Salary/benefits for Catholic School/Private School teachers

Just wondering how different they are from public school teachers on LI.

Re: Salary/benefits for Catholic School/Private School teachers

extremely different! they have NO pension system, which is a huge benefit for public teachers. they do have health benefits. also, there salary is extremely low in comparison to public school teachers. what i make now in my 6th year teaching would take me 25 years or more to make in a Catholic school setting ( and i still make well under 100K). for example, in the 2000 school year, i was offered several jobs in the Diocese of RVC. My salary would have been $19,500. yes, that was 10 years ago, but even then who could live on that. i ended up taking a job in a public school setting as a teacher's assistant and made more money as an assistant than a teacher in a catholic setting.

dont' get me wrong, i would work in a catholic school setting in a second, but unless you have a DH or SO bringing a good income, i don't see how anyone living on LI can live well on their salary. for most people that do it, it's a supplemental income.

Re: Salary/benefits for Catholic School/Private School teachers

I worked in Catholic schools for 11 years and I wouldn't have it any other way, HOWEVER......

Put it this way...after seven years at my last school, eleven years experience and an MSEd, I never saw $50K! I *think* I maxed out at around $49K. I did have full medical benefits at both of my schools, but only dental at the first one. We did have some kind of a pension plan and I did vest after 5 years, but to be honest, the amount was/is negligible for me since I left two years ago at this point.

When I go back to teaching, I intend to go back to Catholic school--because I believe in the product. Fortunately, my DH's salary allows me to do that.

I remember when I started teaching in the Brooklyn Diocese in 1996, I was hanging out at a bar with my friend/eventual boyfriend/now DH and I bought him a drink close to the end of the night. He put it down unfinished and was about to leave for the night and I said, "Hey pal, drink up...I make freakin' $22K a year and that drink is like half my weekly paycheck!!"

Message edited 8/5/2009 11:05:03 PM.

Re: Salary/benefits for Catholic School/Private School teachers

It does differ from school to school in most cases. I've worked in two catholic high schools and the salaries were about 10K in difference. It is considerably less than any public school. You do get medical benefits as well as pension. I also put money into my own annuity program the school offers. Protection and job secuirty also varies. For now, the benefits of being in my particular school are far more important than making the extra salay. Right now, in my school, I have 8 weeks paid maternity leave which I would not get at any other school. In addition, I have a lot less pressure and more freedom than I see my husband does in the public school system. Also, right now, I feel a lot more comfortable in the Catholic school setting as a teacher and a mom to be. That being said, in the future, I may be moving to public school.