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Independent school teachers salary survey!
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Anonymous
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Teachers have always been underpaid, at every level
I could never understand paying (way back) 20k/yr tuition for my child to be in a class with 15-20 students, when the teachers don't even make 60k... |
Anonymous
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Teacher here. You pay for the outstanding facilities, fantastic teachers, resources that your child could receive anywhere else. The tuition is worth it. The discussion is as to what pay the teachers should receive.
7th grade teacher, top independent school, 8 years experience, 49,000, male |
Anonymous
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We all knew ahead of time that teachers earn the least of all professionals. (BTW I think that is where the post w/ doctors analogy was headed, though is was truly a bad analogy) We are not part of the service industry, we are professionals but are paid little for our expertise. However, I wonder how many people that expressed frustration on this thread have actually taken the initiative to self-advocate and talk to their HOS or Division Director about higher pay.
Both my HOS and DivD are supportive. Any leadership opportunity or curriculum work has been funded. If you don't ask, demonstrate, and prove that you are a positive and essential member of your school community, you won't be heard. Rather than express anger with your HOS, try engaging in a dialogue. Most HOS are so busy they don't even have the opportunity to see what great teaching is going on in your classroom. And don't be selfish and advocate just for yourself. The best teacher and the most deserving I have ever seen of a pay raise is my teaching partner who would never dare ask for one. It's up to those of us that are comfortable in taking a position of advocacy and speaking to our DivD and HOS about opportunities for |
Anonymous
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higher pay or more pay
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Anonymous
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My friend likes to joke about how he pushes his beat-up Honda into his parking spot at top independent school whilst his students cruise into the spots next to him in their sparkling BMW's.
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Anonymous
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A few misconceptions to clear up...
1. Summers off hardly exist. School year is longer and longer and teachers must do extensive professional development over the summers. At the end of the day, the teaching profession's vacations look exactly like other professions. 2. The love of the children argument is precisely what holds teachers down. Let's see, you love your job, are a dedicated professional, and are excellent at what you do, so you should get paid less? It's ridiculous. 3. Gender discrimination is a large part of the teacher salary issue. |
Anonymous
roughly the same. |
Anonymous
I am 20:28, and I am an independent school teacher. I work during the summer for extra income -- I've worked hard to find a good-paying summer job that I return to each year -- and yes, I work during the summer to prepare for the school year as well. Most of my colleagues work additional jobs during the summer, but some (generally with a high-earning spouse or with young children) do take the summer off and enjoy the time with their families. I made a choice to teach -- I had other career options -- and I recognize that the economics of the situation doesn't permit for me to be paid like a lawyer or consultant or doctor. I also recognize that I have enormous autonomy -- I am in charge of my classroom and set the intellectual pace and get the joy of working with bright young kids coming into their intellectual own. I get a break at Christmas and at Spring Break -- yeah, I grade and prepare, but I also chill out at the Starbucks with my feet up while I'm grading and spend extra time with my family. Yes I bring work at home at night but I can also leave work in enough time to be with my family during daylight and go to their school games and plays. And no I, don't go on about my supposed "paltry earnings." I take the time to understand the economics of it -- that I'm a nine month employee; that my SmartBoard in my classroom and my computer mean we need a great IT staff; that our amazing drama and music program are additional faculty positions that have to be paid for; that health care costs are going up; that insurance costs are going up as litigation has become part of life at schools (sad as that is); and that the school can't just increase class sizes to 25 to jack up the revenue. I MADE THE CHOICE to teach in the first place, and I MADE THE CHOICE to teach in an independent school versus a public school (with a union, higher earnings, better benefits). I'm okay with it. I understand not everyone is, and I'm sure not every school is as good a place to work as mine -- I'm lucky! But your assumption that I am "far removed from a teacher's life" is incorrect. |
Anonymous
Sorry, number 1 is not accurate. Every independent school in this area is out by mid-June and most generally start (still) after Labor Day. For public schools, the summer break is shorter but still 2 months. Yes teachers work extra jobs during the summer, but please don't try to say professional development eats up all of summer vacation. Other professions don't get one-week plus vacations automatically at X-Mas and in the spring (many high-powered lawyers, for example, have vacations on the books but can't take them). I'm a teacher and admire the dedication and enthusiasm of my colleagues, but occasionally chuckle at the "Ivory Tower" attitudes of those who have never had other professions. We have great job security -- maybe the best I can think of any job these days. (And yeah, are there some poor performers hanging around at independent schools as a result? Yep.) And great vacations. And great workplace atmospheres (beautiful campuses, nice kids, lots of intellectual freedom). If you talk to teachers who worked in other careers first most are very appreciative of all of the non-financial benefits of the teaching profession. I do wish there were more money associated with what I do, and I agree with the prior poster who said to pursue grants and higher pay within the school (if you don't ask nothing will change) . . . but at the end of the day I recognize that because independent school teaching is so very enjoyable, as a matter of supply and demand the pay won't be (and can't be, given school finances) as high as some other professions. C'est la vie. These schools are non-profits. Talk to your lawyer friends with fancy law degrees who earn 50k working for a non-profit supporting a cause they love rather than hundreds of thousands at a law firm. And at the end of the day, if the pay isn't enough, you have some options: 1. Talk to your school admin and board about teacher pay -- maybe the school could mount a capital campaign with increased teacher pay as a goal, for example 2. Get your certification and see if you can get a public school job (not so easy in this economy) 3. Go into admin -- they get paid more because they work all year round and their jobs are harder and way less enjoyable! 4. Consider changing professions -- I have colleagues who have gone into law and/or business and it worked for some, although not all I apologize for the rambling nature of this post and for coming off as sanctimonious -- I just feel like the issue of teacher pay is a more complex issue than many commonly assume (I know -- thinking an internet chat board over-simplifies complex issues . . . call me crazy!). |
Anonymous
| My point is that teaching is NOT a nine month job. It is a 12 month job |
Anonymous
Come on, be honest. In July you are not getting up at the crack of dawn, commuting in rush hour traffic and then working 8-10 hours a day. If you can honestly say that from mid-June to the end of August you are doing 8 hours a day five days a week of professional development at home or at your classroom over the summer, good on ya . . . but that is not the norm. If you are teaching summer school or working a different job, you get paid extra beyond the salary for your 9.5 month (I'll give you the extra two weeks) teaching job. |
Anonymous
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Oh yes a whopping 800 dollars to teach summer school.
Do you think that we leave for vacation when your kids do? Were there another two weeks and we meet two weeks before they come back in the fall. 3 years Eighth grade and coach 41,000 |
Anonymous
Gender discrimination is the only basis for the salary issue. We aren't considered breadwinners. |
Anonymous
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Ok so do people care about turnover and faculty happiness or not?
Turnover: No not really. People grumble until another even better teacher arrives. Staff grumbles about turnover more than anyone else. Happiness? Yes. Happy teachers equal loyal teachers which equal happy kids. As for where: Not sure. People are definitely not happy at our school. No Tuition Remission, poor benefits, low salaries and a admin team that doesn't know us well enough to describe what our classroom looks like Top school that is frequently mantioned on this forum. |
Anonymous
LMAO wrong Place to post. Been following two forums. |