I'm going to try to be completely fair in this review:
The stipend is so low that it's downright insulting.
Deviating from CY culture and expressing discontent is frowned upon.
Long hours. For instance, I was expected at work at 7:40 and 95% of the time did not leave until 6:40. Having a nap while on hours is not allowed. Driving a car while on hours is not allowed (not even if you have your own car and your own health insurance). Riding a bicycle without a helment, however is OK with the rules. Rules are poorly thought out and unevenly enforced.
While there are many high achieving corps members in CY, work ethic is extremely varied and tends toward a lack of accountability. Those who chose not to hold themselves responsible are usually not held responsible. In general, CY is more caught up in enforcing details in the rules such as not being EVEN ONE MINUTE LATE to "team circle" or having one's shirt tucked in than it is to important things like, you know, actually doing work while at work.
Corps members are required to wear a dehumanizing uniform. I could deal with wearing a jacket and a pair of khaki pants, but there are a lot of little rules about the uniform that one can be written up about: socks MUST be black or white. Hair bands MUST be black. Wear a watch and a hair band on the same wrist? Don't even think about it. Lose your mandated nametag? Get ready to spend what equates to like 3 hours of work (seriously!) on a replacement nametag.
There is a disparity when it comes to what different CY sites actually DO in schools....this even occurs between different schools at the same site. Some sites just do tutoring. Some sites just do in classroom assisting. Etc, etc.
Many things are done inefficiently for no apparent reason (i.e. how trainings are run, websites required for use, how attendance is kept track of...it goes on and on). Over and over I was told the same schpeal : "sometimes it seems like this isn't the best way to do things, but trust City Year!"
Worst of all: I have some serious beef with the CY service model. It didn't start out as an in schools non profit, and I have the feeling that the switch was made largely because it's easier to rustle up money for such causes.
Recruits are anywhere from 17-24, mostly fresh out of high school or college. Pretty much nobody has any formal education training. CY provides trainings but the quality of those trainings varies from site to site and are generally NOT run by teaching professionals or any other such qualified individuals but rather senior corps members or staff who are training on education mostly through the lens of their previous experience solely with CY. Needless to say, trainings are NOT good enough. Corps members are essentially given a few blitz trainings on "helping children read!" and are then handed a list of students and are thrown into a school and are told to "start tutoring in literacy." Teachers at the school often are totally clueless about why CMs are pulling students out of their classrooms--some schools have awkward or downright poor relationships with CY, though to be fair some have great relationships as well.
I can only speak from my experience at my site in CA, but CMs were also expected to run an extended day after school program. That means actual classes, not just playing outside and babysitting. Most CMs are totally unqualified to be doing such work (including myself when I first started). I can say that being thrown into a classroom with minimal training and experience was one of the worst, most stressful experiences of my life. A good learning experiences, but also literally one of the worst experiences of my life.
On the whole, the experience is largely shaped by the program at your particular school, your team, and your manager (as with most jobs).
