Fairfax Co. teachers can’t afford to live near where they work, report finds

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:House prices have skyrocketed. We could not afford the house we live in now if we tried to buy it today. Yes, I’m a teacher but DH isn’t.

This. Same here. Townhomes should not be 800,000 or more. The homes going for a million dollars aren’t truly million dollar homes. I am saying this as a NYer. Starter Homes should be affordable.

[Anonymous]

Neither can our family on one income. Which is why both my husband and I work.

[Anonymous]

I work downtown and can’t afford to live there. Or pay $300 month to park at work. Which is why I live an hour commute away in Fairfax County and take public transportation. It’s hard for a lot of people. Not just teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work downtown and can’t afford to live there. Or pay $300 month to park at work. Which is why I live an hour commute away in Fairfax County and take public transportation. It’s hard for a lot of people. Not just teachers.

Nobody is saying it’s just teachers. The study focused on and ranked teacher salary vs COL in metro areas. It found that Fairfax is on the top 10 least affordable. Of course that doesn’t mean others don’t face the same issue.

[Anonymous]

Life is about choices. Get another career if the one you’re in isn’t lucrative enough to support where you live.

[Anonymous]

So this may be an unpopular opinion and I have many family members who are teachers and agree with me so this is in no way meant to not show support for teachers, but it is a reality.

Teacher contracts are based on a 195-day contract which is 39 weeks. This is 75% of a full year.

Conversely, I am a small govt worker and my contract is based off a 52 week calendar. With more than 25 years of experience, I make about 2/3 of what a teacher with the same level of experience/education makes and receive about 1/2 of the market rate adjustment raises that teachers in FCPS receive each year.

So as a fellow government employee working in the same jurisdiction, I work more weeks, more hours (my job also requires me to work some nights and weekends) and get paid less and receive lower raises than teachers.

Teaching has become a very thankless job and many people like myself acknowledge the challenges and frustrations of being a teacher, but let's stop pretending that teachers are on an island when it comes to being underpaid and underappreciated.

[Anonymous]

FCPS’s local retirement is keeping new and semi experienced teachers from having higher salaries. FCPS should phase out that retirement plan and boost teacher salaries in their first 5-10 years of service. That will attract a better pool of teachers initially and give people more money when they are starting out. FCPS would begin to loose teachers on the backend of their career, but it’s harder to move then as most are already established in their careers and communities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS’s local retirement is keeping new and semi experienced teachers from having higher salaries. FCPS should phase out that retirement plan and boost teacher salaries in their first 5-10 years of service. That will attract a better pool of teachers initially and give people more money when they are starting out. FCPS would begin to loose teachers on the backend of their career, but it’s harder to move then as most are already established in their careers and communities.

Years ago they offered an early retirement package that was "too good to pass up."

One administrator-who loved her job-told me that she would be losing money if she didn't take it. She was able to continue to work by being a "rent a prince" (substitute principal).

[Anonymous]

While its tough to start out teaching, we can't expect to hand every new teacher a high salary that is usually reserved for the senior teachers.

Heck, take almost any profession with a 4 year degree and you will find all entry-level salaries are too low to live in Fairfax County.

This really isn't a low entry level teacher salary problem, this is really a 'that how life works' kind of a problem.

-Rent an apartment, commute, find a roommate, save up, move around, earn higher pay, shop around, find a life partner, then put a down payment on a property.

-Didn't we learn this in the Game of Life board game?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So this may be an unpopular opinion and I have many family members who are teachers and agree with me so this is in no way meant to not show support for teachers, but it is a reality.

Teacher contracts are based on a 195-day contract which is 39 weeks. This is 75% of a full year.

Conversely, I am a small govt worker and my contract is based off a 52 week calendar. With more than 25 years of experience, I make about 2/3 of what a teacher with the same level of experience/education makes and receive about 1/2 of the market rate adjustment raises that teachers in FCPS receive each year.

So as a fellow government employee working in the same jurisdiction, I work more weeks, more hours (my job also requires me to work some nights and weekends) and get paid less and receive lower raises than teachers.

Teaching has become a very thankless job and many people like myself acknowledge the challenges and frustrations of being a teacher, but let's stop pretending that teachers are on an island when it comes to being underpaid and underappreciated.

Come be a teacher! We'd love to have you! (Seriously, if your job is that bad comparatively, why not?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So this may be an unpopular opinion and I have many family members who are teachers and agree with me so this is in no way meant to not show support for teachers, but it is a reality.

Teacher contracts are based on a 195-day contract which is 39 weeks. This is 75% of a full year.

Conversely, I am a small govt worker and my contract is based off a 52 week calendar. With more than 25 years of experience, I make about 2/3 of what a teacher with the same level of experience/education makes and receive about 1/2 of the market rate adjustment raises that teachers in FCPS receive each year.

So as a fellow government employee working in the same jurisdiction, I work more weeks, more hours (my job also requires me to work some nights and weekends) and get paid less and receive lower raises than teachers.

Teaching has become a very thankless job and many people like myself acknowledge the challenges and frustrations of being a teacher, but let's stop pretending that teachers are on an island when it comes to being underpaid and underappreciated.

Come be a teacher! We'd love to have you! (Seriously, if your job is that bad comparatively, why not?)

I don’t know why more people do this.

In actuality, fewer and fewer are graduating with education/teaching degrees.

[Anonymous]

*why more people don’t do this

[Anonymous]

I am an engineer. Paid well above a teacher. I could not afford to live alone when fresh out of school. I split a 2 BR apartment with someone else, not big, not fancy, while in my initial job out of school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was a young, brand new teacher, I had a roommate. And, yes, it took a large portion of my income. This was decades ago.

When I moved to DC after law school to work at DOJ I had a roommate. In an apartment. That is all I could afford for years. And we lawyers didn't cry about it.

Who is crying about it? WTOP?

Teachers. They complain about their income All.The.Time. Even when they make more than people with more education and responsibility who don't have months of time off every year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:most people cannot when they first start working. it's not just teachers.

I’m in my 13th year of teaching with a Master’s degree. My college kid qualifies for a Pell grant. Pell grants are for low income students.

You should have found a higher paying job?