My salary is 60% of what a public school would pay me.

I took the job (and a pay cut) because it was hard to be on a different school calendar than my children (snow days, spring break...) and since my spouse traveled, we needed to be in sync. My boss also offered a big tuition break which I viewed as salary.

You will notice 3 main groups:

1) Teachers who are young enough to live with their parents (and who have a lifestyle that supports that)

2) Teachers who have retired and come back part time or who fill a niche need. Their salaries are not what they live on, but help.

3) Teachers who have children enrolled in the school. They often have a spouse who is a breadwinner, but if they didn't have tuition benefits, they might not have enrolled their children in the school.

There are other scenarios, but those areas cover a lot of my colleagues.

The major benefits are supportive parents, flexibility when you have a life-changing event (like supporting a family member with an illness who needs you), much better behavior and a sense of community. There are cons, but that is true of any job.

It's not just their salaries. Look back a decade and compare the percentage increase for HoS salaries (250%+) compared to teachers.

It's wild.

Anonymous wrote:Whoever recommend Pro Publica..... our HOS salary is mind blowing.

+1 It’s really crazy, especially when the next positions listed (Dir of development, etc) are 1/3 the salary and teachers are getting paid maybe 1/8 of what the HOS gets.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of us who aren’t married and/or are divorced (with or without children), and rely on second jobs to get by. Whenever I see a parent complaining about something so trivial or treat a teacher so terribly, I think, you have no idea what they’re pulling off just to be here for your kid day in and day off.

So true!

I’m appalled by the way teachers are sometimes treated. That isn’t necessarily relevant to this thread, other than the fact teachers everywhere are paid so little in relation to the work they miraculously pull off.

We can see it on this site. The “jobs and careers” forum often contains advice that somehow doesn’t apply to teachers. Posters there often argue that professionals shouldn’t work unless properly compensated, otherwise they are being taken advantage of. Yet this site also demands teachers quietly and dutifully perform all tasks assigned, regardless of how many off-work hours it takes.

Teachers are “the help” to many, not actual professionals. Ironically many of those who feel that way don’t actuyhave any real, tangible skills of their own, beyond Teams calls and building slide decks using vague charts and stock images.

If you teach in a school with decent management (often not true) who will back you up and let you know that your job doesn't depend on every parent's whims, you would be amazed what teachers think about all those demanding drama queens they meet at parent conferences.

Most parents, in my experience, are genuine and helpful. Those who aren't do NOT get our respect, professional or otherwise. Don't confuse listening with feeling any need to obey. We take the parent's input then use our experience to decide what's right for the child.

Much more like family court than "The Help" in living color.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of us who aren’t married and/or are divorced (with or without children), and rely on second jobs to get by. Whenever I see a parent complaining about something so trivial or treat a teacher so terribly, I think, you have no idea what they’re pulling off just to be here for your kid day in and day off.

So true!

I’m appalled by the way teachers are sometimes treated. That isn’t necessarily relevant to this thread, other than the fact teachers everywhere are paid so little in relation to the work they miraculously pull off.

We can see it on this site. The “jobs and careers” forum often contains advice that somehow doesn’t apply to teachers. Posters there often argue that professionals shouldn’t work unless properly compensated, otherwise they are being taken advantage of. Yet this site also demands teachers quietly and dutifully perform all tasks assigned, regardless of how many off-work hours it takes.

Teachers are “the help” to many, not actual professionals. Ironically many of those who feel that way don’t actuyhave any real, tangible skills of their own, beyond Teams calls and building slide decks using vague charts and stock images.

DC area teacher here, 20 years of experience in several area schools. Pay is just north of 85k, making relatively less money now than I was five years ago adjusted for cost of living and inflation.

The job is markedly more difficult than when I started. Wider range of skills of kids in each class, way more time spent in email and LMS, less discipline in schools, and the myriad issues caused by phones and social media (I'm sure that's discussed elsewhere).

Still very rewarding but much more draining. Wouldn't recommend the profession to anyone coming out of college with the changing economics, societal lack of respect for the profession, and trends of kids' ability to sustain focus and do work.

Whoever recommend Pro Publica..... our HOS salary is mind blowing.

Sounds great if you have a spouse who can pay the bills. That's your answer OP- young teachers with family money and married teachers with higher earning spouses

I am late to respond here - but I am the 2nd part of that statement. I made it 4 years making less pay than public only by a few thousand, but I had enough of the micromanaging, and bullying that some of these parents give. Loved working with the students, and great colleagues.
The rest was not worth the added stress and lack of support I could provide my own kids.

Read this forum and you will realize it’s not enough.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of us who aren’t married and/or are divorced (with or without children), and rely on second jobs to get by. Whenever I see a parent complaining about something so trivial or treat a teacher so terribly, I think, you have no idea what they’re pulling off just to be here for your kid day in and day off.

So true!

I’m appalled by the way teachers are sometimes treated. That isn’t necessarily relevant to this thread, other than the fact teachers everywhere are paid so little in relation to the work they miraculously pull off.

We can see it on this site. The “jobs and careers” forum often contains advice that somehow doesn’t apply to teachers. Posters there often argue that professionals shouldn’t work unless properly compensated, otherwise they are being taken advantage of. Yet this site also demands teachers quietly and dutifully perform all tasks assigned, regardless of how many off-work hours it takes.

+1000