Thread: Anyone find it hard making a living on a teacher's salary?

This website provides some info on NY teacher pay- it's not a government site, because apparently it is mostly dictated by local politics.

[url="http://www.myshortpencil.com/newyorkteachersalaries.htm"]http://www.myshortpencil.com/newyorkteachersalaries.htm[/url]

Looks pretty high but then again it costs a lot to live up there.... Down here in NC what we make is paid a base level by the state, +whatever the LEA (Local Education Authority) wants to toss on that. You can see what we make here:
[url="http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/fbs/finance/salary/schedules/2007-08schedules.pdf"]http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/fbs ... edules.pdf[/url]

Looks pretty low, but we can still get by, as it doesn't cost as much to live here (yet).

I did at first, until I mastered the art of "robbing Peter to pay Paul" and choosing between food and medicine. I also drive vehicles that would make Fred Sanford look uppity! Hey, just preparing for retirement!

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If you're going into teaching to make money, don't bother, it's not going to happen. I don't know enough about pay scales in the US but from what I've surmised from various discussions, US teachers are, by and large, poorly paid. Here in BC, Canada, teachers regualrly wrestle with the government to make a living wage--just last year, we signed a contract (after much angst and worry that we'd walk the line again) that gave us a 15% increase over 5 years--that's the biggest increase we've had since 1994. Most increases are in the neighbourhood of 1% a year (and we have to fight for that), no cost of living increases. I'm not complaining about how much I make but it's not a lot. If I were single, I'd be sucking wind to make ends meet. As it is, MrBunny is also a government employee so his salary is nothing spectacular either. Between the two of us, we make less than what my sister in the computer field makes on her own.

If money is important to you, don't go into teaching. It's a endless (and sometimes thankless) job and you will resent the lack of money. Most of us are in teaching because we need to teach, it's in our blood. While I don't feel bitter about the lack of money, I do the job because I like it and I'm good at it. I can't imagine what else I would do if I couldn't be a teacher, except maybe be an actor in which case, I'd make even less.

Asked and answered. You already asked this question in the New Teachers' Place. I answered it.
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Silly me! I just figured I'd get more answers here

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David neglected to mention college debt. One bit of advice I offer is that it is unwise to borrow to enter teaching. My experience is that teaching's initial salary is low enough to be crippled by student debt. (Mine was- it is only in my 11th year of teaching that I have actually been a somewhat profitable financial entity.) So if you run up a huge student loan debt at some big name school, you are probably going to find your financial situation difficult, unless you are into taking the long view on things.

You said it straight there John Boy. Not only that, they (at least in Ohio) made it so you are NEVER done going back to school. More butts in chairs, more money for colleges and universities. Financed my masters with student loans. Soon as my grand son is old enough to understand, I'll tell him where to make the payments (they're going to extend beyond my kid's life-time. And none of them chose college because...............................????????)

I have a dollar squirrled away somewhere. I raised it from a penny