Private School Salaries (Sidwell)

[Anonymous]

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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.

He needs to face reality unless you plan to supplement his income. Expensive tastes and being a teacher are a bad combination.
It is smart that he is double majoring though. He could always teach for a few years and then switch to something else. Most people don’t realize that teaching is a very hard job. It is very draining and the the hours are completely rigid and inflexible.

The job is no harder than any other job and you get every holiday and all summer off. The flexibility is similar to any other job that expects you to actually. do. your. job. Try working your ass off for 20+ years in a 60hr. a week pressure cooker big law firm. Teaching is not a hard job.

Your misconception of teaching is one of the reasons salaries stay low. People think it’s easy! You say 20 years at 60 hours / week? I have you beat. I teach advanced high school courses. 60 hour weeks are the norm. Even when I’m not paid over the summer, I’m still working 15-20 hours / week to prep for next year. And no harder than other jobs? I am directly responsible for the success of 120+ students each year and I am given about 30 minutes a day of uninterrupted time to prepare and grade. Also, there is NO flexibility in teaching. Not feeling up to presenting for 4.5 hours a day? Tough. Not up for late nights recording and tracking data on all of those students, and then sending out as many notices as necessary to parents? Tough. Not up to getting to your laptop at 3pm to respond to the 30+ emails that collected as you presented, each one requiring a crafted response? Tough. As a teacher, you have to juggle a myriad of challenges each day with no break and very little support. It’s emotionally and physically exhausting. (Oh… and make sure you train your bladder. There may be a 4 minute chance to run to the bathroom between periods, but be prepared for another desperate teacher to beat you there.)

Husband is a BigLaw lawyer. I’m an upper school teacher. We work roughly the same number of hours. However, I get the summer off (so a reprieve from the 60 hour weeks) and my job is tough for the reasons mentioned above, but not stressful like his. That said, he makes $500K per year and I make high 60s. He is not worth 500k and I feel like I’m worth more than 70k! Our salaries should be a bit closer together!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who knew that the professional development and diversity recertification I'm required to complete during the summer, not to mention the curricular work I have to complete to prepare for classes in the fall, was vacation?!?!

Only in moronic stereotype fantasy land, not where actual teachers work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

He needs to face reality unless you plan to supplement his income. Expensive tastes and being a teacher are a bad combination.
It is smart that he is double majoring though. He could always teach for a few years and then switch to something else. Most people don’t realize that teaching is a very hard job. It is very draining and the the hours are completely rigid and inflexible.

The job is no harder than any other job and you get every holiday and all summer off. The flexibility is similar to any other job that expects you to actually. do. your. job. Try working your ass off for 20+ years in a 60hr. a week pressure cooker big law firm. Teaching is not a hard job.

Your misconception of teaching is one of the reasons salaries stay low. People think it’s easy! You say 20 years at 60 hours / week? I have you beat. I teach advanced high school courses. 60 hour weeks are the norm. Even when I’m not paid over the summer, I’m still working 15-20 hours / week to prep for next year. And no harder than other jobs? I am directly responsible for the success of 120+ students each year and I am given about 30 minutes a day of uninterrupted time to prepare and grade. Also, there is NO flexibility in teaching. Not feeling up to presenting for 4.5 hours a day? Tough. Not up for late nights recording and tracking data on all of those students, and then sending out as many notices as necessary to parents? Tough. Not up to getting to your laptop at 3pm to respond to the 30+ emails that collected as you presented, each one requiring a crafted response? Tough. As a teacher, you have to juggle a myriad of challenges each day with no break and very little support. It’s emotionally and physically exhausting. (Oh… and make sure you train your bladder. There may be a 4 minute chance to run to the bathroom between periods, but be prepared for another desperate teacher to beat you there.)

Husband is a BigLaw lawyer. I’m an upper school teacher. We work roughly the same number of hours. However, I get the summer off (so a reprieve from the 60 hour weeks) and my job is tough for the reasons mentioned above, but not stressful like his. That said, he makes $500K per year and I make high 60s. He is not worth 500k and I feel like I’m worth more than 70k! Our salaries should be a bit closer together!

Dream on. Social values set salary ranges. Everyone talks great education but puts the bucks into things like shuffling contracts instead. It's only children's futures at stake.

Discount required.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just saw a posting and considering an application. Looking for any insight into teacher salaries (I have a Master's if that matters). No private school teaching experience, but several years of college-level teaching. Are salaries varied across lower, middle, and upper schools? Thanks.

It's pretty hard to get a private school teaching job without teaching credentials. They can employ uncredentialed teachers, but with such a huge pool of teachers available (there are far more teachers than teaching jobs), there's not a lot of reason to, unless the job is an especially hard one to fill (like Chinese teacher, maybe). In general, college teaching is not great preparation for being an effective high school teacher.

This is incorrect. Almost NO teachers at independent schools have teaching credentials. And there is NOT a huge pool of teacher candidates right now. I have been a teacher and administrator at independent schools for over 30 years, and have been involved in the hiring process. We look for experienced teachers but do not care about teaching licenses. And right now the candidate pool is shallow, not deep.

[Anonymous]

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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.

I’m curious when you have to resign in private school if you are not coming back the next year?
In MCPS, you have until July to resign I think.

Private schools hand out teacher contracts before Spring Break and you get about 2 weeks to negotiate and sign it. If you have a decent HOS you can ask for an extension or two. Plus, all the local private schools have an agreement and they won’t hire you if you’re already under contract somewhere else. So it’s hard to move around unless you are changing roles.

Wow. That is very early to commit.

That’s how it works in theory but schools in the AISGW do poach teachers from each other after they’re under contract (both Sidwell and Potomac did it to the school where I used to work last summer).

It does happen. Good schools can replace their teachers fairly easily. Why would you want to keep a teacher who wants to leave?

[Anonymous]

This post is enlightening. I honestly didn’t realize teachers didn’t get a complete tuition waiver for their children at these schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This post is enlightening. I honestly didn’t realize teachers didn’t get a complete tuition waiver for their children at these schools.

Typical clueless parent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

This is very interesting. I did not know about these positions. Could you explain how to find them?

Often, the best method is to find someone friendly inside the Federal research facility which is interesting and ask them to tell you how and when and where to apply. Faculty in STEM departments at universities might know more (or might not, if that faculty member spends summers on research at the university).

Try a web search with something like “summer faculty federal research”.

Some hits will have more narrow requirements (e.g., college/uni faculty with PhD, or women, or minorities) while others will have more broad openings. In most cases, one must be a US Citizen (i.e., not merely a US Permanent Resident) and also must have a clean police record to qualify.

Temporary civil service positions will be posted at USAjobs.gov, but often only are posted for a week and might be posted at any time. Different Federal organizations have different degree/education/experience requirements and will post on different dates. In many cases, summer hiring is done through some non-profit (e.g., ASEE), so one needs to really hunt around and not limit oneself to looking at USAjobs.gov.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just saw a posting and considering an application. Looking for any insight into teacher salaries (I have a Master's if that matters). No private school teaching experience, but several years of college-level teaching. Are salaries varied across lower, middle, and upper schools? Thanks.

It's pretty hard to get a private school teaching job without teaching credentials. They can employ uncredentialed teachers, but with such a huge pool of teachers available (there are far more teachers than teaching jobs), there's not a lot of reason to, unless the job is an especially hard one to fill (like Chinese teacher, maybe). In general, college teaching is not great preparation for being an effective high school teacher.

This is incorrect. Almost NO teachers at independent schools have teaching credentials. And there is NOT a huge pool of teacher candidates right now. I have been a teacher and administrator at independent schools for over 30 years, and have been involved in the hiring process. We look for experienced teachers but do not care about teaching licenses. And right now the candidate pool is shallow, not deep.

That post you are responding to is from 2016. There were plenty of teachers in 2016.

[Anonymous]

Do private schools have a hiring bias towards young teachers?
Is it hard to get hired if you are 50+?
I’m considering applying next year but I currently teach in a diverse public school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This post is enlightening. I honestly didn’t realize teachers didn’t get a complete tuition waiver for their children at these schools.

Most people assume that. I have no idea why they do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do private schools have a hiring bias towards young teachers?
Is it hard to get hired if you are 50+?
I’m considering applying next year but I currently teach in a diverse public school

Depends what you have and what they want. They may offer you a lower step on their salary scale than your actual teaching years. Also, you may be giving up a pension.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do private schools have a hiring bias towards young teachers?
Is it hard to get hired if you are 50+?
I’m considering applying next year but I currently teach in a diverse public school

Depends what you have and what they want. They may offer you a lower step on their salary scale than your actual teaching years. Also, you may be giving up a pension.

I’m nearing 50 and was hired by a private school a couple of years ago. They put me on my appropriate step. Yes, I gave up my state pension but they do contribute to my retirement, so I simply altered how I save.

I’m not the only “older” teacher we’ve hired recently. Several others also switched from public to private around the same time I did.

I say apply!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do private schools have a hiring bias towards young teachers?
Is it hard to get hired if you are 50+?
I’m considering applying next year but I currently teach in a diverse public school

Depends what you have and what they want. They may offer you a lower step on their salary scale than your actual teaching years. Also, you may be giving up a pension.

I’m nearing 50 and was hired by a private school a couple of years ago. They put me on my appropriate step. Yes, I gave up my state pension but they do contribute to my retirement, so I simply altered how I save.

I’m not the only “older” teacher we’ve hired recently. Several others also switched from public to private around the same time I did.

I say apply!

Thanks. Do you find it a very different work environment compared with public? Easier I assume?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do private schools have a hiring bias towards young teachers?
Is it hard to get hired if you are 50+?
I’m considering applying next year but I currently teach in a diverse public school

There’s a teacher shortage so an experienced candidate of any age will be an attractive candidate. Definitely apply.