10 weeks off is enough

[O2Bfree]

I taught vocational courses at a community college for 10 years. No master's degree required, got the job with just an associates degree plus experience in the field. For six of those years I taught part time, 20 contact hours per week. Time spent setting up course materials and grading tests was unpaid. Overall though, I thought the pay was pretty good, plus I got benefits, including accruing a small pension. It was a great gig, I had tons of free time for skiing, sailing, diving, cycling, traveling; even went back to school part time and got a bachelor's degree. And teaching was fun!

One down side was that I couldn't take time off any ol' time, it had to be between quarters. I taught year-round, so largest break was 6 weeks between summer and fall quarters.

I moved to the corporate world because I was ready for something different and wanted to make use of my bachelor's in communication. I've regretted it at times, though the pay is much higher and I'll probably be able to retire earlier than with the teaching position.

 

[bingybear]

I'm not sure you are capturing the idea of these 'step increases' in teacher salaries. You get what most people call a raise, just for staying on another year. Automatic. Separate from any COLA. In my examples, all else being equal, a teacher with 6 years on the job makes some X% more than the teacher with 5 years on the job. But this doesn't get called a 'raise', it's buried in the 'step increase' talk.

In my experience in the private sector, it was as you described - a range of pay for each level. And in general, the range associated with each level moved up each year. But it wasn't automatic for the employee to move up that same %. Some got more, some got less (merit based), and some got zero. But anything above zero was called a 'raise'. You wouldn't say you got no raise if you got the average. If you moved up a level, you got a promotion and a raise.




Totally agree. It takes a certain skill set, and many of us do not have it. And vice-versa.

-ERD50

The attempt was to say pretty much the same thing.

 

[healthyandfun]

I worked in a district that had a pay scale with various steps, usually about twenty, BUT moving to the next step was NOT automatic. The school board had to vote annually on compensation and they were always adjusting AKA manipulating the pay scale. Several years there was no increase in salary and at least two of those years I actually earned less than the year before due to an increase in my portion of health insurance. There was such an outcry about the published pay scale that the school board included a statement that said something like this......this pay scale reflects compensation for the current year only and cannot be used to determine past or future compensation.

My advice for the OP would be to visit classrooms in the desired subject and carefully observe a variety of teachers before deciding on a career in teaching or taking any courses for certification. I loved to see the progress students made especially in reading and knew that I was instrumental in changing their lives. That is what kept me going back year after year, not time off in the summer.

 

[ERD50]

I worked in a district that had a pay scale with various steps, usually about twenty, BUT moving to the next step was NOT automatic. ...

I'm sure it varies from area to area, but they are automatic in Chicago, and much of Illinois it seems.

My advice for the OP would be to visit classrooms in the desired subject and carefully observe a variety of teachers before deciding on a career in teaching or taking any courses for certification. I loved to see the progress students made especially in reading and knew that I was instrumental in changing their lives. That is what kept me going back year after year, not time off in the summer.

Good advice, IMO.

-ERD50