It's hard to believe, but I have 4 weeks of work (19 days) behind me already, and 17 of those days were with students. Because of this I'm glad that our district switched us from 10 paychecks per year to 11. Used to be we worked a bit in August and then all of September before getting a paycheck, now we get one in August as well. The only month in which I don't get a paycheck is July.
I finished my master's degree last May (you long time readers might recall reading something about that!) and I made a conservative guess as to where I'd be placed on the salary schedule--no, it's not patently obvious where I'd be on the scale given the many rules that govern it! I assumed a worst-case scenario and given that, expected a couple hundred dollar a month raise.
The worst case scenario didn't happen, by a long shot. My raise was almost twice what I was expecting! That perks my spirits somewhat!
It doesn't fix the problems I identified in my last post, but once I leave school each afternoon my life is a bit better.
Pay scales are deliberately obtuse. When I was hired we had a "ladder" payscale that spelled out compensation based on years taught and certifications and degrees achieved. Now we have "range" based on all the same people who have worked the same number of years. I've worked a total of twenty years and I'm not even at midrange. What is more, other teachers I know with the same experience, some with graduate school degrees, are not midrange. I believe this is a deliberate attempt to obscure how some people such as coaches, band directors, etc are overcompensated while others who have taught just as long are paid less. I've gone to my state organization and there have been complaints filed, but the answer is 'everyone is doing it' which is not true since the state teachers group that publishes comparative pay rates can seem to find every district but ours. I do not trust administrators any farther than I can throw them.
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