Teacher Shortage in Colorado (Colorado Springs: school districts, salary, tax)

[hollyt00]

That's about my salary. I've taught for 13 years and have an MA.

[otowi]

Me too, I've been teaching for 17 years and also have a Master's Degree. Our salary has been frozen several times in the past many years - we never recover that. My friends who are retired have gotten 2 or 3% cost of living increases every year and so way out-earn those of still working.... I am a single-income household so it can be tough at times - have to be careful to live simply....

[eatsDEN]

Originally Posted by Coloradomom22

This is one of the biggest problems with getting more people to enter the teaching profession. The cost of getting a teaching degree plus certification is more than a degree that will yield a much higher salary. Even state colleges cost a minimum of $60k for four years plus certification. When starting pay is around $36k a year (with small incremental increases over many years) it's tough for a young graduate to afford those loan payments plus pay regular living expenses. If the state would subsidize teaching majors I bet you'd see an upswing in applicants.

so, $30K for certifications?
that seems a bit off...


Cost | Cost | MSU Denver


Tuition and Fees
MSU Denver 2016–17 tuition and fees per semester for 15 credit hours
Resident$3,464.65 (with College Opportunity Fund)
Non-resident$10,047.85

[Coloradomom22]

Originally Posted by eatsDEN

so, $30K for certifications?
that seems a bit off...


Cost | Cost | MSU Denver


Tuition and Fees
MSU Denver 2016–17 tuition and fees per semester for 15 credit hours
Resident$3,464.65 (with College Opportunity Fund)
Non-resident$10,047.85

I am referring to a general cost, not just MSU which of course is way cheaper if you can qualify for the College Opportunity Fund. CSU is $389 per credit hour which comes to about $48k for 4 years not including fees or teacher certification.

[otowi]

Originally Posted by Coloradomom22

I am referring to a general cost, not just MSU which of course is way cheaper if you can qualify for the College Opportunity Fund. CSU is $389 per credit hour which comes to about $48k for 4 years not including fees or teacher certification.

Teacher certification in Colorado btw, is in addition to one's four-year degree - generally requires another 1 to 1.5 years of education/student teaching on top of the bachelor's degree.

I didn't mess around getting my degree and certification - I only had one course that didn't end up counting for anything aside from elective - and I came in with quite a few credits from AP exams giving me a head start - those and everything else were required for my degree, certification, honors program or minor - and it took me 5 and a half years of never less than 17 credit hours (aside from the student teaching which I think was 15 - paying to work). That does come in around 40 grand from an average school these days. And then the master's degree you pretty much have to have at some point in your teaching career to ever get another raise typically costs in the same range as a bachelor's degree.

I did some research into getting a PhD and most of them were pricing out near 100 grand. I realized I'd never make that money back before retiring even if I have quite a few years left, so I opted not to do that. I finished my master's in 2005 and after lots of salary freezes, etc. I'm still not quite to the point where I'm earning money above and beyond what I had to pay out to get that education, but I'm finally close Today's degrees cost quite a bit more than when I did mine but the pay is essentially the same, at least in my district. The key to making money for teachers these days is to retire as soon as you've got enough years to approach your salary - because the retirement is still in far better shape than the state budget and retirees have been getting cost of living increases every year while the working teachers have gotten nothing for a number of those years. So a teacher retired for the last ten years and another teacher with the exact same education and experience who chose to keep working have about an 11,000 dollar difference in annual income in the retiree's favor right now.

[davidv]

To teach in Colorado, you must:
- Get a 4 year degree (there are no "elementary education" or "secondary education" degrees any more, nor have there been for about 25 years.) My degree is in History with an emphasis in Secondary Education.

- Complete the teaching program requirements.

The total number of credits required is 124 at the University of Northern Colorado.

The $7,000/year figure from Metro is in line with that of UNC ($8,800/year), however, it does not factor in the costs of books, or room and board. If you are going to school full time, you don't have the option of working full time.

As for the College Opportunity Fund, all Colorado residents qualify for COF for 145 undergraduate credits.

[eatsDEN]

Originally Posted by Coloradomom22

I am referring to a general cost, not just MSU which of course is way cheaper if you can qualify for the College Opportunity Fund. CSU is $389 per credit hour which comes to about $48k for 4 years not including fees or teacher certification.

key word being "minimum" in your earlier post - to me -
but I do understand your point of clarity....

[wilberry]

so where do all the Adjuncts go ?

[otowi]

Originally Posted by wilberry

so where do all the Adjuncts go ?

Most adjuncts are only part-time. For example, I have taught Statistics as an adjunct but that's just one class a semester. A lot of adjuncts are high school teachers with master degrees in their content. I have to have another full time job and that just is supplemental. Is that what you are asking?

[eatsDEN]

so, I can across this recently, it speaks to the initial post I had made in this thread
to be clear, this author's post is much more personal in nature than merely an ideology held by an individual - but to me,
the scenario is quite similar in nature:


https://conditionallyaccepted.com/20...ape-apologist/

And many feminist instructors, especially those who are women, know all too well what it is like to navigate the “mansplaining” of a few men students who would like to ardently deny that rape culture exists. Such students may make claims like the following,


...




None of my training or experience prepared me for something like this, not even advice from the few feminist scholars I have had the pleasure of knowing. I was in a position where I had to take this student’s words seriously, evaluate their merit and provide a percentile score based on how well I thought they fit the parameters of the assignment.


“Zero! You get a ****ing zero!” I literally screamed at my computer screen. I decided that I was not ready to return to grading papers yet, so I got up and went for another walk.


...

I do understand that the author did the "right thing" by evaluating their own experiences and thoughts on an assignment - and how to set aside these notions in evaluating a student's submission - but it was clearly a tough proposition to do so...

this student was able to undercut whatever authority I thought I had as an instructor. Authority that, especially as a woman instructor, I worked hard to establish and maintain. I imagined him sitting on the other side of his computer screen laughing at my pain, joking about my distress. ... How, I wondered, could I possibly evaluate this student’s work in an “unbiased” fashion? Such a request would involve me living an entirely different life than the one that I have had.

this is the sort of occurrence I, personally, fear most in the education industry...