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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
I have a PhD and was offered a position with DCPS a year ago and the salary was 65k. [/quote]

😱 This is tragic. WTF is wrong with this country. [/quote]

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.  [/quote]

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. [b]Most people don’t realize that teaching is a very hard job.[/b] It is very draining and the the hours are completely rigid and inflexible. [/quote]

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. [/quote]

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.)[/quote]

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! [/quote]

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. [/quote]

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