Pros
The experience of teaching in a classroom setting and the rewards that come with being a teacher.
Cons
The children have a lot of issues, and many need special services. The children are aggressive and violent, and talk back to teachers. The parents are even worse sometimes. And even WORSE are the people they hire! Assistant teachers who yell and text on their phones all day and do not respect their lead teacher at all. Assistants who talk like they're from the street in front of the children. I've seen teachers hit students and curse at them. You can complain until you're blue in the face and nothing is done about it. There are cliques formed and a lot of nasty talk and back stabbling. They want you to teach a curriculum and follow DOE and ELL guidelines. UPK is supposed to prep the kids for Kindergarten, but they do not want you to push homework on them and allow parents to stroll in at any time! This place is part of the economic problems in decaying urban communities and I'm glad to be done with them. What I witnessed and experienced there was very sad and stressful; heartbreaking.