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It's a bit working conditions. At my school we had people quit because they were sick and tired of what Covid did to their jobs. A small # admitted they couldn't stand the politics/harassment from the public and were just done. We also lost people who refused to get vaccinated.
But mostly it is the pay. Our prospective recruits straight up say they need 10-20k more in salary to justify moving here. That's the long and short of it. As noted by the OP, I have also gotten candidates tell me "I can make that much bartending" or some such.
They, TPTB, will never raise salaries, it's a local government job. The responsibilities continue to increase, the kids become more dysfunctional as time goes. If you have a defined pension, inflation will KILL that system. Currently I'm pulling in 48K with 32 years experience, (rural Missouri) and by the time they take out 15% for retirement and 1,200 bucks for family health, I have $1,800 a month to live on...Are you kidding me. The only saving grace is I'm collecting a retirement from previous district, otherwise I'd be collecting government funds.
They, TPTB, will never raise salaries, it's a local government job. The responsibilities continue to increase, the kids become more dysfunctional as time goes. If you have a defined pension, inflation will KILL that system. Currently I'm pulling in 48K with 32 years experience, (rural Missouri) and by the time they take out 15% for retirement and 1,200 bucks for family health, I have $1,800 a month to live on...Are you kidding me. The only saving grace is I'm collecting a retirement from previous district, otherwise I'd be collecting government funds.
That is a high premium and a low monthly net. When you retire from your current district what will be your pension amount (approximately)? How many years have you been with your district?
The pay is local though and are the local residents willing to pay high taxes to support highly paid teachers ?
And that would be on top of all the other taxes they pay. Then it gets too expensive and they move.
The pay is local though and are the local residents willing to pay high taxes to support highly paid teachers ?
And that would be on top of all the other taxes they pay. Then it gets too expensive and they move.
A vicious cycle that does not end.
Not every teacher gets hired at the same time or the same placement on the scale. You can mess with the salary scale and step placements to reduce the overall impact to the budget. E.g. I'm on the negotiations team for my school's faculty now. Basically, we can get every teacher in our district approximately a 11% raise, with an incentive to stick around by jumping steps, for a total cost to the district of about 5.5% to the payroll budget. Less if some people decide to retire early.
Not to mention that payroll is not 100% of the budget. Depending on the formulas, what the state is kicking in etc...it might only cost the district maybe an extra 2-3%.
The other choice is they won't have teachers. No sane person will take the job if it doesn't offer reasonable salary with reasonable growth. They just won't. The impact on the taxpayers is that their kids will get put into large classes that were consolidated due to lack of personnel, and their education will be that much worse. That's the choice they have to make; is a small % increase to their taxes worth that lack of investment in themselves?
There is a limit to what we can pay teachers, this is true. It's not a job where the money is and never was. However, my experience is, a good rule of thumb to get decent educators is to target a mid-career teacher salary at about median family income for the metro area, and then work both ways to balance your entry-level and late-career salaries accordingly. You'll get decent recruits that way because it gives them a path to home ownership in the area.
To put it bluntly, if you graduate from college in your mid-20s and get a professional career going, you want to be able to see yourself as a homeowner in at least 10 years, preferably 5-8, sometime in your 30s. If you can't see that path, no sane person is going to stay in the career. This is why year 7 is notorious for teacher quits - it's about the point a young teacher out of college is hitting their early-mid 30s and seeing that they'll never own a home. So they quit.
That is a high premium and a low monthly net. When you retire from your current district what will be your pension amount (approximately)? How many years have you been with your district?
I've taught 31 years for previous pension. I'm in my first now at new position. I'll give them one more. Job's not worth it, money can't keep up with inflation, and I'm just tired.
Both of my children wanted to be teachers. Although I never forbid them, I strongly encouraged them to find another "calling". Both, while in college, changed majors. One is now a successful maintenance person showing college is not for everyone, and the other made more than my best in his first year. Both have thanked me for "encouraging" them out of a nothing profession. (teaching)
Yeah. I like hearing about all these no-contribution pensions and free health insurance teachers get. That may be the case in a miniscule number of school systems but isn't the rule, I paid into my pension and health insurance every single paycheck for 31 years. For the last several years of that the entire pension deduction didn't even go into my pension account in the State Retirement System but went to the General Fund instead
On the issue of health insurance I had occasion to look one time and it turns out that teachers pay a higher percentage of their income for it than private sector employees do.
Getting back to the teacher shortage.
My college in Pennsylvania was known as ________ State Teacher's College when I started, transitioned to __________ State College then ___________ University of Pennsylvania in my time there.
It recently merged with two other state schools to become Penn West ___________. One of the reasons cited was a decline in enrollment at all three schools, especially in the teacher training courses.
My marker is that when school systems in Pennsylvania have to advertise for Social Studies teachers then there's a shortage. The state has historically produced more teachers than could be hired in the state.
And the thing is, more salary won't fix it. In fact you may get to the situation that anyone can teach using the pacing guides and pre-written, must be followed to the letter lesson plans many school system now have.
Although, yeah like my employer "pays" half my SS - (I'm in regular private employment, not a teacher or a government employee) - that "employer half" is actually part of my compensation package, it's part of what i cost my outfit to have on the payroll, It is a real cost passed on to the customer (well, there is no where else for the money to come from...)and all this crap of "well you get this for free, the employer pays for it" is smoke and mirrors and most on this board should be clever enough to see through it.
To put it bluntly, if you graduate from college in your mid-20s and get a professional career going, you want to be able to see yourself as a homeowner in at least 10 years, preferably 5-8, sometime in your 30s. If you can't see that path, no sane person is going to stay in the career. This is why year 7 is notorious for teacher quits - it's about the point a young teacher out of college is hitting their early-mid 30s and seeing that they'll never own a home. So they quit.
Most people buying SFHs are in relationships of some sort. While I was able to afford a condo and townhome on my own earlier in my career, neither my wife or I could afford a SFH in most of the Denver Metro area on our own. With the equity I built over two home purchases, we used our combined household income to finally purchase a SFH a few years back. That was during a time when the median home value was north of half a million dollars. Both our parents live in lower COL areas and their houses' combined value probably comes out to what our one house is worth.
My point is, the housing market has probably priced quite a few single people out at this point, not just teachers. Even the rental market is ruthless. I think most 1BR/1BA units are going for around $1500/mo or more plus utilities. That's quite a bit more than my half of the mortgage payment. That's about three times what I paid for my first apartment nearly 13 years ago.
I put in 31 years and obtained full pension. Started teaching in another state because I couldn't afford $1,600 a month in health care.
The general public seems to think that teachers retire with all these benefits, health care is not one of them.
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