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Hi, I’m in the SF Bay Area. I have a BA, multiple subject and ed specialist credentials from CA universities. I’ve looked online into teaching between states and it appears that CA and CO do accept each other’s credentials for the most part.
For pay comparison and reference, I’m up to about 100,000 here with 14 years and 75 units after BA. Any idea what 14 years and dual credential would be paid roughly in Denver area? Do sped teachers require a masters in addition to the sped credential? It’s difficult for me to tell possible pay scales while looking at salary schedules online since I don’t know the school districts well enough and where to start looking,
100,000 here Is enough to be somewhat comfortable for a single person but the cost of housing here is ridiculous, and living further from my job to a less expensive community would be too much of a commute. I could stay, but I’m tired of the crazed pace here. I grew up in Nor Cal and it’s changed so much! I wouldn’t mind a slower pace. I like the more liberal vibe so some of the less expensive CA cities don’t appeal too much. I’m just checking out possibilities and looking out of state before deciding whether to stay in SF or investigate other CA cities (although they’re all pretty pricey).
What’s the climate in Denver? Friendly? Affordable for teachers? Possibility of affording more than a small one bedroom? Or is it getting just as expensive there now? Is the special Ed field saturated?
Any advice would be helpful. For reference, I checked on the Austin forums and that was eye opening! Lots of strong feelings about people from SF, “bleeding heart Bay Area special Ed teachers” (that was my favorite) politics, guns in schools, religion in schools etc. hadn’t considered that! That helped me understand that Texas (even Austin) probably wasn’t a good prospect. Are you all sick of the influx of Californians and our “bleeding heart politics” too? It’s good to know if there’s hostility toward people from out of state. I like a more chilled out friendly environment. And yes, job prospects (are SPED teachers in demand there?) cost of living in comparison to a teacher salary is most important.
Hi, I’m in the SF Bay Area. I have a BA, multiple subject and ed specialist credentials from CA universities. I’ve looked online into teaching between states and it appears that CA and CO do accept each other’s credentials for the most part.
For pay comparison and reference, I’m up to about 100,000 here with 14 years and 75 units after BA. Any idea what 14 years and dual credential would be paid roughly in Denver area? Do sped teachers require a masters in addition to the sped credential? It’s difficult for me to tell possible pay scales while looking at salary schedules online since I don’t know the school districts well enough and where to start looking,
100,000 here Is enough to be somewhat comfortable for a single person but the cost of housing here is ridiculous, and living further from my job to a less expensive community would be too much of a commute. I could stay, but I’m tired of the crazed pace here. I grew up in Nor Cal and it’s changed so much! I wouldn’t mind a slower pace. I like the more liberal vibe so some of the less expensive CA cities don’t appeal too much. I’m just checking out possibilities and looking out of state before deciding whether to stay in SF or investigate other CA cities (although they’re all pretty pricey).
What’s the climate in Denver? Friendly? Affordable for teachers? Possibility of affording more than a small one bedroom? Or is it getting just as expensive there now? Is the special Ed field saturated?
Any advice would be helpful. For reference, I checked on the Austin forums and that was eye opening! Lots of strong feelings about people from SF, “bleeding heart Bay Area special Ed teachers” (that was my favorite) politics, guns in schools, religion in schools etc. hadn’t considered that! That helped me understand that Texas (even Austin) probably wasn’t a good prospect. Are you all sick of the influx of Californians and our “bleeding heart politics” too? It’s good to know if there’s hostility toward people from out of state. I like a more chilled out friendly environment. And yes, job prospects (are SPED teachers in demand there?) cost of living in comparison to a teacher salary is most important.
Thanks for your help,
Lo
I don't know for sure---I'm not a teacher, but I don't think you'd make as much in Colorado. Here is a salary scale for Denver Public Schools for reference - https://careers.dpsk12.org/procomp-update/. I'm not really qualified to answer any of your questions specific to your field.
Of course cost of living would be much less. You can probably afford a 2-bedroom depending on where you'd want to be, what type of home you want, and how much you are willing to spend. 1-bedroom condos in Capitol Hill cost around $250K.
The resentment toward Californians is overblown here. You have people who post things online, but I will walk around town in my SF 49ers hat and no one says a thing to me. In the 13 years I've lived here since moving from Northern California, I have not run into a single issue regarding me coming from CA.
The weather is great, IMO. I enjoy winters here more than I did in California, since snow is so much easier for me to handle than rain. Lots of sunshine with the occasional snow storm. Just get used to driving in snow when you need to and you'll be fine.
You might be disappointed in teaching salaries here. For example, Cherry Creek School District (considered one of the better districts) accepts only 5 years of experience when considering salary steps. So a BA + Masters would only pay $55k a year. Denver Public would be higher pay, but schools are also more challenging. You can do a search for salary schedules and compare different districts.
I don't know for sure---I'm not a teacher, but I don't think you'd make as much in Colorado. Here is a salary scale for Denver Public Schools for reference - https://careers.dpsk12.org/procomp-update/. I'm not really qualified to answer any of your questions specific to your field.
Of course cost of living would be much less. You can probably afford a 2-bedroom depending on where you'd want to be, what type of home you want, and how much you are willing to spend. 1-bedroom condos in Capitol Hill cost around $250K.
The resentment toward Californians is overblown here. You have people who post things online, but I will walk around town in my SF 49ers hat and no one says a thing to me. In the 13 years I've lived here since moving from Northern California, I have not run into a single issue regarding me coming from CA.
The weather is great, IMO. I enjoy winters here more than I did in California, since snow is so much easier for me to handle than rain. Lots of sunshine with the occasional snow storm. Just get used to driving in snow when you need to and you'll be fine.
Thank you! Super helpful, and sounds like what I’m looking for. If the teacher salaries here are somewhat decent in comparison to cost of living, I’m totally ok with accepting lower pay. A friendly city, nice people, fun vibes are all very important. I have a few California friends who have moved from SF and they have not regretted that decision. You’re confirming what they say, which is helpful! Now, if I can figure out the job prospects and salary schedules for special Ed teachers, that’d help a lot! Thanks so much for your reply.
You might be disappointed in teaching salaries here. For example, Cherry Creek School District (considered one of the better districts) accepts only 5 years of experience when considering salary steps. So a BA + Masters would only pay $55k a year. Denver Public would be higher pay, but schools are also more challenging. You can do a search for salary schedules and compare different districts.
Hi! Thank you! So, I’ll be skipping Cherry Creek and looking into Denver Public. The special Ed population can be more challenging regardless where you are, and I enjoy the work, so the challenge might well be worth the higher pay. Very interesting that Cherry Creek only starts teachers at year 5. Excellent information. Thank you! If I did take a 55,000 a year salary, would that be enough for a single person to live comfortably in Denver? From my research, I’ve been getting conflicting answers. Seems like the locals would know. Comfortable to me would be a one or (in the ideal world) two bed apartment in a fun vibrant area of town. Ability to afford entertainment (eat out on weekend, go to an event, live music, sporting event, pay for some type of gym, yoga or barre class) yet still put aside some money at the end of the month. I would like to avoid paycheck to paycheck living obviously! Thanks again!
If 40-50% of your income going to rent and insurance allows you a comfortable living, then the Denver metro may work for you. Auto insurance rates will be shockingly high. Rents are consistently increasing and depending on location, may range from $1400-2500 a month. Other monthly COL items will be similar to national averages.
FWIW, the two licenses most often surrendered to the CO DMV are CA and TX. CO can be a study in extremes with a large liberal swath the starts in the north Front Range, runs up the I70 corridor through ski towns, then loops back through some of the poorest counties in the state. Other places in the state are varying shades of red with some extreme conservative areas in the eastern plains. Laid back live and let live is a hallmark of CO as is year round recreation and outdoor activities. Pace of life also will vary. The Denver metro area has a fairly high population density and bad traffic. Not Bay area bad by any stretch, but bad for what we have available to us and increasing yearly.
Suggest you do more reading in the forum here to get a feel for issues, concerns, and opportunities before scheduling a visit. Would suggest a visit over spring break when we have a high chance of snow and you can witness the poor driving habits. OH, it can snow October to May here. It doesn't stick around all season, but it certainly can fall within that time frame.
Every teacher I know waits tables as a second job...
If so, that’s pretty sad to hear that it’s happening there too. Teaching is not a job that you leave school and don’t think about it til the next day. I’m often responding to parent or admin emails or writing reports in the eve. I would think that cities would want to hire and retain the best educators possible by offering a competitive salary on which teachers could live in the city they work without having to work another job at the same time to make ends meet. I wouldn’t be on my A game at school the next day if I’d been teaching all day prior and then working another job right after that. What a shame for parents and their kids if that’s the case. They’re the ones who lose out when their teacher is not at their best.
If 40-50% of your income going to rent and insurance allows you a comfortable living, then the Denver metro may work for you. Auto insurance rates will be shockingly high. Rents are consistently increasing and depending on location, may range from $1400-2500 a month. Other monthly COL items will be similar to national averages.
FWIW, the two licenses most often surrendered to the CO DMV are CA and TX. CO can be a study in extremes with a large liberal swath the starts in the north Front Range, runs up the I70 corridor through ski towns, then loops back through some of the poorest counties in the state. Other places in the state are varying shades of red with some extreme conservative areas in the eastern plains. Laid back live and let live is a hallmark of CO as is year round recreation and outdoor activities. Pace of life also will vary. The Denver metro area has a fairly high population density and bad traffic. Not Bay area bad by any stretch, but bad for what we have available to us and increasing yearly.
Suggest you do more reading in the forum here to get a feel for issues, concerns, and opportunities before scheduling a visit. Would suggest a visit over spring break when we have a high chance of snow and you can witness the poor driving habits. OH, it can snow October to May here. It doesn't stick around all season, but it certainly can fall within that time frame.
Thank you. Great information. I have a couple friends who live there and will be visiting them. They are both from CA and love Denver. They’re not in education though... which is my cause for concern since I’m really trying to figure out the salary there. From reading salary schedules in Denver, one district (if they’d place me for years of experience) would start me as Special Ed resource at about 70,000. I don’t know if that’s a realistic salary there. Or, if they’d count my number of teaching years and honor them on the salary schedule when hiring.
I had not heard about the poor driving habits! I’d lived in Idaho for a couple years and driving in the snow was no big deal as long as you had an appropriate car. But, I had CA plates, and was pulled over ALL the time for literally no reason. I never got tickets. They just pulled me over to tell me about some “possible infraction” and then sent me on my way.
Sorry to clarify-every teach I know in Denver has a second job of waiting tables. I pay 2130 for rent in Lakewood. 1/1 with garage
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