I answered your question on your other thread…in the education major area of this site.
Bloomsburg has an excellent Early Childhood Education/Special Education dual cert/major…
http://www.bloomu.edu/special-education-ranking
Here are some thoughts on your financial and educational questions.
I am a K-12 public school educator in New York State (on Long Island). Obviously, no one chooses the education field to become rich, but the pension and benefits for public school teachers in New York are solid. Between my pension and 403b, I do not anticipate any problems whatsoever with affording a comfortable retirement.
Whereas it seems every contract increases the percentage teachers have to pay for health insurance, the actual health coverage plan is amazing, and we have some major health issues in our family that would be completely unaffordable without health insurance.
In terms of education:
You do not need to major in education. You just need to ensure that you meet the requirements for certification in your intended state. Look them up.
As someone who hires elementary school teachers every year, I can tell you that it also is impressive when candidates have a liberal arts background and have taken more than just education courses. One popular option is to major in something unrelated as an undergraduate and then go to an education graduate school. You need a master’s degree eventually anyway in New York State. But an education major as an undergrad is fine as well if that is what you want to do.
The student teaching/internship experience is very important and valuable. And you need it. That is the best part of teacher training.
In truth, however, I have used very little I learned in education courses in my career (I have been in the field since 1993). However, the liberal arts education I received was wonderfully intellectually stimulating and developed my writing and thinking skills. I greatly valued my classes at Williams College, where I majored in English and studied many subjects across the liberal arts and sciences, without taking any education courses (there were none). I am very grateful for the scholarships I got from my graduate schools and the degree/certifications that helped me get to where I am today, and for the student teaching and administrative internship experiences the education grad schools helped me obtain. But my undergrad liberal arts experience was much better intellectually and probably did more to prepare me for the work I do, albeit more indirectly.
There is an op-ed piece from today’s New York Times by Rubin about the value of liberal arts to any field:
“Plato and existentialism helped more than courses in economics.”
It is wonderful to see evidence that a potential teacher is as fascinated by ideas and learning as we hope our students will be, and that the teacher will come to the job with a wealth of background knowledge.
Okay, I will get off my soapbox now!
One more thought: In every district I have ever worked on Long Island, we have had over 1000 applicants apply for every full time tenure track opening. You may wish to be mutliply certified: early childhood plus elementary, but also special education, literacy/reading, and there is a quickly growing need for people with bilingual certification. Pick something about which you are actually passionate. Teachers can make a real difference in the minds and lives of their students.
Good luck!
Here is a link to the afore-mentioned Rubin op-ed piece:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/30/opinion/robert-e-rubin-philosophy.html
@DCNatFan We are also in the Maryland suburbs of DC. My D is an early childhood special education (through grade 2) major. She has a few learning disabilities herself, which is one reason she chose this major, and she’s amazing with kids. She is definitely looking to teach in an elementary school as she knows the pay will be better than preschool …although she’s already despairing how she will be able to afford an apartment in this area.
It’s unfortunate Maryland doesn’t have great state school choices for the major (when special ed is included). As others have said, there are many Pennsylvania state schools that aren’t too expensive with this major. Slippery Rock had a scholarship for out of state students with a 3.0 or higher, but my D ultimately decided it was too cold there (accepted students day in February was about -2 degrees). She also looked at some West Virginia state schools. At least one had a special tuition discount for students in their special ed urban schools track that made it cheaper than Maryland state schools.
We found some small liberal arts colleges to initially be good fits. She started at Lynchburg College in Virginia (in the Colleges that Change Lives books) but after 3 semesters decided she really didn’t like it. After some health setbacks, she’s finishing an associate’s degree in the field at Montgomery College with plans to transfer to UMD or Towson.
Many of the LACs give good aid and the net price would have been just a bit above state schools. We also looked at Hood and McDaniel (no special ed major) in Maryland. She also liked Salisbury University (state school), but while it has early childhood education, it doesn’t have special ed.
Good luck in the search!
@Barbalot Thanks very much for sharing your details. We have visited Salisbury and D19 liked it but as you mentioned no special education. We are visiting Towson tomorrow for their open house. We also looked at McDaniel but they do not offer Early Childhood.
We have visited a couple of the PA schools (Shippensburg, Millersville and West Chester). She liked West Chester the best out of the three.
It is a grueling process looking at the education programs because they vary so much from state. We are trying to find a dual certification program so that she with have a certification in early childhood education and special education. JMU, Delaware and Towson are looking like the best options to date.