5 ms·

(Public School) Teacher pay is largely structured to encourage retention. The salary is pretty lousy if you only do it for 2 years, but if you stick around for

(Public School) Teacher pay is largely structured to encourage retention. The salary is pretty lousy if you only do it for 2 years, but if you stick around for 40 years it is a well paying job in most States. The pay increases for seniority and the compounding interest of pensions add up to a very good salary. There is also the other problem that a lot of states require an education degree to teach in public schools which is somewhat specialized. A lot of mid-career educators that I have spoken with find that their skills don't really qualify them for a lot of jobs and becoming a private school teacher typically means a pay cut.

munk-a 4y ago
To be honest though - even rather senior teachers in the states can expect a large pay bump if they emigrate to Canada. There is pretty decent competition to get into the teacher's union up here but due to the much more reasonable salaries for a career that most people enter due to their love of the field folks are happy to stay in the public side of education.
- brianwawok 4y ago
  And in college, the situation is reversed. My econ prof was from Canada and told us all the time what a better racket the US is to make money. All while making us buy a $90 book that he wrote and changed editions yearly. At least he was honest that he was robbing us blind.
Pulcinella 4y ago
It’s literally not structured to encourage retention, definitely not at the same school. Those salary schedules on district websites? Those are for new hires. So someone with 40 years of experience in one school will be paid less than someone hired with 40 years. Raises aren’t at all guaranteed each year and even when you do get them, they often don’t match the salary schedule of someone hired new to the district. Also 40 years of experience doesn’t pay much in general. I was paid more as a new associate developer than I would have with 40 years of experience and a masters degree as a teacher. Pensions don’t have compounding interest, they are defined benefits. And often they are in place of social security (though the amount you pay in as a teacher is basically equivalent to social security taxes). They can be good, but it’s risky and depends on the state. Lots of states like to raid the pension fund and then promise to make it up later (but rarely do). Cutting pensions is also a popular move to score political points, so it’s possible that you could always end up with little to nothing by the time you retire.
- cudgy 4y ago
  “Those salary schedules on district websites? Those are for new hires. So someone with 40 years of experience in one school will be paid less than someone hired with 40 years.” This is not true in any state I am aware of. Salaries are very rigid and all teachers and staff with the same years of creditable experience and educational status make the same amount regardless of new hire status. Some counties may offer extra pay for performance or extra duties like coaching or summer school, but it is usually not a significant amount.
hackernewds 4y ago
Well now they're discussing also teachers to require to be armed guard as well. Brilliant idea eh?
aidenn0 4y ago
I personally know multiple public school teachers who left for private schools with a pay cut because of how much they disliked their public school jobs.
rychco 4y ago
I’m supposed to be encouraged to stay in the field when I can look forward to an acceptable wage in 40 years? Do I have that right?
- gedy 4y ago
  The pensions and medical are/were? quite nice.
worker_person 4y ago
Many areas also make it hard for teachers to move around. One friend was a school where she wanted to leave to go elsewhere. The principal kept threatening to get her blacklisted if she left. (They can do that easily). This went on for 7 years. She finally moved out of state and retired for a couple of years to get away from the principal. I've heard and seen many variations of this.

munk-a 4y ago

To be honest though - even rather senior teachers in the states can expect a large pay bump if they emigrate to Canada. There is pretty decent competition to get into the teacher's union up here but due to the much more reasonable salaries for a career that most people enter due to their love of the field folks are happy to stay in the public side of education.

brianwawok 4y ago
And in college, the situation is reversed. My econ prof was from Canada and told us all the time what a better racket the US is to make money. All while making us buy a $90 book that he wrote and changed editions yearly. At least he was honest that he was robbing us blind.

Pulcinella 4y ago

It’s literally not structured to encourage retention, definitely not at the same school. Those salary schedules on district websites? Those are for new hires. So someone with 40 years of experience in one school will be paid less than someone hired with 40 years. Raises aren’t at all guaranteed each year and even when you do get them, they often don’t match the salary schedule of someone hired new to the district. Also 40 years of experience doesn’t pay much in general. I was paid more as a new associate developer than I would have with 40 years of experience and a masters degree as a teacher. Pensions don’t have compounding interest, they are defined benefits. And often they are in place of social security (though the amount you pay in as a teacher is basically equivalent to social security taxes). They can be good, but it’s risky and depends on the state. Lots of states like to raid the pension fund and then promise to make it up later (but rarely do). Cutting pensions is also a popular move to score political points, so it’s possible that you could always end up with little to nothing by the time you retire.

cudgy 4y ago
“Those salary schedules on district websites? Those are for new hires. So someone with 40 years of experience in one school will be paid less than someone hired with 40 years.” This is not true in any state I am aware of. Salaries are very rigid and all teachers and staff with the same years of creditable experience and educational status make the same amount regardless of new hire status. Some counties may offer extra pay for performance or extra duties like coaching or summer school, but it is usually not a significant amount.

hackernewds 4y ago

Well now they're discussing also teachers to require to be armed guard as well. Brilliant idea eh?

aidenn0 4y ago

I personally know multiple public school teachers who left for private schools with a pay cut because of how much they disliked their public school jobs.

rychco 4y ago

I’m supposed to be encouraged to stay in the field when I can look forward to an acceptable wage in 40 years? Do I have that right?

gedy 4y ago
The pensions and medical are/were? quite nice.

worker_person 4y ago

Many areas also make it hard for teachers to move around. One friend was a school where she wanted to leave to go elsewhere. The principal kept threatening to get her blacklisted if she left. (They can do that easily). This went on for 7 years. She finally moved out of state and retired for a couple of years to get away from the principal. I've heard and seen many variations of this.