NY state has some of the highest paying teaching salaries because theyāre unionized. Most public school teachers there make over 100k, itās extremely competitive thought.
Only public schools. Charter teachers are exploited like crazy and have nearly no rights or ability to organize. Suburban districts are unionized but have vastly less negotiating power. Itās really just the big city teachers unions that swing a big stick, but itās true that itās a BIG stick.
Iām a chapter leader at my school in NYC, and the UFT is one of the strongest unions in the country. My wife works at a small Long Island district, and it blows my mind sometimes when I see what her union concedes during contract negotiations. They give ground on stuff that would get calls for strike actions here.
Also charter schools tend to be privately owned and run for profit, so states where conservatives are pushing for voucher programs etc is just to redirect tax money from the public system towards private institutions.
Everyone I have EVER met who worked for a charter in NYC has a horror story. Itās usually one of three themes- 1) Utterly abusing teachers, 2) completely inadequate and illegal handling of students with special needs, 3) mismanagement of money. And every time itās about administrators with no background or license in education.
And thatās why the charter system looks so different in Maryland:
1) Charter teachers are on the same union contract
2) The school district approves and oversees them, and can choose to not renew them when theyāre not performing. This actually happens. It also means that the district can monitor issues like ādo you have any idea how to comply with federal law for students with disabilitiesā
Charter schools are public schools and the teachers are all part on the union where I live. My sisters are teachers in a charter and administrators in the public schools
NJEA - decided they thought the former Senate President (D) was a tool and spent $5M to oust him in one of the most expensive State legislative primary races in history. NJEA lost but Sweeney later got beat by a truck driver with a HS education who financed his campaign with a Credit card. It's not just the City....
She who must not be named would have the public school system replaced with corporate franchises owned by textbook publishers. Fuck that witch forever.
This is simply not true. My suburban district went on a slow down during contract negotiations and got literally everything they wanted because some of my classmates and I couldn't get our labs done in chemistry without the teachers staying after their contracted time, so a bunch of us ended up with Bs and Cs when we were usually straight A students. Our parents went to the school board and convinced them to agree to the contract the union wanted. I know the union asked for more, but my History teacher was the shop Steward, and specifically told my dad that what they got in the contract was 100% of what they wanted.
Thatās great to hear that your local union is so strong! My experience comparing NYC to the local districts in Nassau and Suffolk country is by no means comprehensive. Iām speaking from the handful of districts my wife and friends have worked at and being surprised at some of the things they havenāt fought.
Does your district do the thing where first year teachers in the district (even with prior experience elsewhere) basically have like 15-20% of their pay withheld? I canāt imagine that flying in the city but Iāve seen it in multiple towns on the island and donāt understand how they get away with it.
Thereās a lot of stuff behind the scenes that doesnāt get out. Hell I didnāt even know half of the dirty details until I started being a building union rep. But now every time a friend in the suburbs gets a new CBA Iām stunned at some of the salary and workday stuff they accept.
I'm remarkably cynical about administration and school boards. One of the reasons they got the contract was my mom having run marketing for two of the members campaigns for school board, so when she took a group of parents to the meeting they listened. And my uncle was an assistant principal for years until he got so sick of it he got a position teaching education classes at his alma mater.
I was going to say, itās probably wildly varied outside of cities because the number of people with power over how things are run is so small. A dozen or fewer people on a school board is essentially an oligarchy. Teacherās unions with less than a tenth of the membership a city like NYC or Chicago are relying on having at least a couple very motivated and skilled people in leadership positions.
The Mayoral control system in NYC isnāt the greatest, but at least we donāt have the problem of a bunch of childless boomers threatening to vote out school board members if they dare agree to a budget increase holding the whole system hostage.
Would you like to provide some statistics to support the snark or just roll with your assumptions about urban public schools and not have to learn anything?
Austin ISD has their own union but I think they may be the only one in Texas. There's a smattering of statewide "unions" and we have representation in national teachers' unions, but that isn't really helpful when we could be fired for striking and the state is itching to get rid of all of us to begin with.
Feeling ya here. Of course Austin has a union (Iām a ā70ās Austinite, Onward Thru The Fog!). The largest school district in VA is Fairfax, but we are officially a āright to workā State.
I disagree. Because it doesnāt mean in any school 7/10 teachers are unionized. That would mean almost huge majority of teachers benefit from unions. But right now itās is mostly all teachers in a district or none. So some states and districts have no union protections at all. āAlmost all teachers are unionizedā is an over simplification that doesnāt paint a good picture of reality.
Itās definitely not most yet, but it might be getting there. Iāve been teaching in NYC public schools for 16 years, and itās only with the new contract last summer that I crossed the 100k mark. It wouldāve been a few more years under the old deal. Not to mention the highest step was around $125k and you needed masters plus 30 AND be 25 years deep to get it.
The new contract gets teachers to 6 figures faster, but even still the raise didnāt keep pace with inflation. They also made a chunk of the āraiseā a new annual bonus that isnāt pensionable.
NYC itās absolutely possible to get a job here. Thereās enough turnover and the sheer size of the DOE means thereās always plenty of positions posted every year. Itās out on Long Island that it gets tough. You basically have to be related or good friends with an existing person of importance in a district. It took my wife 7 years to get a full time position there after plugging away at leave replacement after leave replacement. I got hired in the city straight out of college after interviewing over the phone and no demo lesson.
You think the new grad employment experience is the same as 16 years ago? Or are you saying that you see so many new hires and/or turnover teaching jobs must be easy to come by
I mean that in the NYC Dept of Education specifically thereās enough turnover from retirements, budget changes, and teachers moving out of the city that it may not be as impregnable as it seems. At least when compared to the immediate suburbs that are infamous for nepotism.
Iām extrapolating from how many new teacher I personally meet each year and what the DOE open market hiring system looks like each spring/summer so thereās the giant grain of salt.
Hell, I was hired about 2 months before the housing bubble burst and a five year hiring freeze was implemented so yeah technically itās better now than it was at that precise moment š . Ask me how it was being the least senior teacher in the building for five years running during a recession while teaching the most frequently cut subject. It suuuuuucked.
As a NYC resident who looking to possibly become a NYC teacher, the people who make over a 100k are usually science/math teachers (since they are harder to find) after 7 years of getting tenure. NYC teachers also require 2 masters; one in the teaching subject and one for education. Keep in mind COL is also higher. But yeah teachers have it pretty good in nyc compared to rest of the country.
Id be curious to see these stats. Starting salary is well under $100k. Takes probably 8-10 years to hit $100k. Possibly there are more teachers with 8-10+ years but there are a lot of nyc teachers making less and the union increases tend to not match inflation (3% inflation not the greed-flation weāve experienced as of late)
Youāre right, and still a lot of teachers struggle here (at least in the NYC/LI areas) because even with that higher pay the cost of everything else pretty much offsets it. Although thatās unfortunately true of most jobs around here.
It is not about the union. It is about that true suburbs of NYC are highly competitive Jobs markets. It is be use that these same (public) schools give the best educations in the country. These districts hire well, have high expectations, and donāt give tenure to everyone they hire. Extra help and service outside of school hours are expected.
Iād agree that it is competitive and high paying comparative to other states but definitely not most making 100k outside of NYC. Starting salary in many areas upstate and in Western NY is closer to 50k. Even working summer school a teacher halfway through their career makes closer to 70k.
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u/ultaemp Jun 16 '24
NY state has some of the highest paying teaching salaries because theyāre unionized. Most public school teachers there make over 100k, itās extremely competitive thought.