Is it possible to support a family in this area on a teacher's salary?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is interesting. In some parts of the country, the teachers are the ones with the high incomes.

Arkansas?

$42k/yr average, so unlikely.

In what part of the country is a teacher the one with the high income? CT has the highest paid teachers, at just under $70k average...in the same places were the hedge fund managers were buying houses for $110 million. So it's not there, either.

If you just take a look at two other posts, you would get it. Hedge fund managers are not the only ones with children. My friend grew up in Danbury CT, his father was a carpenter, and he always told me that teachers were rich there.

I don't know Connecticut, but it needs to be said that that was a generation ago. I know a lot of us couldn't now afford the homes/ neighborhoods we grew up in, and there are plenty of places where carpenters might once have been able to buy a house, but not now. Case in point, when I drive much of Arlington or Alexandria (veeeeery occasionally, of course), I see a whole lot of housing stock that was clearly built for blue collar families that now appears to be filled with middle-income professional families. I assume workmen with less specialized skills now need to live even farther out. Of course, highly skilled carpenters, like plumbers, may actually be paid relatively well compared to teachers.

[Anonymous]

Those of you OUTSIDE of the teaching arena don't understand that it takes YEARS for teachers to earn a substantial income. This is my second career. I have been teaching for 15 years and have 2 undergraduate degrees and a masters. I am now just at $90K - IF I worked FT. I don't. So cut that in half.

I have to keep up my certification, and now with the budget cuts I won't receive my salary lane if I don't manage to get in my last few credits before early June.

Sure we have summers off, but most teachers - to keep their current daycare situation - HAVE to pay for daycare during the summer months. So try budgeting for that if you're a young parent. And there's no guarantee that your child's school schedule will match that of the county for which you teach. I have many colleagues who commute from Frederick, parts of VA that are closer in, and WVA! Obviously, they can't afford to live in our county.

I could go on and on, but it's senseless b/c the general public hasn't a clue. Nor does the public care. And how sad is that considering that we're the ones giving your children the foundation they need to succeed in life.

[Anonymous]

Another teacher here. My favorite line when I tell people I am a teacher is "That's great. You get your summers off!" Um, no, not really. I try to teach summer school which I don't always get chosen for. Then I apply to teach at various camps or tutor at a tutoring center. I do that so I can pay the daycare so they won't give my child's spot away. And what I make in the summer just about covers the cost of the daycare. Unless a teacher is married to someone who brings in a big income, there are no summers off.

[Anonymous]

I do not mean this question to be disrespectful: didn't all of you who went into teaching KNOW the salaries?

I agree teachers should be paid more and that they have one of the most important jobs out there. I respect them. Having said that, I do always wonder whether salary was not a consideration for them when they chose this career path???

[Anonymous]

I think your post is disrespectful. Most teachers made their career decision when the were very young. It's hard to really understand how that will affect you when you marry, have kids, try to live in an area like this. I'm a social worker (from a family of teachers) and you go into it knowing that you will never make a lot of money, but you want to help people. You hope that society will value the profession more and your salary will go up. There is some freedom to move around (more in social work) and you can make a bit more money, work a second job like other posters were discussing. Again, when you are very young, even 45K seems like a lot.

[Anonymous]

I am a teacher. I chose this career because it was something I could imagine enjoying doing indefinitely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do not mean this question to be disrespectful: didn't all of you who went into teaching KNOW the salaries?

I agree teachers should be paid more and that they have one of the most important jobs out there. I respect them. Having said that, I do always wonder whether salary was not a consideration for them when they chose this career path???

Some people are actually not as shallow as you are. We chose teaching because we love educating children and young adults. Teachers used to be respected and appreciated and now not many of us feel either. It isn't easy or affordable to just switch jobs either (I've thought about it a few times a year for the last 5 years or so). Someone has to educate your kids and if your kids are in private school, they are probably getting paid less than the public schools. So be glad that some of us chose teaching despite the salary or your kid would have to be home schooled by you.

[Anonymous]

I chose teaching as a career before I decided to have kids. I don't think I realized it would be completely unsustainable from a financial perspective after kids. Went back to a prior career (which I loved far less) because more lucrative/allows more flexible scheduling around my kids. Teaching jobs are very rigid, for those who are not teachers and are now wondering, "How is that end-at-3, summers-off teaching gig not flexible?" You can't ever take time off when it's not kid vacation, and no one worth their salt ever leaves at 3. When I was a teacher I worked nights and weekends prepping and grading papers. I really miss teaching but can't do it right now with young kids -- both because it's too annoying to lose money on the childcare and because I refuse to either do a poor job teaching/shortchange my own kids. I thought about working PT teaching but you can imagine what that would pay!

[Anonymous]

23:03 here -- like 16:13, I was aware that I wouldn't be making a lot of money and that was 100% ok with me (both my DH and I initially chose careers based on altruistic motives, his just worked out to be lucrative and mine didn't)...until I realized that I might be able to better parent/partner if I could make more money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think your post is disrespectful. Most teachers made their career decision when the were very young. It's hard to really understand how that will affect you when you marry, have kids, try to live in an area like this. I'm a social worker (from a family of teachers) and you go into it knowing that you will never make a lot of money, but you want to help people. You hope that society will value the profession more and your salary will go up. There is some freedom to move around (more in social work) and you can make a bit more money, work a second job like other posters were discussing. Again, when you are very young, even 45K seems like a lot.

Don't most people make career decisions when they are young? So what? How is this different for teachers than e.g. for investment bankers, lawyers, doctors, or plumbers?

My husband is a teacher and I'm a lawyer working in-house at a large company (i.e. not a public interest lawyer). We once calculated what we are each making on a per-hour-worked basis. Our pay rate is about the same.

[Anonymous]

For me, three economic factors changed, making my teaching choice invalid: My husband's career didn't prove as lucrative as we expected, the housing boom meant buying our apartment required a much larger slice than we had anticipated (our neighborhood is still priced dramatically higher than before the boom), and I didn't recognize until the moment was upon me that daycare costs would swallow my salary as a young teacher.

[Anonymous]

Yes, few recent college grads making career choices realize how expensive daycare is.

[Anonymous]

For me, three economic factors changed, making my teaching choice invalid: My husband's career didn't prove as lucrative as we expected, the housing boom meant buying our apartment required a much larger slice than we had anticipated (our neighborhood is still priced dramatically higher than before the boom), and I didn't recognize until the moment was upon me that daycare costs would swallow my salary as a young teacher.

How did these economic factors "invalidate" your choice of a teaching career? They may have made it unviable, but "invalid?" It seems like these factors would have therefore also made your husband's career, whatever that is, "invalid." Why did you evaluate these economic factors as having a bearing on your career choice alone and not also your husband's (cost of apartment, daycare, etc.)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

For me, three economic factors changed, making my teaching choice invalid: My husband's career didn't prove as lucrative as we expected, the housing boom meant buying our apartment required a much larger slice than we had anticipated (our neighborhood is still priced dramatically higher than before the boom), and I didn't recognize until the moment was upon me that daycare costs would swallow my salary as a young teacher.

How did these economic factors "invalidate" your choice of a teaching career? They may have made it unviable, but "invalid?" It seems like these factors would have therefore also made your husband's career, whatever that is, "invalid." Why did you evaluate these economic factors as having a bearing on your career choice alone and not also your husband's (cost of apartment, daycare, etc.)?

Since you asked... because he's an inflexible asshole. Trouble is, I didn't understand this either until we were married parents and I had assumed a career that doesn't comfortably support a family (see other thread). Teaching is not a choice that offers women financial independence from bad husbands unless they're willing to live painfully modestly with their children.

[Anonymous]

Thread confusion: make that, "see other posts on this thread."