It's Not About the Money, Money, Money ... But It Kind Of Is

Image courtesy of Renjith Krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This post is less about literacy and more about teaching in general. Teacher salaries, actually. It goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway), that teachers don't do what they do for the money. But money does help. Especially if you like to feed your family, wear clothes to work, and have indoor electricity. Which I do.

Backstory: At the end of the last school year, I stepped out of the classroom. I had the opportunity not to return, and I took it. Teaching was a second career for me, so I had a full set of professional writing, editing and publishing skills to fall back on. For the past several months, I've been freelance writing for a local Internet marketing firm. This past week, I was offered a part-time/temporary job as a special projects editor with my previous publishing company.

And this is where I'm headed with the whole teacher-salary thing. My part-time work will total 151 hours over the course of about 6 1/2 months. And I will make just $1,000 less than than what I was making working 50+ hours/week as a teacher from August-May. With my part-time gig, I will have no work to take home. I still get to take my girls to school every morning and pick them up every afternoon. I get to work with people who value my opinions and my ideas. And, I get a week in Las Vegas come October.

This speaks volumes about teacher pay, doesn't it?

Thanks for reading! It keeps your Mind Full of Literacy!