The International Schools Review Forum

Question: Has anyone heard of this, your salary scale coming into a school will be your years of experience divided by two? For example if you have 8 years of experience, you get credit for 4, and thus 7,000 dollars less money. On the Search website the salary expectations are misleading to what was offered to me in a contract. Is this shady practice, or just how it is?

At the two international schools that I have worked at they have done this. Both are respectable schools and follow very strict policies that are overseen by administrators or a board of directors. I think it is is a common practice. I have also seen it done on salary schedules in the U.S. when you move districts within a state. Hope this helps.

I haven't worked at a school like that. I know that many school cap incoming years of experience - say at 5, or 7, or 8 years experience max. Others give you salary for years teaching divided by 2 equals so much more on your salary.

But I haven't seen it as being placed on a scale divided by 2. Just a question - is this school in a country beginning with K?

Shad,

It's not Kazakhstan or Korea, but KSA. Thanks for the replies, I guess the divided by two does happen.

That doesn't seem right at all to me, but my years were honored in full. I was actually surprised and expected only 3yrs in my specific area, but they counted them all.

That would be a hard pill to swallow. I'm not sure I'd be okay with that. I haven't heard of this being done, though others have, apparently.

I interviewed at a school that would only recognize 5 years of experience when I have 10+, so that would be the same deal, in a way. I guess if you take the contract, it means you're okay with what they're offering...you can't complain about the salary later.

Its not uncommon, many schools have a cap on how much experience you can count towards salary. Upper tier schools tend to have higher caps. Those steps on a salary scale dont have to represent years, just differentiations between salary bands. If it makes you feel better divide the slary by half and then you can get the 1:1 years:step ratio you want, it will still be the same money. Schools pay what they think your worth. Whether they have an open or a closed compensation scale, thats what it is.

Admin or board oversight means nothing, no admin is going to be faulted for saving a school money on payroll, and that assumes the school has an open compensation scale, and they publish it. Most admins will just say they are giving you the "best/highest" salary available.

Most of the salaries listed on school profile pages are inaccurate, at best they are a range that you can expect in the region, and to a lessor degree what you can use as a starting point with a school.

It is, what it is. It is what they say it is. Currently in a school that (successfully) forbids teachers from discussing salary. I negotiated mine to be a little higher, I think. This was the only school that my negotiations led to a bump. Maybe 6-8 others told me, take it or leave it. I left it most of the time, had to take it when it was late and I needed a j-o-b.
It is like a souvenir shop in anywhere but North America. You have to be able to walk out. If you don't walk out, it costs what you are willing to pay.
I agree with, "don't complain later". If you accepted the amount of pay for your labor, then you made your own bed. IS is the Wild West. May be old-school, but I believe a contract is a contract.