Question about how much a teacher actually makes and living expenses...

Funny Post wrote:

"...it seems the general pay is around 30-50,000 a year...."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Maybe you should say "eventually" 30-50k. Most teachers across the country (ie, the midsection of the country not the coasts) start out around the 20-30k range.

Alan

Uhh ... no they don't. Check your figures. I started at 26K 12 YEARS AGO. I have a masters degree and 15 extra post graduate hours. Next year I'll be making in the 70000 range. I live in the midwest and teach in the burbs.

It's a great career, original poster. Very comfortable, and tons of time to be with your kids. My wife stays at home; we have a nice house; we have great summers together; neither of us had the trust funds you have. So, by all means, become a teacher. The profession can use more dedicated people like you.

Here is another perspective from a high school social studies teacher and head track/cc coach in texas....

1. is it a good gig/job?

yes, i can't see myself doing anything else. i get more satisfaction out of this job than anything else that i could think of.

2. is the pay good?

it depends... the first 5 years of my coaching/teaching career the pay was very poor (well under 30k) with very long hours (12 hour days) due to being in rural (country) districts. after winning a state cc title, the move to an affluent district doubled the salary (around 48k).

3. is the job easy?

that depends on how much you want to put into it. coming from a top tier univeristy i pride myself on being a good teacher. crappy teachers who put no time into it get paid the same. as a recognized (by the administration) good teacher i am priveledged enough to teach advanced placement classes and get (mostly) very motivated students.

4. will your running suffer as a hs coach?

yes, if you take it seriously. i have gotten slower every year without fail since graduation from college. i used to do fairly well on the roads. now i simply pick up the age group trophies. if you are just head cc/assistant track you still will have the time in the spring to stay fit. i could break 15 for the 5k consistently until the head track job was offered...

5. are the benefit good?

in texas.... the health care plan sucks. the retirement plan is decent.

6. i can't think of anything else....

Teachers work with individual, unique human beings, the teaching of which you obviously do not understand. Business pricks like you think of teaching as a manufacturing job using terms like "product" and "business model" and overfocusing on your precious numbers. You don't have a f*ing clue what goes into the job.

I'd like to see you take "5-6 hours" a day socializing and lounging - as you claim - with the following schedule set up just for you, business boy:

7:00 - Arrive at school. AM bus duty until 7:25. Monitor the arrival of 1500+ students. Break up fights & discourage skateboarding on property as needed.

PER 1 - Intro to Business 9 7:30-8:20

(27 freshman students, 4 on IEPS requiring individualized lesson plans, 2 ESL students requiring lesson plans forwarded to a tutor, and 7 gifted students who parents demand enrichment opportunities)

PER 2 - Economics 11 8:25-9:15

(28 juniors, each with career portfolios which demand indvidualized assessments: formative, summative, and performance based, 1 visually impaired student who requires materials magnified 300%)

PER 3 - Planning Period 9:20-10:10

(This time is yours. Fit in restroom use, coffee refills, email response to 10-15 parents, return phone calls to 3-4 parents, make copies for the rest of the week, plan future lessons and units, and grade if you can catch your breath)

PER 4 - Intro to Business 9 10:15-11:05

(29 freshman. Similar class as Per 1, except 5 students are chronically absent and your administrators demand that you compile homework packets daily to be dropped off in the office or emailed to parents - although you don't have electronic copies of handouts for this class.)

PER 5 - Global Economy 12 11:10-12:00

(16 seniors. This is an advanced elective course with students choosing inquiry projects. Projects are individualized and tailored to each students interests and needs)

PER 6 - Attendance Duty & Lunch 12:05-12:25; 12:25-12:55

(Required duty. File required paperwork + make phone calls to parents of truant students. ATTEMPT to eat your lunch in the time left over AFTER attendance is completed, which usually takes longer than the allotted time)

PER 7 - Economics 11 1:00-1:50

(26 juniors. Similar to period 3, but this class consists mostly of seniors who failed the class the previous year. Your principal demands that these students be taught "alternatively" using differentiated instruction methods.

PER 8 - Intro to Business 9 1:55-2:45

(25 students. Similar to Per 1 and Per 4)

3:45 - Leave school after meeting with various students after school, attending an IEP meeting, and making copies for the next day.

4:00-BED - Get whatever done you didn't have a chance to at school. When did you grade anything today?

TOTALS for the day:

151 students

6 presentations of content

3 different lesson plans, with accomodations and extensions for students as needed.

By the way, you make $35,000 a year and you need to complete a masters program within 5 years or else you lose your job.

I'd give you a week, tops. Fool.

[quote]midwestern boy wrote:

My paperwork is tax issues that most people do not understand, which is why they pay big bucks for it. And while it also takes 2-3 years for a young cpa to even have a remote clue of what's going on. Your paperwork is homework for kids somewhere between K and 12th grade, no? Somehow I think there's a difference.

Hopefully the Fair Tax will pass and we won't need jerk off CPAs anymore1

Here is some information on teacher's salaries.

http://www.employmentspot.com/lists/teachersalaries.htm

Take it for what it is worth, but at least it is more than you will get from here.

Teach Me wrote:

Funny Post wrote:

"...it seems the general pay is around 30-50,000 a year...."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Maybe you should say "eventually" 30-50k. Most teachers across the country (ie, the midsection of the country not the coasts) start out around the 20-30k range.

Alan

Uhh ... no they don't. Check your figures. I started at 26K 12 YEARS AGO. I have a masters degree and 15 extra post graduate hours. Next year I'll be making in the 70000 range. I live in the midwest and teach in the burbs.

It's a great career, original poster. Very comfortable, and tons of time to be with your kids. My wife stays at home; we have a nice house; we have great summers together; neither of us had the trust funds you have. So, by all means, become a teacher. The profession can use more dedicated people like you.

Check YOUR figures. I also teach in the midwest, am about to enter my 29th year in the profession, have a MA plus 20 hours, coach XC and track, and make about $56K. My wife has a BA plus 20 hrs, teaches in a small rural district and only makes about $35K.

Where you teach is NOT typical of the midsection of the country.

Check out Ohio and Michigan, man. Starting salaries exceed 30K in nearly all school districts, and average salaries (bachelors + 10 yrs exp) make in the mid to upper 40s. Michigan, in fact, is in the top 4 or 5 states, salary wise.

With some graduate schooling, you can easily top what you make, unless you live in a very rural area (ie, near the river in Ohio). In this case though, you can probably buy a decent house for 100k.

My point is, teachers everywhere bust their ass and thankfully they are starting to make a decent wage. I'm trying to encourage this kid to get into the career. Stop making it sound like we make pennies. It ain't great, but it's not as bad as most teachers claim.

OH, and for "midwestern boy" - stop your freaking whining. Become a teacher if it's so great. If it were so easy you'd be doing it already. People like you are worthless. 16 year old students would eat you alive. I'm picturing you standing at an overhead projector, laser pointer in hand, rattling off terms, and wondering why no one is listening ...

On the financial risk/reward scale, teaching is exceedingly low.

Pros:

Job security is nearly unmatched as there will always be children.

Pay is just above middle-income, and benefits are usually pretty good as bargaining units will always take security over cash.

Getting out of work by 3 and getting summers off is great for endurance athletes, and what other workplace comes with a track, weight room and locker room?

If you truly hate some of the kids you work with, you don't have to wait that long to get rid of them.

For the most part, you're your own boss.

Cons:

Pay will never be much above middle-income.

Vacation times are set -- you can't take off for a week in the middle of a semester.

Work isn't over when you go home, and most states have such stringent continuing ed requirements that you've got to take considerable time and expense keeping up with them.

All that testing crap makes you and your students feel like Mr. Grandgrind's class in Dickens' "Hard Times".

School funding is in such constant crisis that both you and your students feel that you're one of the community's lowest priority (despite constant lip service).

Coaching and being your best runner just don't go together.

All in all, it's a good gig. But I'm not sure I want to spend another 24 years doing it -- it definitely feels like work, and what you really want is to find something where you say "I can't believe I'm getting paid to do this".

I don't know about you but what you just said midwestern boy tells me you don't know much....

I teach in NC this will be my second year teachering

I make only 25k a year which is only about 1550 a month (not bad but i could make more at a part time job than that)

I get there at about 7:00AM and don't leave till 3:30PM and believe me i'm working the whole damn time none stop...and so are most of the other teachers that i work with because they are working as hard as they can so they will have less to do at home...

Yet being a new teacher i go home and work another 2to 3 hours a night make new lesson plans for the next day...(making lesson plans is not as easy as it seems consider that the state expect you to justify everything you will be teaching now) you can't just throw something on a piece of paper and call it a lesson plan any more.....

You also said they get paid extra to coach...well lets do the math...for coaching cross country for one season i would get an extra 500 dollars for about 4 MONTHS OF WORK...thats probably adds up to about 50cents and hour...you tell me if i'm making alot of money coaching....

The teachers you know probably are PE teachers or teachers that don't teach regular education class (like shop or Teen living) those teachers don't have to work hard to do their job...believe me regular education teachers are kiling themselves

Midwestern Boy? Rebuttal?

my gf is a teacher in ca going into her 5th year. she coaches two sports and has a MA along with all the credits she could ever possibly use.