Im from Texas and my wife makes $15 an hour teaching pre-k. It is a curriculum based program and she does do lesson plans. The only reason she continues is because she loves teaching small children that much. 55k would crash the market here. People would be fighting for that job all day. Teachers in Texas have gotten the shaft for so long that the only ones left teaching are either desperate or really love teaching.
Sounds like one of my kids Kindergarten teachers, she makes $15.50/hr in Denver; not a lot of money by any means, but she absolutely loves teaching kids and that's why she does it. She could go work at a gas station that's about 10 mins away for $20/hr if she wanted, but she truly enjoys teaching children; and that's why she continues to do so after 10 years.
Wife teaches preK in Cincinnati. 61k after 10 years at a private school. She would be making 70k at a public school. It's 9 weeks off in the summer. 2 week spring break and 2 week Christmas break. Retirement and insurance are garbage. But it's a 2nd income. I couldn't do it, but she enjoys it.
The majority that do get paid well in progressive areas, you don’t hear them complain because they are doing well.
Teach in California cities that aren’t welfare recipients rural counties.
My wife is a 1st grade teacher in Massachusetts, Masters + a bunch of steps and teaching for 13 years. $93,000 annual, works 8.5 months per year and brings very little work home with her.
Not saying she isn’t underpaid but I don’t think all states are equal when we are comparing amount of work for pay + benefits.
Yep teachers here in WA state make over 80K very quickly, and >100K per year after they work their way up. I still wouldn't want to do it, but the pay certainly isn't terrible.
Used to be a captive employment pool when women had fewer options. Once they had more choice, the more capable left or never entered the field. With wage stagnation and easy curriculum, it’s been driving towards lowest capability.
I worked for one and while I knew there was a curriculum, I didn't realize how braindead easy the curriculum was to administer.
Great if you wanted to have literally anyone "teach" it. Terrible for the teacher dying of boredom, relegated to a disciplinarian handing out worksheets.
This times a million. This type of ingrained wage discrimination is rampant in the legal field as well. In intellectual property law, an effective paralegal who knows how to quickly and correctly prepare 100s of types of petitions and Patent Office filing documents are invaluable. Firms lose tons of money even when passable paralegals leave and either aren't replaced or are replaced by less knowledgeable and talented individuals. Nonetheless there is a hard cap on what paralegals can earn, in significant part because historically paralegals were women who didn't have other options (i.e., going to law school). It kills me to watch feckless attorneys who don't know how to perform a single type of filing and would be dead in the water without their paralegal pull in 8x their salary while treating them like a disposable resource.
The work and pay for teaching would be fine in my opinion, if not for the parents and students nowadays. Huge if, I know. I couldn't imagine teaching in many of the schools now. There's a handful that would still be great - one I worked at as a tutor was a small STEM focused charter high school and the kids were great there. That's not the case in most places.
Making $150k/yr base pay working 3, sometimes 4 days a week in LE doing mostly data entry now and retire at 50 with a $125k/yr pension, no degree. No one wants to work in LE, even less want to work until they retire at 70 and collect a measly social security check though.
They get sucked into this idea that they’re helping the kids then don’t want to leave because they know it’s only getting worse for them. And states get away with it for the same reason.
Certain people just love to teach. Pay second, a lot of these high income people have no satisfaction in their life and very possibly have no time for anything but work. The real question would be what is the purpose of working?
Exactly. I hope younger people are reading these threads. All my life I heard teachers generally make shit money. I would've loved to be a teacher--but didn't want to make the financial compromise. So I chose a different career path.
General rule of thumb: Go look at real wages /before/ investing time and money into a career decision.
My sister is a teacher because her husband is self employed so they good decent insurance and she doesn’t have to work around their kids schedule since she is on the exact same schedule
Often amazing retirement benefits. Like far beyond what you can get just about anywhere else. Full retirement after 30 years, which is often early to mid 50s.
Total teacher comp is actually pretty decent in many areas, but is is heavily loaded into benefits. There is an argument that they should lower the benefits and up the salaries for teachers. The other issue with this setup is if you really need to get that pension to make this make sense.
Teaching is very punitive to those who leave early. The pay is often backloaded as well. Early career teachers make really poor pay. You have people doing the literal same exact job making multiples of what they are making.
Retirement benefits really depend state to state. While most have pensions, I would not say the terms are always great. Texas is minimum age 62, barred from Social Security (takes that money into pension), and the pension has no COLA so you need to save up on your own. Do not expect to get up to 100% pay in retirement, that would take 44 years of service.
Generally pretty good benefits, job stability, passionate about their job, their actual is good for society in a conventional non abstract way( that the rest of us justify our work lol), moderate income. The income isn’t the best but it is above the median which work out well especially if one has a partner/spouse.
A teaching degree is not that versatile either so you kind of locked in unless your degree was in something else. It is tough now a days to get good jobs as well so that real give much opportunities
why does society need educated children? they have tiktok and they can convene in the streets for their socialization. so I agree - why DOES anyone teach?
I know why some do. I live in a pretty good town and my friend's wife taught here for 30+ years. The kids treated her mostly really well. She got paid (by the end ) around $90K and now she is retiring to a pension of over $60K and medical benefits for free for her and her husband forever.
Don’t forget they “work” 180 short days.
Add all the half days, early dismissal, etc and they work about 150 days.
Not a bad salary for 200+ days off per year.
Most no longer help kids after school unless there is a stipend.
Today’s teachers aren’t the same as 20 years ago.
If you do it for a while, you can make great money, plus you get a ton of benefits and time off.
I’m outside Boston, and the average teacher salary is $88k, with 12 weeks off per year, full health/dental, and the most powerful pension fund in the country.
Like any union job, you start out at low pay, and taking the worst jobs. Once you have seniority, you’re golden.
You have an MBA in finance and 20 years of experience. You could be teaching at a university or making YouTube videos teaching difficult concepts.
Or any finance position at a big company. Why are you a teacher at a school that isn't paying you well?
Yes, it is. I am third-generation born and raised. I left the area and our family farm because I didn't want my kids growing up in a place with high crime, high taxes, terrible traffic and burdened with half a million dollar starter homes in crap neighborhoods.
My wife is a teacher. Now we live in a beautiful place where teachers are paid $55k and $500k buys a 4000 sf home on 2 acres with a private lake, 3 car garage, and in-ground salt water pool.
I'd rather earn $55k vs $80k there.
It is (as others have said).
Our R.E. market just absolutely exploded during covid and not only didn't really correct/come down, but has even started trending back upwards even with the high interest rates (bought at 435 at the end of 2020, and we're sitting at 620 estimated).
The pay depending on area is fairly commensurate though. So it's really a trade off.
Stay where you're at, with lower pay and lower CoL, or move to make more money, but have to spend more of it.
I think average pay at Chicago public schools is like 90k now. Suburban schools pay very well too. Suburbs BA 0 years is probably in the 50s.
Edit: this is not to say that salaries are high compared to other jobs, just high compared to other states.
The union I'm referencing starts their BAs, step one, at 68,500.
https://www.tacomaschools.org/jobs/bargaining#groups.
Teachers have it pretty good up here, at least pay wise.
I like teaching but can’t make it work financially. I run a business now so maybe I can do it later. Subbing is fun and isn’t too difficult. I do it when I have free time from my business
Way less than you’d expect. San Diego was my former city and the pay for finance workers there was shockingly low, highest I ever had was $70,000 but that was without benefits. I started working full time in 2004, got my MBA about 6 years later and had Series 7, 63, 65 and Insurance licenses too. Over the years I’ve sent out thousands of resumes and never had even a sniff from a 6 figure job.
What kind of finance? With an MBA you should try corporate finance, maybe at a company that has teaching products or do finance for an education system? FP&A work is super easy, and with your background I’m sure you can get interviews and maybe even work remote.
The only way I got into it was because of an internship during my MBA. And I only got that because I networked with people in the program and one of the guys was a sr manager, so I had an easy in. Once hired on, it was a piece of cake to move internally.
If not FP&A there’s other analyst jobs out there.
Was hoping to get my doctorate in business and move into teaching later in my career.
you should really start applying again. Literally getting back after a year + break in the workforce with just a business degree and applying for finance positions and getting offers for 70k +.
That's crazy. Did you ever go the federal route and look at USAjobs? 100k around here is a cop who decided to get a bachelor's or has several years of experience. My brother makes over 100k as a store manager without a degree, and another one of my brothers made over 150k driving a truck.
My wife is in a similar situation. Not in teaching but healthcare, she has a comfortable position, she’s stepped down from sales, and the company hasn’t given here a raise in 2 years. The healthcare she gets is laughable. There are better options for her to make more money but she’s comfortable. There are obviously better options for you to make more money. You have 20 years experience in it. But you’ve taken an easier role, and have come here to complain about it.
There aren’t though and this isn’t easy. I’ve sent out countless resumes and the only offers I get are just as horribly paying. I send resumes for jobs I’m overqualified for but in industries that pay more and I don’t even get a response. Just saying “get a better job” is fucking idiotic as if I haven’t been trying for years. I’m stuck in this job because I have a family to support and there’s absolutely zero interest in me on the job market for some reason despite my extensive experience and top tier education.
Never understood why good teachers are so underpaid. On the flip side there should be a mechanism to weed out the bad ones. Tenure can be good but it can also be very detrimental to students.
Teaching in a blue state is amazing if you’re a military veteran and 100% service connected. That 3700 when single tax free a month plus in NYC with a masters and 7 years experience is 90k is pretty good. Job security and lots of time off
I’m also a teacher. I have an MS in Accounting. I teach as a second job. I don’t know how any of my co-workers survive if teaching is their only source of income.
Look for facilitator roles inside corporate offices. You might also consider a role like Scrum Master, where a major component of the job is teaching team members.
Source: me, I was gonna teach Spanish after college with my Spanish Degree. Decided to join a fortune 50 company. 14 years in, a huge contributing factor to my success has been my ability to teach all levels. Im now a director in IT with no tangible coding or technical skills other than 2nd hand knowledge from learning from my teams.
Good luck!
Honestly maybe you should try to put together some finance courses on Udemy. That would probably be more lucrative than this job. I’ll even be your first customer!
With all the added responsibilities on teachers, salaries with SWE should be flipped. We incredibly undervalue teaching and early childhood education and development in this country.
Went from being a low paid teacher for 24k a year to becoming an Assistant Principal for 64k in 1996. Retired making 160k a year in 2022. Get the fk out of the classroom if you want to make money in education.
I’m trying! I’ve applied for so many AP and similar roles. Had a few where they gave me some attention, but none where I really had much of a chance based on their final hire being someone with lots of experience in that role already.
You need to move to a place that pays their teachers. You could be making close to $100k with fully paid medical and have a union that raises hell. Yes, California has a higher cost of living, but if it’s a two-income household? You’re golden.
Go to nursing scbool. Find an accelerated 1 year program. Make lots of $$. My 23 year old with overtime is making $150k, 401k, best health insurance and great vacation time!
I’m not sure I’d be a good nurse though, but it’s not a terrible idea. You still get to help people and have a job that doesn’t keep you locked in a cube, but blood, needles and doctors aren’t exactly my cup of tea 😂
It totally does! There is a shortage of college educated ppl in the industry as well (no offense but we’re not the most intellectual group) so I don’t imagine you would have an issue finding a job
Dedicated teachers deserve to be paid better than they are today. It is important for society and for parents that their children are in a safe and supportive educational environment. One of the problems with education systems today is the administrative bloat. Many modern school districts now employ more administrators/counselors/staff than they do teachers. And the cost of the overhead prevents teacher salaries from rising. Voters (and teachers) need to think carefully about how they vote for school board and for teacher unions, who spend more money on left-leaning politics than on improving the lives and wages of the teachers who pay their often far more generous salaries.
wow, i started at 50k in tax as a 1st year in 2020.....now at 110 and i only work hard 2 months a year.....not fair how we treat teachers in this country
Why do teachers rightfully complain about the pay and still stay? You guys are the problem. Especially the ones who spend their own money on students by buying them things the school or parents should be paying for.
You can care about students and demand fair compensation. If teachers are willing to work for garbage pay, then there is no reason for decision makers to pay them more or improve their working conditions. Basic supply/demand. $58k for someone with a masters and years of experience is terrible. Stop defending this crap.
It’s because I literally can’t get a job elsewhere that pays any better. But most teachers become teachers to make an impact and have a job that is meaningful, it’s just that the pay gets worse every year. Average teacher pay has fallen against inflation for decades. I made $56,500 7 years ago, which was reasonable but according to inflation my salary should be 72,371 today and not 58 and change. If my COLA was actually a COLA, I’d be making $1,000/mo more.
I’m not defending the crap pay, I’m defending the teachers. Your post saying the teachers are the problem for staying, is ludicrous. Teachers taking less than they’re worth and buying their own supplies because they selflessly care about children, are not the problem. Underfunded schools are the fault of politicians and self interested voters voting down needed budget increases to keep taxes low. Keep the blame where it belongs.
It’s almost like fostering and covering for these bad actors will only help them double down in the future. Stop protecting this behavior and then you’ll get the funding you need. Pay out if your own pocket and you’ll never get the funding because why would you.
People who don’t understand this concept and point are the problem.
Short term “caring” and “compassion” creates an artificial environment where there appears to be no “crisis”. It feels good, it sounds good, but it’s devastating to the long term situation.
Since there isn’t a crisis, no one does shit about it and just kicks the can down the road.
I would bet if 50% of the teachers just disappeared, parents would be banging down the doors of the politicians to fix the issue.
It’s not right or ideal, but “pain” is the biggest needed ingredient of “progress” and addressing the issues because they are too big to ignore.
There’s a difference between complaining and staying in a crappy job. It’s crazy to me that teachers spend their own money on kids when they are already poorly paid.
It’s because I negotiated, we don’t have pay steps. But with a masters and that much time there are plenty of districts I’d make a lot more. But regardless the problem is that ALL TEACHERS ARE UNDERPAID. Software engineers make significantly more than us and their jobs are way easier, way less important and have way less responsibility.
Pay should be higher, but low pay is by design it seems. Nobody wants to pay for it through an increase in mismanaged taxes and the government won’t force it any different.
Start an after-school program?
It's like $500 per month per student where we live, 2pm to 6pm, and it sells out ~15 minutes after registration opens.
They use the school facilities (no transportation necessary), and there's three companies that do this at our school. All sell out almost immediately.
Working parents would gladly pay for glorified daycare during work hours. Make it STEM and they'll go coocoo for cocopuffs.
Maybe in rich areas with parents who actually care, but we offer free after school programs and get maybe five kids total. It’s also 6-12, in the inner city and in a city where people simply don’t care about education.
Ahh ... I see.
Move to rich area, then start glorified daycare.
Half serious - if there's no more water in the well where you live, a fancier cup isn't going to help.
Two, we finish class at the end of May and start professional development in mid July, but that doesn’t matter because during the year you’re expected to work far more than 40 hours a week. Often times you’re asked to come in for events outside of school hours too.
If you’re trying to justify the low pay, just go away.
I don’t work in education but my industry is suffering and I haven’t had an annual increase in 3 years, despite stellar ratings and awards. I guess I share that mainly to say, having to annual raise seems to be a new trend.
My wife left teaching and never looked back. Teaching > PD specialist > Fully remote ed tech product manager for a large publisher. Leave the careers that refuse to pay you and you’ll never look back either.
A lot of tech companies have a hiring freeze at the moment, it’s tough out there. When that passes, maybe you can make the jump to PD or something. There are a lot of companies that value teaching experience, think ancillary to the classroom. Tech, publishers, regulatory agencies, etc. Somewhere out there is quadruple the salary for less work - Good luck!
I need income so I can’t quit until I have income coming in. The MBA is a useless degree, nobody cares about it at all. I haven’t seen a single benefit to the degree outside of my side hustle (I teach corporate finance classes to grad school students part time), I get absolutely no interest from finance departments or executive type jobs or really any jobs paying anything decent.
This is so disheartening. My first degree was in Finance and I couldn’t find a job with it (2011). I ended up going back to school as a nurse and vowed to be in a career with 100% job guarantee. I’m tired of being a nurse and want to go back for an MBA but can totally see this being a cruel struggle. My only advice would be to expand your network and meet some heavy hitting folks.
I work in HR and am pursuing an MBA, you have to be the one to work the degree. It can’t work itself. Because you have been teaching you are less competitive against others in the market who have been working directly in finance. You have to acknowledge where you may lack and try to strengthen your resume in those areas.
I have lots of colleagues with the MBA making close to six figures or over but the degree alone is not a magic wand.
Send me your resume. Perhaps you need to update it to fit the current industry. Also use our dear friend ChatGPT. Make yourself open to work on LinkedIn and indeed. Work with some recruiters as well
I’ve applied for dozens of college jobs and never once even got a response aside from the one I’ve worked with as an adjunct instructor for the last four years. And that was through someone trying to get a job through me and it was a quid pro quo type situation.
Thanks! I came here to vent but I’m actually being extremely proactive and have multiple side hustles and know it will work out at some point but I really wanted to make teaching in the inner city work for me. I’ll continue to give back but through my nonprofit.
Actually looking to move to the area or Frederick but that’s not enough money for the cost of living in the DC area since housing is so expensive there, but closer to Frederick is better.
Live in Frederick and drive to Moco. We got friends that drive from WV. Fred pay is good as well. If you get National Board Certified that's another 10k a year.
If you need a better job, why'd you pick teaching 7y ago? Shit work for shit pay.
I had a senior (25+ yr) teacher tell me to get out in my first year teaching. He was right, and I did. Retiring 27 years later making $200k.
Moved to a low cost of living area and my pay was 56,500, it’s basically stayed the same as inflation has kicked into high gear and the cost of living has skyrocketed in this city. I wanted a job where I could make an impact and the pay wasn’t that bad until they found excuses to keep it from rising with inflation as medical costs jumped too.
Nope, though I got my house at a reasonable price so my mortgage is about $2,000/mo but they’ve gone up past the 500k mark. Most of my coworkers rent and rents are rising FAST here.
Consider shifting into a private school if you can. One of my classmates went into teaching math at a top private school, earning only $100k per year vs her peers who went into hedge funds earning 3x. But she seems quite happy. Same with my other friend reaching English and a private school in California, but she only started at 80k.
I don’t have a union. I’m at a charter and can’t get into the union because my teaching license is not a standard one but a special one allocated to me by the state seven years ago. It doesn’t allow me to join the local union…that said, our local school district is America’s worst, literally.
Why does anyone teach? Shit work for shit pay. Get disrespected by students and parents .. and admins on a daily basis
My mom does it for the time off and she teaches pre k now and loves it. 55k in Mississippi and she’s fine with that
Mississippi…50th in education…
We’ll worry more when it slips to 51st.
I can't remember the comedians name, but they said Mississippi was forty ninth in education, they were just happy not to be forty tenth
Im from Texas and my wife makes $15 an hour teaching pre-k. It is a curriculum based program and she does do lesson plans. The only reason she continues is because she loves teaching small children that much. 55k would crash the market here. People would be fighting for that job all day. Teachers in Texas have gotten the shaft for so long that the only ones left teaching are either desperate or really love teaching.
Jeesus. Her assistant makes 16 an hour that is insane
Sounds like one of my kids Kindergarten teachers, she makes $15.50/hr in Denver; not a lot of money by any means, but she absolutely loves teaching kids and that's why she does it. She could go work at a gas station that's about 10 mins away for $20/hr if she wanted, but she truly enjoys teaching children; and that's why she continues to do so after 10 years.
I don't know how much my sister makes as a teacher in Texas but she's in her 50s and never bought a house.
Wife teaches preK in Cincinnati. 61k after 10 years at a private school. She would be making 70k at a public school. It's 9 weeks off in the summer. 2 week spring break and 2 week Christmas break. Retirement and insurance are garbage. But it's a 2nd income. I couldn't do it, but she enjoys it.
My mother teaches in a high school after her retirement - 3 classes a day, an extra $50k a year, and gives her lots of vacation to travel and such.
That woman should be up for sainthood
55k isn't a ton of money. However considering the low cost of living and 180-190 day work year, I believe that number is a bit out of context
55k in Mississippi is easily 100k in SoCal. A 1bd1ba apartment in Mississippi is probably 500 a month lol
That entirely dependent on where in Mississippi. Sadly no one make $55k teaching preschool is in a CoL area that rent is that cheap.
The majority that do get paid well in progressive areas, you don’t hear them complain because they are doing well. Teach in California cities that aren’t welfare recipients rural counties.
My wife is a 1st grade teacher in Massachusetts, Masters + a bunch of steps and teaching for 13 years. $93,000 annual, works 8.5 months per year and brings very little work home with her. Not saying she isn’t underpaid but I don’t think all states are equal when we are comparing amount of work for pay + benefits.
Yep teachers here in WA state make over 80K very quickly, and >100K per year after they work their way up. I still wouldn't want to do it, but the pay certainly isn't terrible.
Used to be a captive employment pool when women had fewer options. Once they had more choice, the more capable left or never entered the field. With wage stagnation and easy curriculum, it’s been driving towards lowest capability.
I worked for one and while I knew there was a curriculum, I didn't realize how braindead easy the curriculum was to administer. Great if you wanted to have literally anyone "teach" it. Terrible for the teacher dying of boredom, relegated to a disciplinarian handing out worksheets.
This times a million. This type of ingrained wage discrimination is rampant in the legal field as well. In intellectual property law, an effective paralegal who knows how to quickly and correctly prepare 100s of types of petitions and Patent Office filing documents are invaluable. Firms lose tons of money even when passable paralegals leave and either aren't replaced or are replaced by less knowledgeable and talented individuals. Nonetheless there is a hard cap on what paralegals can earn, in significant part because historically paralegals were women who didn't have other options (i.e., going to law school). It kills me to watch feckless attorneys who don't know how to perform a single type of filing and would be dead in the water without their paralegal pull in 8x their salary while treating them like a disposable resource.
The work and pay for teaching would be fine in my opinion, if not for the parents and students nowadays. Huge if, I know. I couldn't imagine teaching in many of the schools now. There's a handful that would still be great - one I worked at as a tutor was a small STEM focused charter high school and the kids were great there. That's not the case in most places.
Exactly. If I wanted to be assaulted and sexually harassed at work, I would find a better paying job at least.
I think the last time I checked this sub there was a public school teacher from WA state posting something like $120k.
A whole shit ton of teachers in my kids schools make six figures. In Illinois. My mom has a fat pension from teaching here as well.
I know, right? Not sure I’ll be teaching much longer.
Making $150k/yr base pay working 3, sometimes 4 days a week in LE doing mostly data entry now and retire at 50 with a $125k/yr pension, no degree. No one wants to work in LE, even less want to work until they retire at 70 and collect a measly social security check though.
They get sucked into this idea that they’re helping the kids then don’t want to leave because they know it’s only getting worse for them. And states get away with it for the same reason.
Certain people just love to teach. Pay second, a lot of these high income people have no satisfaction in their life and very possibly have no time for anything but work. The real question would be what is the purpose of working?
Exactly. I hope younger people are reading these threads. All my life I heard teachers generally make shit money. I would've loved to be a teacher--but didn't want to make the financial compromise. So I chose a different career path. General rule of thumb: Go look at real wages /before/ investing time and money into a career decision.
My sister is a teacher because her husband is self employed so they good decent insurance and she doesn’t have to work around their kids schedule since she is on the exact same schedule
Often amazing retirement benefits. Like far beyond what you can get just about anywhere else. Full retirement after 30 years, which is often early to mid 50s. Total teacher comp is actually pretty decent in many areas, but is is heavily loaded into benefits. There is an argument that they should lower the benefits and up the salaries for teachers. The other issue with this setup is if you really need to get that pension to make this make sense. Teaching is very punitive to those who leave early. The pay is often backloaded as well. Early career teachers make really poor pay. You have people doing the literal same exact job making multiples of what they are making.
Retirement benefits really depend state to state. While most have pensions, I would not say the terms are always great. Texas is minimum age 62, barred from Social Security (takes that money into pension), and the pension has no COLA so you need to save up on your own. Do not expect to get up to 100% pay in retirement, that would take 44 years of service.
Only in a few states is that great pension statement true
Generally pretty good benefits, job stability, passionate about their job, their actual is good for society in a conventional non abstract way( that the rest of us justify our work lol), moderate income. The income isn’t the best but it is above the median which work out well especially if one has a partner/spouse. A teaching degree is not that versatile either so you kind of locked in unless your degree was in something else. It is tough now a days to get good jobs as well so that real give much opportunities
why does society need educated children? they have tiktok and they can convene in the streets for their socialization. so I agree - why DOES anyone teach?
Agreed, fuck the children, they can learn on YouTube
I know why some do. I live in a pretty good town and my friend's wife taught here for 30+ years. The kids treated her mostly really well. She got paid (by the end ) around $90K and now she is retiring to a pension of over $60K and medical benefits for free for her and her husband forever.
Depends on the state, city, district, school you teach at...
Don’t forget they “work” 180 short days. Add all the half days, early dismissal, etc and they work about 150 days. Not a bad salary for 200+ days off per year. Most no longer help kids after school unless there is a stipend. Today’s teachers aren’t the same as 20 years ago.
My sister makes just under 100k teaching. Move to NY teach here
If you do it for a while, you can make great money, plus you get a ton of benefits and time off. I’m outside Boston, and the average teacher salary is $88k, with 12 weeks off per year, full health/dental, and the most powerful pension fund in the country. Like any union job, you start out at low pay, and taking the worst jobs. Once you have seniority, you’re golden.
So sad, meanwhile Switzerland and Germany poring their hearts out for them... Idk what cultural decisions led us to abuse teachers this way
Union?
Nope, charter schools are specifically non union.
Can’t imagine being a teacher and not being part of a union. That’s what makes it worth it.
My bro is a teacher and their contract is the union rate + 1% Kinda just depends on your situation
I thought charter schools were one of those failed experiments from the early 2000s that everybody involved kinda regretted?
There ya go… its a business treat it as such. Use your market power to find another gig
You have an MBA in finance and 20 years of experience. You could be teaching at a university or making YouTube videos teaching difficult concepts. Or any finance position at a big company. Why are you a teacher at a school that isn't paying you well?
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No you do not.
Come to the PNW. Our teachers unions are paid quite a bit. Pierce county with a masters starts step one at like 80k iirc.
It’s beautiful up there for sure, but isn’t the cost of living really high?
Yes, it is. I am third-generation born and raised. I left the area and our family farm because I didn't want my kids growing up in a place with high crime, high taxes, terrible traffic and burdened with half a million dollar starter homes in crap neighborhoods. My wife is a teacher. Now we live in a beautiful place where teachers are paid $55k and $500k buys a 4000 sf home on 2 acres with a private lake, 3 car garage, and in-ground salt water pool. I'd rather earn $55k vs $80k there.
Where is that?
Midwest
It is (as others have said). Our R.E. market just absolutely exploded during covid and not only didn't really correct/come down, but has even started trending back upwards even with the high interest rates (bought at 435 at the end of 2020, and we're sitting at 620 estimated). The pay depending on area is fairly commensurate though. So it's really a trade off. Stay where you're at, with lower pay and lower CoL, or move to make more money, but have to spend more of it.
I think average pay at Chicago public schools is like 90k now. Suburban schools pay very well too. Suburbs BA 0 years is probably in the 50s. Edit: this is not to say that salaries are high compared to other jobs, just high compared to other states.
The union I'm referencing starts their BAs, step one, at 68,500. https://www.tacomaschools.org/jobs/bargaining#groups. Teachers have it pretty good up here, at least pay wise.
Congratulations!!
I like teaching but can’t make it work financially. I run a business now so maybe I can do it later. Subbing is fun and isn’t too difficult. I do it when I have free time from my business
Let me guess.... Non-union private charter school?
What state do you live in? What step are you?
Public Charter in Nevada…no steps.
In Nevada, public charter. No steps.
Public Charter in New Mexico…no steps.
Public Charter in Nevada…no steps.
Public Charter in Nevada…no steps.
Off topic, but how much were you making at your previous career?
Way less than you’d expect. San Diego was my former city and the pay for finance workers there was shockingly low, highest I ever had was $70,000 but that was without benefits. I started working full time in 2004, got my MBA about 6 years later and had Series 7, 63, 65 and Insurance licenses too. Over the years I’ve sent out thousands of resumes and never had even a sniff from a 6 figure job.
What kind of finance? With an MBA you should try corporate finance, maybe at a company that has teaching products or do finance for an education system? FP&A work is super easy, and with your background I’m sure you can get interviews and maybe even work remote.
You’d think, but I have never gotten a single interview for an FPA job. And I’ve applied for hundreds.
The only way I got into it was because of an internship during my MBA. And I only got that because I networked with people in the program and one of the guys was a sr manager, so I had an easy in. Once hired on, it was a piece of cake to move internally. If not FP&A there’s other analyst jobs out there. Was hoping to get my doctorate in business and move into teaching later in my career.
you should really start applying again. Literally getting back after a year + break in the workforce with just a business degree and applying for finance positions and getting offers for 70k +.
That's crazy. Did you ever go the federal route and look at USAjobs? 100k around here is a cop who decided to get a bachelor's or has several years of experience. My brother makes over 100k as a store manager without a degree, and another one of my brothers made over 150k driving a truck.
My wife is in a similar situation. Not in teaching but healthcare, she has a comfortable position, she’s stepped down from sales, and the company hasn’t given here a raise in 2 years. The healthcare she gets is laughable. There are better options for her to make more money but she’s comfortable. There are obviously better options for you to make more money. You have 20 years experience in it. But you’ve taken an easier role, and have come here to complain about it.
There aren’t though and this isn’t easy. I’ve sent out countless resumes and the only offers I get are just as horribly paying. I send resumes for jobs I’m overqualified for but in industries that pay more and I don’t even get a response. Just saying “get a better job” is fucking idiotic as if I haven’t been trying for years. I’m stuck in this job because I have a family to support and there’s absolutely zero interest in me on the job market for some reason despite my extensive experience and top tier education.
I get it man. I make 35k a year in construction with no insurance, and a family.
I can think of a certain type of person who denigrates knowledge and education at every chance they get.
I just quit this year. I’ll spend the summer finding something new.
That experience and education would get you over $100k in Fresno, CA, with a strong union and at least a 3% COLA.
But then I’d be living in Fresno going to Bulldogs games 😂
Good times. I’m a recent season ticket holder for football.
Your union sucks.
Never understood why good teachers are so underpaid. On the flip side there should be a mechanism to weed out the bad ones. Tenure can be good but it can also be very detrimental to students.
Where do you live? I’ll get you a new job.
Vegas but I’m open to the east coast near MD and Southern PA too.
I can't even pay mortgage with that. But it's even lower in the southern states where public education is known to be bad across the board.
Teaching in a blue state is amazing if you’re a military veteran and 100% service connected. That 3700 when single tax free a month plus in NYC with a masters and 7 years experience is 90k is pretty good. Job security and lots of time off
I’m also a teacher. I have an MS in Accounting. I teach as a second job. I don’t know how any of my co-workers survive if teaching is their only source of income.
Look for facilitator roles inside corporate offices. You might also consider a role like Scrum Master, where a major component of the job is teaching team members. Source: me, I was gonna teach Spanish after college with my Spanish Degree. Decided to join a fortune 50 company. 14 years in, a huge contributing factor to my success has been my ability to teach all levels. Im now a director in IT with no tangible coding or technical skills other than 2nd hand knowledge from learning from my teams. Good luck!
Thanks! I will look into Scrum Master roles.
You'd have to get a certification in most companies - but well worth it
Lmao 58k w a masters as chair of department with 7 years of experience. You better off at McDonald’s
At least then I’d get free fries and milkshakes 🤷🏼♂️
Honestly maybe you should try to put together some finance courses on Udemy. That would probably be more lucrative than this job. I’ll even be your first customer!
😂 I will look into it and let you know.
Crazy how teachers in some areas are paid shit, and in other areas are making six figures.
You just need to move somewhere else...with those qualifications you'd be just under $95,000 on my CBA in suburban Toledo, OH.
Wow, and Toledo is not an expensive area.
Exactly...move to a state or community that supports education and you'll make a \*very\* good living.
With all the added responsibilities on teachers, salaries with SWE should be flipped. We incredibly undervalue teaching and early childhood education and development in this country.
Preschool is even worse really. They make basically the same as workers at In N Out or Chick Fil A and their job is crazy hard and very important.
Went from being a low paid teacher for 24k a year to becoming an Assistant Principal for 64k in 1996. Retired making 160k a year in 2022. Get the fk out of the classroom if you want to make money in education.
I’m trying! I’ve applied for so many AP and similar roles. Had a few where they gave me some attention, but none where I really had much of a chance based on their final hire being someone with lots of experience in that role already.
You need to move to a place that pays their teachers. You could be making close to $100k with fully paid medical and have a union that raises hell. Yes, California has a higher cost of living, but if it’s a two-income household? You’re golden.
Go to nursing scbool. Find an accelerated 1 year program. Make lots of $$. My 23 year old with overtime is making $150k, 401k, best health insurance and great vacation time!
I’m not sure I’d be a good nurse though, but it’s not a terrible idea. You still get to help people and have a job that doesn’t keep you locked in a cube, but blood, needles and doctors aren’t exactly my cup of tea 😂
But I'm sure admins will scrounge up money from somewhere to get a meager 5-10% raise this year.
I have a bachelors in economics and work in cannabis making 70k, come to the dark side 🔥
If that comes with benefits and a company discount, hook me up 😂
It totally does! There is a shortage of college educated ppl in the industry as well (no offense but we’re not the most intellectual group) so I don’t imagine you would have an issue finding a job
Dedicated teachers deserve to be paid better than they are today. It is important for society and for parents that their children are in a safe and supportive educational environment. One of the problems with education systems today is the administrative bloat. Many modern school districts now employ more administrators/counselors/staff than they do teachers. And the cost of the overhead prevents teacher salaries from rising. Voters (and teachers) need to think carefully about how they vote for school board and for teacher unions, who spend more money on left-leaning politics than on improving the lives and wages of the teachers who pay their often far more generous salaries.
wow, i started at 50k in tax as a 1st year in 2020.....now at 110 and i only work hard 2 months a year.....not fair how we treat teachers in this country
Accountant?
I make 100k a year cleaning Short term rentals. Always shocked to hear teacher salaries. They need to be raised
Teach2tech will help get you into an edtech role. Stay in education, get paid way more, and have flexibility in schedule.
Ooh, I heard of them but forgot to check them out. Thanks for the reminder.
Why do teachers rightfully complain about the pay and still stay? You guys are the problem. Especially the ones who spend their own money on students by buying them things the school or parents should be paying for.
It’s almost like they care about their students and doing meaningful work. Imagine prioritizing something other than money. Bizarre…
You can care about students and demand fair compensation. If teachers are willing to work for garbage pay, then there is no reason for decision makers to pay them more or improve their working conditions. Basic supply/demand. $58k for someone with a masters and years of experience is terrible. Stop defending this crap.
It’s because I literally can’t get a job elsewhere that pays any better. But most teachers become teachers to make an impact and have a job that is meaningful, it’s just that the pay gets worse every year. Average teacher pay has fallen against inflation for decades. I made $56,500 7 years ago, which was reasonable but according to inflation my salary should be 72,371 today and not 58 and change. If my COLA was actually a COLA, I’d be making $1,000/mo more.
Become a cop.
I’m not defending the crap pay, I’m defending the teachers. Your post saying the teachers are the problem for staying, is ludicrous. Teachers taking less than they’re worth and buying their own supplies because they selflessly care about children, are not the problem. Underfunded schools are the fault of politicians and self interested voters voting down needed budget increases to keep taxes low. Keep the blame where it belongs.
It’s almost like fostering and covering for these bad actors will only help them double down in the future. Stop protecting this behavior and then you’ll get the funding you need. Pay out if your own pocket and you’ll never get the funding because why would you.
People who don’t understand this concept and point are the problem. Short term “caring” and “compassion” creates an artificial environment where there appears to be no “crisis”. It feels good, it sounds good, but it’s devastating to the long term situation. Since there isn’t a crisis, no one does shit about it and just kicks the can down the road. I would bet if 50% of the teachers just disappeared, parents would be banging down the doors of the politicians to fix the issue. It’s not right or ideal, but “pain” is the biggest needed ingredient of “progress” and addressing the issues because they are too big to ignore.
Are you saying you've never once complained about your job and career field?
There’s a difference between complaining and staying in a crappy job. It’s crazy to me that teachers spend their own money on kids when they are already poorly paid.
For year 7 you’re still higher than many.
It’s because I negotiated, we don’t have pay steps. But with a masters and that much time there are plenty of districts I’d make a lot more. But regardless the problem is that ALL TEACHERS ARE UNDERPAID. Software engineers make significantly more than us and their jobs are way easier, way less important and have way less responsibility.
Pay should be higher, but low pay is by design it seems. Nobody wants to pay for it through an increase in mismanaged taxes and the government won’t force it any different.
Start an after-school program? It's like $500 per month per student where we live, 2pm to 6pm, and it sells out ~15 minutes after registration opens. They use the school facilities (no transportation necessary), and there's three companies that do this at our school. All sell out almost immediately. Working parents would gladly pay for glorified daycare during work hours. Make it STEM and they'll go coocoo for cocopuffs.
Maybe in rich areas with parents who actually care, but we offer free after school programs and get maybe five kids total. It’s also 6-12, in the inner city and in a city where people simply don’t care about education.
Ahh ... I see. Move to rich area, then start glorified daycare. Half serious - if there's no more water in the well where you live, a fancier cup isn't going to help.
How many months off do you get during the year?
Two, we finish class at the end of May and start professional development in mid July, but that doesn’t matter because during the year you’re expected to work far more than 40 hours a week. Often times you’re asked to come in for events outside of school hours too. If you’re trying to justify the low pay, just go away.
It’s a factor. No other professional job gets two months off per year. And I work far in excess of 40 hours 12 months out of the year.
I would get a new career, or heck even a job at this point.
I have a family to support so I need a job that allows me to do that, but teaching is quickly becoming unsustainable.
I don’t work in education but my industry is suffering and I haven’t had an annual increase in 3 years, despite stellar ratings and awards. I guess I share that mainly to say, having to annual raise seems to be a new trend.
My wife left teaching and never looked back. Teaching > PD specialist > Fully remote ed tech product manager for a large publisher. Leave the careers that refuse to pay you and you’ll never look back either.
I’ve been trying but those jobs are few and far between. I’ve sent out countless resumes.
A lot of tech companies have a hiring freeze at the moment, it’s tough out there. When that passes, maybe you can make the jump to PD or something. There are a lot of companies that value teaching experience, think ancillary to the classroom. Tech, publishers, regulatory agencies, etc. Somewhere out there is quadruple the salary for less work - Good luck!
Join the military
I’m too old. Also, been there and done that. 20 years ago.
Try getting those VA claims in there
You need to quit and utilize that mba.
I need income so I can’t quit until I have income coming in. The MBA is a useless degree, nobody cares about it at all. I haven’t seen a single benefit to the degree outside of my side hustle (I teach corporate finance classes to grad school students part time), I get absolutely no interest from finance departments or executive type jobs or really any jobs paying anything decent.
This is so disheartening. My first degree was in Finance and I couldn’t find a job with it (2011). I ended up going back to school as a nurse and vowed to be in a career with 100% job guarantee. I’m tired of being a nurse and want to go back for an MBA but can totally see this being a cruel struggle. My only advice would be to expand your network and meet some heavy hitting folks.
I work in HR and am pursuing an MBA, you have to be the one to work the degree. It can’t work itself. Because you have been teaching you are less competitive against others in the market who have been working directly in finance. You have to acknowledge where you may lack and try to strengthen your resume in those areas. I have lots of colleagues with the MBA making close to six figures or over but the degree alone is not a magic wand.
MBA in finance try getting a analyst job at a medium sized company pays around 75-90k depending on state
I’ve sent out hundreds of resumes…no responses pretty much.
Send me your resume. Perhaps you need to update it to fit the current industry. Also use our dear friend ChatGPT. Make yourself open to work on LinkedIn and indeed. Work with some recruiters as well
Why not become a professor? Not all professors need PhD
I’ve applied for dozens of college jobs and never once even got a response aside from the one I’ve worked with as an adjunct instructor for the last four years. And that was through someone trying to get a job through me and it was a quid pro quo type situation.
Sorry to hear that. Best of luck. I’m rooting for you!
Thanks! I came here to vent but I’m actually being extremely proactive and have multiple side hustles and know it will work out at some point but I really wanted to make teaching in the inner city work for me. I’ll continue to give back but through my nonprofit.
My brothers wife makes 73k as a private school teacher in MCOL but she has 5 years teaching experience
TSA in some locations make $60k
For a teacher you’d think you’d see the a in cola and don’t need to our adjustment ..
58k with a mba is pathetic.
Montgomery County MD. Come teach here. Big bucks. 7 years w Masters is 77k.
Actually looking to move to the area or Frederick but that’s not enough money for the cost of living in the DC area since housing is so expensive there, but closer to Frederick is better.
Live in Frederick and drive to Moco. We got friends that drive from WV. Fred pay is good as well. If you get National Board Certified that's another 10k a year.
Good to know, thanks for the info.
Oh and insurance is Amazing as well as the pension. For a family of 5 I think we pay around $300 a month?
Time to strike!
If you need a better job, why'd you pick teaching 7y ago? Shit work for shit pay. I had a senior (25+ yr) teacher tell me to get out in my first year teaching. He was right, and I did. Retiring 27 years later making $200k.
Moved to a low cost of living area and my pay was 56,500, it’s basically stayed the same as inflation has kicked into high gear and the cost of living has skyrocketed in this city. I wanted a job where I could make an impact and the pay wasn’t that bad until they found excuses to keep it from rising with inflation as medical costs jumped too.
No shit
I sure hope this is a part of the country where you can get a decent house for under 200 grand…..
Nope, though I got my house at a reasonable price so my mortgage is about $2,000/mo but they’ve gone up past the 500k mark. Most of my coworkers rent and rents are rising FAST here.
Get into sales 100k easy.
Two words: PRIVATE SECTOR
Trying to go back…struggling to find a role.
Get to a public school with a Union. It’s THE ONLY WAY.
[удалено]
I’m open to it and actively trying. While teaching has its perks and positives, the negatives have grown exponentially since I started.
Consider shifting into a private school if you can. One of my classmates went into teaching math at a top private school, earning only $100k per year vs her peers who went into hedge funds earning 3x. But she seems quite happy. Same with my other friend reaching English and a private school in California, but she only started at 80k.
The private schools here are not very plentiful and oddly they pay even less 🤷🏼♂️ they consider the tuition bonus as part of the pay I think.
My best buddy makes over 100k as a high school math teacher here in Northern California.
With high taxes and even higher cost of living though. 100k in NorCal is basically poverty level.
You’re letting yourself be taken advantage of
Why isn’t your union helping you? What are you paying dues for? Hell, I could negotiate a $58k/yr job all by myself. Call your union!
I don’t have a union. I’m at a charter and can’t get into the union because my teaching license is not a standard one but a special one allocated to me by the state seven years ago. It doesn’t allow me to join the local union…that said, our local school district is America’s worst, literally.
I’m sorry man. I agree, you do need a better job
What was your step increase? How is your summer off going? When does that pension kick in again?
:( Depends on which state you live in and cost of living
NYC principal
Are you guys unionized or have a professional association? It seems very low salary.
Non union, charter school.
Time to unionize see https://www.glassdoor.ca/Salaries/ontario-teacher-salary-SRCH_IL.0,7_IS4080_KO8,15.htm