NWR: Q for the Teachers

shannonalise

I am about to graduate with a bachelors in Elementary Education K-6 and Education for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing K-12. I'll have ESOL and Reading Endorsements. I believe in the public school system, but this has me livid. Have you seen/heard about this:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/education-secretary-duncan/a-disaster-for-teachers-in-flo.html

I've never considered teaching in the private sector, but this is absolutely ridiculous. Teachers would be paid on 50% of their salary and if/when their students pass whatever "measure" will be used to assess achievement, teachers will be paid on the rest of their salary. I'm not sure I can pay my mortgage on 50% of a teacher's salary, already deplorable.

I want to teach at the elementary level. I've been researching non-religious private schools. Do you, or anyone you know, teach in a private school? If so:

- What would you say are the benefits or drawbacks of working in a private school?
 
- What are private schools looking for regarding new teachers, certification, experience, etc? This is an entirely new animal to me.

Thanks in advance!

shannonalise

I am about to graduate with a bachelors in Elementary Education K-6 and Education for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing K-12. I'll have ESOL and Reading Endorsements. I believe in the public school system, but this has me livid. Have you seen/heard about this:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/education-secretary-duncan/a-disaster-for-teachers-in-flo.html

I've never considered teaching in the private sector, but this is absolutely ridiculous. Teachers would be paid on 50% of their salary and if/when their students pass whatever "measure" will be used to assess achievement, teachers will be paid on the rest of their salary. I'm not sure I can pay my mortgage on 50% of a teacher's salary, already deplorable.

I want to teach at the elementary level. I've been researching non-religious private schools. Do you, or anyone you know, teach in a private school? If so:

- What would you say are the benefits or drawbacks of working in a private school?
 
- What are private schools looking for regarding new teachers, certification, experience, etc? This is an entirely new animal to me.

Thanks in advance!

nda_roxybabe

I went to private (christian) school growing up. I know they didn't make good money, I dont think they had great benefits either though. If I decide to become a teacher I want to teach at private school though.

MOBinFL2008

I teach in the Florida public schools.  SB6 is causing quite an uproar in all the school systems throughout the state.  The fact that a child's performance on one test will determine a teacher's salary is just rediculous....there is so much more that factors into a child's learning than just the teacher!

Anyway, I have taught in private schools.  Some pay decently, most don't.  There is no real job security in private schools either.  Parents who are paying tuition sometimes feel that they should have a say in how you run your class, teach your lessons, and the grades you "give" their child.

I'm sure you would want to teach in an accredited school so the requirements are basically the same as if you were in a public school.  You need to be certified in your area.  Experience may or may not be required.   

The upside of private schools is that the dreaded FCAT is not given in Florida's private schools.  Some private schools have requested permission to administer it to their students but the state won't allow it.

sarabellam

Benefits - fewer discipline problems, insofar as the problem children can be more easily expelled; better test scores, because the private schools don't have to teach everyone; more parental involvement; no state-mandated testing

drawbacks - lower salary, fewer benefits, over-involved "helicopter" parents,

As for experience, certification, etc, I have no clue. I'm in my 17th year teaching in public schools, and NO WAY would I leave for private schools.

shannonalise

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_nwr-q-teachers?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:daf72ec2-f832-4ea8-a21b-81464cb49bd0Post:b46b9a69-8204-439d-9210-0ee18ba50bc8">Re: NWR: Q for the Teachers</a>:
[QUOTE]Benefits - fewer discipline problems, insofar as the problem children can be more easily expelled; better test scores, because the private schools don't have to teach everyone; more parental involvement; no state-mandated testing drawbacks - lower salary, fewer benefits, over-involved "helicopter" parents, As for experience, certification, etc, I have no clue. I'm in my 17th year teaching in public schools, and NO WAY would I leave for private schools.
Posted by sarabellam[/QUOTE]

Even under this Senate Bill? <img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-smile.gif" border="0" alt="Smile" title="Smile" />

sarabellam

Okay, so in your state it appears you WOULD have state-mandated (but not funded, yippee for another unfunded mandate) testing. Personally I think the bill is a bunch of fucking bullshit. As a teacher, my pay is dependent on the performance of my students on a single test? Right buddy. Let's see you teach end behavior of polynomial functions to a child whose father beats her sister, child protection is called, and child doesn't know where she is going to sleep tonight or if she's going to have clean underwear to school tomorrow because she can't go back home. Right.

tlv204

I don't think that merit based pay is always a bad thing, but to say that standardized testing is the only way to test merit is just ridiculous. I thought that Obama had planned to revise NCLB in the OPPOSITE way. Apparently I need to do more research. We're about to do our state testing in a week and a half, so I've been going on tirades about some of this stuff for a while now, and I completely 100% understand the need to have goals, standards, and expectations across the state if not the nation, but I really thought that by 2010 we all agreed that the way NCLB is set up now, that is not what's being accomplished. All they're doing is punishing schools with poor scores and giving them even less money to improve themselves.

OK, tirade over, sorry. I have not worked in private schools yet, but just applied at 2 of them, mainly because I can't be picky. I'll take pretty much any full time English position I can get, but I do know the pay is lower. That's about all I know; sorry I'm not more helpful!

New MIL

My experience in a private school was only in my student teaching but the class sizes were quite large (nearly 40 kids in a 3rd grade classroom) and the pay was significantly less than the public schools.  It was true that there were fewer behavior problems because they would just expel students who were badly behaved but they also had less support for struggling students.

A girl in my college group said her mom had been teaching in a Christian school for 20 years and was only being paid 21k a year at that point!  (This was 12 years ago though)

Mrs.B6302007

As 2 teachers in FL with 15 years of experience each, this is a HUGE deal to Mr B and me. We're just waiting it out to see what happens but the HB is the suck.

Mrs.B6302007

I thinksomeone should propose a bill where politicians should be paid based on our evaluations of their performance.

Perhaps then SB6 would become but a memory?

shannonalise

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_nwr-q-teachers?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:daf72ec2-f832-4ea8-a21b-81464cb49bd0Post:326cc01f-f5e9-47f0-9360-3233b5cc43d6">Re: NWR: Q for the Teachers</a>:
[QUOTE]I don't think that merit based pay is always a bad thing, but to say that standardized testing is the only way to test merit is just ridiculous. I thought that Obama had planned to revise NCLB in the OPPOSITE way. Apparently I need to do more research. We're about to do our state testing in a week and a half, so I've been going on tirades about some of this stuff for a while now, and I completely 100% understand the need to have goals, standards, and expectations across the state if not the nation, but I really thought that by 2010 we all agreed that the way NCLB is set up now, that is not what's being accomplished. All they're doing is punishing schools with poor scores and giving them even less money to improve themselves. OK, tirade over, sorry. I have not worked in private schools yet, but just applied at 2 of them, mainly because I can't be picky. I'll take pretty much any full time English position I can get, but I do know the pay is lower. That's about all I know; sorry I'm not more helpful!
Posted by tlv204[/QUOTE]

I completely agree with you. There do need to be standards nationwide, but I definitely thought Obama understood the problems with NCLB and that we'd get this fixed. Those in education need to be the ones making education policy...

shannonalise

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_nwr-q-teachers?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:daf72ec2-f832-4ea8-a21b-81464cb49bd0Post:4a261b84-69c5-4779-b782-23ca3e55da4a">Re: NWR: Q for the Teachers</a>:
[QUOTE]My experience in a private school was only in my student teaching but the class sizes were quite large (nearly 40 kids in a 3rd grade classroom) and the pay was significantly less than the public schools.  It was true that there were fewer behavior problems because they would just expel students who were badly behaved but they also had less support for struggling students. A girl in my college group said her mom had been teaching in a Christian school for 20 years and was only being <strong>paid 21k a year at that point!</strong>  (This was 12 years ago though)
Posted by New MIL[/QUOTE]

Insane! Wow!

shannonalise

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_nwr-q-teachers?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:daf72ec2-f832-4ea8-a21b-81464cb49bd0Post:bd7eb58c-b55e-4db0-8bc4-13dc447cbe12">Re: NWR: Q for the Teachers</a>:
[QUOTE]I don't have much to add that PPs haven't already said because I've only worked in a public school.  I attended a private parochial school K-12 though and I believe the teachers made less money than public school teachers in the area, though. While I haven't lost my job, the district I work for has decided to close my school at the end of the year.  :(  I'm tenured so they will "place" me somewhere, but my job will change a lot as I'm currently a bilingual teacher and there aren't other positions in that field in our district.  Because I'm sad to give up teaching in Spanish, I applied at a Spanish/Mandarin Chinese immersion charter school that will open in a different district in the fall.  I know next to nothing about charter schools, do any of you?  My interview is Thursday.  Because of the economy though, I know it's very risky to give up tenure.
Posted by COnoviaSarah[/QUOTE]

Aww.. I'm sorry about the school closing! <img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-embarassed.gif" border="0" alt="Embarassed" title="Embarassed" /> But the Spanish/Mandarin Chinese immersion deal sounds wonderful! I don't know anything about charter schools, but I wish you the best of luck!

shannonalise

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_nwr-q-teachers?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:daf72ec2-f832-4ea8-a21b-81464cb49bd0Post:c0dffedb-d4bd-45c2-a491-0102032fcae6">Re: NWR: Q for the Teachers</a>:
[QUOTE]Two of my friends teach in Florida abd we all think this is complete bs. I still remember when the VA sol's (standard of learning) came out. My senior year was the "test" year. Our scores had no merit on whether or not we passed the class, but was used to evaluate the teachers. 4 teachers were fired because students didn't like them so they purposefully failed the test. I think when teacher's salary/job depends on the performance of their students bad bad things happen. While I'm not a teacher, I do work for a public school, and job security isn't great there either. I'm 99% losing my job position next year due to budget cuts, and the county is looking at massive layoffs both through the staff, athletics, and teaching positions.
Posted by katiewhompus[/QUOTE]

Man, it's hard times for sure. I can't say I would have changed my career path had I foreseen all of this, because I absolutely <strong>love</strong> to teach. There's nothing else I would rather do. I'm going to start my own school system and I have no idea how it will be funded, but you are all hired. Full benefits, and starting salary of $45k. <img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-tongue-out.gif" border="0" alt="Tongue out" title="Tongue out" />

shannonalise

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_nwr-q-teachers?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:daf72ec2-f832-4ea8-a21b-81464cb49bd0Post:d7344133-adb7-4921-b0a0-573dd70b4ef4">Re: NWR: Q for the Teachers</a>:
[QUOTE]Eh, our first year teachers make more money than Dh and I combined, and he works 50 hours a week. I hate it when they use that phrase. Then again, I also think our teachers are very much over paid compared to the rest of the state/ country.
Posted by katiewhompus[/QUOTE]

Are you guys hiring? J/k. <img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-cool.gif" border="0" alt="Cool" title="Cool" />

shannonalise

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_nwr-q-teachers?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:daf72ec2-f832-4ea8-a21b-81464cb49bd0Post:e95a0817-54e0-4d60-a68c-87be4b881986">Re: NWR: Q for the Teachers</a>:
[QUOTE]In Arizona, you only advance on the pay scale for years taught at public schools.  So if you taught in a private school for three years and then moved here, they would not count that time and you would be paid as a teacher with zero experience.
Posted by HoneyBaby80[/QUOTE]

Nice. <img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-undecided.gif" border="0" alt="Undecided" title="Undecided" />

shannonalise

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_nwr-q-teachers?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:daf72ec2-f832-4ea8-a21b-81464cb49bd0Post:2230ba87-755c-4e92-a90c-cc9fb2dfcc9b">Re: NWR: Q for the Teachers</a>:
[QUOTE]I thinksomeone should propose a bill where politicians should be paid based on our evaluations of their performance. Perhaps then SB6 would become but a memory?
Posted by Mrs.B6302007[/QUOTE]

Seriously! I read somewhere else that someone proposed doctors and surgeons were paid on their "performance" too (how many people you didn't save, etc.).

I only kid, but you know?