What are the high schools like in Raleigh & Durham from a teachers or Guidance Counselor's Persepective? (relocation)

[sillygirl77]

I am a Guidance Counselor thinking of relocating to NC from NYC. I'd like to know what the schools are like. Are they organized or disoranized? Are a lot of the Administrators playing with numbers? Is not having a union a problem? Is the year round school in Raleigh a positive thing in your opinion? You get 6 weeks off right? Is Durham thinking about doing year round school? Are teachers and counselors severely overworked? Any insights you can give me will be appreciated. Thanks

[MI-Roger]

My career field is Construction Management, so naturally I was interviewing with Wake County Public Schools as result of their massive construction programs forecasted for the next 15 years or so.

Anyway, what I discovered may still be of significant interest to you. School salaries and benefits are established and enforced (sounds better than controlled or dictated) by the State of North Carolina, not the local districts. Salaries and benefits will be SIGNIFICANTLY less than what you now receive.

I was planning to retire from my present private sector job in Michigan, start collecting my 30 year pension as an engineer, and move to NC after accepting the job from WCPSS to be closer to our children. What I discovered was that my NET salary with the new position (as established by the State) COMBINED WITH my pension would be less than what I am presently earning, doing the same type of work.

The big gotcha's were: NC Income Tax is nearly double the rate I pay in Michigan; it would cost me $600 per month from my take-home pay to provide health insurance for my wife (employees receive insurance, family members don't); and it would cost me 6% of my take home pay for the state mandated School Employee retirement program. Contibution to an optional 401(k) or annuity would be an additional cost.

No relocation assistance is provided (I think educators get some assistance, but not engineers), and the Raleigh real estate market is still somewhat healthy compared to Michigan's meaning a big loss when selling/buying homes as part of the move.

I love visiting the Raleigh area and had desperately hoped for a successful job transfer there. Working for the local schools was not the answer. I had to decline the job offer after analyzing it and agonizing over it for three days.

Hopefully professional educators can answer your school specific questions.

[flmomX3]

"School salaries and benefits are established and enforced (sounds better than controlled or dictated) by the State of North Carolina, not the local districts. Salaries and benefits will be SIGNIFICANTLY less than what you now receive."

Since my husband is a school administrator here in Florida and we are thinking of moving in the near future, can anyone in the education field confirm this? I looked up the salaries but wasn't exactly sure what he would actually make with his experience/background in Florida.

[flmomX3]

Also, does anyone know what kind of relocation assistance is offered? I have read that for teachers, but what about administrators? Thanks! I am trying to understand it all.

[MI-Roger]

Ther are lots of things I love about the Raleigh area, and lots of reasons I respect the schools, (otherwise I would not have been applying for positions within WCPSS), but job searchers need to know as many facts as possible before decidinig for themselves.

Try these web links:

http://www.wcpss.net/employment.html

http://www.wcpss.net/compensation-services/

http://www.wcpss.net/salary-schedules/

http://www.shpnc.org

http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/fbs/personnel/benefits/

The first three are from Wake County School's web site, the final two are the State Department of Public Instruction web site

My wife works in the public school system in Michigan which has extremely high salaries (4th in the nation?) which are contributing to a State funding crisis, but also has a massive problem of inequity of funding between districts (one district will recieve $7,200 per child while a neighboring district may receive over $13,000 per child for educational purposes).

North Carolina's method of funding public education appears to be much more fair. Unfortunately, portions of their pay scales appear to be lagging. Para-pros (my wife's classification) appear well compensated in NC, teachers appear to be low, administrators (the pay scale applied to the position I was offered) appear to be very low.

Things may seem different to you based upon the funding level and compensation schedules of the district in FL where your husband now works.

[flmomX3]

2006-07 Salaries: Elementary School Principals

All monthly and annual amounts include the Wake County local supplement.
Notes

Salary Addition: Add 2% for magnet school and 4% for 4-track year round school. Add $1,512 for 6th year degree, $3,036 for doctorate.
Teaching Experience: 1 year credit for each year on teacher certificate.
Employee Count: Employee count equals all certified staff plus instructional assistants.

Do the years of experience carry over from Florida? He has been in education here in Florida for about 16 years now. So is that what the "teaching experience" is referring to? The number of years all together? He spent a few years teaching, then the rest in administration. So I am confused about where he ranks on the pay scale. They are opening a new school here for 08-09, which he is the top contender for. I am sure we will at least be here for the beginning of the school year, unless things move really fast. Also, I noticed positions for directors/Administrators? what exactly are those positions? Thank so much for any answers, I really appreciate it! I can then let my husband know =)

[sillygirl77]

Originally Posted by MI-Roger

My career field is Construction Management, so naturally I was interviewing with Wake County Public Schools as result of their massive construction programs forecasted for the next 15 years or so.

Anyway, what I discovered may still be of significant interest to you. School salaries and benefits are established and enforced (sounds better than controlled or dictated) by the State of North Carolina, not the local districts. Salaries and benefits will be SIGNIFICANTLY less than what you now receive.

I was planning to retire from my present private sector job in Michigan, start collecting my 30 year pension as an engineer, and move to NC after accepting the job from WCPSS to be closer to our children. What I discovered was that my NET salary with the new position (as established by the State) COMBINED WITH my pension would be less than what I am presently earning, doing the same type of work.

The big gotcha's were: NC Income Tax is nearly double the rate I pay in Michigan; it would cost me $600 per month from my take-home pay to provide health insurance for my wife (employees receive insurance, family members don't); and it would cost me 6% of my take home pay for the state mandated School Employee retirement program. Contibution to an optional 401(k) or annuity would be an additional cost.

No relocation assistance is provided (I think educators get some assistance, but not engineers), and the Raleigh real estate market is still somewhat healthy compared to Michigan's meaning a big loss when selling/buying homes as part of the move.

I love visiting the Raleigh area and had desperately hoped for a successful job transfer there. Working for the local schools was not the answer. I had to decline the job offer after analyzing it and agonizing over it for three days.

Hopefully professional educators can answer your school specific questions.

Thanks for the answer. I do appreciate what you told me. You gave me a lot to think about.

[sillygirl77]

Hi I was just wondering if anyone else had any insights about this subject since I want to make an informed decision about whether I should apply in Raleigh or Durham or not. Thanks

[leighbhe]

I have a friend who has worked in high school guidance, she started at Enloe and is now at the School of Science and Math in durham (NCSSM). NCSSM is technically part of the university system, it is a public boarding school for students in north carolina who are gifted in science and math. Anyhow, she and I met when we both worked at NCSSM years ago. I know that salary definitely depends on whether you have a master's degree or not, and the counselors all have a masters. The raises are not great, from what I remember, in that you basically get the raise the state agrees upon, which can be 4 percent a year. The county can also give teachers a stipend.

Anyhow, the schools, to me, seem very organized. The high schools are not year round, nor will they ever be, simply because the year round schedule does not allow for the types of classes they have or the sports at the schools. I think each school is different simply based on the administrators at the school, so the "vibe" of the school will change based on the prinicpal/assistants and the rest of the administrators at the school. My friend said that the only frustration she had was that the high schools are so large that she had huge numbers of students and it ended up being more of a getting kids ready to apply for college job than anything else. She told me that if she were to go back to work (she took time off to have kids) that the only place she would return was NCSSM. They ended up having an opening (which is rare) and she got the job. Now she has a much smaller number of students and she is able to do more than college prep work.

Let me know if you want more information, just DM me.

Leigh

[teachfl]

How about getting a Guidance Counselor position in Wake co? Does anyone know if it is difficult? I am a Guidance Counselor in Fla and have been for the past 9 years. I have worked at the elementary and middle school levels.
Wake Co. pays more than the co. I am in now and we are able to afford to buy something.