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But those of us in the private sector don’t have the option of 30 years and age 59.5 to get health insurance.
My former teachers who retired at age 55 are living quite well.
Some of the teachers I know who retired at 55 had working spouses, some did not.
And that is not an option for those of us in the private sector.
The teachers who I know who graduated at 55 have health insurance that covers a spouse and children.
No, Obamacare is not a better deal.
Somebody who was hired in 1994, assuming they were 22 at the time, was 48 in 2020. Nobody in the private sector can retire at 48, pandemic or not.
Because they only work 180 days a year out of 365, so no need for extra vacation. And that retirement at 58 or 56 is not an option for those of us in the private sector.
Lately I’ve seen a lot of teachers retire at 57 rather than 55. Still far earlier than those of us in the private sector.
But that is still not an option for those of us in the private sector. And, you retired at 55. You outed yourself a while back, so you cannot deny that you retired at 55. And, even if you have to pay, you are paying for options that those of us in the private sector can’t get for any price.
But it has the opposite effect. The effect is that it attracts teachers who want to retire young and want to slack off in their career and hide behind tenure. In the private sector, they don’t use benefits to lure us, knowing that our only other alternative is unemployment. And before some of you try to claim that I get paid more in the private sector: I make less money than teachers do, and I make less money than my public sector counterparts make.
New York and New Jersey seem to have the best teacher deals in the country. Not all of us are so fortunate. The sweet spot too, was the 80s through maybe mid-00s. After 2008 pretty much NO ONE gets the kinds of retirement deals people used to then, public or private.
There are many private sector jobs that offer retirement plans and 401k matches that work out to something relatively similar. E.g. my wife's job will pay her out fairly similar proportional amounts as me if she sticks around long enough.... but long careers in similar positions and workplaces are more rare in her field.
But it has the opposite effect. The effect is that it attracts teachers who want to retire young and want to slack off in their career and hide behind tenure. In the private sector, they don’t use benefits to lure us, knowing that our only other alternative is unemployment. And before some of you try to claim that I get paid more in the private sector: I make less money than teachers do, and I make less money than my public sector counterparts make.
Perhaps you're in a company or location that creates that image to keep you trapped there. But my private sector counterparts get higher pay, better health plans, and better retirement that I do. One of the hardest things we have is recruiting and retaining talent because we can't match private sector offers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by history nerd
2. Nothing is preventing you from becoming a teacher if you want the summers off and a pension. I'm sure you can get an alt-cert as STEM (engineering) teachers are in high demand.
In my case I did try after getting out of the service. But even with a STEM degree, I ran into "sorry, you'll need to go back and get an education degree and then we'll be glad to talk to you" every place I talked to. Had a family to support so I took the career I did. Not complaining about what I've done over the years because it's been a hell of a career. It's because of that career that I do care about the future of education in this country. I can see the gaps developing between us and other countries.
New York and New Jersey seem to have the best teacher deals in the country. Not all of us are so fortunate. The sweet spot too, was the 80s through maybe mid-00s. After 2008 pretty much NO ONE gets the kinds of retirement deals people used to then, public or private.
There are many private sector jobs that offer retirement plans and 401k matches that work out to something relatively similar. E.g. my wife's job will pay her out fairly similar proportional amounts as me if she sticks around long enough.... but long careers in similar positions and workplaces are more rare in her field.
But they don’t give the retiree health insurance, so there is no way to retire before Medicare eligibility, which is 65.
In my case I did try after getting out of the service. But even with a STEM degree, I ran into "sorry, you'll need to go back and get an education degree and then we'll be glad to talk to you" every place I talked to. Had a family to support so I took the career I did. Not complaining about what I've done over the years because it's been a hell of a career. It's because of that career that I do care about the future of education in this country. I can see the gaps developing between us and other countries.
I don't know when you were looking to get into teaching but the philosophy around hiring has changed a lot especially in the last 10 or so years. (At Least around here)
Perhaps you're in a company or location that creates that image to keep you trapped there. But my private sector counterparts get higher pay, better health plans, and better retirement that I do. One of the hardest things we have is recruiting and retaining talent because we can't match private sector offers.
In my case I did try after getting out of the service. But even with a STEM degree, I ran into "sorry, you'll need to go back and get an education degree and then we'll be glad to talk to you" every place I talked to. Had a family to support so I took the career I did. Not complaining about what I've done over the years because it's been a hell of a career. It's because of that career that I do care about the future of education in this country. I can see the gaps developing between us and other countries.
They probably more accurately meant a teaching certification, which is indeed a pain. In some states that is some kind of masters in education. In OR the pay scales are abysmal without a masters so the colleges responded by just folding in teaching certification into 1 year master's programs that they tack on to bachelor degrees seeking an education career.
But honestly I'd think you'd find it wasn't worth it, a lot of people with long experience in industry get demoralized.
They are shocked how much work it is relative to their prior expectations. How mentally exhausting it is. And how little the pay is for all that.
And then how their dreams of changing the system and culture meet massive resistance.
Last edited by redguard57; 07-10-2021 at 07:15 PM..
They probably more accurately meant a teaching certification, which is indeed a pain. In some states that is some kind of masters in education. In OR the pay scales are abysmal without a masters so the colleges responded by just folding in teaching certification into 1 year master's programs that they tack on to bachelor degrees seeking an education career.
But honestly I'd think you'd find it wasn't worth it, a lot of people with long experience in industry get demoralized.
They are shocked how much work it is relative to their prior expectations. How mentally exhausting it is. And how little the pay is for all that.
And then how their dreams of changing the system and culture meet massive resistance.
They really meant education degree. Officially the state had an alternate path to certification, which is what I was applying under. I'd already completed most of the requirements under that path, fingerprinted, passed the required Praxis exams. The next step in the process required that a school system hire me provisionally under a mentor for one year, after which I would have two years to complete the MEd to become fully certified (along with some misc requirements).
That step was where every school told that while the state officially had the process, they were not willing to hire anyone under it unless they went back and completed an Education degree first. With no school system willing to sponsor me provisionally, I had to seek other work.
They really meant education degree. Officially the state had an alternate path to certification, which is what I was applying under. I'd already completed most of the requirements under that path, fingerprinted, passed the required Praxis exams. The next step in the process required that a school system hire me provisionally under a mentor for one year, after which I would have two years to complete the MEd to become fully certified (along with some misc requirements).
That step was where every school told that while the state officially had the process, they were not willing to hire anyone under it unless they went back and completed an Education degree first. With no school system willing to sponsor me provisionally, I had to seek other work.
That's kind of how the Texas system works. The education certifications and endorsements take 2+ years so it's practically another bachelor degree. Personally I find that ridiculous. You learn to teach by teaching. 6 months of classwork is all you need if someone already has a degree.. what they need is time in classrooms watching and then doing.
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