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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am a MCPS teacher at about year 20, so I get $0 for the next few steps.

After DCPS and PGPS recently got like $10k I expected MCPS to match.   Instead the budget proposal came out. When I did the math, I realized the average teacher was looking at only about $3k or so.   Which is far less than inflation and what happened at every other school district I could identify locally.  I was hoping that some of the expiring COVID funds would be turned into bonuses, steps, or COLA's but instead MCPS gives a puny ~3% for this year and next with no step increases.

It takes 10 years to vest in the Maryland pension now, and you have to work for 35 years to reach full retirement.   So, if a new teacher is planning to leave education, it makes sense to get out as earlier as possible to restart a new career/retirement fund.  It's just not worth it for a lot of people unless you were hired before 2011.  That's when the new pension system kicked in.  Those hired before 2011 are usually able to retire around 60 or so with a higher pension.  So, the golden handcuffs kick in.

[b]Less than $60k for a 1st year teacher is just painful to justify in this area.  It's not what I would consider a competitive liveable wage for a college graduate with student loans to pay off.[/b]

I am just not really sure what the endgame for MCPS is here in terms of negotiating wages.   Current staff are complaining and new staff are getting harder to find.  I see new teachers leaving at much higher rates than ever before.  [/quote]

Engineers average a starting salary of $65K and their degree is 10x harder than getting a teaching degree and they work year round.

Anyone that wants to be a teacher, should never have student loans. Go to JUCO for 2 years and transfer to an in-state college. You will be offered the same money as any other graduate.  I did this as a nurse.  Got my diploma and knocked out a community college associates degree.  I graduated in 2.5 years, had no debt, and got paid the same as someone with an RN bachelors degree and 5 figures of loans to pay off.

You can't pay someone to enjoy their working conditions.  MCPS doesn't discipline, parents don't parent, and schools are turning into nightmares that teachers have no control of.  I wouldn't be a teacher if you paid me $80K to start.  But my sister gladly works for $64K as a 5yr teacher at a private school. She was offered more to start as a public school teacher, but chose to take less knowing the private school would teat her better. Her class size is 17.  She works PT as a tutor and gets paid $60/hr by those rich parents.  She travels all summer and enjoys her life.

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