Is it normal to be a JOAT in K12?

There are a few districts that are big enough for specialized IT staff. I would venture a guess that 90%+ of districts have JOATs. That's a funny acronym btw.

Anyhow, I was a JOAT for over a decade and now work for a large university in a fairly specialized engineering position. I think my time in k12 gave me such a wide variety of experience that it actually helps to give me a good holistic perspective on things.

You need to know what you want to do. Know that you will always suck at something. And that's okay. Don't let that be used against you to justify your district to continue paying you $15 an hour. That's a joke. I started working for k12 and made slightly more than that in the early 2000's. You're worth more than this. The only way I've seen my own pay increase in k12 was to get job offers and give the district the opportunity to counter. That's the only way I've seen myself and my co-workers move forward in their careers. I hope you're young and new to the field to be paid thus. If you're out of college and full time, then that pay is criminal.

/r/k12sysadmin Thread