Any opinions on working for the state? Benefits? (health insurance, buy)

[smellycat42]

Can anyone here speak to the quality of working for the education system of GA, specifically the Technical College system? And can you speak to the benefits of working there (health coverage, retirement, etc.)? Maybe in comparison to other states? I've been offered a job in GA at a Technical college teaching, and wanted to know if they're actually good benefits in comparison....

[BobKovacs]

I taught as an adjunct in a TCSG school, and looked at a full time position there. I can tell you that the health insurance was much more costly (premiums and copayment) and had fewer things covered than the insurance I have with my current employer. The salary was much lower as well, but I could have made that work if the insurance wasnt so expensive. I can't say how they compare to other states, but IMO they were pretty poor. I have friends who teach in the K-12 school system here, and they have a much better benefits package.

[smellycat42]

Great to know. Thanks.

[smellycat42]

What about for the 4 year college system? How are their benefits?

[Brian_M]

My wife and her brother both work for the state (and my wife has worked for the Feds and my mother and I both worked for the state of Wyoming) ~ GA absolutely doesn't even come close to comparing with Wyoming. I'm not sure if that's because WY is at the top end of the scale and GA is in the middle, or both are down the scale from there. But health insurance is so bad with GA that my wife and I buy our own through a private company and are spending roughly half as much for about the same coverage (both of us are in our 30's with very good health records). The "retirement" is an absolute job with GA as well, expect 10% of your pay, AFTER TAXES, to go into the mandatory, and very crappy, retirement program.

The rest will come down to the Specific job. My brother-in-law gets 30 days of paid leave a year, but loses everything over 60 hours every new year. Shouldn't be an issue, but in the nearly 2 years he's had the job, he's only managed to take a 4-day weekend Once. They just won't let him go and he needs the job.

I do have other family (on my wife's side, she's a GA native, I'm a WY native) who are teachers with the state, but I've not spoken with them in-depth about it. A job is a job, if you need it you could do worse than working with the state, but in GA it's not even close to the ideal place to be.