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Permalink Reply by Phil on March 5, 2008 at 8:51am

Actually, I work in one of the better school districts. We go along with the state salary, but there are some perks here that do make this district a little better.

Overall, teaching is just a poor career choice. There really is not enough time to find another job during the summer, and usually the job is not a very good one.

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Permalink Reply by Nancy Bosch on March 5, 2008 at 9:01am

Years ago I read this letter in Ann Landers--"Dear Ann, I've always wanted to go to med school but I didn't do it when I was younger. If I go now I'll be 46 when I finish." Ann's reply? "You'll be 46 either way."

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Permalink Reply by Phil on March 5, 2008 at 1:52pm

Again, I am too far along. I have already paid the piper in two ways: 1) I worked for many years making very little money and 2) I have spent over $20,000 on continuing education since receiving my 1st college degree.

Next year I will be MA + 90 with 8 years experience.

Was it worth it? No. Do I tell my students that when we discuss career choices? Yes. Why? Because I wish another teacher would have told me that when I was younger.

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Permalink Reply by Phil on March 5, 2008 at 8:41pm

I have a friend who left private practice to go work for the city.

He was working for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and making amazing money. One of the more fascinating things he did was buy a condo in downtown Seattle that was within walking distance of work. He did this so he could get up at 2:00 AM and go make sure the servers were running ok! Dedication does have it's price.

Now he works for the city of Kent. Pay was cut in half but he works 8 hours a day with the weekends off.

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Permalink Reply by indigo196 on March 6, 2008 at 4:22am

Well.. I hope you find some happiness... I am lucky because I love technology and I get to do that for a job. Despite my being paid roughly 20K less than my peers outside education I think the environment is much better for having a family. I still work twelve months, but I do not have to beon call 24/7 and those around me understand and appreciate taking time for family events.

Certainly the extra 20K would be nice, but I prefer the time I get with my wife and three children.

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Permalink Reply by Phil on March 6, 2008 at 7:04am

I will be happy next year. I will finally break 50k and not be spending any of it on continuing education. And I am the technology teacher, and I love my current position.

My main point is that there is too little money made in the early years.

Several things are going against you financially:

1. You make very little money
2. You take what little money you have and put it back into continuing education
3. Loss of investment opportunity (you cannot make money if you cannot invest).

It is a painful process that I cannot recommend. You watch all your friends get ahead in life, buy a house, and have kids. You are driving a junker car (I actually picked up the ignition off the floor and started it with a screw driver) and hoping it makes it home everyday.

New teachers deserve more.

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Permalink Reply by Laura Gibbs on March 6, 2008 at 7:21am

I'm an instructor at a public university - I will never break 50K, and I watch tenure-track faculty making twice what I do, teaching less, with qualifications no different than mine. But I chose the instructor route so that I could keep my sanity and my integrity - and get to focus on teaching as opposed to research in the humanities (pretty useless stuff in general, if you ask me... and now that I am just an instructor, nobody asks, thank goodness! ha ha).

For me, the money factor is not decisive - the decisive factors are summers off, doing valuable work, and continuing to grow and learn as a person. I don't know that many jobs which offer that kind of freedom and opportunity. Putting money in the back for the future is not always worth selling your present for something less worthwhile. I have plenty of friends who finished school at the same time I did (admittedly, we are humanities students), not making much more than me when you figure it based on monthly pay, trapped in 12-month jobs (I love the summers off), and very unhappy with the work they actually do. For me, being happy, very happy, with the work I do is extremely important.

So, I'm not breaking 50K but I am happy nevertheless - although, I should add, I don't have children; it would be different then, of course. But the whole inequity of why salary scales don't take into account whether people have children or not is a different question, and probably a more important but insoluble question. It's absolutely insane that we pay people with no regard for whether they have children to support or not, but that is not something I will ever see change in my lifetime, I'm sure. My university doesn't even provide health care coverage for dependent children, and it costs a FORTUNE to add your children to your health care.

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Permalink Reply by Nancy Bosch on March 6, 2008 at 7:48am

After my "snide" Ann Landers comment I do want to say that I sympathize with Phil...I was lucky I was always a second income earner and now children are grown and through college. I guess my point was the same as yours Laura--job happiness is really important to me and I've been so lucky to work in a job I 've loved for 25 years. My first fulltime teaching contract was for $4200 a year.

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Permalink Reply by indigo196 on March 6, 2008 at 8:23am

They key:

Love your job. Appreciate your benefits. Don't worry about what your 'friends' make.

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Permalink Reply by Phil on March 6, 2008 at 12:45pm

Everybody wonders what others' make. If they didn't, they would all pick the wrong job.

Again, that is why I encourage my students to stay out of education. I compare salaries with them, and they clearly see why they shouldn't do it.

Permalink Reply by indigo196 on March 6, 2008 at 1:41pm

Do you discuss retirement benefits? Health benefits? Job Security? All of those things factor in to the total package, not just salary.

Permalink Reply by Phil on March 6, 2008 at 12:53pm

This thread started with some discussion about people feeling stuck in their job so that their wife could stay home with their kids. Others (me) pointed out that teaching never pays enough for my wife to stay home (and, believe me, this is what she wants).

Children changes everything.

That is why I delivered pizza for Pizza Hut last year. Despite having a Masters Degree.

Money should be a factor for career choice. It should only be second to doing what you love.

With almost 50% of teachers quitting before their 5th year, obviously they are hurting. And the #1 reason that teachers quit is money.

Therefore, I go back to what I said before--Teachers do NOT make enough money. 180 days per year or not. It just isn't happening.

Another point to add to this--which teachers are the ones quitting? I would guess the smarter, more motivated ones.

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