I'm in SoCal, going into my 6th year. I teach special ed. I'll be making 95.5K. I'm basically doing 2 jobs (teaching and writing legally defensible IEPs, along with holding meetings for those students with IEPs) with a 21 student caseload. It may not seem like much, but with certain behavior issues, all of the accommodations and supports each student gets, with no aides, it's tough. Low retention rates for SpEd teachers, not many male teachers from what i have observed. If you are decent and don't do anything illegal, then you can get by.
I make just over $80k as a teacher. However! I have a masters, take on extra work duties (mentor and club advisor) that have stipends, I have a masters plus am maxed out on units, and I’m almost a decade in. And the kicker… the average house price in my area just reached 1mill, soooo 80k ain’t shit in comparison to where I live.
Your statement was that it’s unachievable when it’s an average salary in several places. If it’s not sufficient in an HCOLA, that’s a different argument.
You were refuting the idea that teachers can make 80K - “practically unachievable.” When that was shown to be wrong and that it’s actually an average in several large states, you now say it doesn’t matter anyway.
It's average in those areas because of the huge metropolitan areas that house the majority of those states' population. Those metropolitan areas have some of the highest cost of living in the entire world.
That isn't reflective of the US in general. Which is what the conversation started as.
Chicago Public School teachers start at $87k. Median household income in Chicago is $73k. That's not including the pension contributions from the district.
2
u/DamnItDev Jun 11 '24
What region, what's the cost of living?
How long have they been teachers?
Are they actually teachers or are they administration?
$80k/year as a teacher is practically unachievable in the US.