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My hubby and I are seriously contemplating a move to the Atlantic County area of New Jersey. We realize our income will never be enough to purchase a home in our current area of NY, while we see the home prices falling in Atlantic County.
Hubby is a teacher, originally from NJ, and licensed there to teach as well. His expertise is Special Ed. I recently obtained NJEA's teacher salary review, and wanted some feedback from those who know, if the figures shown are accurate.
For example: in the district of Margate City, a teacher with a Bachelor's degree, on the 15th step, earns $74,140. Is this correct? Also, what about longevity bonuses? What are those like? If anyone can provide me some information regarding my questions, I'd be very appreciative. Many thanks in advance!
Why would you think the info is incorrect? If it's from NJEA's report, it's correct, since they're the ones who track the salaries in the various counties/towns. The question is, will he be able to find a position down there (the districts down there aren't exactly seeing a population explosion)? And what makes you think that he'll get the 15th step salary?
To clarify, the reason I'm inquiring about a 15th step salary, is simply to compare it with what the 15th step is here in the NY district he works in. Also, I wanted to know if and what longevity bonuses were like, again, for comparison to his current contract in NY.
To my understanding, and I may be completely wrong, the Atlantic County area is indeed looking for teachers, especially experienced ones (my hubby has been teaching for 8 years), and even moreso, those whose area of expertise is Special Ed., like his is.
If I'm at all off base here, please let me know, thanks again!
Hi Smurf. Did you post before under a different name? I think I read some posts that sounded like this one.
I am a former special education teacher who lived and worked in Cape May County. Secondary special ed teachers are the most sought after teachers in NJ.
You mention Margate, which is a K-8 district I believe. The population on the islands is decreasing while mainland Atlantic County is increasing while mainland Cape May County is decreasing.
The salaries can vary greatly in Atlantic and Cape May Counties. The top is Ocean City, which is one of the most sought after districts in the state. OC is also the only district that I know of in NJ that gives length of service payments. Those are very rare in Jersey.
Yes, Atlantic County is increasing teachers but not by the number you might think based on population gain. The Press of AC recently had a number of articles on EHT and I think they added about 6 or so teachers recently.
This part of the state is not exactly loaded with teaching jobs as there are just not that many districts. Cape May County is pretty much Lower, Middle, and Upper. Eastern Atlantic County is dominated by Mainland, Atlantic City, and EHT. You get a lot of home for the money because there are just not that many high paying jobs to drive up the cost of living such as in Central and Northern New Jersey.
The good news is that it is very easy to jump on the Expressway and the Parkway from EHT and you can cover a lot of miles in a short time on these roads for the vast majority of the school year.
Also, there is still plenty of time to get hired as I landed my former job a few years ago the last week of August. I would check each's district's website and as there are not that many districts that should be pretty quick.
If you have any more questions feel free to ask...
Barco is obviously much more capable of addressing the specifics of Atlantic County but here are some things to think about.
In general it is very difficult to find teaching positions in NJ. There are a lot of people currently looking.
Personally it seems a lot more about who you know then what you know. I am a teacher and landed my job 2 1/2 years ago because I knew someone who got me the interview. And I'm still looking to get a position closer to home (I currently travel 120 miles round trip every day).
Also, I'm just guessing, but with so many applicants, I think the more experienced you are the more difficult it might be to find a position. If you are on the 15th step they may not hire you because they can hire someone with a salary on the 3rd step. School budgets are under significant scrutiny right now.
NJ is great and the teacher's salaries are good but unfortunately, land the job before you move. Good luck.
Smurf, his experience will make it much easier for him to land a job, but they just are not going to pay for that experience.
It is very unlikely that any district in the Atlantic County area will credit anywhere near 15 steps. Districts in NJ are free to place new hires to the district on any step that they see fit. It is not uncommon in instances like this for a district to throw a teacher 5-8 steps or so, and even that would be on the high end.
In my experience South Jersey is more of a good ole' boy network and much less cosmopolitan than central and north Jersey and this makes landing a job harder for outsiders. Almost all of my former classmates from Rowan are teaching north of route 195
Districts in NJ are free to place new hires to the district on any step that they see fit. It is not uncommon in instances like this for a district to throw a teacher 5-8 steps or so, and even that would be on the high end.
You taught this teacher something. I had no idea that the union contracts would allow this.
Sorry, I made an error when I read your post as you guys are not looking to get the 15th step but are using it to compare districts. Again, it really depends on the districts as there are some pretty large salary differences in Atlantic and Cape May Counties. You might also want to look at southern Ocean County as there is a large building boom outside of LBI on the mainland.
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