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<p>[NJ.com:</a> Everything Jersey](<a href=“http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1195192142111370.xml&coll=1]NJ.com:”>http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1195192142111370.xml&coll=1)</p>
<p>Teachers at the top rung where I live in the Philadelphia suburbs make around $96,000 per year. These are solid “average” school districts - they are not extremely affluent or oriented overall to pushing kids to a very high level of academic achievement like some of the districts (particularly in NJ) discussed on this board.</p>
<p>Well, on $50,000 one could not live in some of the districts in which one teaches unless married with a spouse earning the same income. I am not saying that they should be entitled to live in that district, just commenting on my observation. What is interesting though is that many private colleges we visited were bragging at recent info sessions that their recent graduates started at 40-45,000. I guess teaching in NJ is even better than starting salaries in other fields. Thanks for posting. I guess this also brings to light what a middle class income is in NJ. So many people think that a middle class salary is really the rich redefining themselves as “middle class”. This gives some perspective to that issue.</p>
<p>With NJ’s problems of empty coffers and out-of-control property taxes, it would be interesting to see where the money is coming from, and if their budget passes.</p>
<p>New Jersey public schools are largely paid for by local property taxes. School districts with lots of business and industry thus put less of a squeeze on individual homeowners than purely residential districts do (places like Paramus, which is filled with shopping malls). I gather that the crunch in NJ is not coming so much from annual salaries as from insurance costs, retiree benefits and other less direct issues.</p>
<p>Most of the public school revenue in NJ comes from property taxes, so there it goes again in those districts. I suppose that other districts in NJ will follow and raise salaries when new contracts are negotiated. </p>
<p>Oh, and Corzine plans on raising NJ highway tolls, so look for increases soon.</p>
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<p>and this bothers me far more than the salary. Pay what you need to attract quality teachers. But some of the benefits that teachers get are just crazy. I have friends that went into teaching simply for the benefits.</p>
<p>The cost of living in New Jersey is also that much higher… I talked to a customer at work who moved to NJ and then got there and saw how much her car insurance and health insurance and whatnot would be and moved right back to where she came from in DE.</p>
<p>The only thing I’ve actually seen that was less there is the cost of gas. That’s all. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to pay 20 cents a gallon less on my gas… but I’d rather pay 2,000 less on my insurance in PA.</p>
<p>The health insurance supplement plan my grandparents have here in PA is about 136/month. That same plan in NJ is 246/month. The lady in the above mentioned scenario went from like 172 to 340 or something like that on hers.</p>
<p>In NJ, the cost of gas is less than other states and self-serve gas is not legal. So you get full-serve at a discount price!</p>
<p>NEM–no, a single income family might not be able to live in these districts, but how many just graduated students with bachelor’s degrees could? that’s a higher starting salary than most other fields with no grad degree. And the pay scale goes up pretty quickly. In our district, where the basic starting salary is high 30’s, many of the teachers are making 80,90, and either have the summer off, or work another job then, thus pulling in over 100 annually. Additionally, many make hundreds a week tutoring after school (and make sure to leave at the dot of 2:45 to get to their other job.)</p>
<p>Please don’t read this as teacher-bashing–as most here know, my H is one. This gives me a lot of insight I didn’t have before into their workloads, commitment (or lack of) and salaries. </p>
<p>A lot of teachers in our lower-echelon town live here and send their kids to the local schools, but those who don’t generally live in much higher prestige towns.</p>
<p>To put it in perspective, I work a year round job which requires a grad degree, plus I work a second job adjunct teaching. This adds up to the same salary my second year teacher H gets for a ten month position (he started at higher than the minimum because of his MD.) So, his salary and perks look pretty good to me!</p>
<p>Garland, I knew someone would jump on my post. This is why I said that I am not stating that they are entitled to live in the district. I realize that many are 22/23 y/o. I was commenting that this is a higher salary than in many fields. I was saying that colleges were boasting that their recent grads started on average at 40-45,000 when we attended info sessions over the last couple of years. My point was that 50k is a high salary. I was just commenting that on that salary one could not necessarily live in the district one teaches. I specifically stated that I am not saying that they are entitled to do so. I agree about summers off, and that second jobs can be had.</p>
<p>Fendergirl, you hit on some key financial hits that residents take in NJ. I would rather pay a few cents more per gallon if I did not have such high NJ health insurance, car insurance premiums, or property taxes.</p>
<p>I think there’s a cap though; they might start at $50,000 and eventually make $100,000 which is great, but [I think] they can’t go much beyond that no matter how many years they work. And they have union dues.</p>
<p>Muffy, I have no clue about caps, but I know what a number of the male teachers in our area do. I have not seen any female teachers do this, but I am sure many do since there are female principals too. Many put in about 5 years in the classroom. They continue on for a masters in administration at night, pick up a job in another district as an assistant principal, and then get wait for a job opening as a school principal.</p>
<p>I live in NJ and have no problem voting for higher property taxes in order to support the excellent public school system in our town.</p>
<p>If salaries and benefits are high then maybe some of the brighter college graduates will go into this important career. Right now, the top talent does not consider teaching.</p>
<p>I don’t mind the salary, but I do mind the wasted money in the system. I won’t go into specifics on a public forum, but I have seen plenty of wasted taxpayer money.</p>
<p>In regard to caps, I think there is some official scale that once you hit the top of, there are no more raises. Although the retirement benefits might be good.</p>
<p>Fascinating. One of my high school teachers (in Kentucky) who had a graduate degree and had been teaching for eight or nine years, was making $40K and working two extra part-time jobs to support his young family (he had young children). I’m sure the cost of living is lower, but still. I rather like the idea of teachers being offered a salary such that it encourages top students to go into teaching.</p>
<p>Absolutely. I think it’s great that teacher salaries are higher now (and I profit from it too). I think it would be good to dispell the myth that teachers are underpaid (at least in some areas)–and I am happy to know many bright kids who are going into it.</p>
<p>Is that $50K a year or or $50K for 10 months of work? That makes a big difference.</p>