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Teacher Films Herself Telling Students She’s Quitting Over ‘Unlivable Pay’

Teacher Films Herself Telling Students She’s Quitting Over ‘Unlivable Pay’

The US teacher's video to promote better staff salaries has now been watched over 500,000 times

Anonymous

Anonymous

A school teacher who claimed to have been paid an 'unlivable salary' filmed herself telling her students she was quitting to outline the heartbreak of what she had been led to do thanks to her low pay. Take a look below:

Alyssa Aponte posted the viral video on TikTok, which ended up getting over 500,000 views, to promote 'unlivable' salaries that teachers earn in the US.

The video has since instigated calls to raise teachers' pay across the country, according to the Independent.

Alyssa said: "I simply can't survive like this and they don't care."

Her eighth-grade students, aged 13 and 14, can be heard reacting in surprise to the announcement in the video.

"F**k is up with teachers leaving bro?" one of the students says.

The moment was so emotional for Alyssa that at some points, she was seen wiping tears from her eyes.

TikTok/@mividamahalia

A subsequent video the following day offered a better explanation for Alyssa's decision to quit her role.

She confirmed she was only asking for a change to the schedule for her payments and not to her actual salary.

She claimed a month's rent costs her $1,800 (£1,365) but the salary she received was only $2,200 per month (£1,668), split into two instalments.

At the moment, her salary is split between 12 months but she would prefer it to be split between nine - it is assumed this is to take school holidays into consideration when teachers don't work.

According to Alyssa, other school districts allow teachers to choose between the two but for some reason her district will not allow it.

TikTok/@mividamahalia

She said: "Normally that wouldn't be a problem if I was making a full annual salary.

"But because my salary is very, very much smaller than what it would normally be because I didn't start at the school in the very beginning of the school year because I just moved, they are taking that smaller salary and still stretching it all the way till next August."

Alyssa claimed in the video she would have to search for low-skill side hustle gigs like bartending to earn enough cash to live on.

Several TikTok users responded in support of Alyssa's step and promoted teachers' cause, with one writing: "We need to value what teachers do for us.

"Teachers need to be paid accordingly. They are loving, caring, and educating our kids."

Another wrote: "School districts would rather keep bad teachers than pay enough money to good teachers."

Words by: Charlie Metcalfe

Featured Image Credit: TikTok/@mividamahalia

Topics: School, US News, Teacher, TikTok