Pros
Love the kids here, they are amazing and push me to be a better TA. TA supervisor is incredibly supportive and receptive. Have a number of great coworkers who really care about the students and making the school a better place. Benefits and time off are great. The new superintendent seems great so far.
Cons
School environment under the now-retired superintendent was not great. I am hopeful with a new, Deaf interim supt that many things will improve. There are so many things I could list here that myself and fellow staff have struggled with over the years. As others have mentioned, admin are not the most receptive to new ideas. There is a lot of hemming and hawing when there should be clear communication and expectations set for the use of sim-com/use of voice in the deaf dept (research and evidence shows sim-com not an effective communication and hurts language, yet admin refuses to take a stand and be firm with staff who continue to use it). There are not clear behavior systems with rewards/consequences in place and there is a lot of inconsistency with boundaries, so no wonder a lot of our kids continue to struggle with behavior. We have been understaffed which also impacts our ability to provide for our students. I have witnessed many students be turned away for discriminatory reasons (trauma-induced behavior that is punished instead of providing resources to support and heal, racial and socio-economic discrimination). Communication between different departments (school/dorm, teachers/TAs, admin/staff) is confusing, non-transparent, unclear, or non-existent. TAs are often the last to know about things that directly affect us and the students we work with, at times students will know things before we do. TA pay is really low considering everything we do - apparently it is based on pay scale for TAs at other schools in the area, but whereas they work primarily in classrooms, we are also responsible for driving and riding on home-going routes weekly-biweekly, subbing for teachers, and supervising students and helping them get ready in the dorms in the mornings and in the cafeteria.
I am very hopeful that many of these issues will improve under the new superintendent, who so far seems to be very proactive, with a wealth of experience, and a great listener and advocate.