What do private school teachers earn?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is crazy how much these vary
$40k to $85k is a huge range.

I have a PhD and one of the reasons some of my friends teach in private schools is that they don't require teacher certification. The ones,who've gone public have had to do formal certification or second career training peograms.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is crazy how much these vary
$40k to $85k is a huge range.

I have a PhD and one of the reasons some of my friends teach in private schools is that they don't require teacher certification. The ones,who've gone public have had to do formal certification or second career training peograms.

Much of the variance is due to experience levels, as with any job

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It will vary by school, but in general they earn meaningfully less than public school teachers.

+1 I've taught at two of the "big" East Coast privates, and earned significantly less than that of my public school friends. One of these was one of the HADES schools, and people were always shocked at how low teachers' salaries were; I had to correct friends a few times when they voiced their beliefs that "now you make a good salary."

Why do people choose to work at private schools then? My DC is at a private, she's had some very good teachers, so I'm glad they're not all taking off for public, but you'd think the better ones would head to public if it's that much better.

The private school teachers do seem, on the whole, to be on the younger side, as compared to public. And there is quite a bit of turnover among the assistant teachers, but that may be a function of youth as well.

At our private elementary school, the teachers have husbands who are the main income earners.
No one is in for the money, lol. Some just love children and enjoy teaching.
Almost every teacher who had young children left for public school so they can earn a higher salary.
Most of our teachers are older, more established and don't rely so much on their teachers salary.
One teacher does it to pay for her children's college.

This is even true to some extent in the public schools. Even a mid-career teacher salary can be difficult to live on in this area if you have children or student loan debt. I’m able to work in the schools because my partner makes significantly more. I would consider private school again if one was close and had the same schedule as my son’s. Now I live and work in the same district with little commute which is worth quite a bit.

Meh, yes and no. I teach in MCPS, and while I make less income than my husband does, when I retire, we will have my pension and excellent health insurance.

It is an enormous difference from what private schools provide to their teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It will vary by school, but in general they earn meaningfully less than public school teachers.

+1 I've taught at two of the "big" East Coast privates, and earned significantly less than that of my public school friends. One of these was one of the HADES schools, and people were always shocked at how low teachers' salaries were; I had to correct friends a few times when they voiced their beliefs that "now you make a good salary."

Why do people choose to work at private schools then? My DC is at a private, she's had some very good teachers, so I'm glad they're not all taking off for public, but you'd think the better ones would head to public if it's that much better.

The private school teachers do seem, on the whole, to be on the younger side, as compared to public. And there is quite a bit of turnover among the assistant teachers, but that may be a function of youth as well.

At our private elementary school, the teachers have husbands who are the main income earners.
No one is in for the money, lol. Some just love children and enjoy teaching.
Almost every teacher who had young children left for public school so they can earn a higher salary.
Most of our teachers are older, more established and don't rely so much on their teachers salary.
One teacher does it to pay for her children's college.

This is even true to some extent in the public schools. Even a mid-career teacher salary can be difficult to live on in this area if you have children or student loan debt. I’m able to work in the schools because my partner makes significantly more. I would consider private school again if one was close and had the same schedule as my son’s. Now I live and work in the same district with little commute which is worth quite a bit.

Meh, yes and no. I teach in MCPS, and while I make less income than my husband does, when I retire, we will have my pension and excellent health insurance.

It is an enormous difference from what private schools provide to their teachers.

What do you make as an MCPS teacher?

I was always under the impression that public school teachers make like 40-50k which is why they need so much help with item donations/gift cards etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It will vary by school, but in general they earn meaningfully less than public school teachers.

+1 I've taught at two of the "big" East Coast privates, and earned significantly less than that of my public school friends. One of these was one of the HADES schools, and people were always shocked at how low teachers' salaries were; I had to correct friends a few times when they voiced their beliefs that "now you make a good salary."

Why do people choose to work at private schools then? My DC is at a private, she's had some very good teachers, so I'm glad they're not all taking off for public, but you'd think the better ones would head to public if it's that much better.

The private school teachers do seem, on the whole, to be on the younger side, as compared to public. And there is quite a bit of turnover among the assistant teachers, but that may be a function of youth as well.

At our private elementary school, the teachers have husbands who are the main income earners.
No one is in for the money, lol. Some just love children and enjoy teaching.
Almost every teacher who had young children left for public school so they can earn a higher salary.
Most of our teachers are older, more established and don't rely so much on their teachers salary.
One teacher does it to pay for her children's college.

This is even true to some extent in the public schools. Even a mid-career teacher salary can be difficult to live on in this area if you have children or student loan debt. I’m able to work in the schools because my partner makes significantly more. I would consider private school again if one was close and had the same schedule as my son’s. Now I live and work in the same district with little commute which is worth quite a bit.

Meh, yes and no. I teach in MCPS, and while I make less income than my husband does, when I retire, we will have my pension and excellent health insurance.

It is an enormous difference from what private schools provide to their teachers.

What do you make as an MCPS teacher?

I was always under the impression that public school teachers make like 40-50k which is why they need so much help with item donations/gift cards etc.

School districts post their salary scales online. Donations are typically for items which are used in the classroom, not for teacher's personal use

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It will vary by school, but in general they earn meaningfully less than public school teachers.

+1 I've taught at two of the "big" East Coast privates, and earned significantly less than that of my public school friends. One of these was one of the HADES schools, and people were always shocked at how low teachers' salaries were; I had to correct friends a few times when they voiced their beliefs that "now you make a good salary."

Why do people choose to work at private schools then? My DC is at a private, she's had some very good teachers, so I'm glad they're not all taking off for public, but you'd think the better ones would head to public if it's that much better.

The private school teachers do seem, on the whole, to be on the younger side, as compared to public. And there is quite a bit of turnover among the assistant teachers, but that may be a function of youth as well.

At our private elementary school, the teachers have husbands who are the main income earners.
No one is in for the money, lol. Some just love children and enjoy teaching.
Almost every teacher who had young children left for public school so they can earn a higher salary.
Most of our teachers are older, more established and don't rely so much on their teachers salary.
One teacher does it to pay for her children's college.

This is even true to some extent in the public schools. Even a mid-career teacher salary can be difficult to live on in this area if you have children or student loan debt. I’m able to work in the schools because my partner makes significantly more. I would consider private school again if one was close and had the same schedule as my son’s. Now I live and work in the same district with little commute which is worth quite a bit.

Meh, yes and no. I teach in MCPS, and while I make less income than my husband does, when I retire, we will have my pension and excellent health insurance.

It is an enormous difference from what private schools provide to their teachers.

What do you make as an MCPS teacher?

I was always under the impression that public school teachers make like 40-50k which is why they need so much help with item donations/gift cards etc.

MCPS teachers with master’s degrees and 60 credit hours of education in addition to the MA make almost $110,000.

to the extent that teachers request classroom supplies and monetary donations for things for their classrooms, that has nothing to do with their salary. It has to do with what they need to do their job. How many office supplies do you need to buy for your employer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It will vary by school, but in general they earn meaningfully less than public school teachers.

+1 I've taught at two of the "big" East Coast privates, and earned significantly less than that of my public school friends. One of these was one of the HADES schools, and people were always shocked at how low teachers' salaries were; I had to correct friends a few times when they voiced their beliefs that "now you make a good salary."

Why do people choose to work at private schools then? My DC is at a private, she's had some very good teachers, so I'm glad they're not all taking off for public, but you'd think the better ones would head to public if it's that much better.

The private school teachers do seem, on the whole, to be on the younger side, as compared to public. And there is quite a bit of turnover among the assistant teachers, but that may be a function of youth as well.

At our private elementary school, the teachers have husbands who are the main income earners.
No one is in for the money, lol. Some just love children and enjoy teaching.
Almost every teacher who had young children left for public school so they can earn a higher salary.
Most of our teachers are older, more established and don't rely so much on their teachers salary.
One teacher does it to pay for her children's college.

This is even true to some extent in the public schools. Even a mid-career teacher salary can be difficult to live on in this area if you have children or student loan debt. I’m able to work in the schools because my partner makes significantly more. I would consider private school again if one was close and had the same schedule as my son’s. Now I live and work in the same district with little commute which is worth quite a bit.

Meh, yes and no. I teach in MCPS, and while I make less income than my husband does, when I retire, we will have my pension and excellent health insurance.

It is an enormous difference from what private schools provide to their teachers.

What do you make as an MCPS teacher?

I was always under the impression that public school teachers make like 40-50k which is why they need so much help with item donations/gift cards etc.

The MC PS salary scale is public information.

Whatever donations parents give to the classroom are for the students’ use in the classroom, not for the teacher’s personal use. Therefore, the donations have nothing to do with the teacher’s salary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It will vary by school, but in general they earn meaningfully less than public school teachers.

+1 I've taught at two of the "big" East Coast privates, and earned significantly less than that of my public school friends. One of these was one of the HADES schools, and people were always shocked at how low teachers' salaries were; I had to correct friends a few times when they voiced their beliefs that "now you make a good salary."

Why do people choose to work at private schools then? My DC is at a private, she's had some very good teachers, so I'm glad they're not all taking off for public, but you'd think the better ones would head to public if it's that much better.

The private school teachers do seem, on the whole, to be on the younger side, as compared to public. And there is quite a bit of turnover among the assistant teachers, but that may be a function of youth as well.

At our private elementary school, the teachers have husbands who are the main income earners.
No one is in for the money, lol. Some just love children and enjoy teaching.
Almost every teacher who had young children left for public school so they can earn a higher salary.
Most of our teachers are older, more established and don't rely so much on their teachers salary.
One teacher does it to pay for her children's college.

This is even true to some extent in the public schools. Even a mid-career teacher salary can be difficult to live on in this area if you have children or student loan debt. I’m able to work in the schools because my partner makes significantly more. I would consider private school again if one was close and had the same schedule as my son’s. Now I live and work in the same district with little commute which is worth quite a bit.

Meh, yes and no. I teach in MCPS, and while I make less income than my husband does, when I retire, we will have my pension and excellent health insurance.

It is an enormous difference from what private schools provide to their teachers.

What do you make as an MCPS teacher?

I was always under the impression that public school teachers make like 40-50k which is why they need so much help with item donations/gift cards etc.

MCPS teachers with master’s degrees and 60 credit hours of education in addition to the MA make almost $110,000.

to the extent that teachers request classroom supplies and monetary donations for things for their classrooms, that has nothing to do with their salary. It has to do with what they need to do their job. How many office supplies do you need to buy for your employer?

That's at the final step. I'm not sure if 1 step=1 year of experience for MCPS because some districts vary, but it's not a salary many people make
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/departments/ersc/employees/pay/schedules/salary_schedule_current.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It will vary by school, but in general they earn meaningfully less than public school teachers.

+1 I've taught at two of the "big" East Coast privates, and earned significantly less than that of my public school friends. One of these was one of the HADES schools, and people were always shocked at how low teachers' salaries were; I had to correct friends a few times when they voiced their beliefs that "now you make a good salary."

Why do people choose to work at private schools then? My DC is at a private, she's had some very good teachers, so I'm glad they're not all taking off for public, but you'd think the better ones would head to public if it's that much better.

The private school teachers do seem, on the whole, to be on the younger side, as compared to public. And there is quite a bit of turnover among the assistant teachers, but that may be a function of youth as well.

At our private elementary school, the teachers have husbands who are the main income earners.
No one is in for the money, lol. Some just love children and enjoy teaching.
Almost every teacher who had young children left for public school so they can earn a higher salary.
Most of our teachers are older, more established and don't rely so much on their teachers salary.
One teacher does it to pay for her children's college.

This is even true to some extent in the public schools. Even a mid-career teacher salary can be difficult to live on in this area if you have children or student loan debt. I’m able to work in the schools because my partner makes significantly more. I would consider private school again if one was close and had the same schedule as my son’s. Now I live and work in the same district with little commute which is worth quite a bit.

Meh, yes and no. I teach in MCPS, and while I make less income than my husband does, when I retire, we will have my pension and excellent health insurance.

It is an enormous difference from what private schools provide to their teachers.

What do you make as an MCPS teacher?

I was always under the impression that public school teachers make like 40-50k which is why they need so much help with item donations/gift cards etc.

MCPS teachers with master’s degrees and 60 credit hours of education in addition to the MA make almost $110,000.

to the extent that teachers request classroom supplies and monetary donations for things for their classrooms, that has nothing to do with their salary. It has to do with what they need to do their job. How many office supplies do you need to buy for your employer?

That's at the final step. I'm not sure if 1 step=1 year of experience for MCPS because some districts vary, but it's not a salary many people make
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/departments/ersc/employees/pay/schedules/salary_schedule_current.pdf

It is the salary that teacher’s at that level make.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It will vary by school, but in general they earn meaningfully less than public school teachers.

+1 I've taught at two of the "big" East Coast privates, and earned significantly less than that of my public school friends. One of these was one of the HADES schools, and people were always shocked at how low teachers' salaries were; I had to correct friends a few times when they voiced their beliefs that "now you make a good salary."

Why do people choose to work at private schools then? My DC is at a private, she's had some very good teachers, so I'm glad they're not all taking off for public, but you'd think the better ones would head to public if it's that much better.

The private school teachers do seem, on the whole, to be on the younger side, as compared to public. And there is quite a bit of turnover among the assistant teachers, but that may be a function of youth as well.

At our private elementary school, the teachers have husbands who are the main income earners.
No one is in for the money, lol. Some just love children and enjoy teaching.
Almost every teacher who had young children left for public school so they can earn a higher salary.
Most of our teachers are older, more established and don't rely so much on their teachers salary.
One teacher does it to pay for her children's college.

This is even true to some extent in the public schools. Even a mid-career teacher salary can be difficult to live on in this area if you have children or student loan debt. I’m able to work in the schools because my partner makes significantly more. I would consider private school again if one was close and had the same schedule as my son’s. Now I live and work in the same district with little commute which is worth quite a bit.

Meh, yes and no. I teach in MCPS, and while I make less income than my husband does, when I retire, we will have my pension and excellent health insurance.

It is an enormous difference from what private schools provide to their teachers.

What do you make as an MCPS teacher?

I was always under the impression that public school teachers make like 40-50k which is why they need so much help with item donations/gift cards etc.

First, items that are donated are for the classroom, not for the teacher.

Second, in no public school division in this area are faculty salaries that horribly low (although the 40-50 range is substantially above what many private schools pay). In Fairfax, depending on education, certification, and the number of years of experience, a teacher with a bachelors-only receives from about 46 to about 70, advancing over the first 8-10 years. Add several % for a specialty cert or Master-level degree, and add further %s for MA/MS/EdM + 30 credits or a doctoral degree.

[Anonymous]

52,000
Decent benefits and retirement

This is with 20 years experience and a masters degree

Montessori school

[Anonymous]

Partner teaches at a private in VA. She has her Masters and makes just over $62k. Left public school teaching for private after a bad year made her question changing careers. Therapist helped her realize she wasn’t disenchanted with teaching or the kids but with the parents. She loves teaching at the private! No more teaching to the test, more freedoms with her curriculum, more Admin support, less having to dip into her own $$$ to cover for supplies, and best of all in her eyes is having easier parents to deal with.

She has a 401k with 7% match, health and dental insurance but no vision insurance. She pays around $200/month out of her pay for the insurance.

Her least favorite aspect is the admin is even more strict with time off. Parents don’t like to pay for their kids to be educated by subs and stand-ins too many times per year.

[Anonymous]

^^ I forgot, there’s tuition assistance for kids we may have but since we have nine, I don’t remember the %.

They don’t get guaranteed admission though.

[Anonymous]

Ugh! Damn phone. None not nine for kids. I can’t imagine nine kids! We have none!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BFF teaches HS private in the DC area (not at a big 3). She has a Phd in her subject and makes $80k. She gets about 50% tuition assistance for her son.

She laments about benefits but likes the ability to teach in a more collegiate manner than having to teach to specific standards.

Exactly. Private school teachers can TEACH without the bureaucracy, testing requirements, and behavior problems that often plague public schools.

Yeah. But now, at 39, I'm starting to regret the romantic idealism that shaped my early choices in schools. I've had great students and worked in lovely settings, but I am starting to worry about what my future will look like. I'll have good memories of my students and my job, but that isn't much to live on when I'm old.

I know that my students' wealthy parents realize how little I earn, but they value my dedication to their children and my job . However, I've been teaching long enough to have heard multiple high school students (and parents) speak disparagingly about my profession; I know the same parents who pay tuition so their children can be in the classrooms of poor, "dedicated" teachers who love teaching would never, ever encourage their children to become teachers. I didn't realize this when I was younger.

I know, I know. This might mean it is time to reconsider my professional trajectory and choices.

At my child's school, the classes range from 8-16 kids per class in HIGH SCHOOL. A few classes had a handful of kids in them. THAT is what the parents pay for. Extremely low teacher to student ratio. And the teachers to teach to them without standardized testing and freedom to bring in their passions and preferred learning style to the classroom. They get to take sabbaticals, get their tuition partially paid for furthering education, have more time to do research, write in teaching journals, and go on FREE national and international trips with students if they prefer.

If you prefer better pay, of course it is better to go to a massive school district. You will then have 30 kids per class and at least 1/3 of them won't give two craps about what you are teaching or even show up to your class. You will also spend countless hours a week grading and planning for the 100+ more kids you teach each week. Not to mention more mindless training/meetings, forcing kids to take standardized testing, being judged on trying to get Spanish speaking only kids to pass your classes, etc...

You are comparing apples to oranges here....

I am not saying ALL teachers do not deserve more. They do. But there is a reason many teachers pick private schools over public. I am a nurse and I could make a lot more money working night shifts with 15 patients at a major DC hospital. But I chose a massive pay cut to be an outpatient infusion nurse. Less stress, better hours, more positive working condition. Not everyone picks the highest paycheck for their career.