Who knew teachers received such salaries?

[DCal430]

So you look at CA and decide otherwise? $50k is a lot closer to being accurate as CA is one of the highest paying states

https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d13/tables/dt13_211.60.asp

It will also be very interesting to see how salaries have changed from over the past couple of years when the numbers come out. A number of states have been quickly cutting starting salaries and benefits.

As for all the complaints about teacher salary the US ranks behind a large number of other industrialized countries like Germany, Korea, Belgium, Japan. The Teacher: Pupil ratio is also the 8th highest of the 32 countries measured

Conversely the US government spends the most on education.

http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2014/sep/05/how-the-job-of-a-teacher-compares-around-the-world

That article is based on the average salary from 1997 to 2011, it isn't based on recent salary or student ratio.

 

[Newbian]

Another question you have to ask yourself is the job worth any amount?

I suppose some of the younger grades could be ok as long as you don't have to deal with under 8 year olds and above 13ish year olds unless you are in it for the 16+ year old hotties at a female only school.

 

[zCypher]

They're worth whatever it takes to keep good people teaching all those little turd burglars lol

 

[Kneedragger]

Do you really discuss total compensation packages with your friends and acquaintances? Most people I know don't discuss that at all.

With my friends yes we openly know what each other roughly makes. My friends and family that are teachers have said they don't make enough to live on their own and they spend a lot on school supplies for their class.

A lot of the new contracts for teacher from what I understood are lower pay than what older teachers get. This actually happens within the fire departments as well. I remember my father who was a Fireman told me the younger guys coming in were on a different contract and getting less pay..

On that link someone prior posted stating it was teachers in CA salary I checked five girls I know that teach and none of them popped up on that site.

 

[Exterous]

That article is based on the average salary from 1997 to 2011, it isn't based on recent salary or student ratio.

It is the most recent comparative compilation that I am aware of but if you want to split hairs the teacherupil ratio has gotten worse for the US (up to 16:1) and teacher salaries decreased in 2012 and 2013. I do not believe the 2014 numbers are out yet

https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d13/tables/dt13_211.60.asp

 

[Sonikku]

Six figure salaries?! Guess the teachers in Northern NY are grossly underpaid. :hmm:

 

[nageov3t]

my mom hit 6-figures towards the end of her teaching career, but this was teaching in the inner city and after almost 30 years in the district.

my sister (also a teacher -- not in the same town as my mom, but a slightly more suburban neighboring town) also just got through contract negotiations... they didn't lower her salary, but they did add more "steps" so that it's going to take her longer to cap out (which makes sense to me, though I'd never say that to her face... seemed a little weird that she'd hit the salary cap at 37)

 

[trmiv]

Try being a teacher in North Carolina. My wife has 9 years experience and makes around $42,000 Plus the amount of shit she deals with is insane. Also the pay scale greatly levels off as you go up here, so even after 30 years experience the top is $59,000. Guess that's why NC is bottom of the list:

http://wallethub.com/edu/best-and-worst-states-for-teachers/7159/

 

[sourceninja]

...

 

[Oyeve]

NYC starts at 45k.

 

[sourceninja]

...

 

[holden j caufield]

Knowing people who teach HS it's not dealing with the students that is the tough part. Teaching HS in an upper middle class environment dealing with the parents is the toughest part.

 

[HumblePie]

What teachers make depends upon whom they teach, what they teach, and where they teach.

Highschool and below teachers can make really good money if they teacher subjects like computers, math, and science. More so at "harder" to teach schools many times for starting teachers. Harder to teach means those schools are in dire need of teachers willing to teach there for various reasons such as being real rural or the kids there have disciplinary problems.

I know around here as a starting teacher of K-12 grades I could make $65K a year or more with benefits and having summer off if I taught one of the classes mentioned above at a harder to teach school. That's damn good starting money here in any part of Texas. Teachers that have been around awhile can worked at some of the nicer/ricer schools and get tenure to make anywhere from $75k- $95K a year. Very good money.

Those willing to work summer schools can make even more money.

The problem though has always been that most people who are wanting to teach kids are female. Most females rather teach English, Music, or Art. Men who can teach Math, Science, or Computers can usually get jobs elsewhere for equal or higher pay even starting out. Which is why schools pay more for teachers to teach those courses. There is a glut of females wanting to teach English, Music, and Art so the starting salaries for them tend to be much lower. Supply and demand.

Those are the hard statistics of the scenario. I am not saying that women can't teach Math, Science, or Computers. They certainly can and my highschool Computer Science teacher was a woman that knew her shit back then. The problem is that there isn't enough women like her willing to jump into teaching those subjects for whatever reason.

 

[nageov3t]

Trying being adjunct faculty.

I taught classes at a community college. I'd put in about 30 hours a week of work for about 3 grand a semester.

the whole adjunct system seems fucked.

given how absurd tuition rates are, you'd think that college teachers would be well-paid, but it seems like new teachers get paid shit, are basically abused, and getting tenure nowadays is neigh-impossible.

 

[Brovane]

My Mom spent 41 years teaching primary grades in CA. I think when she retired she was pulling in about $85k a year. This was for the Capistrano Unified School District in CA. It wasn't bad but she also retired in 2007 right before the $#@% hit the fan on local budgets so she got out at the perfect time. Now she gets regular COLA of 2% a year for the rest of her life and because of all years of service I think her pension was like 80-90% of her final pay. I was joking with her about being in the six figure club now for Pensions. I think the local OC Register is talking about publishing every retired state employee's name that gets over a $100k a year in pension, she wasn't real happy about that possibility. She about flipped out when I told her I could go online and see what her Pension was. I have fun looking up my old teachers from High School.

For teachers pay is based on longevity and credit hours. She made sure over the years that she was just about in the Max column for credit hours and the 20+ year column for compensation. The only thing she didn't have to increase her pay more was a Master's or PHd. It really sucks when you start out but if you keep with it, at least in CA you can make good money and if you can put in a good 35+ years of service your retirement will be good.

 

[holden j caufield]

The crazy part is there are teachers in very poor areas, where the students are gang members, don't speak english, the parents don't care etc. I knew 2 teachers in the Santa Ana district who quit within 2 years of starting. For dealing with all that they get paid much less than other areas.

I would think teaching 40 years ago was a much better gig than it is now.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

You believed that most likely because the salary narrative has generally been pushed by the teacher's unions, both locally and nationally.

Yup.

Ask Chicago how it's doing with their shit scores and a teachers union that they can't do anything to control. The city (and state because of it) is crumbling from underneath as they have their credit rating downgraded, massive debt load, the highest sales tax in the US, and the 2nd highest in property taxes.

People will be moving out in droves just like Detroit in due time.

 

[Hugo Drax]

The reason you have shit scores in the shit neighborhoods is because the parents in those neighborhoods don't care about education, and the kids neither. The peer pressure to keep it real or get beat up.

When there is no foundation, no teacher can fix what's. Broke. Our public education put men on the moon, etc...

But you put lipstick on a pig it's still a pig. They should just make education optional and save everyone the headaches.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

But you put lipstick on a pig it's still a pig. They should just make education optional and save everyone the headaches.

Not a bad idea, some people were meant to work at McDonalds... might as well have a dedicated labor force for it at an early age.

Putting failing kids through failing school whether it be dropping out in high school or graduating and doing nothing but leeching off the system is still a cost. If we can avoid the cost by making school optional, why not? It's not as far fetched as it sounds.

 

[rh71]

Nationally, I bet it is. Apparently the teachers union in California is INCREDIBLY strong. Yearly pay raises built into the state budget and can't really be changed, so I've heard.

Yup unions. Same here for LI & Westchester NY. A bottom 5 performing district has teachers over $100k median.

http://data.newsday.com/long-island...rict=central islip|o:c=2012_2013_pay;d=true;| (they spelled administrator wrong in the link haha)

Our Kindergarten teachers made $125k/yr. Our school taxes alone are $10k/year. I've said this a handful of times here.

Pay based solely on longevity is flawed because it promotes indifference year to year. Plain and simple. How often do you hear union workers being referred to as lazy? Wonder why that is.

 

[mikeford]

Education stinks, kids are learning WAY BELOW potential, and teachers overpaid for skills required.

 

[Wreckem]

What teachers make depends upon whom they teach, what they teach, and where they teach.

Highschool and below teachers can make really good money if they teacher subjects like computers, math, and science. More so at "harder" to teach schools many times for starting teachers. Harder to teach means those schools are in dire need of teachers willing to teach there for various reasons such as being real rural or the kids there have disciplinary problems.

I know around here as a starting teacher of K-12 grades I could make $65K a year or more with benefits and having summer off if I taught one of the classes mentioned above at a harder to teach school. That's damn good starting money here in any part of Texas. Teachers that have been around awhile can worked at some of the nicer/ricer schools and get tenure to make anywhere from $75k- $95K a year. Very good money.

Those willing to work summer schools can make even more money.

The problem though has always been that most people who are wanting to teach kids are female. Most females rather teach English, Music, or Art. Men who can teach Math, Science, or Computers can usually get jobs elsewhere for equal or higher pay even starting out. Which is why schools pay more for teachers to teach those courses. There is a glut of females wanting to teach English, Music, and Art so the starting salaries for them tend to be much lower. Supply and demand.

Those are the hard statistics of the scenario. I am not saying that women can't teach Math, Science, or Computers. They certainly can and my highschool Computer Science teacher was a woman that knew her shit back then. The problem is that there isn't enough women like her willing to jump into teaching those subjects for whatever reason.

I'm not sure where you get this data. Its grossly inaccurate for Texas. The vast majority of Texas districts pay in the low $40s. Only districts in the DFW and Houston area start out at $50k+. Austin and San Antonio are close behind.

Also there is currently a pretty high demand for English teachers because English teacher churn rate is some of the highest because of the English STAAR. Either way Texas is not currently producing enough certified teachers to keep up with new demand and turnover, which is why salaries in high growth areas keep going up.

As for $75k-$90k with experience. In the highest paid districts that is still in the 20+ year range and likely includes a longer contract.

Also tenure does NOT exist in Texas schools. The closet we had was 3 year term contracts. Those days are long gone(since the last round of RIFS in 2009). Almost every district in the state is on 1 year contracts for ALL teachers and campus level professionals(counselors, principles etc). There are quite a few districts that put their district level employees on contracts that have to be renewed every 30 days. Unlike popular belief, teachers in Texas are at will and can be terminated at anytime for cause. They cannot however be fired midyear for job performance reasons.

I will say this, because of HB5, there is a HUGE demand for CTE teachers and with lack of qualified CTE teachers, pay is great and job security is high. CTE>STEM>English>>>>>Social Studies>>>Art>Health>PE

 

[Wreckem]

the whole adjunct system seems fucked.

given how absurd tuition rates are, you'd think that college teachers would be well-paid, but it seems like new teachers get paid shit, are basically abused, and getting tenure nowadays is neigh-impossible.

That is because there is a glut of people wanting to get into post secondary academia.

 

[alcoholbob]

Perhaps I based my perceptions on some mischaracterizations in popular culture, but I had always thought that teachers did not make a whole lot of money.

But, recently I stumbled across an article that contained data on teacher salaries and the salary averages surprised me. I'm not saying that teachers make a ton of money or that they don't deserve the money they make; I'm just saying that I had always assumed they made less.

There are good teachers and bad teachers sure, but based on this article it makes it sound like its a mystery San Ramon Valley Unifed has the highest scores. Anyone could have predicted San Ramon Valley Unified would have the highest scores based on demographics alone.

 

[Mai72]

You guys need to practice gratitude. You need to be grateful for the abundance in your lives, and stop worrying what other people make.

Are you homeless?
Can you eat?
Do you have your limbs?
Can you see?
Etc...

In 50 years half of us are going to be dead. Gone. Life is good now. Be gracious.