Is anyone advising their girls to be teachers?

amother

↑ Impatiens ↓

Sun, Jan 05 2025, 2:08 pm

amother Blueberry wrote:

interesting thread considering so many threads in this site are about how morahs and rebbis are really getting so much bec of all the “added benefits” they have and how there is so much time off etc…

and yet, we are still hesitant to have or kids go into chinuch because there simply isn’t enough money in it…

Would the parents be happy with any job? They want part time jobs that bring in a couple hundred thousand dollars a year. There are so many jobs that make less than teaching-are they all nixed also? Not everyone will make the big bucks. Unless you’re in a communist country, some will have more and some will have less. And even if you plan to make more, some people don’t.

amother

↑ Impatiens ↓

Sun, Jan 05 2025, 2:09 pm

amother Chartreuse wrote:

I'm counting on this. Kollel lifestyle isn't even on the radar. I was a SAHM and that is something my girls hope to be too. Working as a teacher, if they desire it (and I can see one of my daughters is particularly cut out for it) for supplemental income or the simple enjoyment of it, is great because you end up with the same schedule as your children.

Agree

amother

Foxglove

Sun, Jan 05 2025, 3:29 pm

I do have to say that being a teacher in certain schools is better than others. My salary is 75 from 8-3:30 and I get to be on the same schedule as my kids with a great tuition discount which adds another 20-30,000 in benefits. Additionally, since I am not working in the summer, I have the option to work at camp to get free camp for my kids. We are still only just making it since we live in a very expensive area and thinking about the future expenses is daunting, but it would definitely be doable if the husband was the one making a decent salary.

amother

Dandelion

Sun, Jan 05 2025, 3:41 pm

amother Impatiens wrote:

Why not? Where I live the frum schools give benefits-chasdei lev, pay towards seminary or college if you’re going for a degree and working in the school, match pension after a certain number of years, tuition break, etc so it’s not bad. If my girls wanted to teach I’d encourage them, if they switch careers so be it. There are many dead end jobs out there, I don’t think teaching or working in a school is one of them.

I don’t know what school you are referring to but almost no girls schools pay for degrees, offer pensions and tuition breaks only help if you have the correct gender and send to the school you are in (and even then many schools only give you one kid). And chasdei lev is 99% only for rebbeim. For a teacher to get she had to teach kodesh and be the primary breadwinner. And I’m not sure why you think one order before pesach that is subsidized is going to help you pay all your bills every month. Not to knock it but people have a very exaggerated perception of what chasdei lev is- it is basically one giant grocery order subsidized of only some foods and paper goods. Doesn’t pay bills, tuition, clothing, camp etc.

amother

Cappuccino

Sun, Jan 05 2025, 4:07 pm

Only once they are also in a profession or have a degree in something with th more monetary potential. At the end of the day we work to earn money, and my parents encouraged me to go for a degree that would allow me to be financially ok and independent. I am forever and ever greatful for their foresight

Never mind that I have a house, it also added a lot to my self esteem that I can contribute half (and sometimes more) to our income.

If she is financially stable, and would like to teach on the side I 100% would encourage her.

amother

↑ Eggshell

Sun, Jan 05 2025, 4:17 pm

amother Impatiens wrote:

Define marrying off decently.
Doing a takana wedding or top of the line?
...
Hate to break it to you there are some jobs that are 40 hours a week 52 weeks a year that pay half as much. Teaching isn’t a bad field to go into.

Teaching in a public school is great, but in a frum school it's financial suicide.
I consider a takana wedding a decent wedding. That's all we can afford and dd is totally fine with that. And I have zero complaints about my job. I wish dd would consider it (discipline is way easier and it's so much more chilled than a frum school) but alas the environment is really not okay for a young girl.
Summers off allow me to take an additional job. (Although the way you said "six figures" is laughable. It's literally 105K-not the half million it sounds like-and after taxes, insurance, no govt programs or tuition breaks, I come home with less than a playgroup morah). With dh in kollel for 20 years and now in klei kodesh, "top of the line" weddings aren't on our radar.
No complaints here. Zero. I'm very grateful we can make it until the third week of the month. I just wish dd wouldn't teach because she will only teach in a frum school and they pay nothing!!!

amother

↑ Impatiens ↓

Sun, Jan 05 2025, 4:28 pm

amother Dandelion wrote:

Chasdei lev is at least twice a year.
Many other professions make less than teachers and people aren’t encouraged not to do those jobs.
Some frum schools offer benefits. I’m not making them up. I don’t have an exaggerated view of what is/isn’t offered.
I know people who work half day at boys school and half day at girls school. If people want to do it they make it work.

amother

↑ Impatiens ↓

Sun, Jan 05 2025, 4:33 pm

amother Eggshell wrote:

105000 is a very respectable part time salary. I know teaching is full time but so many full time jobs don’t pay that much. And there’s also extra hours in other jobs which aren’t always billable. So many women on this site would love to get paid that much. I never intended to make six figures sound like half a million dollars.
Maybe if your daughter wants to teach she can negotiate a higher salary. Or more benefits. Or both.

amother

↑ Lilac ↓

Sun, Jan 05 2025, 8:11 pm

amother Impatiens wrote:

Define marrying off decently.
Doing a takana wedding or top of the line? Part of parenting is saying no, not killing yourself and working like a dog. If you can’t afford it, don’t do it.
If a couple wants to be in kollel, they’ll find a way to make it work. Even without support. And there are many jobs that pay worse than teaching. Teaching especially in a public school you really can’t complain. You have off every month, youre paid a six figure income to work on average six hours a day for ten months a year. Hate to break it to you there are some jobs that are 40 hours a week 52 weeks a year that pay half as much. Teaching isn’t a bad field to go into.

Huge difference between the pay and benefit package for a credential teacher in a large school system like New York and working in many frum schools where the pay is low and the benefits aren't good.

The posts should differentiate as getting teaching credentials and teaching in the public school system is not a bad career choice in terms of salary/benefits versus working hours. Working at a frum school is a completely different type of employment that doesn't pay very well but then why should it since evidently you don't need any kind of "credentials" except in a MO schools and those pay equivalent to public school for the most part.

As posted my mother and most of my aunts were public school teachers and it is an excellent way to earn $100,000 - actually more if the value of benefits is counted.

I do take issue with your saying it is a 6 hour job as most teachers work much longer hours than just the classroom hours. You do have summers off and long winter and spring breaks but the actual work week is probably equivalent to at least 40 hours.

amother

↑ Coffee ↓

Sun, Jan 05 2025, 8:25 pm

Chasdei lev is a $2,000 package of groceries for pesach if your school is part of it , Sukkos is less

It’s amazing
But it’s in no way humongous enough to make up for the low salaries teachers make….

Considered a licensed teacher has earned her degree and may have student loans the argument that other professions pay less is a bit ridiculous. If a secretary requires no schooling , no loans ect it’s not comparable. Compare a teachers with a masters to a profession with a masters and then discuss salary and benefits

As a teacher who loves teaching, my answer is still a big fat no, there is no reason for me to encourage my kids to be poor

Wolfsbane

Sun, Jan 05 2025, 9:03 pm

amother Blueberry wrote:

I don't think people really think teachers are well off financially (especially because communities that have these benefits are mostly not the ones that pay teachers living wages), it's more that people are upset at teachers as a proxy for being upset at schools - and people are upset at schools because tuition is a huge source of stress.

amother

↑ Impatiens ↓

Sun, Jan 05 2025, 9:24 pm

amother Coffee wrote:

Many jobs require masters degrees and have low pay.
https://247wallst.com/special-.....gree/
And there are jobs that don’t require degrees that make a lot.
What happens if your child chooses a different low paying job?

amother

↑ Impatiens

Sun, Jan 05 2025, 9:29 pm

[quote="amother Lilac"]Huge difference between the pay and benefit package for a credential teacher in a large school system like New York and working in many frum schools where the pay is low and the benefits aren't good.

The posts should differentiate as getting teaching credentials and teaching in the public school system is not a bad career choice in terms of salary/benefits versus working hours. Working at a frum school is a completely different type of employment that doesn't pay very well but then why should it since evidently you don't need any kind of "credentials" except in a MO schools and those pay equivalent to public school for the most part.

As posted my mother and most of my aunts were public school teachers and it is an excellent way to earn $100,000 - actually more if the value of benefits is counted.

I do take issue with your saying it is a 6 hour job as most teachers work much longer hours than just the classroom hours. You do have summers off and long winter and spring breaks but the actual work week is probably equivalent to at least 40 hours.[/

lots of people would love to make 100k working 10 months a year and having lots of vacation days plus personal days.
I’m pretty sure where I live schools require teachers to have degrees.

It is true teachers work more but so do other professions. I think personally teachers come out better than other jobs, like pediatricians.

amother

RosePink

Sun, Jan 05 2025, 9:44 pm

amother Lilac wrote:

Public school is good pay but comes along with inflexible hours, working late Fridays and erev yom tov, not being off when your kids are off. The paperwork is very demanding. You are working in a non Jewish, potentially hostile environment. I wouldn't recommend it so fast at this point in time.

amother

↑ Coffee ↓

Sun, Jan 05 2025, 9:49 pm

amother Impatiens wrote:

Did you read the list of jobs you posted in the article? Did you notice that it was listing the median salary- meaning plenty of opportunity to earn higher. Yet the teachers salary maxed out at $80k for a full day 8:30-3:30 teacher with a degree in a yeshivah. Max and median Is not the same thing.

But in general most parents don’t want their kids to suffer financially. I would encourage my child to choose a profession in which they can be happy and pay their bills.