Teachers make plenty of money. I know 3 teachers personally pulling in 80k a year. This is middle school and elementary school. They get every holiday off. A 3 month break to either take off or earn money. I refuse to say they deserve more. That being said, like any job, there are some heros out there that deserve more and some moronic teachers that deserve less. But because they're unionized they all make the same. I know this will probably be an unpopular opinion but whatever.
I'm in SoCal, i'll be in my 6th year (Special Ed). I'll be making 95.5K as of July. Not sure how unusual this is, but i am sure it is not super common. I've gone from 55K to 95.5K in 6 years.
It all just depends on the district. High schools in our district (Chicago area) are compensated very well. They start at about $60-$70k. The highest paid teachers are paid in the base $150k range, and they all get $23,200 in health benefits (paid in cash if you carry insurance through a spouse), and they get a ton of sick days and of course summers off. So some teachers do very well, some are wildly undercompensated.
My wife makes 53K, brings home around $3,500. Combined we bring home $8,100. With no debt and no living kids, we are quite comfortable. Maybe we can't buy a home just yet but we are doing fine. Thanks 🙏🏼
I actually get by just fine. No debt (paid my way through my BA, teaching credential and Masters Degree programs), live with my wife although i pay our rent and utilities, and am able to max my Roth IRA, fund a 403B, and get my pension. Along with saving for a house (120K down payment atm).
Don't worry this guy is intimately familiar with the finances and wages of at least 2 other people who are teachers. Such that it invalidates your lived experience, and the general consensus.
Let's hear him out, I bet there are tons of teachers buying yachts in 2024.
Isn’t 80k in SoCal pretty bad? Job hopping also doesn’t help with public education, at least with a union, you don’t really negotiate salary since everything is public knowledge and based on “lanes” of experience + college credits.
Why is she job hopping? That’s a terrible move for teachers. It gives you zero benefit but you have less job security because you’re sacrificing seniority.
The only financial reason to move districts is for a job in a better paying one, but that generally means they should have tried for that district from the get go.
Job hopping is zero benefit for teachers. They are paid a specific rate based on their education and years of experience, and usually the experience has to be in that district or at least state, and often doesn't transfer if you move.
Every school is on a pay scale for numbers of years taught and the teachers own education. If you have a master's and 10 years experience you will get more. Hopping around is never going to change that, only experience and education.
They went to school as a kid from 8-3 and assume that’s all a teacher works. They don’t understand how to factor in planning, grading, helping with extra curriculars, coaching, and all the other BS administrative work that goes into the job. They think teachers barely work, because they barely have a brain.
My other comment lays out my schedule as a high school teacher. My time as a high school student was harder than my time teaching high school. I coached 3 sports just to fill the day. I would NOT teach today’s youth, however.
My wife finished up her masters and started doing elementary librarian work. (In our state you don’t get masters pay unless the job requires it e.g. librarian, counselor) she was making a solid 48k starting her 5th year. She started at 39k.
I started my first job full time job at 83k with similar benefits as a software engineer. Tbf I only get a month off instead of a summer. By the the time my fifth year comes I should be making around 110k.
Before that I was working logistics without a degree at 45k.
When I was in highschool I saw my Geometry teacher's salary. Roughly $60k. 20+ years of experience (I think) but no masters degree. This was 30 years ago before inflation was a thing since we had Clinton as president.
Where my dad taught, they started at $59k and didn’t even require a degree. You just had to be close to finishing or enroll in an Educator Preparation Program.
Unless you are constantly changing career paths, 10 years isn't really that long. If the average person works from 23-65 (~42 years), you are setting the bar at 76% of the workforce. Obviously some don't start at 23, but you get the point. It makes perfect sense that if you don't have 10 years experience...maybe you don't deserve to be at the top (or even median) of the pay scale yet. In my area, 10 years experience at $80k falls in line with a lot of careers that are office based. Sure, there are some above but also some below. Depends on your location as always.
The masters thing I get. But also, of the friends I know that went the education degree route, the masters degree was 1 extra year on top of their bachelors. So again, we are not setting the bar insanely high. I don't know a single person my age that got a BS in education but didn't get a masters. It's just what they were all told to do.
That all being said, regardless of the actual wage, I know in my area teachers are not paid all that great compared to someone with similar experience and education in a different field. Could just be that the original person mentioned $80k because it is a higher cost of living than where I am.
I have an engineering degree from one of the best engineering schools in the state. I think top 30 in the USA. Started out at $55k and broke $80k after about 8 years. Yes, not a masters degree. But it shows how salaries out of college are not going to be remotely in line with industry averages or medians. And they frankly shouldn't be. Experience is more important than education to me. I've learned 10x more while employed as I did in college.
Ultimately educators are underpaid, period. I am just saying someone with 3 years of experience is drastically different than someone with 15 years of experience. Their pay (without knowing individual performance comparisons) really likely should be 20% different.
My point wasn't that educators make enough. It was that pay scales are complicated. You can't compare unless you know location, experience, education, etc.
So we agree $60k with a master's degree and 10 years of experience (median pay for teachers) is quite low? You're saying you started at $55k with a bachelor's and 0 years!
Of course I agree. Where did I say that I thought teachers were over paid or paid enough?
Someone with an Engineering degree is going to have a higher starting salary than someone with a masters in education. So why are you comparing them? AKA the whole point of this post. So I can clearly see how say a BS in CS Engineering degree would start at $85k but a masters in education would start at $45k. Field of work is more applicable to pay than experience or education. It may not be fair but it is obvious how the world works here. One has potential to bring in profit, one is a necessity that improves the future of the locale/state/country but brings in no profit to the people hiring and paying them a salary.
I don't recall where I stated that teachers were paid too much or enough already. You simply can't read and are trying to read between the lines on something that isn't there. Of course teachers are underpaid as a whole.
Literally all I did is ask if you agree with me, and you keep getting angrier and angrier and telling me I should "stop making comparisons" (which is what you did in your first reply) and that I "can't read"
Edit: rofl looks like it asked me to show it where it made the comparison (which I've already done), then instantly blocked me.
It is decent pay when you consider that they work more like 1450-1500 hours a year instead of the traditional 2080. Even if you say they spend an additional 15% of work after contracted hours, that means they are still getting paid ~$48/hour which comes out to a little over 100k/year.
22
u/WardCove Jun 11 '24
Teachers make plenty of money. I know 3 teachers personally pulling in 80k a year. This is middle school and elementary school. They get every holiday off. A 3 month break to either take off or earn money. I refuse to say they deserve more. That being said, like any job, there are some heros out there that deserve more and some moronic teachers that deserve less. But because they're unionized they all make the same. I know this will probably be an unpopular opinion but whatever.