Well, I hope this will turn out to be a success story but only time will tell. Leaving a job at a well known Asian tier 1 school after more than a decade. General ennui, lack of travel opportunities/Covid related regulations, and family ties back home provided momentum for the move. Took a job with a IB boarding school in suburban NY. Salary of 80k, a free apartment, a non-teaching job at the school for my wife, free tuition and dorm for my kid, free meals for all of us; and maybe best of all a very compact school year of 150 teacher/student contact days. To top it off, all the folks I spoke with seemed down to earth and quite nice. So we are stoked...it seems like a nice re-entry path back to teaching in the USA.

My current school in Malaysia has a full pay, one year sabbatical policy. However, I know of only one person who received it in the last 10 years. The school also has a one year leave of absence policy, with a guaranteed job open return. This is given to applying teachers who the admin seems to value highly. I also know of someone who got a one year, half pay sabbatical from AES in Delhi. So some schools do have this stuff.

For the last 8 years I have been in South East Asia working at schools in the IASAS conference. IASAS includes schools that most folks routinely rank as Tier 1; Singapore American, IS Bangkok, ISKL, etc. UWCSEA in Singapore is considered by everyone I have ever spoken with in the region to be on par with the very best schools in the region, and the world. I have no idea about the other UWC locations, but there really isn't any debate among educators in Asia about the quality of UWCSEA.

Years ago I failed to even get a second interview there. Think I messed up the initial question of "What makes you think you are good enough to work for UWCSEA?'" I thought they were joking...they weren't. Pompous little Brits, but a quality school.

I taught at AISC (Chennai) a while back and we were not part of it. The expat folks got a separate "retirement" included in the paycheck. Never heard expat teachers talk of it. But you're right about Malaysia's fund... it has been a winner!

Tiers and teacher salary and benefit packages are usually quite closely correlated, and it's usually fairly easy to find information on what particular schools offer their staff. Thus you have your instant tiers. It is not unusual for the top school in a certain city to offer a S/B package three times better than lower "ranked" competitors down the road. We teachers are not (usually) fools; often those teachers who can, choose to migrate towards the higher paying schools. This in general is a "better" group of teachers than those who cannot get jobs at the high paying schools. Good teachers attract more good students than bad teachers do, and in many folks minds, these are the key ingredients of a good "top" school.

It is quite likely that your PhD will be given full salary step credit, as well it should. Many (most?) schools are quite easy to please in this regard, either requiring only a look at the transcript, or maybe even taking you at your word. I have taught at three IS and all have given me Phd credit for my US JD degree,

Don't know if it is still true, but 8-9 years ago, the state of Florida would certify you in your initial field thru a review of your college transcripts, requiring a certain number of UG credits in order to get this initial certification. But you still had to pass the teacher certification (Praxis) in that field. But after this, you could challenge the Praxis exam in any field, and if you passed, Florida would add this to your certification regardless of any coursework in that area. I added PE, English and Math (MS and HS) thru this method. PS.these exams are pretty easy.

ISKL in Malaysia recognizes gay couples and has hired them as teaching couples in the past. Same benefits as "regular" spouses.

With all due respect to the previous posters, there are, and always have been, fast track programs for teacher certification. I am "alternatively" certified through the state of Fl and it was fast (one school year long once or twice a week for like two hours), cheap (less than 1,000) and a total no homework, no reading, no brainer waste of time. But I got the certification and have proceeded on to supposedly very top of the heap tier one schools. If one can teach, one can teach. Certification is not worthless, bit it is neither sufficient or necessary for good teaching at any level (except perhaps for district rules). Many of my international teaching friends, again at top schools, are also alternatively certified. One picked up a U Michigan certification in one month in Thailand...alas that program is no longer offered. One 9 month, all internet (except for the internship which could be done at the current school) is called teacherready through the Univ of West Florida.

But one needs a bachelor degree first. Check out Charter Oak State College and Thomas Edison. Both Accredited and internet based, perhaps exclusively. Both allow tons of ways to get credit w/o coursework, ie by challenging AP exams, GRE general and subject exams, CLEP exams and the like. Smart folks can jump thru the hoops and get very quick (one year or so) degrees. Check out degree info.com for lots of nuts and bolts info on these options. Very fast track indeed. And then there tons of fast track Masters as well.

I haven't been to their site in a while, but I think it's because they are actually paid on a yen scale, but the site summarizes the pay/benefits in USD. And the yen was 80 to the $ a couple years back. The last time I looked it was a bit over 100. 25% decrease.

I believe they do have a 2 year tax exemption for Americans, but I'm not sure. A very good friend spent two years there a little while back and he saved apprx. 40k use per year. Yes,no typo. But he said he ate out twice in 2 years and NEVER went out and drank. He is extremely frugal, but while not everyone could save this much, I guess most folks could live decently and put something away.

Yes they are exclusive in the sense that they usually get teachers whose qualifications, at least on paper, are quite strong. But as in any school, folks certainly fall through the cracks. But it is a great place to teach and among its Asian competitors, KL is a good place to live. Excellent package (but just declined a bit since it is ringgit based). Every year teachers without masters and/or without international experience are hired. Every year. It's not the norm of course, but especially in hard to fill posts, or if you just impress the bosses, you can get in. None of this is hearsay.

No typos in my above post. Last school year I had to get a notarized letter from the school about my earnings for a financial transaction at home. Almost 28,000RM a month all in including salary, tax allowance and housing allowance (which are paid and taxed exactly the same as salary). At current exchange rates just a tad less than $9,000. This was all taxed at a blended rate of 20.2%. Untaxed and added to this was the school's contribution to retirement of about $17,000. Lots of teaching experience and lots of education but not the top of the scale by any means.

KL is a very good place to live, if a boring place to visit. The cost of living is quite reasonable by Asian big city standards, but not cheap outside of street food and hired help. The school is a good one and overall a fun place to work and Air Asia is indeed a modern marvel. ISKL used to financially be the weak sister of the IASAS schools, but since revamping the package in 2009, and with the strengthening of the ringgit, it is now quite likely the best, especially when compared to the cost of living in some rival cities like Singapore and Taipei. Most teachers do have cars but many don't. It does take a few bucks to set yourself up in KL, but ISKL is certainly a school that should be on your teaching radar.

If you mean ISKL in Malaysia, it must be a typo. I work there now. It all depends on your lifestyle, but an experienced teacher with a masters degree plus can make apprx 9,000USD per month. That is NOT a typo. Of course this is taxed (about 20%) and there is rent to pay (one to two thousand $US per month). And the lucrative school paid savings might be another 17,000 USD per year on top of all this. Do the math.

The above is for a single teacher and couples don't get double this deal ( because a teaching couple can have exactly the same housing allowance as a single teacher with a dependent). Even some singles can save 5,000 a month, so for a couple it must be quite easy indeed.

BTW, I have friends who are teaching at SAS (Shanghai) and I've seen that package as well. It's very strong. But ISKL's is better and KL is lots cheaper than Shanghai.

Packages depend on a number of factors: education levels, marital status, exchange rates, yrs of experience etc. And different schools reward these differently. So even though school A is a better overall package than school B for one person, the reverse might be true for another applicant. But for most applicants at most steps on the scale certain schools rule the roost. Nonetheless, there is SO MUCH misinformation out there about this topic that I hope I can clear away a bit of this confusion. BTW, I currently work at one of these top schools and was offered jobs at several others of these schools at the fairs 2 yrs ago. And I know folks currently employed at most of these schools. Finally, I'm greedy as hell and made it a mission of mine to know and search out the very best opportunities in Asia. Here are the winners:

China Shanghai American. Top starting salary well in excess of 50k tax free. Great bonuses and little gimmees that quickly add up. Nice housing (but think twice before living in Pudong). Sick leave buy back. THE top China school. Next best is ISB Beijing.
Very nice longevity bonuses. Housing allowance isnt enough for most folks.Package on the net.

Singapore. Only SAS rocks. Top taxable salary entry level is mid 60's. Can BANK up to 10k housing. Exc retirement. Pricy city. UWC, especially considering their paltry housing allowance, is WELL behind.No one else in running.

Malaysia; ISKL revamped package 2 years ago. The highest entry level teacher (max exp and education) can clear almost 70k after taxes and housing (but including their lucrative retirement.) All others pay comparatively poorly.

Thailand. IS Bangkok rules. NIST not bad. Others kind of bite. Two years back highest starting salary was 54,000 taxable. But nice retirement and extras.

Philippines. ISM the best of a sickly bunch. ISM is far below the other schools in its league paywise.

Indonesia. JIS is the best but not nearly as good as rumored. Package on net. Max entry 50 k with maybe 5k in expat and car allowance in total. 7.5% retirement on top of this. Housing next to school is new but very small. Others well below.

Taiwan Tapie American is the choice here. Salary is good, nice COLA, they pay US SS which is great. Housing allowance about liveable. Comparable to ISKL, SAS in Singapore and Shanghai.

Japan. Only AISJ. Dollarwise it slightly tops the best of these. But after your living expenses, if you want to live at all, the other top schools will best it in discretionary income. Package on net.

This info won't be 100% applicable in every case, but at least as of two years ago it was try according to the schools own recruiting documents and contracts.

My two recs for take home cash and quality of life are Shanghai American and ISKL.

I worked at AIS Chennai for two years several years ago. Package was strong, but not a top paying school. Excellent saving potential of 50 % or more. India great for travelling, but often hard to live in. School is nce physically and the work environment was professional and not too stressful. Director Barry Clough has his share of detractors on this site, but though he is tough and sometimes bull headed, most teachers are able to work with him without undueproblems. And he has built a good school. You can email me at jesatlarge@yahoo.com if you want more.