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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12842
    
| Actually, I pointed the social security detail out in my first post.
Obviously, most other states do not have statewide testing. I nTexas they hold teachers accountable for their students' scores. If your students do not do well, you are reassigned to something that no one else will do hoping you will leave. Soooo, if you have a group of AP students taking one of the tests, you job is pretty secure. On the other hand, if your entire class is low performing students, you are in trouble. It is sad because we need good teachers but anyone who goes into education now needs to rethink that one.
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  Keeper of the King Snake
Posts: 7622
Location: Dubach, LA | streakysox - 2017-08-06 1:49 PM
Actually, I pointed the social security detail out in my first post.
Obviously, most other states do not have statewide testing. I nTexas they hold teachers accountable for their students' scores. If your students do not do well, you are reassigned to something that no one else will do hoping you will leave. Soooo, if you have a group of AP students taking one of the tests, you job is pretty secure. On the other hand, if your entire class is low performing students, you are in trouble. It is sad because we need good teachers but anyone who goes into education now needs to rethink that one.
I'll be devil's advocate today, Allison. I teach gifted and honors. There is only so much you can reasonably expect from these kids. Sometimes I felt that administration was expecting brain surgery or rocket science out of my junior high kids. The first year of VAM, the math teacher with all the smart kids failed. Her kids were so smart they didn't have enough room to grow left on the model, so the teacher failed. | |
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 To the Left
Posts: 1865
Location: Florida | TG this year Florida has dumped VAM. Hopefully the tide is turning and sanity will return. Charter schools are also declining and failing. The charter exploiters are being arrested and convicted of fraud. The new law said that teachers that gave up tenure to go on a merit based pay scale, so as a union who truly believes in what we are doing we negotiated that the merit pay raise is $1 more than the traditional raise. Some of us are still fighting and believing in public education. | |
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Member
Posts: 16
| I have an associates degree in veterinary technology. Worked in the vet field for 4+ years and could barely pay my bills. I got a job at a silver company in March of 2015 that was only 5 minutes from home. I have worked my way up to 4 promotions in my time here, and truly enjoy my job. I make almost double what I made in the vet field. I started Monday-Friday 8-5 and occasional weekends when we ran sales that were astronomical and couldn't keep up with order capacity. I am now 7-4 and no weekends. I have 4 weeks of vacation, and had no prior experience in the field. I am blessed!  | |
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 Am I really the Weirdo?
Posts: 11181
Location: Kansas | streakysox - 2017-08-03 5:10 PM rodeowithjoker - 2017-08-03 9:40 AM luckyjo - 2017-08-02 4:52 PM Streakysox pointed out some very important facts about teaching. If you are an individual that plans on collecting SS and teacher retirement, do your homework. It isn't allowed. You also cannot collect SS left to you by your spouse without reducing your TRS by over half. Fresh out of college, 33 years ago, I can't say that teaching was a bad deal. Today, I look at the pay scale and see that I'm only making about 12 to 15 thousand more than a first year teacher. My master's degree increases my salary by only $1000 a year, and the top of the pay scale NEVER gets a raise. There used to be 3 reasons to major in education....June, July, and August. Now, there are only two reasons....June and July. Also, what some may not realize is you must earn comp time to get some holidays off. In Weatherford ISD, we must work during the summer to get the three days prior to Thanksgiving off. In fact, we must have a comp day to get Martin L King Day off. Great benefits USED to justify majoring in education. Today, my share of my medical insurance is $458 a month out of my pocket. And yes, that is just me. Lastly, when you hit 65, you hit rock bottom....Humana Medicare. They are the absolute worst. Thinking about majoring in education? Think harder!! Just say, "No!" Those pay scale differences aren't so true in Kansas. The top end at the districts where I've worked has made a LOT more than those of us with less experience. My masters degree last year raised my salary over $4,600 and this year it is a $3,000 and change difference from a bachelors. That is all with barely any teaching experience (this is my 3rd year).
I have no idea on social security and teacher retirement, but my dad retired after 30+ years of teaching in Kansas and has no complaints about his retirement income. KPERS (KS public employees retirement system) doesn't seem to be too bad of a deal.
None of my districts have required me to work during the summer, though one would allow you to work one Flex Day in the summer instead of during Christmas break.That was nice. I work in Marshall ISD (TX ). Apparently you do not have state testing in Kansas. We are required to teach the state objectives for the tests. If your students do not perform well on tests, you get reassigned. First year teachers probably make about $15,000 les than top pay scale. Spec Ed teachers have so much paperwork that we cannnot keep them. Teacher retirement has such a crazy formula to figure out what your monthly income is so I am no going to even try to explain. It is better than social security but not much. I teach in an accute shortage area so I am able to teach and draw my retirement also. If we didn't have a bunch of retired teachers teaching we would be short many teachers.
Sounds like our testing requirements are very different. I didn't even have to give a state assessment last year to my 9th graders. The year before, my 7th graders took state assessments but our school didn't have results by the end of the year so they couldn't use that data to do anything about keeping/reassigning/getting rid of teachers.
Kansas is actually decreasing the emphasis on state assessments and focusing more on individual plans of study now. It's really nice because that allows teachers to actually teach students instead of worrying about how they'll score on standardized tests.
I looked at the special ed coop salaray schedule where I work and the base with a bachelors and no experience is $37K then it goes to upwards of $55K - I can't remember exactly where it stopped because I was kind of surprised to see 50K on there when every teacher in Kansas seems to want to B*tch and moan about how underpaid we are. It sounds like we have it better than some states. | |
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 The One
Posts: 7998
Location: South Georgia | I am a high school English teacher and a Student Services Coordinator (kind of like the Asst. Principal and/or Guidance Counselor) at a local charter high school.
I received my Bachelors in Secondary Education English and my Masters in English. Georgia has a state pay scale for all employees based on years of experience and degree level. Also, districts add on to this state salary scale amount with their own "local supplement." I have excellent health insurance. I never pay out of pocket, basically. My system does NOT pay into SS, so I have my own supplemental 403b retirement accounts, as well as other means of retirement savings.
Edited by horsegirl 2017-08-09 1:43 PM
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The One
Posts: 7998
Location: South Georgia | luckyjo - 2017-08-02 5:52 PM Streakysox pointed out some very important facts about teaching. If you are an individual that plans on collecting SS and teacher retirement, do your homework. It isn't allowed. You also cannot collect SS left to you by your spouse without reducing your TRS by over half. Fresh out of college, 33 years ago, I can't say that teaching was a bad deal. Today, I look at the pay scale and see that I'm only making about 12 to 15 thousand more than a first year teacher. My master's degree increases my salary by only $1000 a year, and the top of the pay scale NEVER gets a raise. There used to be 3 reasons to major in education....June, July, and August. Now, there are only two reasons....June and July. Also, what some may not realize is you must earn comp time to get some holidays off. In Weatherford ISD, we must work during the summer to get the three days prior to Thanksgiving off. In fact, we must have a comp day to get Martin L King Day off. Great benefits USED to justify majoring in education. Today, my share of my medical insurance is $458 a month out of my pocket. And yes, that is just me. Lastly, when you hit 65, you hit rock bottom....Humana Medicare. They are the absolute worst. Thinking about majoring in education? Think harder!! Just say, "No!"
Here in GA, my Master's degree increased my salary by over $6,000/year. | |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 678
Location: Canada | I have a degree in Public Relations and Communications and other accreditations in sustainable building design.
I am a project manager for large commercial construction projects. I loved it because I would work from home or on site so I had flexibility. I have worked on projects from $1 million to $500 million dollar projects which while the dollar value is vastly different the challenges aren't that different.
Now I work on government projects and work from home 3 days a week and spend 2 in my office or onsite. I love my job. | |
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Expert
Posts: 1599
| kortnimarquette - 2017-08-08 10:49 AM I have an associates degree in veterinary technology. Worked in the vet field for 4+ years and could barely pay my bills. I got a job at a silver company in March of 2015 that was only 5 minutes from home. I have worked my way up to 4 promotions in my time here, and truly enjoy my job. I make almost double what I made in the vet field. I started Monday-Friday 8-5 and occasional weekends when we ran sales that were astronomical and couldn't keep up with order capacity. I am now 7-4 and no weekends. I have 4 weeks of vacation, and had no prior experience in the field. I am blessed!
This is me too!! I never imagined I would be in aerospace, but worked really hard and here I am, "adulting" with an income I always dreamed of! Hard work really pays off, something I wish I knew when I was 27 and really struggling. | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 710
| I take people on trail rides down the beach and colt start/ride problem horses. I also house sit a lot during the summer. Granted, my job isn't a 'real job' and I'm working on my degree in business--going to switch to nursing though as I think that is reliable, good career. | |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 889
Location: on the fine line between insanity and geniusness | I'm currently a domestic engineer! I quit my job 8 months ago when I had my son! Before that I spent 5 years with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. I started with criminal classification, a really interesting desk job. I did that for probably two years before being promoted to agriculture. I worked in the swine department for two years and then was the first woman in the state to ever be hired to the livestock division of agriculture. I worked in the equine division overseeing the breeding, weaning and breaking of all saddle horses within all TDCJ units. It was my dream job until Brody Steele showed up!! The money wasn't great, but the knowledge and experience was incredible! | |
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 Member
Posts: 38
| I'm currently working 2 part time jobs, both are fairly flexible with me and I love them both. Eventually I'll drop to one to really give me some more free time for the ponies and such though.
My first job is as a teller at a credit union. I have some background with money handling and customer service from previous credit union and retail jobs. Banking hours are pretty tough to beat and at a credit union everyone is so mellow (aside from making sure you meet certain regulations of course).
My second job is as a breeding/kennel assistant. I help get dogs ready for breeding, checkups, puppy watch, feeding, cleaning, puppy care, prepping for new homes, and some more misc. tasks I'm sure I'm forgetting. Thankfully for my background I'd already been around breeding dogs/horses and training dogs/horses so they were excited to know they didn't need to train me from scratch.
At the moment I'm catching up on bills from having been out of work for so long (recent divorce and illness in the family), but I'm at a point where one job is basically paying the bills and the other job is getting me to where I can start saving for stud fees for my mare and Miniature American Shepherd, plus other fun things in the meantime too! | |
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 The Vaccinator
Posts: 3810
Location: Slipping down the slope of old age. Boo hoo. | I am a corporate travel manager -- meaning I manage the contracts / relationships with travel vendors (airlines, car rental companies, hotel properties, online booking & expense tool, etc.). I have a Masters in Management plus a Certified Corporate Travel Executive designation (like a Masters degree in travel management) and a GTP certification (Global Travel Professional) which is like getting a CPA except it's for travel management. It's an extremely interesting, challenging and ever-changing field -- lots of technology. I really enjoy the contract negotiations. Of course there is travel involved, but I'm way over that -- it's a chore. | |
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| I am a Communications Deputy for our county's Sheriff's Office. I love what I do- I'm on rotating shifts, with plenty of time off, I have great benefits and work with a fantastic squad. This is an extremely competitive field to get in to, and you have to dot your T's and cross your I's when it comes to the application and testing (as this is a law enforcement position), but all training and CE is provided by my agency. I basically handle incoming 911 and non-emergency calls, dispatch them out on the radio and make sure our LEOs come home safe whatever time of day it is! It can be challenging, but like I said, I have a great squad to work with and there are so many more pros than cons.
My husband is self-employed as an equine vet (obviously vet school is a requirement there), and my career makes it possible for him to have health, dental and vision insurance (plus a free tech when I am not working!), and steady income when his business slows down in the off-season.
One career I think I would have enjoyed is being a residential real estate appraiser. My mother is self-employed as an appraiser and she LOVES it! She is able to set her own hours, and has it figured out how many appraisals she needs a month to pay the bills, and any more than that is her "fun money". She had to get certified, and has CE hours she needs to keep up, but her overhead is extremely low! I highly recommend looking it up. Each state has different regulations on appraisers, I believe, but it is one of the most flexible careers I have seen. I think you can be as busy or as slow as you prefer!
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 Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | rodeowithjoker - 2017-08-01 8:58 PM I'm about to start my third year of teaching high school. This year I'll have 9th-12th grade special education students after teaching English for two years. Summers off is a huge perk, and honestly, since I don't live an extravagant lifestyle (other than horses), I am able to survive without being totally paycheck to paycheck. Once I get my last college classes paid off, it will be better and I think I'll be able to have some extra cash each month.
I ranch with my husband on his family's ranch. Schedule is very flexible as long as nothing is calving, hay isn't ready, storms stay away, fences are up and windmills are all working. Love it as I work beside my boys. Money is not so much because if you sell everything and have money, you run out of money. If you keep heifers back to build the herd, the rest goes to the cost of living/upkeep and feed for the next year. We always say you ranch for the lifestyle, not the money. I am also a part time brand inspector. | |
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| wyoming barrel racer - 2017-08-20 4:38 PM
rodeowithjoker - 2017-08-01 8:58 PM I'm about to start my third year of teaching high school. This year I'll have 9th-12th grade special education students after teaching English for two years. Summers off is a huge perk, and honestly, since I don't live an extravagant lifestyle (other than horses), I am able to survive without being totally paycheck to paycheck. Once I get my last college classes paid off, it will be better and I think I'll be able to have some extra cash each month.
I ranch with my husband on his family's ranch. Schedule is very flexible as long as nothing is calving, hay isn't ready, storms stay away, fences are up and windmills are all working. Love it as I work beside my boys. Money is not so much because if you sell everything and have money, you run out of money. If you keep heifers back to build the herd, the rest goes to the cost of living/upkeep and feed for the next year. We always say you ranch for the lifestyle, not the money. I am also a part time brand inspector.
I second your post! My family ranched while my mom had her 'town job' (even though she worked from home), and I learned so many valuable lessons, which included the idea that money isn't everything! There's always ups and downs to the lifestyle, but when you put your blood, sweat and tears into something, it's that much more rewarding to see the end product!
My husband and I are really trying to keep our lives simple, and I give goat tying and riding lessons on the side. Instead of getting paid for a set of lessons, I just got paid in a cut and wrapped fodder-fed Tamworth pig and let me tell you, I LOVE trading and bartering for goods instead of getting money. Yes money is great, but I am thankful I have skills that others find useful, whereas they have the means- if that makes sense. | |
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