Cracks me up..when new grads get out..and find out the pay isn't up to what they thought.
Like you didn't look INTO THAT BEFORE you chose your path???
I don’t know about you, but I started college before the explosion of the internet, before LinkedIn and GlassDoor and all that. One actually had to do hard work then to find out what jobs paid; the guidance counselors sure weren’t willing to lift a finger to point you to the resources.
There really is no excuse now for someone not to have a clue as to starting salaries in their field.
Some specialize in special ed. Salary is higher. Pension is higher. One friend had an MA in biology but couldn’t make enough money in a lab without a PhD, so she went back to school and became a special ed teacher. Another friend was Tier 1 and retired decades ago getting $80,000 a year pension.
Union is very strong. I only know one teacher who lost her job.