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That's about accurate, by the way. Overall I was better treated at the private school where I worked, but it was impossible to support myself without a second job. Fortunately, that second job, a part time job with Washoe County, included benefits and PERS.
I was treated much worse my second time around at WCSD; that was because a sociopath was hired as a principal who didn't respect professional and personal boundaries. It was downhill for me from there; I demanded to go to another school at the end of that school year, but the union and district dumped me into an even worse school environment with an incompetent in charge. As a result, I am destitute six years after I was illegally "dismissed" from the district.
At least I got my vesting in PERS and collect a tiny pension of 300 a month.
The public school jobs don't actually stink because the kids are great overall; it's just that administrators are just horrendous and are backed to the hilt by school districts when they screw up. Once you are targeted by one of these cretins, your job and possibly your career are over.
These administrators have a tremendous sense of entitlement to taxpayer-financed employment, and there is the rub. A lot more of them should be fired.
No BUT as soon as they get into the classroom any prestige they thought the profession had vanishes. The issue you note in your post don't result in fewer people going into teaching. They result in people leaving teaching. Where do you think sayings like "Those who can't teach. Those who can do." come from?
When teachers realize just how looked down upon they and watch their friends have better lifestyles, jumping the fence can become attractive but don't worry. There seems to be a never ending supply of naïve folks like myself to fill the vacancies they make when they leave.
Just in my building there are 3 teachers actively looking for something else and we're a small school. I read somewhere that 50% of teachers leave the profession before their 6th year.
It isn't even burnout that is so much the reason--it's that principals are dumping teachers before they get "tenure" or before they can get vested in retirement. Those who are veteran teachers are being scapegoated and railroaded out of jobs so that districts can save money on salaries and benefits.
That is REALLY what is going on with the rotten working conditions.
Same here (DC metro area). Public school pays great and has great benefits, but the job stinks. Private school pays less, but I don't hear so many complaints about it.
I'm in the same region as you. I'd say the pay and benefits are "ok". "Great" seems to be too strong of a word considering the cost of living and what we pay for monthly premiums. When you retire the healthcare premiums really jump.
I'm in the same region as you. I'd say the pay and benefits are "ok". "Great" seems to be too strong of a word considering the cost of living and what we pay for monthly premiums. When you retire the healthcare premiums really jump.
Agreed that the pay is not "great". I don't know a single teacher who can support themselves completely on their salary (except those who have been teaching 20+ years). I have two coworkers who are leaving at the end of the year (a 2nd year and a 4th year) to go back to their home states because they cannot afford rent here without multiple roommates and they're tired of doing that.
It's fine money if you're half a couple, but it's a shame that it's not a self-sufficient salary.
I'll just say that I'm very glad I'm at the end of my career rather than the beginning.
Getting back to something upthread-it really wasn't until the 1990's that someone would be hired without a teaching certification. It's a fallacy that people "majored" in Education, typically the degree was Bachelor's of Science in __________ Education. What dummies who saw that thought was that the bulk of courses were in Education. They weren't, the student had an overwhelming number of subject area courses.
I graduated in 1999, and this is the model under which I earned my degree.^^
However, my certification process was that secondary education teaching hopefuls did NOT major in "[fill in content area] education." We majored in our content area. While doing our degree programin English, History, biology, whatever, we concurrently completed the coursework for teacher certification...all the base courses that elementary ed majors took (mostly educational theory, the history and sociology of American education, ed psych, etc,). Then methodology coursework and practicum hours specific to middle and high school. Then breakouts on teaching in the content area. Curriculum and design. Coursework on accommodations and modifications for special needs students (could have used more, there, but it was the 90s). Then observation hours and finally our student teaching semester.
It was essentially a double major...a major in your subject (English, in my case), same course work as every other English major, not "Language arts teaching" or similar), and a major in educational theory and design, followed by an internship, done at the same time. I graduated with both an English degree and a 5-12 teaching certification. I later (like a decade later) added a k-12 special education cert on my own, because I was primarily teaching behaviorally disordered students).
It was a solid program, producing educators highly knowledgeable in their content area AND with a solid grasp of both the foundations of educational principles and instructional methods.
Agreed that the pay is not "great". I don't know a single teacher who can support themselves completely on their salary (except those who have been teaching 20+ years). I have two coworkers who are leaving at the end of the year (a 2nd year and a 4th year) to go back to their home states because they cannot afford rent here without multiple roommates and they're tired of doing that.
It's fine money if you're half a couple, but it's a shame that it's not a self-sufficient salary.
I supported myself as a single person teaching...so did my fiance, before he left teaching and enlisted in the military. He actually bought his first house on a Catholic school teacher salary, which is substantially lower than public ed. But we live in a very affordable area, and are highly budget-conscious. It can be done, but a LOT is dependent on COL where you live.
I supported myself as a single person teaching...so did my fiance, before he left teaching and enlisted in the military. He actually bought his first house on a Catholic school teacher salary, which is substantially lower than public ed. But we live in a very affordable area, and are highly budget-conscious. It can be done, but a LOT is dependent on COL where you live.
It also depends upon the private school. Schools run by a Catholic diocese or by a local Protestant church tend to pay significantly less than independent schools (with or without religious affiliation) and give few if any benefits. Of course, the independents also tend to charge significantly more tuition than the church-supported schools and frequently require more expertise in the subject matter.
Let's not talk about the tiny number of schools the rich have their kids attend, and those teachers are not going to have the benefits and pensions of public sector workers regardless. The schools aren't all that, anyway, because their reason for existence is to keep the "riff-raff" out. They are wildly overrated.
Force them to accept special education students and second language students, and not just cater to gifted and talented or filthy rich kids, and that "elite" model disappears into thin air. That "rigorous" curriculum that I always hear people bragging about with private schools disappears into thin air when they have to tailor it to accommodate ALL levels of students.
Private school pay almost always sucks compared to public school salaries, and they don't have the pensions and benefits of the public sector. I have looked at the webpages of those "elite" academies, by the way, and generally those teachers don't seem to hang around that long, certainly not compared to public sector teachers if they are not canned.
Let's not talk about the tiny number of schools the rich have their kids attend, and those teachers are not going to have the benefits and pensions of public sector workers regardless. The schools aren't all that, anyway, because their reason for existence is to keep the "riff-raff" out. They are wildly overrated.
Force them to accept special education students and second language students, and not just cater to gifted and talented or filthy rich kids, and that "elite" model disappears into thin air. That "rigorous" curriculum that I always hear people bragging about with private schools disappears into thin air when they have to tailor it to accommodate ALL levels of students.
Private school pay almost always sucks compared to public school salaries, and they don't have the pensions and benefits of the public sector. I have looked at the webpages of those "elite" academies, by the way, and generally those teachers don't seem to hang around that long, certainly not compared to public sector teachers if they are not canned.
^ This is true in my area, as well. The Catholic schools here do pay about 10K or so less than the public schools, but still substantially higher than nonsectarian private schools. They also offer ok-ish benefits (healthcare + retirement plans). The nonsectarian schools usually offer nothing, maybe some sick days.
Let's not talk about the tiny number of schools the rich have their kids attend, and those teachers are not going to have the benefits and pensions of public sector workers regardless. The schools aren't all that, anyway, because their reason for existence is to keep the "riff-raff" out. They are wildly overrated.
Force them to accept special education students and second language students, and not just cater to gifted and talented or filthy rich kids, and that "elite" model disappears into thin air. That "rigorous" curriculum that I always hear people bragging about with private schools disappears into thin air when they have to tailor it to accommodate ALL levels of students.
Private school pay almost always sucks compared to public school salaries, and they don't have the pensions and benefits of the public sector. I have looked at the webpages of those "elite" academies, by the way, and generally those teachers don't seem to hang around that long, certainly not compared to public sector teachers if they are not canned.
So, in other words, make everyone have a crappy education. Sounds like a recipe for success to me!
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