Many area teachers work multiple jobs to maintain, survive

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) — As a teacher in Idaho Falls School District 91 and with a second job as a server at Jakers Bar and Grill, some of Jess Marboe's workdays can last up to 15 hours.

When she worked a third job — teaching English to children overseas through VIP Kid Teaching Portal for $8.50 an hour — some workdays would run even longer: 4 a.m. to 10 p.m., she told the Post Register .

By Tuesday night she's exhausted. She's been up since 7 a.m. teaching fifth-graders at Fox Hollow Elementary School before heading to Jaker's on Lindsay Boulevard .

Just 30 minutes after Fox Hollow students get out of school, Marboe can be seen at Jakers serving customers during the middle of the week.

Her teaching salary at Fox Hollow is $37,350. Working at Jaker's she makes $3.50 an hour plus tips. Marboe typically works two nights a week and often picks up additional shifts at the restaurant.

"I'm a little tired," Marboe said with a smile while serving two tables around 4 p.m. on March 12. "I feel like I'm always on the go."

Forty-thousand may sound like a decent income for a 25-year-old, but Marboe, who graduated from the University of Idaho in 2017, needs the second job to make ends meet. She's not the only Idaho Falls teacher who works multiple jobs during the school year.

Many teachers in Idaho, including Thunder Ridge High School Spanish teacher Kara Kearsley , work jobs either delivering pizzas or with online teaching courses to make ends meet.

Kearsley works at Royal Theaters every other weekend, trying to support her three children and her work toward a master's degree.

"I don't think you can have top-notch education in Idaho if you don't have great educators and, in order to have better educators, we have to pay better," Marboe said.

Nearly 1 in 5 public school...