way (posters and books). I also will watch for sales. I push the limits on my room and 80% of the walls are covered (fire code only allows that much).

I agree. You don't have to be dying at your desk and going broke in order to be an awesome teacher. I think teachers who do this aren't good at prioritizing their job and their time.
I left a career which demanded way to many hours of me for teaching.

I used to do that, spent money and loads of time. Towards the end I stopped donating my time. I still spent loads of money on my classroom beause I taught in a very poor area and I did it for the kids.

I get your frustration, I do. But instead of being upset with teachers for doing what they do to get the most out of their and students. I suggest pointing your frustrations at the parents, admins, and culture that sets us up to fail.

I spend around $200-300 every year to decorate my classroom. I feel that since I spend more time at work than at home, the room needs to be cozy and a reflection of myself. I've seen teachers with blank classrooms that are dismal and depressing. The students see the same thing and act accordingly. Make it your home because technically, it is! You will see a different attitude from your students also. They will also feel cozy and comfortable when they come into your room, and attitudes will change. And on that note, GO HOME! You staying at school doesn't get you brownie points! I did that my first 2 years of teaching, and wound up in the hospital with blood pressure sky high . Doctors couldn't figure out how i was still alive. By the grace of God, that's how! I learned, after being in the hospital for a week, that you can be replaced very quickly and administration doesn't care if you come back or not. They just want to know if you're not returning so they can replace you. After that incident, I went home when my kids left the class. I tidied up, put tomorrow's schedule on my desk, and WENT HOME! Best decision I made in my career. They don't care about us so we have to. Take care of you, because no one else will.

Please do not compare yourself/your classroom to that of other teachers'. The classroom "decor" should BE SELECTIVE to help you inspire the studs in achieving learning standards set by the state. Just retired from teaching science, but my out-of-pocket expenses amounted to about $1,500/ SY in AZ. Recycle what you can. Create your own, e.g. a marine ecosystem using the large plastic jar from pig skin and "marine" $1 items, plus bottled water, good for years! Create a routine at home where your family is settled and you can have quiet time to work on schoolwork. Unless there was a parent-teacher meeting, I always left school by 4:30pm. Explore a side gig - even cleaning houses bring excellent money - to bring variety and income to your days, or perhaps consider another career. Be confident that you are doing the best you can within a budget. AZ's philos changed to a "parent-led education" - including teacher being fired for correcting students' classroom behavior, including disrupting instruction with phone use. Bottomline: please develop a second set of skills. Best to you and your family.