The International Schools Review Forum

I imagine no housing is given ( high housing costs)..also, assume you will pay 20-25% taxes....NYC is expensive. Great city, but expensive. Not everyone is dying to live in NYC. Not everyone who teaches overseas is in this for money alone.

Why leave America? Well, the salary the original poster mentioned is nice and it would be great to live in NYC, but other than that, why NOT leave America? When I am gone, I miss my mother, and Skype helps with that. Sure I have friends here, but I make incredible friendships where ever I go.
Seriously, why not???

The quoted salary is the highest I've heard of in the U.S. I live in Florida (for 1 more week) and I make less than I did when I started 5 years ago. After 4 years of experience with a masters degree in an average paying school district in Florida, I make about $36,000. Most jobs overseas will pay at least the same, but there are no taxes and they pay for my housing...not to mention the real reason to go which is a chance to see the world and learn and grow as a person. If you're only motivated by money, I'd get out of teaching as quick as possible.

I'd need to make a fair bit more than that in NYC to keep up with my int'l school job in Europe.

BlueJay,

I think you need to realize we live in the real world, not the ideal world.

In the real world teachers are not valued, period.

Schools do not pay more for better teachers, period.

And unless we finally get some cajones and launch a nationwide or worldwide strike...WAIT. Even that won't help as there are plenty of college or high school grads that schools will hire because...

NOBODY CARES ABOUT THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION ANYMORE IN THE U.S.

Why do you think we are a second, soon to be upper Third World country?

[quote="BlueJay"]----://www.tepcharter.org/

That is the school that FrenchGurl is speaking of. It's not the norm and their results are as of yet unproven.

And whomever said that higher salaries do not lead to an improvement in student achievement doesn't get the full picture. It's high salaries to attract a higher quality of teacher. I invite you to read about Finland's education system.

The way that some of you speak of yourselves is sad. You're educators. The most nobel profession on earth. And yet you devalue your self worth because you think so unworthy of your abilities. Change your thinking and you just might change the world.[/quote]

Im doing my Doctorate in Education and I read a very good article by Pasi Sahlberg about Finnish Education. They achieved excellence essentially by shunning the neo-liberal performativity of the US and UK and sought partnership and stability of which one key element was Teachers must be very well qualified and very well paid. Teaching I believe is THE TOP CHOICE for graduates now in Finland because of it.

@Happy - Exactly, in some 30 years they went from having an educational system like the current one in the U.S. to one of the best systems in the world. They put the emphasis on teacher quality, teacher development, teacher pay. In 30 years their society went from the same attitude towards teachers to now valuing them and respecting them. Read Finnish Lessons by Pasi, it's his book on how Finland accomplished everything. Great read.

@Senator - You make me sad to think that you're an educator. Your attitude is disgusting. People do care, there are just so many roadblocks and hurdles to get around that it feels like you're constantly fighting an up hill battle. Those of us that do care fight this battle every day. You can either join the fight and care, or sit off to the side and look on passively. One way helps affect change, the other turns you into, well... YOU!

I am a Canadian teacher, and personally, even in Canada where teachers are valued much more, I still hear a lot about how teachers are overpaid for the cushy job they have. It is far worse in the US. In most states, teachers are not paid well. In fact, many US teachers, when I meet them on their first overseas post, talk about how nice it will be to not have to work during the summer to support themselves.

Listen to the right wing talk on teachers and education - how it is all the teachers' fault and the teachers' union is the one that makes things so horrible. Why, if they would just let private business run schools, it would be so much better. LOL

I can understand precisely where Senator is coming from...even though I have never personally experienced it (except with my father in law, who after watching his two son-in-laws become teachers and then his own son, expressed surprise at how much teachers had to work).

BlueJay
If you had taken time from your temper tantrum to think, you would have realized that I never said I don't care about education, most people, and especially people in power, don't.

And I also implied that teachers do what they do in spite of this, NOT complaining about money - like you.

So grow up. If someone disagrees with you try to reply like an adult.

@Senator - Spare your nonsense and condescending attitude. You wrote in ALL CAPS that NOBODY CARES about EDUCATION. I responded that people do care. You should try to act more professional instead of making blanket statements and attaching them to all of us as fact. Your post reminded me a lot of another poster on this board that does the same exact thing. I don't care if you disagree with me, I can handle a good debate on this subject matter. What I care about is that your wording was very saddening to me as an educator. Nothing is as carte blanche as you make it seem. There are quite a few of us that believe in this profession and believe that teachers SHOULD be more valued. This isn't our HOBBY, it's our profession, so save the Hollywood Movie attitude about how you don't do this for the money. Really? What do you do it for then, peanuts?

In response to the original question, I think asking in terms of salary alone is a little silly. I left a corporate job to become a teacher. If life decisions were all about money, then I would never have become a teacher. I love my job and strive to be a life-long learner and part of that is going new places, putting myself on the steep end of the learning curve, etc.

txteach : I totally agree with you. I, too, left a corporate position in a multimillion, global company to become a teacher ( and yes, everyone thought that I was crazy and I think it has largely to do with the perspective that North America has on teachers - mainly their " financial " plight - broke, not as respected and often on strike ). Yes, I invested a lot and made the good financial decisions to set aside the nest egg and more...but eventually, after that was done, I realised that teaching was for me...and this is where I will stay.

Point Blue Jay...Senator, you insulted the educators of my country. I do not even accept the concept of first second and third world, but there are many dedicated American teachers domestic and international.