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HomicidalHushPuppy t1_jbt6olx wrote

Reply to comment by PhyPhillosophy in How can we attract more people into the teaching profession? by jekomo

Depends on where you live. My district starts at $50k and caps out at $120k in as little as 10 years. We definitely need to increase it in a lot of districts though.

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SamuelLCompassion t1_jbtd5e2 wrote

If you take out student loans to earn a four year degree for a job that pays $50k, more than 25% of your monthly take-home pay would be going to Sallie Mae.

Maybe the answer is substantially discounted tuition for education majors?

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HomicidalHushPuppy t1_jbtfe74 wrote

Income-based payments and they have the potential for PSLF.

But if they started trimming the fat from college curricula, then we could reduce loan burden for everyone.

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IamSauerKraut t1_jbtvi9b wrote

>if they started trimming the fat from college curricula

What would this "fat" be?

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HomicidalHushPuppy t1_jbu232f wrote

Courses completely unrelated to your major. I studied physics...I had to take creative writing courses, history of religion, a film studies course, etc. Being a "well-rounded" student isn't worth it for the time and incredible financial commitment.

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IamSauerKraut t1_jbua2f3 wrote

Writing courses should be part of every field of study. I suspect the other 2 you selected from a menu of courses that included history and maybe a language?

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HomicidalHushPuppy t1_jbubc7l wrote

I agree writing courses can be useful. But in a field like physics, I should need to take a creative writing course. I also had to take a technical writing course that was much more useful and appropriate.

As far as the others, yes, they were from a menu of elective courses I had to take, but my point was they're not related to the major and I've never needed to know a damn thing from them. I spent a ton of money and wasted a lot of time on courses I didn't need. It's a common practice at universities that has to end as part of a reformation to make education more affordable.

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IamSauerKraut t1_jbuciqj wrote

Writing courses, in their many forms, are much more useful than the binary view would make them. Same with any number of other courses that not only round you out as a person but also helps you think beyond the binary world of physics/math/engineering.

You selected the courses you now describe as useless but you must have viewed them as worthy when you selected them, non? If anything, you should have used them to help bolster your GPA.

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Muscadine76 t1_jbtew0q wrote

The thing is, not only is there school/district variation, but also: compared to what? Median teacher salaries are 56k in PA and typically ranging 47-68k, according to salary.com data. Compare with a BSW social worker’s median salary of 66k in PA and typically ranging 59-74k. Or a newly graduated RN: 67k ranging 60-77k. The low end ranges for these jobs are higher than the median salary for teachers.

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Hazel1928 t1_jbu4b69 wrote

But look at days off per year. Conservatively, teachers get 20% more.

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bambiying t1_jbupk3n wrote

They also work a lot more outside of their paid hours.

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Hazel1928 t1_jbuq1ua wrote

Nurses and social workers also work outside their paid hours. I work in a nursing home and the typical nurse is there an hour after her shift finishing computer work five days a week. Social workers have more irregular extra hours, but they have them. Also teachers aren’t scheduled for an 8 hour day so their extra hours compared to those other jobs shouldn’t begin being counted until they work more than 8 hours. I know many teachers work far more than 8 hours. But I wonder if you added up the hours worked per year how it would compare.

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Muscadine76 t1_jbuydqb wrote

Nurses typically receive overtime for extra work. Teachers do not.

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Muscadine76 t1_jbuz27m wrote

Everyone doesn’t consider more unpaid time off for lower pay an upside, especially when teachers commonly spend much of that time training or preparing for the next year/ session, and/or have to get creative about a side hustle to make enough money. That’s besides the already cited issues by other commenters about teachers commonly having to use their own money for supplies, and working long hours for various tasks beyond the school day (lesson planning, grading, etc).

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raredad t1_jbu71og wrote

That's a masters, plus 45 with 10 years served. Hardly worth it and that's at a better school district.

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