Yes to most all the above poster wrote. There are schools that do cap out salaries, though at least they cap at a higher point than they used to. Also, contributions to health care costs for teachers, and other employees, can be quite limited. Small schools also can't negotiate the better plans like larger institutions or school systems. Wish they'd negotiate as a block with insurance providers. Might have heard that's being explored.

Tuition at schools goes mostly to personnel costs. Remember that benefits are a big part of that. Every entity in America that offers health care to its employees, whether GM or your local independent, has been hit by the devastating rise in health care costs. So even without big salary increases, costs to schools have gone way up. Remember also that many or most independent schools do not cap out teacher pay, so if you stay 30 years you would get 30 years of raises (compare this to the Gov't GS system). So for teachers of long seniority, the pay can be pretty good (but the benefits generally don't compare with public school -- see below, however).

In comparison, states and municipalities are having a terrible time meeting pension/retirement payments to their retirees (which would include teachers). Some courts are even allowing these pension/retiree benefits to be reduced in bankruptcy proceedings. Hopefully MD and VA and the local municipalities are healther economically and this will never happen, but there is a level of uncertainty about what people once thought was rock solid in terms of benefits.

Rising tuition costs are an existential threat to independent schools, but there does not seem to be an easy or obvious fix. If a school increases class sizes or teacher work load or cuts course offerings, this will hurt them in marketing so it's not something to be done unilaterally.

Anonymous wrote:I'm OP and I just want to say a great big thank you to all the teachers.

I find it a terrible reflection on our culture that the teaching profession is so poorly paid in the United States. It reflects the scant value we give anything related to the nurture and education of our children. Contrast to S. Korea or even Cuba where teachers are among the most highly respected and paid of professions.

Agree. Tuition goes then to pay.....insurance premiums?

I'm OP and I just want to say a great big thank you to all the teachers.

I find it a terrible reflection on our culture that the teaching profession is so poorly paid in the United States. It reflects the scant value we give anything related to the nurture and education of our children. Contrast to S. Korea or even Cuba where teachers are among the most highly respected and paid of professions.

Private School teacher here. I teach in the arts and it's very hard to find a position. I would have gone public or private just to get a full-time gig teaching my subject matter. Our facilities are incredible. Our kids are mostly great. I do not have the same job security as public school teacher. I've watched people who don't "fit in" be pushed out. Some were not good educators and it was for the best. Others may have been misunderstood.

I've also had a few distasteful exchanges with parents of students who felt very entitled to opportunities, yet lacked talent and room in their schedules to be successful in the very opportunities they were demanding.

Money talks in private schools. It can't change your grade but it can get you an audience with the teacher and her administrator. That can be demoralizing. However, there are enough lovely students that that behavior is unusual.

Overall I love my job. I may be paid less than public school teachers but I'm lucky just to have the gig.

18:48 I now teach at a small private school, but when taught public school. (This was a middle of the road Fairfax County school.) I had the opposite experience of 17:57. After a straight week of calling security on one kid and then getting reprimanded when his family filed a complaint with the school district. (I wasn't the only teacher who had a problem with this kid.)

The administration in public schools can be overbearing at best. I actually like the administrators in my new school. The behavior is not as severe. There is no violence or fighting. Parents can be annoying but no one threatens a discrimination suit when I look at their kid the wrong way. The kids sometimes have trouble with the subject area, but I have time to explain it to them with time built in to the schedule.

There was an economic disparity at my old school where wealthier students could afford and poorer students could not. Public schools can have economic divisions as well and can reinforce stereotypes.

Anonymous wrote:Having taught in the public schools, I was surprised when going through the admissions process with my daughter that most of the teachers, about 70%, did not have teaching certificates. This is a double-edged sword in my opinion. I think in the lower grades, a teaching degree is fairly important. It teaches you how to identify issues with your kids, different teaching strategies, etc. In the upper grades, I think it is helpful, but less important to have a teaching certificate because learning issues have pretty much been identified at that point and subject matter expertise is more important. What I saw in public school (not in the DC area), was a shop teacher teaching biology, even though they did not a science background. Not a frequent occurrence, but when you don't have money, you do the best with what you've got.

Teacher back again. I was certified at one time, but it's lapsed because I don't need it for my current job at a private school. That doesn't mean I don't continue to do professional development. The teachers at my school who are not certified are either in my situation (lapsed certification) or went through an apprenticeship program, which several privates have. Having gone through a traditional teacher education program, I will say that I found student teaching to be the most important aspect. The classes were hit and miss. The tests you have to take to be certified were basically pointless, although I suppose they weed out some of the worst candidates.

This is a long way of saying that with all due respect to my public school peers, I don't think certification means much. I think classroom experience and ongoing professional development means a lot more. In my experience, privates do a much better job with PD than publics.

I work at a "Big 3" that gets slammed on this board. 10 years experience and make in the high 60s with just a BA. I love my job on a daily basis -- the admin at my school is somewhat miserable but they are really hands off so it is a non-issue. My students are amazing and are a joy to challenge and to teach.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much less do they get paid?

Jeez, I want my kids' teachers to be paid more not less than publics. Where does all the tuition money go?

Parents send their kids to private school because they want to get extras that they won't get in public-- smaller class sizes, nicer facilities, specials (art, PE, music), field trips, state of the art materials and equipment (iPads, robotics, etc), top of the line athletic fields and playgrounds. Not to mention that an independent school will have admissions staff, development staff, communication staff… All of those things cost money.

Actually, I like dd's teachers. They are phenomenal. Although her school does have very nice facilities... in my opinion, none of the things you have listed matter without teachers who motivate & inspire their students to learn.

Of course. But the PP (you?) asked where the tuition money was going. That's where it's going.

And if we're being honest, that stuff matters to people. My child goes to a smaller private that doesn't get much discussion on this board, but in one thread a parent was very disparaging about the playground. (It's certainly not Beauvoir, I'll grant you that, but I think the playground is fine…) But these are the kinds of things parents look for when choosing a school.

Honestly many of the teachers at the top schools have graduate degrees and many even PHDs in their content area as opposed to education. Even middle tier schools have many teachers with graduate degrees. Parents in DC aren't going to going to shell out big bucks for low quality teachers. Most well-known independent teachers have an elementary ed backgrounds.

I have an MED in secondary education in a highly desired content area, but I still couldn't get a job at a private school. OTOH, I had several offers from well-regarded public schools. I had one interview at mid-low tier private where they flat out told me they preferred masters degrees in content area as opposed to masters in education. These schools can get that interest. Licensure is necessary, but sometimes gives you a narrow way of teaching students. Independent school teachers don't have to worry about PARCC/SOLs.

I'm surprised at some of these answers. I've taught at both public and private schools. I made a higher salary and had better benefits in the public school systems. We move around a lot because of my DH's job. The only times I've been willing to accept a position at a private was when I couldn't get a job in the public schools. It would never be my first choice.

Maybe because we've always lived in areas with good public schools, but I found the behavior of the kids in public schools to be the same if not a little better than privates. Often kids who can't make it in public school (either because of academics or behavior) end up in private school if their parents have enough money. Again, I'm sure this is completely dependent on the school itself. My daughter is teaching in a lower performing Teach-For-America school and I have no idea how she does it every day. However, overall my experience has been that public schools get better, more qualified teachers. I was shocked at how many of my co-workers didn't even have teaching certificates in the private school setting. I'm not sure it matters as much at the high school level, but in elementary and middle school simply having a degree does not mean you know how to teach.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much less do they get paid?

Jeez, I want my kids' teachers to be paid more not less than publics. Where does all the tuition money go?

Parents send their kids to private school because they want to get extras that they won't get in public-- smaller class sizes, nicer facilities, specials (art, PE, music), field trips, state of the art materials and equipment (iPads, robotics, etc), top of the line athletic fields and playgrounds. Not to mention that an independent school will have admissions staff, development staff, communication staff… All of those things cost money.

Actually, I like dd's teachers. They are phenomenal. Although her school does have very nice facilities... in my opinion, none of the things you have listed matter without teachers who motivate & inspire their students to learn.

Having taught in the public schools, I was surprised when going through the admissions process with my daughter that most of the teachers, about 70%, did not have teaching certificates. This is a double-edged sword in my opinion. I think in the lower grades, a teaching degree is fairly important. It teaches you how to identify issues with your kids, different teaching strategies, etc. In the upper grades, I think it is helpful, but less important to have a teaching certificate because learning issues have pretty much been identified at that point and subject matter expertise is more important. What I saw in public school (not in the DC area), was a shop teacher teaching biology, even though they did not a science background. Not a frequent occurrence, but when you don't have money, you do the best with what you've got.

I love my job. When I think of the salary and benefits I gave up switching from public to private, I wonder if it was foolhardy. I am certain I would not love my job in the day-to-day as much if I had stayed in public school; too many unreasonable pressures on principals and they can only pass it down to teachers. I did feel that I was offering opportunities to children who had so much less given to them and that was worthwhile. However, while my public school peers are looking to retirement, I will not be able to afford retirement in the same decade, if at all. That part is a worry.

Anonymous wrote:PP. Private school teacher. Yes it is. On the whole, the kids are better behaved and more engaged. Less administrative issues too. Unless you're teaching in a Whitman/Langley school, teaching in a public can be demoralizing. That said many public school teachers would not want to teach in a private school.

This. The environments are very different, even in a school like Whitman. There are many reasons to chose to teach in either a public or private, and salary is one consideration. I don't know any private that pays nearly as well as the public schools (not even the 90% mentioned by a pp).