Private School Salaries (Sidwell)

[Anonymous]

My DH is a beloved teacher at a popular independent school in DC (your kids may have had him!) and he makes $52k with many many years teaching and a career before in the subject he teaches. He loves the kids and is among the few male teachers so he feels like he can make a impact on the young men he teaches. It’s rough though, even with me being the breadwinner. Our kids will have to go to Public because we can’t afford his school.

[Anonymous]

private schools generally pay significantly less than public schools. there is also an additional issue that pay at many private schools is often black box.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DH is a beloved teacher at a popular independent school in DC (your kids may have had him!) and he makes $52k with many many years teaching and a career before in the subject he teaches. He loves the kids and is among the few male teachers so he feels like he can make a impact on the young men he teaches. It’s rough though, even with me being the breadwinner. Our kids will have to go to Public because we can’t afford his school.

This has got to be a Catholic All Boys school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DH is a beloved teacher at a popular independent school in DC (your kids may have had him!) and he makes $52k with many many years teaching and a career before in the subject he teaches. He loves the kids and is among the few male teachers so he feels like he can make a impact on the young men he teaches. It’s rough though, even with me being the breadwinner. Our kids will have to go to Public because we can’t afford his school.

This has got to be a Catholic All Boys school.

+1 This has got to be Catholic. I teach at a DC independent and our salaries are around median for independent schools. Absolutely no one is making $52k with "many many" years in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm resurfacing this very old thread, as it was the first to show up in google when I was looking for teacher salaries in DMV.

Wondering what the updates are in teacher comp in the past 6 years, in a post-covid world?

My niece teaches HS math at a private in Farmville, VA. She is in the process of getting her masters. If she were to move to the DC area, would she be better off working for public or private, if she were looking for highest salary / comp package (assuming masters is complete)? In DC, MD or VA?

She is single, late 20s, no rich DH. I'm hoping the dating pool will be better for her in DC than Farmville. Most of her co-workers are married and she is lonely. But the COL in Farmville is low relative to her salary.

If she is looking for highest salary, she should apply to DCPS. But it is a lot of work and high stress. Private school teaching is an easier and more fun gig but you get paid less. You also get more vacation in private schools

This. If her only concern is salary and benefits, then public school is the way to go. If she is looking for work/life balance, private is a much better option. Been there, done that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DH is a beloved teacher at a popular independent school in DC (your kids may have had him!) and he makes $52k with many many years teaching and a career before in the subject he teaches. He loves the kids and is among the few male teachers so he feels like he can make a impact on the young men he teaches. It’s rough though, even with me being the breadwinner. Our kids will have to go to Public because we can’t afford his school.

This has got to be a Catholic All Boys school.

+1 This has got to be Catholic. I teach at a DC independent and our salaries are around median for independent schools. Absolutely no one is making $52k with "many many" years in.

Yeah I used to work in HR at one of the “lesser” local independent schools and $52k was what we paid the first-year teachers fresh out of school.

[Anonymous]

My DH works at a progressive local private and makes just over $70k with crappy benefits including no retirement matching or money for pursuing advanced degrees. I worked at another local private (not as progressive and considered a country club school) and my salary was in the high 70’s with a Master’s Degree in education and 20 years teaching experience. I had a small retirement matching but health insurance for our family would have cost $1,100/month!

[Anonymous]

Ten years teaching at a DC private and not yet at $70k.

[Anonymous]

10+ years in DC area privates. Not a teacher, think a student support role, have a masters in my field and a total of 14 years experience in my field. My salary is low 80’s. In DCPS I’d be over 100k

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DH is a beloved teacher at a popular independent school in DC (your kids may have had him!) and he makes $52k with many many years teaching and a career before in the subject he teaches. He loves the kids and is among the few male teachers so he feels like he can make a impact on the young men he teaches. It’s rough though, even with me being the breadwinner. Our kids will have to go to Public because we can’t afford his school.

This has got to be a Catholic All Boys school.

+1 This has got to be Catholic. I teach at a DC independent and our salaries are around median for independent schools. Absolutely no one is making $52k with "many many" years in.

This issad. Nannies and lifeguards can make mote than this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:10+ years in DC area privates. Not a teacher, think a student support role, have a masters in my field and a total of 14 years experience in my field. My salary is low 80’s. In DCPS I’d be over 100k

I’m curious why you don’t jump to DCPS?

[Anonymous]

They extra money in DCPS is combat pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:10+ years in DC area privates. Not a teacher, think a student support role, have a masters in my field and a total of 14 years experience in my field. My salary is low 80’s. In DCPS I’d be over 100k

I’m curious why you don’t jump to DCPS?

Some day I might. I’m licensed and keep it current. I tried several years ago and the offers I got were schools with much longer commutes and/or working with a grade level I don’t prefer. Also, switching schools is hard… emotionally and logistically. In private schools you are set up to resign before you can have another job lined up (in a private or public). That is a tough move to make.

[Anonymous]

...and yet somehow my kid's teacher last year (big three) sends their 3 kids k-12 with no problem when the spouse is also a teacher (at a different school).
They make it work. Maybe the salary isn't such a hardship. It's pretty good for 9 months of work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I have a PhD and was offered a position with DCPS a year ago and the salary was 65k.

😱 This is tragic. WTF is wrong with this country.

My DS just finished his freshman year of college and is majoring in math and secondary education. He went to a private high school and really wants to be a high school math teacher at his alma mater. However, he is realistic that there won't be openings every year for a math teacher so he'd most likely have to work in the public schools. I love that he has the passion to teach. But he has very expensive tastes. I hate squashing his dream but he also has to be realistic about how much money he'll earn as a teacher. On the plus side, as long as he doesn't do something stupid, he'll probably never have to worry about unemployment and he could easily move to another area of the country and find a job. There is a huge demand for math teachers. It is so awful that we pay teachers such low salaries.