Feel free to email me,
erik@letsrun.com
, if you have any specific questions. I taught high school for three years, coached for seven, finished a PhD, and have been an instructional track faculty member at a big public university (i.e., main priorities are teaching, not research) for 5 years.
I agree with what most people are saying.
Quick comments:
The variation in quality among college teaching jobs, as well as the difficulty in getting those jobs, is very wide. The pay for instructional college teaching gigs is not outstanding. There's a big difference between, for example:
Adjunct/visiting professor -- temporary contract job, usually no benefits, often many classes, pay is often very low
Lecturer/professor of practice/instruction -- real contract, benefits, usually a large teaching load (3/3 or 4/4)
Tenure-track professor at teaching-focused U (liberal arts, directional universities) -- real contract, benefits, somewhat higher prestige, generally a large teaching load (usually 3/3 or 4/4), less stress of having to publish to not get fired in 7 years
Tenure-track professor at research U -- real contract, benefits, higher prestige, fewer classes (usually 2/2 or 3/3), high stress of having to publish to not get fired in 7 years
Adjunct/visiting jobs will often pay you less than you'd make as a high school teacher.
It sounds to me the best job for you would be a lecturer/professor of instruction job. These are easier to get than tenure-track jobs but harder than adjunct jobs. A big difference between these jobs and HS teaching jobs is that you'll most likely have to be willing to move to get the teaching college job, whereas HS teaching jobs are plentiful enough that you could probably teach anywhere if you're willing to drive a little, and slowly work your way closer to your desired location as you gain experience. Just fact of life -- there are way fewer college teaching gigs.
Lecturer jobs will often pay more, but not much more than a HS teaching job. E.g., where I am, the starting salary full-time is about 60k, whereas a HS teaching gig in same area woudl start around 45k I think. The job is definitely easier than HS teaching, which is a grind. E.g., in HS you tach 5-6 hours a day 5 days a week. A full-time lecturer probably teaches 3-4 hours a day 4 days a week.
There's an opportunity cost to doing a PhD -- 5 to 7 years where you're not really earning. (Though you shouldn't be taking on debt if you do it right. Do NOT pay for your own PhD, that's a suckers bet.)
High schoolers in general probably care less about school but if you think all college students are engaged with learning you'll be very disappointed. My top HS students were more talented than my top college students by the nature of those students getting sorted into highly selective colleges.