Fairfax Co. teachers can’t afford to live near where they work, report finds

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Neither can most county government workers... nothing new.

Neither can many people. This isn’t a teacher issue.

It's an everyone issue because there is a huge problem of teacher shortage in both FCPS and in the communities where the teachers can afford to live.

So, teachers choose to teach in those less expensive communities, and the teacher shortage problem gets worse.

The teacher shortage is nationwide. FCPS has its lowest teacher vacancy rate in years.

But in most parts of the country the local public school is part of the community and you want teachers to be part of that community. It’s nice if the teachers kids go to the same wchool school or to the same orthodontist or to your church, if you run into the teacher in the grocery store. Otherwise it’s like they are guest workers or employees shipped din to teach your kids but not part of your world. My kids were in swim team with a local teachers kids and two teachers were neighbors where we used to live.

Maybe in some parts of the country, but I'm not sure about "most."

I grew up in suburbs of a small city. I don't recall knowing many of my teachers or seeing them outside of school. Sure, there were a few, but certainly not the norm. In jr. high, one of my classmates was in my English class--taught by his mother. She was a very good teacher. At the end of the year, she said she would never teach one of her own children again! I guess it was a challenge for her.

In fact, I would say there were just as many at my kids' elementary school as the ones in mine growing up. Not many.

I taught on an Army post some years ago--overseas. Now, that is where you really know everyone and see everyone everywhere you shop on post. Not necessarily an advantage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what? Neither can I. It took me an hour and 44 mins to get to work this morning. And I have significantly more education than most teachers.

71% of FCPS teachers hold at least a Masters degree. Many have more than one advanced degree.

I’m curious… what’s your education background?

I have a JD from a top 20 school and an MFA in writing. Is that enough for you? For my "education background"? Compared to the bs master's degree most teachers have?

So the MBA that our marketing teacher has is a BS degree?

The JD that one of our AP Government teachers has is a BS degree?

The advanced degrees in chemistry, economics, biology, British literature, ancient history, statistics, and art history that other teachers at our school have are BS degrees?

What is a "meaningful" or "worthy" degree to you if the degrees listed above are.BS degrees?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Life is about choices. Get another career if the one you’re in isn’t lucrative enough to support where you live.

So it would be fine with you if every teacher took your advice? Or would a better solution be to…raise teacher salaries so we can keep teachers in schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Life is about choices. Get another career if the one you’re in isn’t lucrative enough to support where you live.

So it would be fine with you if every teacher took your advice? Or would a better solution be to…raise teacher salaries so we can keep teachers in schools?

It isn't a job that pays a lot. PP is right -- if you don't like your income, get another career.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While its tough to start out teaching, we can't expect to hand every new teacher a high salary that is usually reserved for the senior teachers.

Heck, take almost any profession with a 4 year degree and you will find all entry-level salaries are too low to live in Fairfax County.

This really isn't a low entry level teacher salary problem, this is really a 'that how life works' kind of a problem.

-Rent an apartment, commute, find a roommate, save up, move around, earn higher pay, shop around, find a life partner, then put a down payment on a property.

-Didn't we learn this in the Game of Life board game?

I think the thing you’re missing is that teachers’ salaries do not go up that much over the years. I have a masters degree and taught for 15 years, leaving teaching in 2020. My starting salary in 2005 was 33,000. My ending salary 15 years later was 45,000. (This was not FFx county…just an example of how little salaries for teachers go up based on experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was a young, brand new teacher, I had a roommate. And, yes, it took a large portion of my income. This was decades ago.

When I moved to DC after law school to work at DOJ I had a roommate. In an apartment. That is all I could afford for years. And we lawyers didn't cry about it.

Who is crying about it? WTOP?

Teachers. They complain about their income All.The.Time. Even when they make more than people with more education and responsibility who don't have months of time off every year.

The months of time off is not paid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what? Neither can I. It took me an hour and 44 mins to get to work this morning. And I have significantly more education than most teachers.

71% of FCPS teachers hold at least a Masters degree. Many have more than one advanced degree.

I’m curious… what’s your education background?

I have a JD from a top 20 school and an MFA in writing. Is that enough for you? For my "education background"? Compared to the bs master's degree most teachers have?

So the MBA that our marketing teacher has is a BS degree?

The JD that one of our AP Government teachers has is a BS degree?

The advanced degrees in chemistry, economics, biology, British literature, ancient history, statistics, and art history that other teachers at our school have are BS degrees?

What is a "meaningful" or "worthy" degree to you if the degrees listed above are.BS degrees?

Most teachers do not have these kinds of degrees ... and you know it. Oh, and yes, most MBAs are bs degrees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was a young, brand new teacher, I had a roommate. And, yes, it took a large portion of my income. This was decades ago.

When I moved to DC after law school to work at DOJ I had a roommate. In an apartment. That is all I could afford for years. And we lawyers didn't cry about it.

Who is crying about it? WTOP?

Teachers. They complain about their income All.The.Time. Even when they make more than people with more education and responsibility who don't have months of time off every year.

The months of time off is not paid.

Ok. And yet FCPS teachers are making between 60k and and over 100k salaries ... with just a bachelor's degree. And making more than that with advanced degrees. For what you are highlighting as essentially part-time work.

Yeah -- they definitely need to stop whining. They are paid way too much for not working all year round.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what? Neither can I. It took me an hour and 44 mins to get to work this morning. And I have significantly more education than most teachers.

71% of FCPS teachers hold at least a Masters degree. Many have more than one advanced degree.

I’m curious… what’s your education background?

Np. They don't need it. I'm all for paying teachers more, but they should be paid more because it's a hard job, not because they have an unnecessary masters degree.

That is not true. My undergrad degree was in the subject area that I teach and my masters degree was in education. My masters degree is how I learned how to be a teacher. So it was very necessary. Many middle and high school teachers I know are similar. We didn’t study education in undergrad eirher because we went to small LAC that didn’t offer a bachelors in education or bc we didn’t know at that time that we wanted to be teachers.

-high school history teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A 20 year career making six figures with a BA in History, having summers off, with decent benefits is not some impoverished existence many make it out to be. I think teachers should be paid more across the country, and maybe they could start a bit higher, but for what they do and where they can go, it’s a pretty good life.

I think a big issue at times can be student loans weighing down early career teachers for too long waiting to move to a reasonable pay band. If you are going to be a teacher, and I get many people don’t always know at the time, but go to CNU, not UVA.

Which teacher do you know making 6 figures? I’ve been teaching over 10 years and make nowhere near 6 figures and don’t know any teachers (excepting those who became admin) who make that much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was a young, brand new teacher, I had a roommate. And, yes, it took a large portion of my income. This was decades ago.

When I moved to DC after law school to work at DOJ I had a roommate. In an apartment. That is all I could afford for years. And we lawyers didn't cry about it.

Brave! How’s your salary now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Life is about choices. Get another career if the one you’re in isn’t lucrative enough to support where you live.

So it would be fine with you if every teacher took your advice? Or would a better solution be to…raise teacher salaries so we can keep teachers in schools?

It isn't a job that pays a lot. PP is right -- if you don't like your income, get another career.

You didn’t answer my question. Is it ok w you if every teacher in every school takes your advice and quits bc of the pay? That’s the society you’d rather live in: one where no one wants to be a teacher rather than one where we actually value and support teachers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was a young, brand new teacher, I had a roommate. And, yes, it took a large portion of my income. This was decades ago.

When I moved to DC after law school to work at DOJ I had a roommate. In an apartment. That is all I could afford for years. And we lawyers didn't cry about it.

Who is crying about it? WTOP?

Teachers. They complain about their income All.The.Time. Even when they make more than people with more education and responsibility who don't have months of time off every year.

The months of time off is not paid.

Ok. And yet FCPS teachers are making between 60k and and over 100k salaries ... with just a bachelor's degree. And making more than that with advanced degrees. For what you are highlighting as essentially part-time work.

Yeah -- they definitely need to stop whining. They are paid way too much for not working all year round.

Please show me your data. The vast majority of teachers do not make anywhere close to “over 100k” salaries. Stop making things up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what? Neither can I. It took me an hour and 44 mins to get to work this morning. And I have significantly more education than most teachers.

71% of FCPS teachers hold at least a Masters degree. Many have more than one advanced degree.

I’m curious… what’s your education background?

Np. They don't need it. I'm all for paying teachers more, but they should be paid more because it's a hard job, not because they have an unnecessary masters degree.

That is not true. My undergrad degree was in the subject area that I teach and my masters degree was in education. My masters degree is how I learned how to be a teacher. So it was very necessary. Many middle and high school teachers I know are similar. We didn’t study education in undergrad eirher because we went to small LAC that didn’t offer a bachelors in education or bc we didn’t know at that time that we wanted to be teachers.

-high school history teacher.

Ok. Then we should start requiring a master's in education for all teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A 20 year career making six figures with a BA in History, having summers off, with decent benefits is not some impoverished existence many make it out to be. I think teachers should be paid more across the country, and maybe they could start a bit higher, but for what they do and where they can go, it’s a pretty good life.

I think a big issue at times can be student loans weighing down early career teachers for too long waiting to move to a reasonable pay band. If you are going to be a teacher, and I get many people don’t always know at the time, but go to CNU, not UVA.

Which teacher do you know making 6 figures? I’ve been teaching over 10 years and make nowhere near 6 figures and don’t know any teachers (excepting those who became admin) who make that much.

This is a thread about FCPS teachers. Take a look at the pay scale. Plenty of teachers making 6 figures.