To make a long story short, my family and I have had a lot of transitions in the last year (changing jobs, rethinking budgets and life goals, whether to have kids, etc.). Also recently, a parent was diagnosed with a terminal (though unpredictable illness, ALS) and relocated back to my city to be close to myself and a sibling. The parent is still living on their own (barely) and will soon need more interventions and daily help. I don't have a good relationship with this parent, so this has been especially paralyzing to have them back in my world.
I'm an educator (left a TT position at a local university because of some personal politics and actual blackmail/ethics stuff, switched to secondary ed last year). Been in education 14 years at this point, and I'm wondering if I'm truly burned out to the point of no return, or if there's something I can do to bring the joy back to the job. Last year, the first in my new gig, was wonderful--I was so excited by the idea that my administration wasn't unethical (so much as I know) and wasn't driving a personal agenda against my work that I enjoyed almost every moment of it, and I mostly enjoy working with teens.
But this year, coming back to school has felt nothing but draining. It's only week 1, and I already feel like I'm working too much for next to no pay ($44k, which for the record, is about what I made at the local university). I'm not sure if it's a function of a draining summer (moving the ill parent, working extra to make money and pay cash for some house needs, etc.), or if this is the result of 14 years in education. I take home a lot of work (though not as much as many teachers) because I run a career tech ed program in media that requires the normal teacher load plus a ton of other stuff.
So, I guess I'm asking for ideas on how to combat teacher burnout, or whether other educators here reached a point of no return? I feel like with my degrees, professional and educational experience that I'd have a lot to offer outside education, and I guess I'm wondering if now, at 35 years old, I should start to look more seriously to find a job with better work-life balance and higher pay?
(Short btw here: don't have FU money but are solidly on track for retirement, no debt except mortgage and we are able to max out our IRAs plus contribute to pension education accounts. Spouse is also an educator).
I'll take any and kind/compassionate suggestions here on what I could do to survive this year and also how I can start to think about whether this burnout is a temporary result of the stress of the last year, or whether it might signal something more permanent? I'm looking for a good therapist now, too, so hopefully that will help.