Becoming a teacher in Colorado

[PunkGuy]

Originally Posted by Katiana

That is not entirely true. You can google BVSD and find their salary scale. They get regular step raises.

Found the salary schedule...

the step raises are only around $1000 and the fact that they start at $33,518 means that it's insignificant. (Maybe if they started at $45,000 it'd be okay)


With a BA the most you'll EVER make (with no extra education) is $48,601 (starting at 9 years!)...

that's ridiculous!

how do people have families here if both parents are teachers?

[HighlandsGal]

Originally Posted by PunkGuy

Found the salary schedule...

the step raises are only around $1000 and the fact that they start at $33,518 means that it's insignificant. (Maybe if they started at $45,000 it'd be okay)


With a BA the most you'll EVER make (with no extra education) is $48,601 (starting at 9 years!)...

that's ridiculous!

how do people have families here if both parents are teachers?

A couple of things.......

I mean this in a nice way, so don't take offense but........has your head been in the sand all these years???

You surely must've heard sometime all the whining that goes on about how underpaid teachers are?? We teachers put a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and yes, dinero into our jobs and we don't go into it for the pay!! Sure it would be nice to make a whole lot more though!!

Your BA example up above isn't really accurate because in most states, CO included, once you get your BA or BS and go into teaching you are constantly taking classes to stay up to date, renew your license, etc. In MI (where I am from orginally) for example, you have 3 years after receiving your teaching license to get in "x" amount of credits in order to renew your license. It is pretty close to the amount needed for a Master's Degree, so you'd be pretty dumb not to just finish it out. I think it is similar in CO. I just finished my Master's and next year will be my 7th year in teaching. I have also taken several in-service/classes for credit this year that will go towards my CO Professional license renewal.

Lastly, my BF and I are both 30 and make between 90,000 and 100,000 combined a year. We live a very comfortable lifestyle and when we expand our family in a year or two, we can take comfort in the fact that our salaries will continue to increase each year at a level sufficient to support our family.

[PunkGuy]

Originally Posted by HighlandsGal

A couple of things.......

I mean this in a nice way, so don't take offense but........has your head been in the sand all these years???

You surely must've heard sometime all the whining that goes on about how underpaid teachers are?? We teachers put a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and yes, dinero into our jobs and we don't go into it for the pay!! Sure it would be nice to make a whole lot more though!!

Your BA example up above isn't really accurate because in most states, CO included, once you get your BA or BS and go into teaching you are constantly taking classes to stay up to date, renew your license, etc. In MI (where I am from orginally) for example, you have 3 years after receiving your teaching license to get in "x" amount of credits in order to renew your license. It is pretty close to the amount needed for a Master's Degree, so you'd be pretty dumb not to just finish it out. I think it is similar in CO. I just finished my Master's and next year will be my 7th year in teaching. I have also taken several in-service/classes for credit this year that will go towards my CO Professional license renewal.

Lastly, my BF and I are both 30 and make between 90,000 and 100,000 combined a year. We live a very comfortable lifestyle and when we expand our family in a year or two, we can take comfort in the fact that our salaries will continue to increase each year at a level sufficient to support our family.

I've known that teachers weren't known to make much, but I thought it'd be at least $40,000.

As far as "making" it...considering I would be starting at the bottom ($33k) and my wife (who makes decent money) would be staying home, I don't see how it's possible to have a child (and house for that matter...we're renting now)

My problem is that I was making almost double what the starting salary (been programming for 10 years) and now have to start from scratch doing something else.

Getting laid off stinks!

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by PunkGuy

I've known that teachers weren't known to make much, but I thought it'd be at least $40,000.

As far as "making" it...considering I would be starting at the bottom ($33k) and my wife (who makes decent money) would be staying home, I don't see how it's possible to have a child (and house for that matter...we're renting now)

My problem is that I was making almost double what the starting salary (been programming for 10 years) and now have to start from scratch doing something else.

Getting laid off stinks!

There are many threads discussing teacher salaries on the education forum. I'd prefer not to bring that over here; it gets very rancorous, very fast. I think you missed Highlands Gal's point that you will move up that scale fairly fast with the required courses you have to take, plus step raises. I agree that $90-100K is a decent salary (in today's dollars) to raise a family on.

Maybe you should look for another programming job. I'm not kidding when I say the teaching job situation in metro Denver is competitive. A friend of mine tried twice before she got into a program for getting an alternative license, and she has an MS in physics. The program she got accepted into had about 1000 apps for ~50 slots. I may be off on the numbers a bit, but the order of magnitude is huge!

[tfox]

PunkGuy, it sounds like you have a number of years of programming experience. Here's what you do: go to your local library and do some self-study in a programming technology that's relatively in demand at the moment. Study for and take a certification exam in your new technology, if you can (they're not very difficult if you study for them). Then, apply and get a entry level job in that new technology, and within a couple years you'll have no problems finding a new mid-level job, probably at a better salary than what had been making before you're laid off.

Technology people need to re-tool every now and then. Nobody works on the same technologies their whole career.

[PunkGuy]

Originally Posted by tfox

PunkGuy, it sounds like you have a number of years of programming experience. Here's what you do: go to your local library and do some self-study in a programming technology that's relatively in demand at the moment. Study for and take a certification exam in your new technology, if you can (they're not very difficult if you study for them). Then, apply and get a entry level job in that new technology, and within a couple years you'll have no problems finding a new mid-level job, probably at a better salary than what had been making before you're laid off.

Technology people need to re-tool every now and then. Nobody works on the same technologies their whole career.

TFox/Katiana -

that is what I have decided to do (learn a new programming language), most likely Java.
I've joined the Boulder Java Group and I'm asking there what the best way is to learn it (quickly) and get an entry level job doing it

Thanks for everyone's input

[Katarina Witt]

Good luck in all you do!

[BetterThanAliens]

What schools in the Denver/Boulder area are known as good "teacher schools"? I'm a certified teacher, who has recently re-located, and I'm looking to finish up my linguistically diverse endorsement that was started in Chicago. Any advice is appreciated....