Basics:
K12 Learning offers remote teaching positions, both full-time and part-time to credentialed educators
Expected pay: $20 – $25 per hour
Husl$core: $$$
Commissions & fees: N/A
Where: Nationwide
Requirements: Appropriate credentials, pass a background check, experience, other requirements vary by position
Teachers looking for remote work may want to consider K12 Learning, a division of Stride Learning. The site hires teachers for both part-time and full-time remote positions around the country.
What is K12 Learning?
K12 Learning is the elementary and secondary education arm of Stride Learning, a site that provides remote learning opportunities for kids, teachers, adult learners and some professionals. The site enlists both classroom teachers, as well as special education and administrative specialists to work remotely on a full-time or part-time basis.
How it works:
Each job — and there are hundreds available across the country — has separate requirements. However, they almost all require that you’re a licensed/credentialed teacher in the state where you’ll be teaching, have experience, a bachelor’s degree and can pass a background check.
Full-time jobs come with benefits and, sometimes, performance bonuses. Part-time jobs are paid by the hour.
You must apply to get any job. And the interview process will work much like a normal job interview, except that interviews are likely to be remote/online.
K12 Learning review (from a teacher’s perspective):
The vast majority of jobs offered through K12 Learning are remote/work-from-home positions. And that is their main selling point. If you need the flexibility to work from home, this site offers almost exclusively work-from-home opportunities.
The flip side is that jobs with K12 Learning are generally not highly paid. Indeed, K12’s parent company — Stride Learning — says it factors a bunch of criteria into pay decisions, including the area, competitive pay for the position and required travel. But typically, offers are in “the bottom half of the range. ”
Hourly teaching positions usually pay between $20 and $25 per hour. Full-time jobs appear to range from about $45,000 to $55,000 annually, including any promised bonus. These jobs are described as requiring 40+ hours per week, so your hourly pay works out to about the same as the hourly teacher pay.
However full-time jobs do include a benefit package.
Overworked and underpaid
Indeed, the most common complaint we see from K-12/Stride Learning teachers is that they’re overworked and underpaid. Teachers with traditional staff positions often complain about low pay too. But pay with K12 seems a bit stingier than normal.
Part-time positions
In addition to full-time remote teaching, special education and administrative positions, K12 offers part-time tutoring options. Tutors determine their own hours of availability. K12 will schedule 30-to-60-minute sessions during those available time slots, notifying tutors when a session is booked.
Pay
With full-time positions, the frequency of pay is determined by the school district in which the teacher is working. Most offer either monthly or bi-monthly payments. Teachers are often also given the option of 12 equal payments, even though they typically have two months off over the summer, or monthly payments for the months they work only.
Those who have part-time tutoring positions are paid once every two weeks.
Varying demand
With the part-time tutoring positions, demand can vary markedly. Tutors in some areas say they have no trouble finding work. In other regions, tutors say gigs are few and far between.
In regions where the jobs are scant, K12 has told tutors to troll around for clients. However, the main benefit of tutoring through K12 is normally that you don’t have to do your own marketing. The site simply sends you clients.
Say’s one tutor: If I have to find my own clients, I also want to set my own rates.
Recommendations
K12 is worth a try for those looking for full-time work and only able to teach remotely. You can sign up through Stride Learning here. But, if you’re only looking for part-time teaching and tutoring positions, we think there are better options. For instance, teachers who want to develop their own curriculum should consider Outschool.
Outschool allows you to develop your own classes, determine how much to charge for each class, when to offer the courses and how many students can attend. The site books students in exchange for a portion of your revenue.
If you prefer to tutor one-on-one, Wyzant is SideHusl.com’s top pick. It allows tutors to create a profile, state what subjects they tutor, what they charge and when they’re available. Wyzant also simply takes a commission off your earnings.
Micromanagement is excessive, professionalism is undervalued, and leadership often implements major changes before systems or staff are ready. Communication and planning are inconsistent, creating stress and confusion. The only real perk is that you get to work from home.
There is no clear communication on how your raise is determined, always less than 2%. OT is rarely given and when it is approved it’s only a few hours for a very limited amount of time.
I have been teaching at a Stride K12 school for 2 years now and I couldn’t be happier. The employee benefits such as tuition reimbursement, paid parental leave, employer sponsored health benefits and more are unmatched! While we do have to keep traditional school hours, there is some flexibility in regards to appointments, kids events, etc. Each school is different but the K12 company itself is a great place to work.
Can be a good place to work (depending on the school) but also excessive workload is usually an issue. Collaboration is encouraged and professional development is offered frequently.
When I was hired for this position as a long term substitute, I was supposed to get 2 weeks of onboarding before being assigned. That didn’t happen. The only training I received was some powerpoint sessions that expected me to utilize the websites I didn’t have access to. During the first two weeks, the management continually expected me to do things I had little training on or had access to the websites for. In addition to this, I was told that I could not take a lunch break as I was a contractor. Management was constantly checking on me to see if I was at my designated office. I have worked as an online teacher for awhile and never heard of this before. Due to the extreme micromanagement and confusion over duties and access to important websites, I quit.
Do not work here. You are expected to teach 11-12 live classes every day. And run the OLS for classroom of over 60 students, also required to create curriculum weekly, NO DAILY PLANNING PERIOD PROVIDED.
This company does allow you to work from home as a teacher. However you have so many other responsibilities including going to testing centers to give state tests, building your own virtual classroom in the platform and making numerous phone calls weekly. It is exhausting and in many ways much harder than being in a classroom.
