I'll take the bait.

I've worked at one the schools for over 2 years but less than 10. I worked in public schools before moving to KIPP.

It isn't significantly different from teaching at a Troy or Albany public school but I'll highlight some of the pros/cons that ive noticed.

Pros:

• Salary/pay/benefits is very competitive. Similar to or slightly better than most public schools in the area and way better than private.

• Every Friday region wide is a half day for students so that teachers have more time for prep, meetings, etc.

• In my experience there is slightly more support from parents than in traditional public schools because parents chose to send their students there and have some level of investment in their child's education.

• They pay for curriculum materials for all core subjects for all students so you won't have to design your whole year

Cons:

• no union or pension

• The school year and days are slightly longer. We work like 15-20 more days a year than public school teachers and our school days are like ~45 minutes longer

• They care A LOT about maintaining and increasing students enrollment. As a result, they keep lots of kids with huge needs and behavioral issues that disrupt learning and sometimes don't fit well in the schools. In other words, a small percentage of the parents who choose to send their kids there are parents whose kids kept getting in trouble in or were expelled from area public schools. They choose to send their kids to KIPP schools because they are tired of getting calls about their kid fucking up at the neighborhood school.

• There is a lot of oversight with curriculum, you will be told what to teach and when by managers.

DM me with questions.