This Teacher Opened Up About Educators’ Salary Realities And Shared Her Side-Hustle Recommendations

Over 3.3 million full-time and part-time teachers in the United States public education system work to educate and nourish our next generations.
Yet, according to Salary.com, the nationwide average entry-level teaching salary is only forty-one thousand dollars.
Not only is this salary level hard to personally support oneself with, but teachers often have to foot the bill for other classroom-related expenses.
So, unfortunately, teachers are seriously struggling. And a 2021 study conducted by EdSource revealed that eighty-two percent of teachers had been forced to take on multiple jobs at once just to make ends meet.
One teacher named Lexie Firment is a part of that statistic. She recently took to TikTok to share her experiences as a teacher with numerous side hustles just to pay the bills, and the TikTok community has widely related to her story.
On June 16, Lexie shared her “teacher to service pipeline story” with her follower base.
“Today, two tables did not tip me, and I have one thousand and six hundred dollars in rent due in fifteen days. I cried mid-shift today. I can’t wait to play restaurant and broke teacher again tomorrow,” she wrote in one video.
People across the nation identified with her struggle, and the TikTok gained over one hundred and fifty thousand likes.
TikTok; pictured above is Lexie in one of her videos
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Two weeks later, Lexi posted again but, this time, about another side job– Instacart.
“Going straight from serving to Instacarting all night because I refuse to let myself settle for a lifestyle that is less than what I want for myself on a teaching salary,” she said.
Again, more teachers related to Lexie and even asked her for teaching side-hustle recommendations.
For this question, she created a follow-up video.
“You do not want a super big time commitment. So, my two recommendations are Instacart or nannying,” Lexie said.
She explained how, to be an Instacart delivery driver, you simply download the app and customize your schedule to whenever you are available.
“You literally just go grocery shopping for someone. I love it because I am such an introvert, so I thrive on this,” Lexie noted.
Her second recommendation– nannying– is also great since teachers hold a lot of credibilities.
Lexie suggests searching Facebook moms’ groups and taking on one-time gigs– such as date nights or after-school tutoring.
Finally, Lexie also waitresses on the side since she enjoys connecting with other adults, and teaching children all day can be draining.
Plus, on her account @Missfirment, Lexie connects with her follower base about other teacher topics, including wardrobe shopping and lesson planning.
To join Lexie’s community and support her effort in making teachers’ lifestyles and compensation more transparent, you can visit her account linked here.
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