Teacher Salaries in Austin, Tyler and Houston (Dallas, San Antonio: insurance, how much)

[jenz13]

I am thinking of moving to Austin, Tyler or Houston. I am an elementary teacher with 10 years of experience. I am curious about how much I would make, what the schools are like in these cities, what the cost of living is and if I would have job security. If anyone could answer any of these questions, then that would very helpful. Thanks!!!

[mark311]

Here is a link to teacher pay scales for Leander ISD. I imagine that other Austin area districts are pretty close.

http://www.leanderisd.org/default.as...mp.teach.scale

[CptnRn]

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...,d.b2I&cad=rja

Frequently Asked Questions | Austin ISD

Where are you coming from? Are you aware of how the State slashed the Education budget year before last, resulting in lots of cut backs in public schools?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_986909.html

[jenz13]

I am coming from Iowa. I am not aware of the cuts. This is why I want to make sure that I would make be making a comparable amount to what I am making now. Thanks for your help!

[jenz13]

WOW! I would be making about $15,000 less than I do right now!!!

[mesmer]

I don't know what the current situation is, but I remember a few years ago that it pretty much impossible to find a teaching job in Austin. People were working in child care settings since they couldn't get a job in schools - which obviously pays a lot less. The majority of the people I know who did manage to find teaching jobs did so by taking positions on the outskirts of the austin area, presumably for less pay, and definitely with a longer commute. I can't say for sure that it wouldn't work out for you, but if you have choices, this probably is not the wisest one.

[texasdiver]

In addition to earning $15,000 less you would also not be paying into social security while employed at any of those districts except Austin ISD itself. Very few school districts in Texas participate in social security. Instead you pay into the Texas Teachers Retirement System (TRS) which is the teacher's pension program. Having started in Texas at mid-career you would find your Texas pension pretty mediocre and the Social Security Admin would also cut back the Social Security benefits that you have already earned in Iowa through the WEP Retirement Planner: Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP)

Basically if you chose to come to Texas to teach after already starting a career in Iowa you'd better plan to put away a lot of $$ for retirement in a 403(b) because the pension won't likely be enough to retire on. In addition, the TRS pensions are not indexed for inflation unlike SS which means the dollar amount you retire with at age 65 (or whatever age) will still be the dollar amount you'll be getting 30 years later if you are still alive regardless of inflation.

The TRS is OK for Texas teachers who put in a full 40 year career in Texas but if you come and go from the state and don't work a full career here your retirement will suffer greatly.

I would also forget about Austin. The UT-Austin School of Education pumps out hundreds of new teachers every year and they basically have a pipeline to jobs in the Austin ISD because that is where they all do their student teaching. I don't know much about Tyler...it's a smaller city in east Texas that seems pretty for a Texas city but not a real growth area. Frankly if you want to find a teaching job in a decent area your best bets are probably the Dallas/Fort Worth fast growing suburbs (mostly to the north of the metroplex) and the suburbs around Houston. Maybe suburban San Antonio as well, especially if you have Spanish. The school district I teach at in the Waco area is holding a job fair for the first time in 3 years this spring so perhaps hiring around the state is starting to look up. It has been dismal the past few years. I was surprised to hear they are doing the job fair again.

[TX75007]

Salary minimums are set by the state. Some districts pay more.

The TRS is a 403b system which is similar to the 401K. Some ISDs make matching contributions.

In the long run, 403B is better than Social Security due to earnings on the contributions which in most cases is around 8% - far better than inflation. Couple this with matching contributions and its a great deal.

In addition, Social Security is already in the red and the Federal government is deeply in debt. There is no way anyone under 40 will see anything they put in today to it.

The growing suburbs around DFW and Houston and San Antonio are the places to look. But, like others said, Texas is a great state to get in on the ground floor, but not so much if you are established elsewhere.

TX does not have income tax at all. Iowa does have rather high income tax rates.

That being said, another option is to switch careers. IT, Accounting, Oil/Gas, and manufacturing are all in demand in TX.

I have a former schoolteacher working for me as a DBA and another employee is an adjunct professor working as an SA. Both make twice as much working in IT full time than they did full time teaching. Both have masters degrees. The irony is that I have 20 somethings almost half their age making nearly twice what they do - and these kids do not have degrees at all.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by TX75007

Salary minimums are set by the state. Some districts pay more.

The TRS is a 403b system which is similar to the 401K. Some ISDs make matching contributions.

In the long run, 403B is better than Social Security due to earnings on the contributions which in most cases is around 8% - far better than inflation. Couple this with matching contributions and its a great deal.

This is COMPLETELY wrong. TRS is a defined benefit pension program much like the traditional teacher's pensions available in most if not all states. Teachers are eligible for a TRS pension if they have at least 5 years of teaching experience in Texas and they are either 65 or their years of teaching plus their age equals 80. The pension is determined by multiplying years of service x average salary of 5 highest years x 2.3. So, for example, a teacher who taught for 40 years and retired with an average 5 highest year's salary of $50,000 would retire with an annual pension of 40 x $50,000 x 2.3% = $46,000/year which will remain fixed without adjustment for inflation for the duration of her life. The last time the legislature made a COLA raise was about 10 years ago. For most teachers they will probably start out with a higher pension under TRS than they would have earned under social security but the TRS pension will remain static while social security will increase each year as it is indexed to inflation. At some point the two lines will cross and the social security benefit will be greater than the TRS pension and will continue to increase. The point at which that happens depends entirely on the rate of inflation.

Texas teachers also have 403(b) plans available but this is completely separate from TRS. A 403(b) is essentially identical to a 401(k) except that 401(k) plans apply to private businesses and 403(b) plans apply to governments and non profits like hospitals. Texas teachers who want to open a 403(b) plan can do so and can chose from low cost mutual fund companies such as Vanguard and Fidelity or insurance company plans that are generally have much higher fees. I don't know of a single school district in TX that will match 403(b) contributions by teachers. I've simply never heard of it happening. So teachers who open and invest in a 403(b) plan are more or less doing the same thing as investing in a traditional IRA except that they are doing it through payroll deduction and they have higher investment limits than are allowed for IRAs.

[TX75007]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

This is COMPLETELY wrong. TRS is a defined benefit pension .

You are right. Thanks for the clarification.

When I was an adjunct, UT matched into my 403b.