From my experience, yes. I interviewed with a charter school and the pay was easily 10K less than the starting pay at a public school in my area.
I guess it depends. I worked at a charter school in NYC and the pay was 10-15%more than the NYCDOE salary scale. Although our hours and school year were much, much longer. Mon-Thurs. 7:45-4:30 and Friday 7:45-6:00!! We went until the first week in July!!!
I was hired by a non-profit organization, and we were housed in a charter school, so my salary was not governed by the school. But I do hear that is the case. The bigger concern is the state teacher's retirement fund. If you have a retirement nest egg, I guess you don't have to worry. However, I am certain that the charter schools are not affiliated with state retirement systems. Of course, catholic schools are the same way. At least the one where I worked was like that. You got to look at the whole situation, and see how it balances out for you. Maybe this will be good for a few years, maybe later you will want to get in a public school just 5-10 yrs before retirement! Even the paraprofessionals had their own state retirement plan. At the rate social security is going, we need something to fall back on!!
Mine payed more, but we worked 7-4, sometimes 7-5. We started a month before other schools and got out 2 weeks after. We had meetings during our prep 3 days a week so on those days we got a 15 minute break during the kids lunch and that was it...out of a 9 hour work day. On the other 2 days we got a 30 minute prep and a 15 minute lunch. I think they mistreated the teachers, we were all tired all of the time. It wasn't worth the 2-4 thousand extra dollars. Loved my kids, didn't love knowing I would probably be burned out in 5-10 years.
yeah, no price tag on your health...that's for sure.. I've seen child care centers treat teachers like we are teenagers working in McDonald's. "Sing, keep singing!" while we are ready to pass out walking in 90 degree heat to the library! "Go back outside!" again, it is 90 degrees! "Sit on the floor with your kids." Not good for your back or knees. Get us a teacher's chair!
The charter school I taught at 2 years ago paid $34,000 for 220 days of work. That is a bit less/the as what most teachers mae here. My current charter school starts at $36K
I was just hired at a charter school that pays a little more than the regular public schools in the area. The differences that people experience, though may depend on the kinds of charter schools they have in your area. The ones near me are all public schools and follow the same state regulations (tests, etc) as the public schools. In some places charter schools are private. Our school year is going to be about a week longer than the regular public schools and our hours are 8-3:30 which is about an hour and a half longer than the others.
When I started at my charter a year ago the salary was roughly 2K more than the public schools in the area. We do have a longer school day, though, 8-3:00, and school year, 200 working days, as well as the advantage of a much much smaller school community, and freedom in teaching-our curriculum isn't set in stone.
The public school I para'd at last year was 8:25 to 3:10 for me (teachers were slightly longer). roughly 6 hours and 45 minutes.
It depends. I know one charter school that started first year teachers at $31, 000 and another that offered the same teacher $45,000. I don't know any first year teachers in Michigan public schools so I cannot compare vs public schools.
I was just hired at a charter school and the salary is $5,000 less than the public schools here. The school day is about the same (7:30-3:00 as opposed to the schools which are 8:15-3:20). At my school the staff is required to stay till 4:00 two days a week for meetings. Hopefully this will be a good experience for me and a way to gain some experience, then hopefully move on to a higher paying school, closer to where I live.
I work at a charter in PA and we get about 3,000 less than a public school in the same area. It used to be a lot less, but we got a 3k dollar raise this year. They are really trying to get us more competitive rates. However, our school day is an hour longer and our school year is 20 days longer. In what area of PA are you?
Here in PA we are affiliated with the state retirement system as any other public school, PSERS which seems to be a pretty good deal. I know that I will be able to retire by the time I am 55. I've also invested in a 403B plan so I will be able to retire in style The original poster was also in PA, so I'm assuming that is the case for her as well.
My school just converted to a charter school but we get paid by the city still so our pay is the same as it would be at a normal public school. We discussed extending the day which would give us more money but some of my teachers objecting to the idea. Interesting thing is that the extension would only be 30 minutes each day with two days a week us staying an hour after our orignal stop time. Not sure if that made any sense but I was disappointed with the way the vote went down at my school.
I just got hired to teach at a charter school in Arkansas. The pay is comparable to public school. I will be making 28,611 which is about the average for a first year public school teacher. My contract is from August 9-June 5 and the school days are from 7:45-4:15. I too am hoping that having this experience will help me land a better job closer to home.
that is interesting to see so many of you work longer than 6 hours, and yet, some pay is the same. Also, most public school districts run 185 days. It seems to be a trend for charter schools to extend beyond this. When I taught elementary school, it was 6 hrs- period. I like being salaried, know that I can stay as long as I want, AND nobody bothers me if I leave early. It is the honor system. As an Ed. Coordinator, I drove all over town, picking up stuff, training staff, and doing assessments. Sure, I stopped off and did some errands in between. But if a director or teacher needed me to meet a parent who would not show up until 5:45pm, I didn't have a problem with it...because it balanced out. When I decided to go back for my masters, I wanted a job with more stability in hours. Now I like working in one office, with all my kids in one place. I think 8 hrs enough for one job. Many of these preschools want teachers to do home visits, and attend family functions after 5 and also all day saturday...with no extra pay. I really don't think it's fair, and along with working 12 months, that is what burns teachers out, IMO.
