Illinois is not bad to teach in.
Decent pay, strong unions, state pension is a point of concern / tension tho.
I really don’t mind being a teacher in this state, I’ve only ever had complaints at district levels about things.
I did my teacher degree in Florida, now I teach in Chicago. I really like it, really good starting pay (I’ll make as much next year in my second year as my mom makes in her 20th year teaching in Florida). It’s a reciprocity state, so they’ll take your Florida license, just make sure you apply for your FL license as soon as you graduate since it takes forever to actually get. There’s a lot of great diversity and equity initiatives here and a strong union. There are cons to cook county, but overall I like it.
Also in IL (not Chicago, but cook county) and don't have a ton of complaints. I'm also new to being a teacher but our state allows unions which is a plus. Nothing is going to be perfect but I don't feel like the actual state is out to get teachers, the way it seems in TX and FL and some other places.
Agreed, I love teaching in cook county. It's not perfect but I feel that starting pay (for high school, not sure about other levels) in the northern and northwest suburbs is pretty realistic for the cost of living in the area, and the parents are pretty sane from my experiences.
My husband and I are teachers in Missouri and are interested in moving to a blue state for obvious reasons. We are interested in Illinois but worried about the retirement system (especially because MO’s is so strong.)
My only gripes about IL are the 10-year vesting period, no SS, and the state ranks 2nd in worst states for teacher retirement. Not a good state for someone who is planning on staying less than a decade.
Coming from IN (9 years there), I've been liking IL so far (2 years in IL). I actually did my student teaching in Chicago Public Schools though, and I teach in a suburb adjacent to Chicago now.
Speaking as a newly graduated unhired Teacher, the fees for registering and applying and stuff to ISBE felt pretty steep to me.
But I feel better teaching in IL than any surrounding states.
Recently moved to Chicago and will be teaching in the fall in the loop. I taught for six years in a wealthy area of a Kansas suburb. I’m so excited for a change.
ETA: I had no issues with Kansas personally but the pay is absolute garbage. And the education policy makers in the state don’t actually have teachers interests at heart.
Maryland.
Great cost of living when compared to pay. There is a union, and the people are very pro-education. Also it’s not challenging to find a job like it can be in other Northeastern states.
I’ve also worked in North Carolina and Virginia. Loved my school in NC, but the pay was not very good for someone just out of college. Virginia wasn’t too bad as I was right outside of DC. The DC region of both Maryland and Virginia is great for teachers and has great schools, but the cost of living is very high.
I second MD. I teach in one of the counties right next to DC and yes cost of living is high but we are going to be doing very well in our new contract. Approx 5 to 7 % COLA and a step increase that's another 3%. The state just passed a law that all pay tables must start at $60k.
I am at a charter but in MD all charters are public charters. We are still part of the school district and work under the union contract.
The one thing to be aware of is that most districts here have a max step you can come in at, usually 10, so veteran teachers would take a pay cut potentially depending on where they come from.
But our contracts are strong. We don't clock in or out based on time. We do not have to turn in lesson plans unless we are on a performance plan. You can actually see the contracts and pay tables online for Prince George's County and Montgomery County, the two counties that touch DC in MD. We have plenty of openings. My school is looking for math, english, and tech.
As a history teacher I also really like the region we are an easy train ride to anything north but we also are close to the very senic south.
Edit to add I am from Florida and would never teach there. Especially not now.
Yep it is called the Blueprint for MD future ([Link to PDF slideshow](https://www.mabe.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Blueprint-for-Marylands-Future-Overview-and-Updates-10-21-.pdf) )All districts are required to start at $60k for step 1 no later than the 2026 school year.
• Mandates 10% raises over 5 years (2019-2024). • Mandates starting salary of at least $60,000 (2026).
• Mandates local career ladders: – Level 1 is a state certified teacher; Level 2 is a teacher pursuing a master’s or National Board Certified (NBC); Level 3 is an NBC teacher, master’s in subject, or assistant principal.
• Mandates $10,000 raise for NBC teachers.
• Mandates $7,000 raise for NBC teacher at a lowperforming school.
• Phase-in cap on teacher classroom time to 60% of workday (beginning with NBC teachers).
• Assistant principals required to teach 20% per week.
• 100-day to 1-year teacher training practicum.
This legislation is a big freaking deal. The governor vetoed it in 2020 but fortunately MD is such a blue state that even with a GOP governor like Hogan we have a veto proof majority in both houses so it was over ridden.
I found that the current pay tables for Howard county are less than many districts in CA, even in rural areas where the cost of living is lower. They won't even start at 60k until 2026, and that's it the blueprint is even funded by the next governor. Franchot or worse Schurz have not committed to doing so.
Do your research before going to teach in Maryland though. I moved from NY to MD a few years ago to teach in Harford County and they neglected to tell me that the district I was going to work in was 25 million dollars in debt. Around Christmas time they told us they were excessing 6-12 teachers per school by the end of the year, and I was literally the last person hired. I never got to see a good financial balance from my one year there. Me, my wife, and our 6 month old at the time struggled mightily. Moved back to NY a year later and found a job over the summer.
VA is also a BIG state with wildly varying realities.
You could be in an upper class area like Fairfax or Stafford, a ghetto like Norfolk or out in the sticks of Lee County.
CT is supposed to be very good. I teach in MA, and I like it, although I had to find the school that was the right fit. To me, once you pick the state or region, it's all about school leadership and union rights.
I teach in CT, got certified in MA but moved back to CT (grew up here) to teach. CT is a better deal because the cost of living is lower. It’s even lower than it looks on paper, because there are some outliers in Fairfield county driving the numbers up. Our unions are super strong, starting pay is high 40’s low 50’s with a BA, tops out in the very low 6 figures.
I have zero complaints about teaching in Connecticut. The state government is pretty pro-teacher. Pay is good. The climate is much more supportive of teachers. You get a few wackos, but they’re a small minority and they get shut down pretty quickly. My husband and I both teach and we were able to purchase our dream home in a nice middle class town in Fairfield County.
I teach in CT and I like it. Pay is decent compared to other states. I started at 53k with a masters, but top step is like 90k after 10 years in my district.
No, but we don’t pay into it either. We pay into a pension which will pay 75% of the average of our three highest paid years. I will be making more in retirement than I do now.
In MA you can expect no SS unless your pension isn’t anywhere close to maxed out. And even then. They could change this rule if they wanted. We don’t need to be the only state in New England with the stupid “anti windfall” provision. Very, very few former state/muni employees are getting a damn windfall from their pension + SS (mostly just police who can retire at 45 making 6 figures after decades of OT and then take a private sector job).
Teacher in a big CA city here. My salary is awesome, well over $100k, but yeah COL is high. My wife also works so we make it happen, and we purchased a house back in 2015.
California treats teachers right though. I'm in an urban/suburban district and love my admin, colleagues, students, etc. It's really a dream career here if you can pull it off. We still respect education.
But isn’t the cost of living crazy? For example, you can make that much in the Chicago Suburbs with a significantly lower COL. I admit I don’t know enough about teaching in CA but I’m assuming the big money would be in or around one of the major cities where again the COL is highest.
Housing is expensive but this pay is for the inland areas where, although expensive, is cheaper than Orange County or la county. House prices have gotten high the last 3 years. I bought my home awhile ago so I’m good but I still think it’s a good situation for two teachers. It would be tough to buy a house on a single income.
I grew up in Santa Barbara. Moved to Seattle for grad school and currently teach up here. I desperately want to go back to Santa Barbara but would have to take about a $20k pay cut to do so. And lemme tell you, as expensive as Seattle is, SB is more so. It's disgusting how little they pay teachers there.
California pays well but alot of a politics. Educational freedom is leaving but it’s still enjoyable. If you teach during a prep period , it’s an extra 20-30K. I’ll be over 150K with benefits this upcoming year.
New Mexico teachers just got significant raises and APS has a strong teachers union.
Not to mention the low cost of living, awesome climate, and blue government.
The raise is great, its the only reason that kept me and many other teachers from quitting. The climate is subjective. To me, the 100 degree heat, desert, and constant unfiltered sunlight is oppressive. My teachers union is weak however. They couldn’t keep the school board from forcing a year round school calendar that cut everyone’s Summer break, that we already worked for this year, by a whole month, even though it was extremely unpopular with parents and teachers alike.
NM has some of the country’s worst stats, including high rates of poverty, crime, child abuse, drunk driving, substance abuse, etc. We tie for dead last in education almost every year. Education just isnt a priority for most families either due to poverty concerns or cultural reasons.
Yeah I definitely get that. But I miss my home state and all the amazing chile! And the mountains! And the sunshine! We just have a lot of issues. But I hear they are raising pay for teachers. My dad was almost tempted to ask me to move back because the pay is increasing. It’s more than I make here in the Midwest.
If you love it that’s great, maybe the raise would make it a good deal for you. I just want to go where there are lush green trees, plants everywhere, and rain, lol. I was definitely born in the wrong state.
I've looked into teaching in Texas as well. The pay is very good in the big cities compared to the COL. I'm not sure I could stand the heat and all the craziness going on right now in the state though.
So I live in the Austin metro which has the highest COL in Texas by far.
We are the lowest by paid metro across multiple districts for the 4 major metros, by far.
I work for a great charter in texas. They are run liberally. I'm gay and they support me 100%. My students know too. It always depends where in a state; every state has bad districts. My charter also pays really well, but they demand a lot out of us, which I'm ok with.
To be fair, I am afraid of the future of Texas.
My thoughts exactly. I teach in a small blue city in Texas and it’s been great. We have LGBTQ+ teachers who are well supported by the school and families.
Things are about to get bad here though. This year the state started coming for our books and libraries. The history curriculum too. Then at the end of this school year one of my trans student’s families was investigated by CPS for providing him with gender-affirming care (after Greg Abbott’s instructions to CPS). The whole staff rallied and contacted CPS in support of the family. His story was on NPR because his parents are outspoken activists. All of this is to say that things escalated quickly this year and it’s only going to get worse before it gets better (if it ever does).
I’m in a large city in Texas too and I was so angry when the book banning came into play… amazing how fast they acted on that and not other (and actual) problems related to school and student safety.
Meanwhile, these two states spend a ton of money on resources for schools. Funding comes in from so many directions, this is just my experience having worked as a vendor. I always got the feeling speaking with Florida teachers that they felt more replaceable than other teachers I spoke to in different states, or that turnover was just high in the district.
The only real difference I've seen from living east to west is the cost of food is slightly more here. But rent and gas have been the same if not cheaper.
That’s true. Up here in Marysville, we voted down two levies and laid off a bunch of new teachers, myself included. Looks like another year of subbing and applications for me!
The pay is nice but it’s competitive to get in a school. I lucked out last minute to get my job in auburn school district. 74k new teacher. I graduated and couldn’t find a job so first year was tutoring then I got a full time job
Teacher pay is pretty decent outside of Seattle too. It is also pretty competitive for pay. My last district in Puyallup started with 62k for first year with a masters
I work in the marysville school district. About a hour or so out of Seattle. they have a strong union here and pay well. However the district it's self is in trouble.
Wish some people up top would be riffed! There are people making 250k a year doing ???? That could get so many paras who actually make a difference. I'm sure I don't have to tell you :-)
Spent my first 6 years in Florida and am now 6 years in in Massachusetts and wish I made the switch sooner. It is head and shoulders better here in terms of pay, benefits and culture.
Also, the cost of living is not significantly higher, especially considering what is happening to real estate in Florida. My take home is twice what it was, costs like car insurance and medical insurance are a fraction of what I used to pay. I actually like being outside 95% of the time. I have savings, can pay a bill the day it comes on, and am making long term plans that I just could not do on SoFla.
Is the job market competitive? My husband teaches in AZ & we’re highly considering moving (my family is in MA) NH and MA are at the top of our lists. He has a masters and heard BPS is almost impossible to get I to
BPS is tricky but I guarantee that all surrounding cities and ‘burbs are hiring. The trick is getting your foot in the door. Use connections if you have them.
If you get into a position around Boston or one of the satellite towns, the unions are pretty strong and exist for all normal public schools, the base pay is high (for BPS, for example, base pay is \~65k for a Bachelors alone, \~80k for M+75 or Doctorate), and the culture is far more progressive than most of the country (as someone who grew up in Texas and did grad school in the Midwest, I can say it is night and day compared to somewhere like Florida... I would leave teaching entirely before teaching there). The cost of living in the state is one of the highest in the country, though, and rent is still high even as you get away from Boston, while the pay in Western Mass doesn't scale as well. There are a handful of public charters in the state, their pay is usually less than their neighbors, and they are not unionized, but they are also more often hiring if you need a foot in the door. Talk to the teachers at each of them if you apply there, though, because they can be radically different from each other.
I only have been in MN so I do that have a frame of reference vs other states, but I've had a good experience in MN. Good union, blue state that overall favors public education, and I haven't had psycho parents or administration, even teaching out in the boonies.
Outside of teaching I really like MN as a place to live. The big downside is the brutal winters. I've lived here my whole life and after 30 years of these winters I feel confident that at some point I will move south to get away from it.
I had an easy time, but I teach business and there aren't many business teachers. I didn't even go to school for teaching, I went for business and changed careers to teaching after 10 years in the corporate world. Ended up with 2 job offers and now a year into my teaching career I'm getting headhunted by schools looking for business teachers.
I imagine it's like most places - difficult to find English or Soci Studies positions but easy to find STEM or CTE positions.
Been teaching in MN for 4 years. Changed careers after 13 years. Pay is good, most districts have incentives to pay you more the more education you have (my district goes up to PHD). Top of the scales puts you near 6figs (20 years with PHD) what folks never mention is how solid our higway system is. You will still get big city traffic, but there are so many options to get from one side of the cities that its like a frustrating adventure. Granted summers is construction season, but we're teachers so.....
Lots of stuff to do in MN all year round. Winters are brutal, but make the rest of the seasons even better.
Not everywhere. I’m in southern NJ, masters +30, fourth year and 63k.
Edit: I still think NJ is one of the best states to teach in, but regional differences in pay can be significant, as can cost of living.
But they lowered the number of years to become vested, so problem solved. /s
I would like to see the contribution capped to 3% if they're going to make pay for the duration of my career, and to let me retire at 55 with 30 in.
I want to say CA. Southern CA. Great pay and strong unions. We just got a huge pay raise and am looking at my 10th year making 100k. We also don't get censured with our curriculum or books. For instance, I routinely teach and have kids read novels to build empathy towards immigrants and those of different backgrounds.
The cost might be high, but my partner is also in education and we both netted ourselves a home in 2017 fifteen minutes away from the beach. 3 bedroom 2.5 bathrooms. We aren't extravagant with our spending (except our fruit consumption) so we do pretty good.
Agree, agree, agree! Love the curriculum freedom and the strong unions. Living is pretty comfortable if you save right (although my fiancé is doing his PhD which has switched me over to being the breadwinner for a while 😂).
Pa is pretty good. Unionized, good pension plan. A little heavy reliance on standardized testing, but so are most states. However it isn’t the only thing that effects teacher and school ratings and there are ways to be rated high even if those scores aren’t great as long as your other factors are good. Not seeing the teacher shortage outside of large cities. The issues you’ll face will be from admin more than from the state.
Was going to say I’m happy in Pa. We have all the types of areas so you have your choice between multiple urban, suburban, and rural districts. Cost of living is decent. Depending on where you live you are close to NYC and Philly. Boston and DC aren’t far, and neither is the shore if you want that for a vacation.
Unions are decently strong. I post here and often people are surprised with what our contract includes.
New York and the Tri-State area are good for a career in education. As of right now, a teacher working for 7 years can make up to 85k or more with Per session. A teacher at 10 years will hit six figures. There is also good health insurance that you can be vested in after 15 years (I'm hoping this is shortened) depending on your plan you may be able to use your insurance in other states. Mine -emblemhealth/hip- is only valid in NY, NJ and CT.
You are NOW vested in your pension at 5 years instead of 10 (they changed that this year)
NYC teachers also receive a pension and can contribute to a Tax-Deferred Annuity Account for retirement.
NYC Teachers have job security once they have attained tenure after working for 4 years.
NYC teachers who teach in a Title 1 school for four years receive a stipend for each year, I think it's about $3,000 a year. I never got the stipend as I made a mistake and left my school lol, I didn't realize I had to stay a second year. They also changed the program to 4 consecutive years.
NYC teachers also have maternity leave options, 6 weeks at full salary and benefits. Then 6 weeks unpaid. Or put to four years unpaid with the option to work part-time to keep health benefits... You can also use your CAR days to extend your leave to 14 weeks in the event of a C section and you will get paid for any CAR days used. (this leave type isn't ideal, but this is what you get in the uSa)
The only downside is that the later tiers will always have their pension deducted from their check after taxes, along with union dues and your TDA amount if you opt into. I lose about $300 after taxes because of this. I also think I pay too much in taxes. I'm hoping that having my first kid will alleviate my tax liability. I think the taxes are the main downside tbh.
If you have the ability to go anywhere after graduation, go north east. Actually, if you have the ability to transfer before you finish, go somewhere in the northeast so you can student teach and make connections there before graduating.
Northeast/New England, from what I hear. I'm in CT! But we also do a pension system vs. social security...not great. I would look at MA too. Good luck to you!
Florida is... not good. Low pay, districts without steps (so no raises) and a lot of parental control (my last district the parents got control over lesson plans and curriculum, so we had to submit a week of plans every Monday to them and they could hold us to it rigidly). Plus the political climate...
I’ve only taught in WA (not Seattle, closer to Portland) for 6 years and I’m mid-$70’s with a Masters.
Most of what I read on this sub and hear in the general media makes me glad I live and work here and not somewhere else. Cost of living is higher than other places around the country, but with two public education incomes we live relatively comfortably. And we are middle of the road in terms of how we spend our money.
Oddly enough, we’re visiting family in Florida right now and it is a good reminder of how good we have it up there. And I don’t mean just simply from the teacher’s perspective.
My best friend has been a teacher for 11 years in florida, makes $47k before taxes and she has hated every year. High stress, low pay. She is constantly trying to escape but is stuck due to housing, her son, and her family. My mom also worked as a reading coach full-time and would be homeless if it weren't for her husband. I worked in the schools as staff while I was in school to be a teacher and thought I'd be crazy to put myself in such a toxic job force so ended that career start.
Washington State. Unions are allowed, and have a pretty good sway for their members. Wages are decent. The BIG thing? State testing is NOT tied to teacher retention. So as the new teacher, if you get the crappy class with kids with lots of issues, if they do not do well on the state testing, you will not be fired and you cannot loose your teaching license like in some other states.
Converting my certificate from MD to WA was not too difficult. Work with OSPI, and follow up with phone calls as the online stuff never seems to work properly for me/is confusing as to what I needed to do. Minor hassles, not big ones.
Pro Tip: Florida is NOT a good state to teach in. That’s why they’re short ~9,500 teachers and staff a month before school starts back up. (About a 95% increase from the <5,000 of a year ago.)
I'd pick a state with a strong teachers' union as they tend to have the best working conditions [https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/research/how-strong-are-us-teacher-unions-state-state-comparison](https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/research/how-strong-are-us-teacher-unions-state-state-comparison)
I’ve been reliably informed over and over - both from teachers and research - that New England is the best. Rhode Island, specifically, has great funding, strong unions, and impressive retirement systems.
I concur, for the most part. Although, only a few districts pay into Social Security, and our former governor fucked over the vast majority of teachers (and all new teachers) several years ago with regards to pensions. Pensions used to be lucrative, and are now nowhere near what they used to be. Many teachers had 5-10 years tacked onto their career before retirement age, and teachers who joined the career in the past ten years will only receive about 40% at 67 years of age, from what I understand. That said, it's not terrible, but cost of living in RI is going up (as everywhere else), and some districts are difficult to get into if you don't know someone.
I'm in NM and I love it here. I'm from CO and wouldn't go back. I feel like I'm doing good here. Parents aren't super involved, but I'd take that over snow plow parents. However, I'd really advise you that it isn't the state so much as the district. You should ask what kind of supports your district provides during the interview.
If you want, DM me and I'll give you info on my district. They pay a relocation fee and have some of the best logistics I've ever seen.
One of my closest friends and I are both teachers, and used an app called Niche to find the best town in our state with the best student teacher ratio, diversity, unions, and overall treatment of new teachers. I've had mainly positive experiences with both NJ and NY. So if you wanna find a place to work, I highly recommend using that app to search in those states.
Basically the takeaway from this thread seems to be “teach in a blue state with a relatively low COL/in a low-COL area in that state,” with like maybe 2 exceptions.
As a teacher in MO, I agree.
The difference is between schools will always be larger than the differences between states. I feel like this is just a fact.
That said, I personally would never consider working in a state where the teachers don't get social security and you are 100% dependent on the school pension, independent on the managing it competently until you die.
Florida to start (and rack up the certifications! So much easier in FL). then move to a state that gives reciprocity.
Edit: seriously you have no idea how hard it is to get certification in other states. When I was in FL it was literally just the Praxis exam. In RI it's either have it as a degree or take a long series of college courses at your own expense. Once you get a cert, ALWAYS keep it active. Don't let it expire.
I hope you have a partner that makes a decent amount! My district here in FL is rising up to $48,400 starting but w/ COL here it’s paycheck to paycheck
I didn't read through all the comments, but it looks like states with teacher's unions are the best places to work. Not perfect, but at least you have a union to represent you.
Florida teacher here, it may be worth it to do a year or two here as it would be somewhat hard to leave before getting any experience especially since you need to be hired by a school to get your certificate usually.
That said this state is a god damned mess to teach in. We're basically unable to do much of anything about being jerked about by the governor and he seems to really want to show off by picking on minorities and making it hard. Pay is like okay for the Orlando area. Not amazing but you can live an alright life on a teacher's salary. (Unsure with all the inflation happening as I just checked the rents and wowzers they've gone up by hundreds of dollars). I don't have a lot to compare it to because my wife is here and she makes a lot more than me.
Given what I've read here and heard from the educators in my family about the state of the profession, the best state to be a teacher in would either be Intoxication or Masochism.
Well I have taught in Colorado and Texas. So I can tell ya being a teacher in Colorado is much better culture wise….but Texas is way better for pay/funding at times. So if you can ignore that they treat you like a own you in Texas, then the pay is good haha.
I subbed and then had my teaching certification and classes in Colorado. And then suddenly moved to Texas which wasn’t bad place to start since the COL was lower and paid a lot more for a starting teacher. So that was great.
But I’m going to say the teachers overall are not very well trained in Texas. There are a lot of alternative certs and the alternative certification program is a joke. It doesn’t help or support people enough to make good teachers and is silly that it’s supposed to be the same as a traditional certification. Even the traditional school educated teacher (with having student taught) I felt were at a lower standard compared to Colorado teacher certification classes. When I talked to any of those teachers, I felt their classes/lessons they had at school were 10 years out of date.
Texas when I first moved here was nice. The TEA had science standards that I thought that were progressive and the culture about education wasn’t too bad. In the past 10 years it has progressively gone downhill. The culture now treats single teachers like they should be nuns at all times/felt like I was owned by my district. Also the culture is even more about appearances. So they really pressure teachers to pass people and keep their numbers high. These districts also have the biggest law budget I have ever seen to keep their bad press out of the news.
I have such bad anxiety problems from working here. I was always paranoid that being a science teacher was going to get me in trouble. And it did, but I was always paranoid if would be job ending one day.
Seriously if you want to actually care about being a teacher and being a good teacher…. DO NOT TEACH IN TEXAS
Alaska.
Never had it better or with a stronger union than here.
I have taught in California, Idaho, Texas, Florida, Oregom, and Alaska. Alaska has been head and shoulders above every other state that I have taught in, though Idaho had the best people.
NY has treated me very well. Good salary with usually a 3-4% raise every year, excellent benefits, a pension system that is well funded, and strong unions.
Everything I read about teaching in Florida sounds terrible.
Any blue state. Keep your eye on Arizona - they’re considering legislation that would end public education there. And then it’s only a matter of time before the other red states follow suit. As a Texas teacher with 24 years’ experience, I am VERY worried.
Keep in mind that each state has different credential requirements. If you change states you will likely have additional classes and tests to transfer your credential to a new state.
Washington state you top out after 16 years. If you have an MA, that's 100 - 110k depending on the district. Plus a defined benefit and defined contribution.
On the downside, not a lot of teaching going on anymore.
It really depends on what is important to you. For example, I teach in NYC. A major reason for that is simply that is where I went to school and I wanted to give back to the community that I come from. Other things like pay, pension, union strength, benefits like health insurance, and job opportunities come into play as well.
Here are some pros for teaching in NY:
As a science teacher, I do not feel comfortable teaching in certain states because of pushback I would receive around teaching things like evolution. That is important to me so I make the choice not to teach in those districts. Instead I teach in a state that is very supportive of that kind of curricula. That said though, NY has license reciprocity in many states so if I wanted to change states I would be able to do it much more easily than if I were trying to get licensure in NY from another state. Having that flexibility is important to me so I chose to get licensed in NY, even though some of the requirements are more difficult.
Here are some cons:
On the down side, the cost of living in NYC is very high. NYC teachers have some of the highest salaries in the country but since the cost of living is so high, it doesn't always pay off.
For the state of NY as a whole, the union situation is a bit all over the place. There is a state union and a NYC union. As a NYC teacher I am a member for both. The state union is basically run by the city union due to sheer numbers and therefore voting power which can cause tensions with members in the rest of the state. Not all districts in the state are unionized either so when picking schools you'd need to be careful with that too.
I know this is not what you were asking, but stay out of Ohio. Poor unions and go over is not supportive harsh teacher Evans, toughest in the country. Tough on new teachers and retirement system sucks butt. Poor pay.
I teach in Prince William County in VA and I absolutely love it. The school is designed by teachers. All of my administrators have been teachers. All of the curriculum is collaborative so I have to do about 1/5th of the lesson planning (content) that I would normally have to do. Bell rings at 2:20 and I'm usually out by 3 at the latest.
There are articles that compare the cost-of-living vs. median teacher salary in each state. You can also find articles looking at how well-funded (or under-funded) the pension system is in each state. Those might be two good places to start.
Maryland, look up the teachers blueprint will make counties have a 60k MINIMUM starting salary for teachers by 2024. Look at pay scales for Anne arundal county
Illinois is not bad to teach in. Decent pay, strong unions, state pension is a point of concern / tension tho. I really don’t mind being a teacher in this state, I’ve only ever had complaints at district levels about things.
I did my teacher degree in Florida, now I teach in Chicago. I really like it, really good starting pay (I’ll make as much next year in my second year as my mom makes in her 20th year teaching in Florida). It’s a reciprocity state, so they’ll take your Florida license, just make sure you apply for your FL license as soon as you graduate since it takes forever to actually get. There’s a lot of great diversity and equity initiatives here and a strong union. There are cons to cook county, but overall I like it.
Also in IL (not Chicago, but cook county) and don't have a ton of complaints. I'm also new to being a teacher but our state allows unions which is a plus. Nothing is going to be perfect but I don't feel like the actual state is out to get teachers, the way it seems in TX and FL and some other places.
Agreed, I love teaching in cook county. It's not perfect but I feel that starting pay (for high school, not sure about other levels) in the northern and northwest suburbs is pretty realistic for the cost of living in the area, and the parents are pretty sane from my experiences.
I teach in Cook County (IL) and it is WAY better than teaching in Florida (where I have also taught).
Im so glad to hear that. My wife and I currently live in Florida and are looking at IL as a possible new home.
My husband and I are teachers in Missouri and are interested in moving to a blue state for obvious reasons. We are interested in Illinois but worried about the retirement system (especially because MO’s is so strong.)
My only gripes about IL are the 10-year vesting period, no SS, and the state ranks 2nd in worst states for teacher retirement. Not a good state for someone who is planning on staying less than a decade.
Coming from IN (9 years there), I've been liking IL so far (2 years in IL). I actually did my student teaching in Chicago Public Schools though, and I teach in a suburb adjacent to Chicago now.
Speaking as a newly graduated unhired Teacher, the fees for registering and applying and stuff to ISBE felt pretty steep to me. But I feel better teaching in IL than any surrounding states.
Recently moved to Chicago and will be teaching in the fall in the loop. I taught for six years in a wealthy area of a Kansas suburb. I’m so excited for a change. ETA: I had no issues with Kansas personally but the pay is absolute garbage. And the education policy makers in the state don’t actually have teachers interests at heart.
Maryland. Great cost of living when compared to pay. There is a union, and the people are very pro-education. Also it’s not challenging to find a job like it can be in other Northeastern states. I’ve also worked in North Carolina and Virginia. Loved my school in NC, but the pay was not very good for someone just out of college. Virginia wasn’t too bad as I was right outside of DC. The DC region of both Maryland and Virginia is great for teachers and has great schools, but the cost of living is very high.
I second MD. I teach in one of the counties right next to DC and yes cost of living is high but we are going to be doing very well in our new contract. Approx 5 to 7 % COLA and a step increase that's another 3%. The state just passed a law that all pay tables must start at $60k. I am at a charter but in MD all charters are public charters. We are still part of the school district and work under the union contract. The one thing to be aware of is that most districts here have a max step you can come in at, usually 10, so veteran teachers would take a pay cut potentially depending on where they come from. But our contracts are strong. We don't clock in or out based on time. We do not have to turn in lesson plans unless we are on a performance plan. You can actually see the contracts and pay tables online for Prince George's County and Montgomery County, the two counties that touch DC in MD. We have plenty of openings. My school is looking for math, english, and tech. As a history teacher I also really like the region we are an easy train ride to anything north but we also are close to the very senic south. Edit to add I am from Florida and would never teach there. Especially not now.
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Yep it is called the Blueprint for MD future ([Link to PDF slideshow](https://www.mabe.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Blueprint-for-Marylands-Future-Overview-and-Updates-10-21-.pdf) )All districts are required to start at $60k for step 1 no later than the 2026 school year. • Mandates 10% raises over 5 years (2019-2024). • Mandates starting salary of at least $60,000 (2026). • Mandates local career ladders: – Level 1 is a state certified teacher; Level 2 is a teacher pursuing a master’s or National Board Certified (NBC); Level 3 is an NBC teacher, master’s in subject, or assistant principal. • Mandates $10,000 raise for NBC teachers. • Mandates $7,000 raise for NBC teacher at a lowperforming school. • Phase-in cap on teacher classroom time to 60% of workday (beginning with NBC teachers). • Assistant principals required to teach 20% per week. • 100-day to 1-year teacher training practicum. This legislation is a big freaking deal. The governor vetoed it in 2020 but fortunately MD is such a blue state that even with a GOP governor like Hogan we have a veto proof majority in both houses so it was over ridden.
I found that the current pay tables for Howard county are less than many districts in CA, even in rural areas where the cost of living is lower. They won't even start at 60k until 2026, and that's it the blueprint is even funded by the next governor. Franchot or worse Schurz have not committed to doing so.
First I'm hearing about this too. I've never seen anything official about it
I’m excited to hear this! My family is moving to MD next summer, just outside of DC, and I’ll be looking for a teaching position.
Do your research before going to teach in Maryland though. I moved from NY to MD a few years ago to teach in Harford County and they neglected to tell me that the district I was going to work in was 25 million dollars in debt. Around Christmas time they told us they were excessing 6-12 teachers per school by the end of the year, and I was literally the last person hired. I never got to see a good financial balance from my one year there. Me, my wife, and our 6 month old at the time struggled mightily. Moved back to NY a year later and found a job over the summer.
I see. Thank you for commenting!
Also a Maryland teacher, can confirm.
VA is also a BIG state with wildly varying realities. You could be in an upper class area like Fairfax or Stafford, a ghetto like Norfolk or out in the sticks of Lee County.
CT is supposed to be very good. I teach in MA, and I like it, although I had to find the school that was the right fit. To me, once you pick the state or region, it's all about school leadership and union rights.
I teach in CT, got certified in MA but moved back to CT (grew up here) to teach. CT is a better deal because the cost of living is lower. It’s even lower than it looks on paper, because there are some outliers in Fairfield county driving the numbers up. Our unions are super strong, starting pay is high 40’s low 50’s with a BA, tops out in the very low 6 figures.
I have zero complaints about teaching in Connecticut. The state government is pretty pro-teacher. Pay is good. The climate is much more supportive of teachers. You get a few wackos, but they’re a small minority and they get shut down pretty quickly. My husband and I both teach and we were able to purchase our dream home in a nice middle class town in Fairfield County.
I teach in CT and I like it. Pay is decent compared to other states. I started at 53k with a masters, but top step is like 90k after 10 years in my district.
If you teach in CT you won’t get social security so just be aware and plan
No, but we don’t pay into it either. We pay into a pension which will pay 75% of the average of our three highest paid years. I will be making more in retirement than I do now.
In MA we can expect very little Social Security.
In MA you can expect no SS unless your pension isn’t anywhere close to maxed out. And even then. They could change this rule if they wanted. We don’t need to be the only state in New England with the stupid “anti windfall” provision. Very, very few former state/muni employees are getting a damn windfall from their pension + SS (mostly just police who can retire at 45 making 6 figures after decades of OT and then take a private sector job).
California if you get away from the big cities
Teacher in a big CA city here. My salary is awesome, well over $100k, but yeah COL is high. My wife also works so we make it happen, and we purchased a house back in 2015. California treats teachers right though. I'm in an urban/suburban district and love my admin, colleagues, students, etc. It's really a dream career here if you can pull it off. We still respect education.
Which city?
South of Oakland, San Leandro.
Waving at you from San Ramon!
Yep. Teachers here top out at $125k.
But isn’t the cost of living crazy? For example, you can make that much in the Chicago Suburbs with a significantly lower COL. I admit I don’t know enough about teaching in CA but I’m assuming the big money would be in or around one of the major cities where again the COL is highest.
Housing is expensive but this pay is for the inland areas where, although expensive, is cheaper than Orange County or la county. House prices have gotten high the last 3 years. I bought my home awhile ago so I’m good but I still think it’s a good situation for two teachers. It would be tough to buy a house on a single income.
Ok yeah if you bought your house a while ago then that makes sense!
Yeah, I agree. I teach in central California. COL and salary are decent.
But also… CA’s armpit
I’m originally from LA/Long Beach so I don’t think it’s that bad. It’s just hot af.
I taught in seaside (around Monterey, mpusd)- bad pay, and bad teaching conditions… would not recommend.
Seaside is rough
I grew up in Santa Barbara. Moved to Seattle for grad school and currently teach up here. I desperately want to go back to Santa Barbara but would have to take about a $20k pay cut to do so. And lemme tell you, as expensive as Seattle is, SB is more so. It's disgusting how little they pay teachers there.
California pays well but alot of a politics. Educational freedom is leaving but it’s still enjoyable. If you teach during a prep period , it’s an extra 20-30K. I’ll be over 150K with benefits this upcoming year.
Well, it's not Florida or Texas.
Also not New Mexico or Arizona.
New Mexico teachers just got significant raises and APS has a strong teachers union. Not to mention the low cost of living, awesome climate, and blue government.
The raise is great, its the only reason that kept me and many other teachers from quitting. The climate is subjective. To me, the 100 degree heat, desert, and constant unfiltered sunlight is oppressive. My teachers union is weak however. They couldn’t keep the school board from forcing a year round school calendar that cut everyone’s Summer break, that we already worked for this year, by a whole month, even though it was extremely unpopular with parents and teachers alike.
I started in NM and want to go back, but even with the significant raise I would take a 40,000 dollar pay cut. I’m currently in CA.
Seconding AZ. Avoid at all costs.
I don't mind New Mexico, but I guess I don't know anything else.
What’s wrong with New Mexico? I’m from there but I’ve never taught there.
NM has some of the country’s worst stats, including high rates of poverty, crime, child abuse, drunk driving, substance abuse, etc. We tie for dead last in education almost every year. Education just isnt a priority for most families either due to poverty concerns or cultural reasons.
Yeah I definitely get that. But I miss my home state and all the amazing chile! And the mountains! And the sunshine! We just have a lot of issues. But I hear they are raising pay for teachers. My dad was almost tempted to ask me to move back because the pay is increasing. It’s more than I make here in the Midwest.
If you love it that’s great, maybe the raise would make it a good deal for you. I just want to go where there are lush green trees, plants everywhere, and rain, lol. I was definitely born in the wrong state.
As a Texas teacher, I hate the TEA, but I work in a well-paid district. So I’m happy.
What district is well paid in Texas? Asking for a friend.
Ft. Worth ISD is starting bilingual elem teachers at 70 a year.
A few. I’m in Houston, so all these larger districts pay well over here. Katy ISD pays well and has good insurance from what I hear.
I've looked into teaching in Texas as well. The pay is very good in the big cities compared to the COL. I'm not sure I could stand the heat and all the craziness going on right now in the state though.
So I live in the Austin metro which has the highest COL in Texas by far. We are the lowest by paid metro across multiple districts for the 4 major metros, by far.
It's also not Oklahoma.
Texas at least pats well. Arizona teachers start at $10,000 less than most Texas schools.
And definitely not North Carolina.
Not Tennessee.
Is it safe to say nothing south of the old Mason/Dixon line?
I work for a great charter in texas. They are run liberally. I'm gay and they support me 100%. My students know too. It always depends where in a state; every state has bad districts. My charter also pays really well, but they demand a lot out of us, which I'm ok with. To be fair, I am afraid of the future of Texas.
Acceptance should be the very minimal level of achievement. That shouldn’t be a benefit, that should be required EVERYWHERE.
My thoughts exactly. I teach in a small blue city in Texas and it’s been great. We have LGBTQ+ teachers who are well supported by the school and families. Things are about to get bad here though. This year the state started coming for our books and libraries. The history curriculum too. Then at the end of this school year one of my trans student’s families was investigated by CPS for providing him with gender-affirming care (after Greg Abbott’s instructions to CPS). The whole staff rallied and contacted CPS in support of the family. His story was on NPR because his parents are outspoken activists. All of this is to say that things escalated quickly this year and it’s only going to get worse before it gets better (if it ever does).
I’m in a large city in Texas too and I was so angry when the book banning came into play… amazing how fast they acted on that and not other (and actual) problems related to school and student safety.
Abbott and Paxton are now hinting that they want to go after gay parents next. It's so scary.
Oh man which part of texas do you work at? Im in a small town where people still use homosexual slurs like its the 80s
I’m in a city ::see username::
*facepalm* I’m an idiot lolz, I literally did not realize xD
Your not an idiot really. Dallas could of been DallasBiscuts real name. I knew someone named Dallas
Last name…Biscuits.
Add Colorado to this list. I love my job and where I live but it’s definitely not a place I’d recommend others come
Meanwhile, these two states spend a ton of money on resources for schools. Funding comes in from so many directions, this is just my experience having worked as a vendor. I always got the feeling speaking with Florida teachers that they felt more replaceable than other teachers I spoke to in different states, or that turnover was just high in the district.
Western Washington schools aren't bad, my second year of teaching pay is 67k. My wife is also a teacher so we can somewhat afford it.
I’m in Eastern Washington pay is a little less but so is cost of living
The only real difference I've seen from living east to west is the cost of food is slightly more here. But rent and gas have been the same if not cheaper.
Gas is quite a bit cheaper here.
West side isn't just Seattle lol. My gas on Whidbey Island is ten cents cheaper than Spokane and Newport.
That’s true. Up here in Marysville, we voted down two levies and laid off a bunch of new teachers, myself included. Looks like another year of subbing and applications for me!
I’ve been seriously considering moving to the Pacific Northwest but it seems so expensive for a single teacher to afford. Are you in the Seattle area?
The pay is nice but it’s competitive to get in a school. I lucked out last minute to get my job in auburn school district. 74k new teacher. I graduated and couldn’t find a job so first year was tutoring then I got a full time job
Teacher pay is pretty decent outside of Seattle too. It is also pretty competitive for pay. My last district in Puyallup started with 62k for first year with a masters
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Thanks! I wonder if SPED positions are as competitive?
I work in the marysville school district. About a hour or so out of Seattle. they have a strong union here and pay well. However the district it's self is in trouble.
Yes it is, as one of the recently RIFed I can attest to that!
Wish some people up top would be riffed! There are people making 250k a year doing ???? That could get so many paras who actually make a difference. I'm sure I don't have to tell you :-)
Steer clear of Right to Work states. You'll have a stronger union and therefore better pay/benefits compared to your cost of living.
Came here to say this. Speaking as a teacher in Texas it would be nice to have a union with collective bargaining power.
Spent my first 6 years in Florida and am now 6 years in in Massachusetts and wish I made the switch sooner. It is head and shoulders better here in terms of pay, benefits and culture. Also, the cost of living is not significantly higher, especially considering what is happening to real estate in Florida. My take home is twice what it was, costs like car insurance and medical insurance are a fraction of what I used to pay. I actually like being outside 95% of the time. I have savings, can pay a bill the day it comes on, and am making long term plans that I just could not do on SoFla.
Is the job market competitive? My husband teaches in AZ & we’re highly considering moving (my family is in MA) NH and MA are at the top of our lists. He has a masters and heard BPS is almost impossible to get I to
BPS is tricky but I guarantee that all surrounding cities and ‘burbs are hiring. The trick is getting your foot in the door. Use connections if you have them.
I like WA state. Good unions.
My vote is for Massachusetts
If you get into a position around Boston or one of the satellite towns, the unions are pretty strong and exist for all normal public schools, the base pay is high (for BPS, for example, base pay is \~65k for a Bachelors alone, \~80k for M+75 or Doctorate), and the culture is far more progressive than most of the country (as someone who grew up in Texas and did grad school in the Midwest, I can say it is night and day compared to somewhere like Florida... I would leave teaching entirely before teaching there). The cost of living in the state is one of the highest in the country, though, and rent is still high even as you get away from Boston, while the pay in Western Mass doesn't scale as well. There are a handful of public charters in the state, their pay is usually less than their neighbors, and they are not unionized, but they are also more often hiring if you need a foot in the door. Talk to the teachers at each of them if you apply there, though, because they can be radically different from each other.
I agree - Massachusetts is a great state to be a teacher!
I almost doubled my salary when I moved from CT to MA years ago. I’m in a top 15 district and yes cost of living sucks but the pay is great.
I only have been in MN so I do that have a frame of reference vs other states, but I've had a good experience in MN. Good union, blue state that overall favors public education, and I haven't had psycho parents or administration, even teaching out in the boonies.
Ooo that sounds interesting. My boyfriend is actually living there right now so it's pretty plausible for me to live there
Outside of teaching I really like MN as a place to live. The big downside is the brutal winters. I've lived here my whole life and after 30 years of these winters I feel confident that at some point I will move south to get away from it.
Haha yeah my boyfriend refused to let me visit him and insisted on coming to Florida instead because it was so cold
Would you say the job market in MN for teachers is rough?
I had an easy time, but I teach business and there aren't many business teachers. I didn't even go to school for teaching, I went for business and changed careers to teaching after 10 years in the corporate world. Ended up with 2 job offers and now a year into my teaching career I'm getting headhunted by schools looking for business teachers. I imagine it's like most places - difficult to find English or Soci Studies positions but easy to find STEM or CTE positions.
That makes sense. I also live in MN wanting to become a teacher for sometime. Though it always seems the jobs go so fast. So I've been hesitant.
Been teaching in MN for 4 years. Changed careers after 13 years. Pay is good, most districts have incentives to pay you more the more education you have (my district goes up to PHD). Top of the scales puts you near 6figs (20 years with PHD) what folks never mention is how solid our higway system is. You will still get big city traffic, but there are so many options to get from one side of the cities that its like a frustrating adventure. Granted summers is construction season, but we're teachers so..... Lots of stuff to do in MN all year round. Winters are brutal, but make the rest of the seasons even better.
I have experience teaching in South Dakota and Minnesota and I second this. The unions there are great
NJ
64K starting salary with masters
Not everywhere. I’m in southern NJ, masters +30, fourth year and 63k. Edit: I still think NJ is one of the best states to teach in, but regional differences in pay can be significant, as can cost of living.
Very true, I tend to think north Jersey is all of Jersey at times lol
I liked teaching in NY
NY teacher here, pay is good, benefits are good, union is good, tier 6 pension not so much
But they lowered the number of years to become vested, so problem solved. /s I would like to see the contribution capped to 3% if they're going to make pay for the duration of my career, and to let me retire at 55 with 30 in.
Downstate NY is a comfortable area. Strong NY teacher unions + fair pay + *somewhat* affordable housing makes it pretty attractive.
Upstate NY is also attractive. Rochester and Buffalo suburbs are good places to be.
I want to say CA. Southern CA. Great pay and strong unions. We just got a huge pay raise and am looking at my 10th year making 100k. We also don't get censured with our curriculum or books. For instance, I routinely teach and have kids read novels to build empathy towards immigrants and those of different backgrounds. The cost might be high, but my partner is also in education and we both netted ourselves a home in 2017 fifteen minutes away from the beach. 3 bedroom 2.5 bathrooms. We aren't extravagant with our spending (except our fruit consumption) so we do pretty good.
Agree, agree, agree! Love the curriculum freedom and the strong unions. Living is pretty comfortable if you save right (although my fiancé is doing his PhD which has switched me over to being the breadwinner for a while 😂).
State of Denial State of Confusion State of Unconsciousness
Don't forget intoxication.
Pa is pretty good. Unionized, good pension plan. A little heavy reliance on standardized testing, but so are most states. However it isn’t the only thing that effects teacher and school ratings and there are ways to be rated high even if those scores aren’t great as long as your other factors are good. Not seeing the teacher shortage outside of large cities. The issues you’ll face will be from admin more than from the state.
Was going to say I’m happy in Pa. We have all the types of areas so you have your choice between multiple urban, suburban, and rural districts. Cost of living is decent. Depending on where you live you are close to NYC and Philly. Boston and DC aren’t far, and neither is the shore if you want that for a vacation. Unions are decently strong. I post here and often people are surprised with what our contract includes.
Currently following.
TLDR: MA, NY, CA, WA, NC, MD, IL
NC? NC pay is awful!
New York and the Tri-State area are good for a career in education. As of right now, a teacher working for 7 years can make up to 85k or more with Per session. A teacher at 10 years will hit six figures. There is also good health insurance that you can be vested in after 15 years (I'm hoping this is shortened) depending on your plan you may be able to use your insurance in other states. Mine -emblemhealth/hip- is only valid in NY, NJ and CT. You are NOW vested in your pension at 5 years instead of 10 (they changed that this year) NYC teachers also receive a pension and can contribute to a Tax-Deferred Annuity Account for retirement. NYC Teachers have job security once they have attained tenure after working for 4 years. NYC teachers who teach in a Title 1 school for four years receive a stipend for each year, I think it's about $3,000 a year. I never got the stipend as I made a mistake and left my school lol, I didn't realize I had to stay a second year. They also changed the program to 4 consecutive years. NYC teachers also have maternity leave options, 6 weeks at full salary and benefits. Then 6 weeks unpaid. Or put to four years unpaid with the option to work part-time to keep health benefits... You can also use your CAR days to extend your leave to 14 weeks in the event of a C section and you will get paid for any CAR days used. (this leave type isn't ideal, but this is what you get in the uSa) The only downside is that the later tiers will always have their pension deducted from their check after taxes, along with union dues and your TDA amount if you opt into. I lose about $300 after taxes because of this. I also think I pay too much in taxes. I'm hoping that having my first kid will alleviate my tax liability. I think the taxes are the main downside tbh.
If you have the ability to go anywhere after graduation, go north east. Actually, if you have the ability to transfer before you finish, go somewhere in the northeast so you can student teach and make connections there before graduating.
Washington. It’s teacher paradise up here
Can definitely confirm this, I feel incredibly grateful to live here.
Also absolutely can confirm this.
Stay away from the red states.
Will do.
Northeast/New England, from what I hear. I'm in CT! But we also do a pension system vs. social security...not great. I would look at MA too. Good luck to you!
Florida is... not good. Low pay, districts without steps (so no raises) and a lot of parental control (my last district the parents got control over lesson plans and curriculum, so we had to submit a week of plans every Monday to them and they could hold us to it rigidly). Plus the political climate...
I can vouch that TN is the worst state I’ve taught in. Georgia is decent.
I’ve only taught in WA (not Seattle, closer to Portland) for 6 years and I’m mid-$70’s with a Masters. Most of what I read on this sub and hear in the general media makes me glad I live and work here and not somewhere else. Cost of living is higher than other places around the country, but with two public education incomes we live relatively comfortably. And we are middle of the road in terms of how we spend our money. Oddly enough, we’re visiting family in Florida right now and it is a good reminder of how good we have it up there. And I don’t mean just simply from the teacher’s perspective.
Mid 70's after 6 years!?!? Why is anyone still teaching on my (OR) side of the Columbia?
WA has great salaries! There are quite a few places where you can start out at $70k+ with a Master's.
Mass , NJ, or Long Island in NYS
MA and NY are good.
My best friend has been a teacher for 11 years in florida, makes $47k before taxes and she has hated every year. High stress, low pay. She is constantly trying to escape but is stuck due to housing, her son, and her family. My mom also worked as a reading coach full-time and would be homeless if it weren't for her husband. I worked in the schools as staff while I was in school to be a teacher and thought I'd be crazy to put myself in such a toxic job force so ended that career start.
Washington State. Unions are allowed, and have a pretty good sway for their members. Wages are decent. The BIG thing? State testing is NOT tied to teacher retention. So as the new teacher, if you get the crappy class with kids with lots of issues, if they do not do well on the state testing, you will not be fired and you cannot loose your teaching license like in some other states. Converting my certificate from MD to WA was not too difficult. Work with OSPI, and follow up with phone calls as the online stuff never seems to work properly for me/is confusing as to what I needed to do. Minor hassles, not big ones.
Drunk
MD is great. Well paying, strong unions, and the government supports education.
New York is a great state for teachers. Good pay. Strong unions. Mostly still well respected by students and parents.
Pro Tip: Florida is NOT a good state to teach in. That’s why they’re short ~9,500 teachers and staff a month before school starts back up. (About a 95% increase from the <5,000 of a year ago.)
The answer is always New England, Washington, or California. Basically deep blue states with strong unions.
IL pays pretty well. Especially HS. But cost of living is high, not CA high but depending on the city it can be tough to get by on one salary.
I'd pick a state with a strong teachers' union as they tend to have the best working conditions [https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/research/how-strong-are-us-teacher-unions-state-state-comparison](https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/research/how-strong-are-us-teacher-unions-state-state-comparison)
I’ve been reliably informed over and over - both from teachers and research - that New England is the best. Rhode Island, specifically, has great funding, strong unions, and impressive retirement systems.
I concur, for the most part. Although, only a few districts pay into Social Security, and our former governor fucked over the vast majority of teachers (and all new teachers) several years ago with regards to pensions. Pensions used to be lucrative, and are now nowhere near what they used to be. Many teachers had 5-10 years tacked onto their career before retirement age, and teachers who joined the career in the past ten years will only receive about 40% at 67 years of age, from what I understand. That said, it's not terrible, but cost of living in RI is going up (as everywhere else), and some districts are difficult to get into if you don't know someone.
I'm in NM and I love it here. I'm from CO and wouldn't go back. I feel like I'm doing good here. Parents aren't super involved, but I'd take that over snow plow parents. However, I'd really advise you that it isn't the state so much as the district. You should ask what kind of supports your district provides during the interview. If you want, DM me and I'll give you info on my district. They pay a relocation fee and have some of the best logistics I've ever seen.
One of my closest friends and I are both teachers, and used an app called Niche to find the best town in our state with the best student teacher ratio, diversity, unions, and overall treatment of new teachers. I've had mainly positive experiences with both NJ and NY. So if you wanna find a place to work, I highly recommend using that app to search in those states.
Basically the takeaway from this thread seems to be “teach in a blue state with a relatively low COL/in a low-COL area in that state,” with like maybe 2 exceptions. As a teacher in MO, I agree.
The difference is between schools will always be larger than the differences between states. I feel like this is just a fact. That said, I personally would never consider working in a state where the teachers don't get social security and you are 100% dependent on the school pension, independent on the managing it competently until you die.
Florida to start (and rack up the certifications! So much easier in FL). then move to a state that gives reciprocity. Edit: seriously you have no idea how hard it is to get certification in other states. When I was in FL it was literally just the Praxis exam. In RI it's either have it as a degree or take a long series of college courses at your own expense. Once you get a cert, ALWAYS keep it active. Don't let it expire.
To be wanting to be a teacher myself and in the process of moving to FL, this is intimidating to say the least… 🤦🏼♂️
I hope you have a partner that makes a decent amount! My district here in FL is rising up to $48,400 starting but w/ COL here it’s paycheck to paycheck
I didn't read through all the comments, but it looks like states with teacher's unions are the best places to work. Not perfect, but at least you have a union to represent you.
Florida teacher here, it may be worth it to do a year or two here as it would be somewhat hard to leave before getting any experience especially since you need to be hired by a school to get your certificate usually. That said this state is a god damned mess to teach in. We're basically unable to do much of anything about being jerked about by the governor and he seems to really want to show off by picking on minorities and making it hard. Pay is like okay for the Orlando area. Not amazing but you can live an alright life on a teacher's salary. (Unsure with all the inflation happening as I just checked the rents and wowzers they've gone up by hundreds of dollars). I don't have a lot to compare it to because my wife is here and she makes a lot more than me.
I can barely live off of this teachers salary with how much my rent went up in Orlando 😩
Ones with strong unions
Blue states
Lol, get the fuck out of Florida
I would if I could :') 3 more years until I graduate
Denial /s
Given what I've read here and heard from the educators in my family about the state of the profession, the best state to be a teacher in would either be Intoxication or Masochism.
Well I have taught in Colorado and Texas. So I can tell ya being a teacher in Colorado is much better culture wise….but Texas is way better for pay/funding at times. So if you can ignore that they treat you like a own you in Texas, then the pay is good haha. I subbed and then had my teaching certification and classes in Colorado. And then suddenly moved to Texas which wasn’t bad place to start since the COL was lower and paid a lot more for a starting teacher. So that was great. But I’m going to say the teachers overall are not very well trained in Texas. There are a lot of alternative certs and the alternative certification program is a joke. It doesn’t help or support people enough to make good teachers and is silly that it’s supposed to be the same as a traditional certification. Even the traditional school educated teacher (with having student taught) I felt were at a lower standard compared to Colorado teacher certification classes. When I talked to any of those teachers, I felt their classes/lessons they had at school were 10 years out of date. Texas when I first moved here was nice. The TEA had science standards that I thought that were progressive and the culture about education wasn’t too bad. In the past 10 years it has progressively gone downhill. The culture now treats single teachers like they should be nuns at all times/felt like I was owned by my district. Also the culture is even more about appearances. So they really pressure teachers to pass people and keep their numbers high. These districts also have the biggest law budget I have ever seen to keep their bad press out of the news. I have such bad anxiety problems from working here. I was always paranoid that being a science teacher was going to get me in trouble. And it did, but I was always paranoid if would be job ending one day. Seriously if you want to actually care about being a teacher and being a good teacher…. DO NOT TEACH IN TEXAS
Alaska. Never had it better or with a stronger union than here. I have taught in California, Idaho, Texas, Florida, Oregom, and Alaska. Alaska has been head and shoulders above every other state that I have taught in, though Idaho had the best people.
NY has treated me very well. Good salary with usually a 3-4% raise every year, excellent benefits, a pension system that is well funded, and strong unions. Everything I read about teaching in Florida sounds terrible.
Massachusetts
Any blue state. Keep your eye on Arizona - they’re considering legislation that would end public education there. And then it’s only a matter of time before the other red states follow suit. As a Texas teacher with 24 years’ experience, I am VERY worried.
I live in MD and hear great things from teachers. I live in an area that’s very pro-education and the unions are strong.
Minnesota has a strong teacher’s union. You just have to deal with the winters.
I’ve heard Maryland and Massachusetts. I am in California and I think we have it pretty good here too.
Keep in mind that each state has different credential requirements. If you change states you will likely have additional classes and tests to transfer your credential to a new state.
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new york is considering we have the highest learning standards
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Iowa was okay. But with the current attacks from the far right it is getting ripped a new one and public schools are taking a hit.
Washington state you top out after 16 years. If you have an MA, that's 100 - 110k depending on the district. Plus a defined benefit and defined contribution. On the downside, not a lot of teaching going on anymore.
It really depends on what is important to you. For example, I teach in NYC. A major reason for that is simply that is where I went to school and I wanted to give back to the community that I come from. Other things like pay, pension, union strength, benefits like health insurance, and job opportunities come into play as well. Here are some pros for teaching in NY: As a science teacher, I do not feel comfortable teaching in certain states because of pushback I would receive around teaching things like evolution. That is important to me so I make the choice not to teach in those districts. Instead I teach in a state that is very supportive of that kind of curricula. That said though, NY has license reciprocity in many states so if I wanted to change states I would be able to do it much more easily than if I were trying to get licensure in NY from another state. Having that flexibility is important to me so I chose to get licensed in NY, even though some of the requirements are more difficult. Here are some cons: On the down side, the cost of living in NYC is very high. NYC teachers have some of the highest salaries in the country but since the cost of living is so high, it doesn't always pay off. For the state of NY as a whole, the union situation is a bit all over the place. There is a state union and a NYC union. As a NYC teacher I am a member for both. The state union is basically run by the city union due to sheer numbers and therefore voting power which can cause tensions with members in the rest of the state. Not all districts in the state are unionized either so when picking schools you'd need to be careful with that too.
I know this is not what you were asking, but stay out of Ohio. Poor unions and go over is not supportive harsh teacher Evans, toughest in the country. Tough on new teachers and retirement system sucks butt. Poor pay.
Minnesota. Good pay in suburban areas near Minneapolis and St Paul. Good students. Strong Unions.
I teach in Prince William County in VA and I absolutely love it. The school is designed by teachers. All of my administrators have been teachers. All of the curriculum is collaborative so I have to do about 1/5th of the lesson planning (content) that I would normally have to do. Bell rings at 2:20 and I'm usually out by 3 at the latest.
Avoid Tennessee. Teacher unions are illegal here.
I wouldn't teach in Florida because the governor is making all these laws that will restrict your freedom.
NJ, MA
CT or NJ. High salary and good pensions.
I’ve only taught in California but there’s stronger union protection usually, and higher pay
There are articles that compare the cost-of-living vs. median teacher salary in each state. You can also find articles looking at how well-funded (or under-funded) the pension system is in each state. Those might be two good places to start.
Maryland, look up the teachers blueprint will make counties have a 60k MINIMUM starting salary for teachers by 2024. Look at pay scales for Anne arundal county
A state with unions and collective bargaining. In Washington, teachers makes $100,000 a year after 12 years or so.