If your child wants to be a teacher, is it better to go to a school with a bachelor’s in education

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:or major in a subject then do an MA in education? How much does school name matter for bachelors or masters if my DC may want to teach in an independent school someday? TIA.

She shouldn’t major in education for both. Johns Hopkins has an excellent masters program by the way.

Also, she may want to expand her job search ultimately to both public and private. Public school teachers tend to make much more than private. I believe teachers at Whitman, for example, are making six figures..

A masters from Hopkins with the expectation of a teacher's salary seems like one of the dumbest moves you could make

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD recently became a teacher at FCPS. She had a degree in physics at Caltech and an MBA at Harvard. She worked for eight years at an IB firm and used it to invest in the stock market. Last year, she decided that she had enough money to not work again so she left her job and enrolled into a fast track program to become a HS teacher. She is now teaching HS physics at the age of 32. She told my wife the other day that her FCPS salary is less than one month of her salary at the IB firm but she loves being a teacher. She is so glad that she is able to help in changing young people's lives.

Her advice for young people to go into a teaching career is to go into a career where you can earn a lot of money for a short period of time. After that, you can become a teacher because you're not going to make much as a teacher.

Are you willing to share the first year teaching salary ? It would be helpful to those considering teaching. Thank you in advance.

Her salary was around 54K for a new teacher in FCPS.

[Anonymous]

My DS is getting a double major: secondary education and math. He wants to be a high school math teacher. If he absolutely hates teaching, he'll have a math degree and I'm sure that will be helpful in getting a job. The difference in his degree versus the straight math degree at his college - he's taking one less computer science course and one less science elective than the BS in mathematics. And all of his free electives are education courses. He'll be certified to teach 6-12 grade math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd major in a subject, especially if you want to teach high school, plus the MA can mean a salary boost.

OP here. The concern is the massive cost of the 5th year (master’s).

Depending on the state she’s going to need that extra education eventually anyway, and she’ll get paid more right off the bat for the masters. The private I’m familiar with rarely hires first year teachers, so she may want to start in public school (which will almost certainly pay more anyway)

[Anonymous]

If I could do it again, just retired:

1. Wouldn't go into this field at all. I would have gone into speech therapy or OT back in the day. It absolutely was the worst adult decision I made as an 18 year old going to college. I taught for 37 years, public 17 years, private 14, some years overseas as well- all grades, multiple degees and certifications, and I was good in my job.
2. I never made enough money anywhere at any time -and it cost me long term, and my family, as well. If an 18 year old women is deciding on a career in private school, she is assuming she will be married and that spouse will be her source of income. Are we really encouraging young women to do that now?
3. I never had free time for 35 years. This is an all day job. Physically and psychologically.
4. In the last 15 years of my job as a specialist, top of pay scale, supervisory mentor, graduate professor, I used everything I had to keep ahead of mental health and behavioral considerations in the classroom. I mentored hundreds of teachers and watched many of them burn out and have one mental health crisis after another of their own. They were in debt, too, and couldn't leave this job because of the $$ they sunk into their education. Most of my colleagues old and young were on meds. Xoloft, Xanax, and sleep meds.
5. Testing and metrics dominate everything and have turned this arena into a wasteland of piling more and more kids with issues into little boxes that look like something tangible for a spreadsheet. But it's not real.
6. Never, never, never, get an undergrad degree in education . It has no intellectual or practical generalization into anything else.
Hope this answers your question.

[Anonymous]

It depends what grade level your child wants to teach. If he/she is planning to teach elementary, a bachelor's in education is the best route. If he/she is planning to teach middle/high school, I would recommend getting a bachelor's in the subject area they wish to teach and then a master's in secondary education specializing in that subject area (ie. if they want to teach history, bachelor's in history, master's in secondary social studies education). Most of the elementary teachers I know just have a bachelor's in education and feel that adequately prepared them for their jobs. But of course you can major in any subject area you like and still become a teacher. What I learned in my master's program in education was very valuable to me as it helped me understand how to do classroom management, how to teach kids who struggled in certain areas, how to deal with some of the bureaucracy of teaching, and how to incorporate technology in my teaching. But I'm sure if I had not gone to graduate school to learn all that, I would have eventually learned it through actually teaching so I don't think the master's degree is necessary to be a good teacher, it just might help you feel more confident as a beginning teacher that you already know a lot of those things starting out.

The master's degree doesn't give much of a pay bump but it was invaluable for me in terms of learning to be an effective teacher. And I am glad I have a bachelor's degree as well so I could really learn my subject well, which also makes me a more effective teacher. I'm not a teacher because of the pay or because of the accolades/respect (as you may know, teachers don't make much $$ and very few people respect teachers). But I love my job, I love teaching history and in my opinion you have to love both the art of teaching as well as your subject area to be an effective teacher. The more effective you are, the more successful you will be in finding a good job and the happier you will be at your job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I could do it again, just retired:

1. Wouldn't go into this field at all. I would have gone into speech therapy or OT back in the day. It absolutely was the worst adult decision I made as an 18 year old going to college. I taught for 37 years, public 17 years, private 14, some years overseas as well- all grades, multiple degees and certifications, and I was good in my job.
2. I never made enough money anywhere at any time -and it cost me long term, and my family, as well. If an 18 year old women is deciding on a career in private school, she is assuming she will be married and that spouse will be her source of income. Are we really encouraging young women to do that now?
3. I never had free time for 35 years. This is an all day job. Physically and psychologically.
4. In the last 15 years of my job as a specialist, top of pay scale, supervisory mentor, graduate professor, I used everything I had to keep ahead of mental health and behavioral considerations in the classroom. I mentored hundreds of teachers and watched many of them burn out and have one mental health crisis after another of their own. They were in debt, too, and couldn't leave this job because of the $$ they sunk into their education. Most of my colleagues old and young were on meds. Xoloft, Xanax, and sleep meds.
5. Testing and metrics dominate everything and have turned this arena into a wasteland of piling more and more kids with issues into little boxes that look like something tangible for a spreadsheet. But it's not real.
6. Never, never, never, get an undergrad degree in education . It has no intellectual or practical generalization into anything else.
Hope this answers your question.

Come on, you have nothing positive to add? I have been teaching over 20 years in an inner city school. I have a list of complaints longer than you. However, I do love my job and students. They make me happy every day even the most annoying ones.
It is very rewarding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I could do it again, just retired:

1. Wouldn't go into this field at all. I would have gone into speech therapy or OT back in the day. It absolutely was the worst adult decision I made as an 18 year old going to college. I taught for 37 years, public 17 years, private 14, some years overseas as well- all grades, multiple degees and certifications, and I was good in my job.
2. I never made enough money anywhere at any time -and it cost me long term, and my family, as well. If an 18 year old women is deciding on a career in private school, she is assuming she will be married and that spouse will be her source of income. Are we really encouraging young women to do that now?
3. I never had free time for 35 years. This is an all day job. Physically and psychologically.
4. In the last 15 years of my job as a specialist, top of pay scale, supervisory mentor, graduate professor, I used everything I had to keep ahead of mental health and behavioral considerations in the classroom. I mentored hundreds of teachers and watched many of them burn out and have one mental health crisis after another of their own. They were in debt, too, and couldn't leave this job because of the $$ they sunk into their education. Most of my colleagues old and young were on meds. Xoloft, Xanax, and sleep meds.
5. Testing and metrics dominate everything and have turned this arena into a wasteland of piling more and more kids with issues into little boxes that look like something tangible for a spreadsheet. But it's not real.
6. Never, never, never, get an undergrad degree in education . It has no intellectual or practical generalization into anything else.
Hope this answers your question.

Come on, you have nothing positive to add? I have been teaching over 20 years in an inner city school. I have a list of complaints longer than you. However, I do love my job and students. They make me happy every day even the most annoying ones.
It is very rewarding. [/quote]

Not financially, and certainly not rewarding enough pay for a masters at Hopkins like PP suggested. If OP's daughter wants to teach at private school, she should realize that she will never earn enough to send her kids there unless she marries well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I could do it again, just retired:

1. Wouldn't go into this field at all. I would have gone into speech therapy or OT back in the day. It absolutely was the worst adult decision I made as an 18 year old going to college. I taught for 37 years, public 17 years, private 14, some years overseas as well- all grades, multiple degees and certifications, and I was good in my job.
2. I never made enough money anywhere at any time -and it cost me long term, and my family, as well. If an 18 year old women is deciding on a career in private school, she is assuming she will be married and that spouse will be her source of income. Are we really encouraging young women to do that now?
3. I never had free time for 35 years. This is an all day job. Physically and psychologically.
4. In the last 15 years of my job as a specialist, top of pay scale, supervisory mentor, graduate professor, I used everything I had to keep ahead of mental health and behavioral considerations in the classroom. I mentored hundreds of teachers and watched many of them burn out and have one mental health crisis after another of their own. They were in debt, too, and couldn't leave this job because of the $$ they sunk into their education. Most of my colleagues old and young were on meds. Xoloft, Xanax, and sleep meds.
5. Testing and metrics dominate everything and have turned this arena into a wasteland of piling more and more kids with issues into little boxes that look like something tangible for a spreadsheet. But it's not real.
6. Never, never, never, get an undergrad degree in education . It has no intellectual or practical generalization into anything else.
Hope this answers your question.

Come on, you have nothing positive to add? I have been teaching over 20 years in an inner city school. I have a list of complaints longer than you. However, I do love my job and students. They make me happy every day even the most annoying ones.
It is very rewarding.

It can be rewarding. But you are not paid appropriately, nor do you have even a remotely mainstream type of job. You have no control over so many things that you will be judged for, and you know that. Most teachers today do not find any of this viable, and that us evident by so much writing and transparency today, not
to mention the shortage. Maybe you have few other choices. Few people would choose this now. You have 20 years in, that's 20 years toward your pension. Leaving now would mess that up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I could do it again, just retired:

1. Wouldn't go into this field at all. I would have gone into speech therapy or OT back in the day. It absolutely was the worst adult decision I made as an 18 year old going to college. I taught for 37 years, public 17 years, private 14, some years overseas as well- all grades, multiple degees and certifications, and I was good in my job.
2. I never made enough money anywhere at any time -and it cost me long term, and my family, as well. If an 18 year old women is deciding on a career in private school, she is assuming she will be married and that spouse will be her source of income. Are we really encouraging young women to do that now?
3. I never had free time for 35 years. This is an all day job. Physically and psychologically.
4. In the last 15 years of my job as a specialist, top of pay scale, supervisory mentor, graduate professor, I used everything I had to keep ahead of mental health and behavioral considerations in the classroom. I mentored hundreds of teachers and watched many of them burn out and have one mental health crisis after another of their own. They were in debt, too, and couldn't leave this job because of the $$ they sunk into their education. Most of my colleagues old and young were on meds. Xoloft, Xanax, and sleep meds.
5. Testing and metrics dominate everything and have turned this arena into a wasteland of piling more and more kids with issues into little boxes that look like something tangible for a spreadsheet. But it's not real.
6. Never, never, never, get an undergrad degree in education . It has no intellectual or practical generalization into anything else.
Hope this answers your question.

Come on, you have nothing positive to add? I have been teaching over 20 years in an inner city school. I have a list of complaints longer than you. However, I do love my job and students. They make me happy every day even the most annoying ones.
It is very rewarding.

The rewarding aspect took a giant toll in my finances, my family's life, and our future. Not to mention my intellectual life. This wasn't a job it was a mandate.

[Anonymous]

I'm a HS teacher in a good suburban school who is 1 year away from retirement.

If your child really wants to be a teacher, and if public school may be in their future (it does pay better than privates), they should get their masters in the subject area.

Dual enrollment is the "next new big thing". The program is growing quickly. I think it will replace AP in the near future. To be DE certified, you need a masters in the field, not in education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a HS teacher in a good suburban school who is 1 year away from retirement.

If your child really wants to be a teacher, and if public school may be in their future (it does pay better than privates), they should get their masters in the subject area.

Dual enrollment is the "next new big thing". The program is growing quickly. I think it will replace AP in the near future. To be DE certified, you need a masters in the field, not in education.

I am the PP with a daughter who is a freshly minted teacher in FCPS with a degree @Caltech and MBA @Harvard. Teaching is, according to her, very rewarding mentally, but it does leave a big hole for her financially. Fortunately, she doesn't have to worry financially because she spent eight years making big money on Wall Street and invested her money wisely so that she can do what she loves to do, which is teaching and not having to worry about money. Otherwise, I don't think she would become a teacher without the solid financial support that she built prior to becoming a teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll bite, though I'm a little horrified by all the negative comments about teachers and education majors.

I'm a teacher in a "good" public suburban high school. Yes, I was an education major. Double majored in English. I would do it all over again. I had great opportunities to observe/shadow as a freshman in college. Easy student teaching placement. My district paid for a large share of my master's.

I have several friends who teach in private schools. A couple had similar paths to mine. A couple of others tried different careers first, then pivoted into education. There are multiple paths, but please don't demean actual education majors.

It is a waste of $$ in terms of getting an actual college education .And a waste of time.
Degree, certification, then masters.

But read today's Wapo article on teacher shortage. This is no longer a viable field.

But how can you say this? We will always need teachers. Don't any of you have an ounce of gratitude for the teachers who have supported your brilliant children?

We may need teachers, but it doesn't show. They aren't paid, they aren’t respected, and they aren't trained for what teaching has become, a triage system for disability and mental health serious issues. It's a 24/7 work day. The number one thing that teachers say now is not so much about their pay or benefits, but that they can no longer meet the needs of children and they don't feel they can keep everyone safe. And I don't just mean school shootings- I mean the unbelievable behavioral problems. There's been a lot written about the 6 year old who shot a teacher. What we teachers knew, before it was ever printed, was that this wasn't a surprise to the staff. This, and other students', issues were dismissed and the teachers were left to manage. We live this every day.

So, private school? Is that right? So unless people pay $$$, they won't be able to give their child an education or a safe environment. Private school teachers aren't certified, and are paid less. Many private schools are also seeing the same problems, but they can throw kids out. So, no services for diverse learners, special ed , or mental health issues. What is the point? What does this solve? It's an exploitation of the whole system. If we want good schools, we need excellent funding, safe environments, transparency, competent leadership, and a full overhaul.
If you think teachers need gratitude - show it.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/01/19/teacher-shortage-mississippi/

Mississippi ???

[Anonymous]

Teaching sucks. Yes, it can be rewarding and I love some of the kids but it takes a huge toll financially and emotionally.
To be a good teacher you have to put in a lot of time. The hours are inflexible. Dealing all day with students problems is incredibly draining.
I don’t even get a lunch break because my HS students need help and are always freaking out about their grades.
The emails from parents are stressful. Admin can be horrible and there is nothing you can do. Teachers have no power. They rank below everyone: students, parents, administrators. I would never advise anyone to go into teaching these days

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll bite, though I'm a little horrified by all the negative comments about teachers and education majors.

I'm a teacher in a "good" public suburban high school. Yes, I was an education major. Double majored in English. I would do it all over again. I had great opportunities to observe/shadow as a freshman in college. Easy student teaching placement. My district paid for a large share of my master's.

I have several friends who teach in private schools. A couple had similar paths to mine. A couple of others tried different careers first, then pivoted into education. There are multiple paths, but please don't demean actual education majors.

It is a waste of $$ in terms of getting an actual college education .And a waste of time.
Degree, certification, then masters.

But read today's Wapo article on teacher shortage. This is no longer a viable field.

But how can you say this? We will always need teachers. Don't any of you have an ounce of gratitude for the teachers who have supported your brilliant children?

We may need teachers, but it doesn't show. They aren't paid, they aren’t respected, and they aren't trained for what teaching has become, a triage system for disability and mental health serious issues. It's a 24/7 work day. The number one thing that teachers say now is not so much about their pay or benefits, but that they can no longer meet the needs of children and they don't feel they can keep everyone safe. And I don't just mean school shootings- I mean the unbelievable behavioral problems. There's been a lot written about the 6 year old who shot a teacher. What we teachers knew, before it was ever printed, was that this wasn't a surprise to the staff. This, and other students', issues were dismissed and the teachers were left to manage. We live this every day.

So, private school? Is that right? So unless people pay $$$, they won't be able to give their child an education or a safe environment. Private school teachers aren't certified, and are paid less. Many private schools are also seeing the same problems, but they can throw kids out. So, no services for diverse learners, special ed , or mental health issues. What is the point? What does this solve? It's an exploitation of the whole system. If we want good schools, we need excellent funding, safe environments, transparency, competent leadership, and a full overhaul.
If you think teachers need gratitude - show it.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/01/19/teacher-shortage-mississippi/

Mississippi ???

An example of the entire country. Every Md and DC and Va county, area, has a shortage of teachers. Quitting in droves.