Teacher considering move to Charlotte (King: rent, crime rate, look for a job)

[mjme2003]

To the poster who included the health care costs- thank you. Coming from the northeast your right I would not have thought to ask, and would have been surprised to see the cost so thanks for the info.

All this other alsray talk aside it was one of the most useful things I've read that will help me plan my move. Since my husband is in IT and often those jobs are as independent contractors without insurance I was planning on carrying the family insurance and now I can make a plan B so thanks alot for the helpful tip

[r-rated]

"mjme2003", medical coverage for teachers in North Carolina only covers the individual teacher not their spouse or children. To include your mate and children will cost an arm and a leg. It is outrageous what teachers are paid in NC, and to have the minimal health benefit coverage that doesn't even include you family is a slap in the face. That is the reason for the high teacher turnover in NC. Many teacher discover that it is a struggle to survive as a teacher in NC and they end up leaving...

[teacher322]

Thank you to all who gave me some information. Not that it matters but it does not look like we will make the move, looks like our standard of living would go down. Once again thank you for the info.

One last quick question.....does the Charlotte area have a hig Irish festival or Highland games sometime during the year?

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by r-rated

North Carolina's priorities are not in order. Teachers are not making any money and your principals are doing even worst. I know in New York the starting pay for assistant principals are about 80k (and up) and principals are in the 100's. I know the arguments by some of the regulars here on this thread are gonna be about how the taxes in North Carolina's homes are lower, your car and home insuanrances are lower etc. But they are not that much lower, they are just a LITTLE BIT lower. A teacher moving from NY or NJ will have their salaries cut almost in half. The price of food and clothes are the same if not higher, the standard of living is the same. The math just does not add up. North Carolina must increase teachers and principals salary...

We "must" not do any such thing if it means higher taxes. Again, it is a free country, and if the pay here for any profession is not what a person finds acceptable THEY DON'T HAVE TO MOVE HERE. But here's the reality, more people ARE moving here - in droves. Places like New Jersey are losing population and that is directly because of the ridiculous amount of taxes they rob their citizens of. NC has a great quality of life, great weather, great people and we want to keep it that way. Sounds like teacher322 has made up his mind to stay put - which may be the best decision for his family, and I wish him well. But after all, we don't want the entire northeast to relocate here anyway

[r-rated]

The entire northeast does not want to relocate to North Carolina. North Carolina does have a lot to offer and so does the Northeast. If we are going to offer information to people who are getting ready to make life altering moves we must provide them with the "truth". The truth is North Carolina does not pay its teachers well. That is the truth! If North Carolina wants to recruit the best teachers, North Carolina must increase teachers' salary. Increasing teachers' pay does not mean you have to raise taxes. And if you are paying taxes in order to improve your community, you are not being robbed if your tax dollars are being put to good use. "Teacher322" the decision you made was yours and you listened to what we had to say and you made your decision. I wish you the very best and good luck with whatever you decided to do. If you visited North Carolina and you simply love it there perhaps you can still move there and find a job that pays better than being a teacher...

[NCgirl]

Originally Posted by teacher322

One last quick question.....does the Charlotte area have a hig Irish festival or Highland games sometime during the year?

I'm not sure about Irish but there are quite a few Scottish Highland games in NC. The Loch Norman Highland Games (http://www.ruralhillfarm.org/loch.htm - broken link) are in Huntersville, just outside of Charlotte.

[XNYgirl]

My aunt pays $10k a year in property taxes up north. The biggest chunk of her taxes are to fund public school. She will not directly reap the benefits from her school tax dollars, but community wide turning out productive graduates is worth the cost to her.

NC doesn't pay it's teachers well because there is no union. Some teacher work weeks can go into 40- 60 hours with just teaching and mandatory stuff.

[icartp]

Originally Posted by XNYgirl

My aunt pays $10k a year in property taxes up north. The biggest chunk of her taxes are to fund public school. She will not directly reap the benefits from her school tax dollars, but community wide turning out productive graduates is worth the cost to her.

NC doesn't pay it's teachers well because there is no union. Some teacher work weeks can go into 40- 60 hours with just teaching and mandatory stuff.

"XNYgirl", be careful the word "union" is a dreaded word here, the regulars on this thread do not like to hear it, they will come after you. But I do agree with you 100%. If you are paying extra in taxes in order to support your school system there is no harm done, thats money well spent, money invested in our future. I don't understand the resentment displayed here by some on this thread, although it is not necessary to increase taxes in order to give teachers an increase in pay. None of these people really appreciate what teachers do. They will all talk about what teachers have done for them and their children, but will not support an increase in pay or improvement in teachers' medical insurance...

[sstarrx3]

Here we go with the unions....If you are not a Coal Miner, you don't need a stinking union. The entire idea that a teacher, a public servant, can decide to go onstrike if they don't like their lot in life makes me ill. If you want teaching to be your lifes work, expect to do without some things. Teaching is never going to be lucrative, no matter how important education is.

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by icartp

"XNYgirl", be careful the word "union" is a dreaded word here, the regulars on this thread do not like to hear it, they will come after you. But I do agree with you 100%. If you are paying extra in taxes in order to support your school system there is no harm done, thats money well spent, money invested in our future. I don't understand the resentment displayed here by some on this thread, although it is not necessary to increase taxes in order to give teachers an increase in pay. None of these people really appreciate what teachers do. They will all talk about what teachers have done for them and their children, but will not support an increase in pay or improvement in teachers' medical insurance...

I LOVE teachers and have great respect for what a good one can do for his/her students. That does not mean, however, that I wish to see NC become another "Taxachussets" or in any way like the high tax states.