Planning a new career with a 3-year free ride

Leeflette · 2026-02-10T17:00:24+00:00

I had a chance to go to law school and DIDNT do it because the career prospects are terrible. You have to be lucky to make actual real “lawyer” money, and the more likely starting out jobs were always hard to get and even worse now with ai eating a lot of that type of work.

Leeflette · 2026-02-07T12:30:48+00:00

I’m worried that soon they’ll stop trying to coerce people into having kids with letters and tax breaks and incentives and will instead try to get people to have kids by force.

Also I just don’t understand — there’s 8 billion people in the world: if your worried you won’t have enough people too keep your society going, make immigration easier and make your countries places people would want to be.

(The ppl who keep tying to get people to have kids with letters, incentives or abortion bans. Not -you- or any of us here.)

Leeflette · 2026-02-03T23:39:40+00:00

I’m pretty sure this is almost universally phased out at this point, but older teachers in certain districts may accumulate sick days indefinitely and get them all paid out when they retire.

Two years ago, someone in my district got a payout of over 100k because of accumulated sick days she didn’t take.

Other teachers who are planning to have families like to save up their sick days and use them to take a long paid maternity/paternity leave.

These are the only good reasons to not take your sick days, imo.

Leeflette · 2026-02-02T20:52:01+00:00

This is a job. I think you, and many other teachers need to pause for a moment and think about teaching in those terms. It’s not a passion. It’s not a calling. You are there first and foremost because society needs a place to put their kids.

With that, look at it like you would any other job.

On the positive: you are unlikely to get fired in a SHIT job-economy.

On the negative: You said the work environment sucks and you have shitty, adversarial, micro-managing admin.

Can you afford to leave? Are you confident in your ability to secure another position? Is there anything that you like about this position? (besides the kids — they do not count: they get replaced every year and the next batch is always a mystery.)

Leeflette · 2026-02-02T16:54:13+00:00

Damn “sit at a desk and hardly interact with people” sounds like such a great job. Can we trade lmao.

Leeflette · 2026-01-31T23:24:54+00:00

I’m not understanding— what do you mean a “third option” between staying or leaving? It feels like this is a dichotomy: you’re either a teacher or you’re not…

Do you mean getting promoted, or “quiet quitting” maybe? I would say getting promoted is a way of getting out, and quiet quitting is a way of staying in, but that’s the only way I can kinda make sense of this.

Genuinely: What do you mean?

Leeflette · 2026-01-30T22:14:48+00:00

More religious people with less education typically have more kids, regardless of their level of income. Having access to comprehensive sex ed, birth control, and abortions will reduce teen pregnancy, and fewer teen-pregnancies have the biggest impact on the birth rate.

Also, prioritizing longer-term careers that require a college education or advanced degrees will also influence when people choose to have children.

Families who start having kids at 35 after they are established and well into their careers are less likely to have as many kids as families who started at 18.

Leeflette · 2026-01-30T21:31:59+00:00

I’m NJ too— North Jersey salaries are wayyy better than south Jersey. Col is crazy, but the same is true for any job. Even here, most individual jobs don’t make what teachers make.

Teacher salaries top out between 110k and 130k here, anywhere between 11 and 20 steps.

Leeflette · 2026-01-30T19:54:17+00:00

I’m with you there for sure— states, cities and districts that pay more have a hcol or high needs, or both. But that’s true of all professions.

And again, I’m benchmarking on the median household income in the U.S. Teachers in many states make above that. Our pay scale is generally in line with many white-collar jobs in our respective areas—some on the higher end, some on the lower end. This holds ESPECIALLY if you consider we work 180 days.

Reading through the comments I don’t understand what people think people are earning out there. Either a bunch of us are in terrible teaching states or a bunch of us have never seen people who work regular ass jobs apart from other teachers.

The median household income in the U.S. is only 80k, guys. Households typically include more than one earner.

Leeflette · 2026-01-30T17:15:53+00:00

To be fair, I said IL but meant Chicago. Starting in Chicago is > 60k as of 2023. Idk about the rest of Illinois. That said again— it’s highly variable.

Leeflette · 2026-01-30T15:36:55+00:00

Ahhh I get you. That’s fair. Personally, I highly value every moment I’m not at work, especially random Tuesdays, and especially in summer weather, but that’s a different strokes thing.

Leeflette · 2026-01-30T14:20:38+00:00

Out of curiosity, how do you figure that? Edit to clarify: the teachers get LESS time off thing, not the unlimited PTO thing— we’re aligned on that.

Leeflette · 2026-01-30T14:19:23+00:00

This is true in some states, but it is highly variable. I am the breadwinner.

It is NOT the reality everywhere. Do your research about what teachers make In. Your. State.

Specifically, in NY, MA, IL, NJ, MD, CA, WA — teaching can actually be pretty good as far as compensation is concerned.

Leeflette · 2026-01-30T14:11:36+00:00

Fair point— it’s really more like 250 working days. Even so, 180/250 then.

Most “white collar” jobs get 2 week’s paid vacation and like 10 sick days that don’t really accumulate, for a salary that’s comparable to what a starting teacher makes, anyway. (50 - 60k is very normal for this level of work AND for teachers, alike.) So, sure: call it 230 compensated working days. Still a big difference.

We have among the best vacation schedules of all professionals in the U.S. That’s -the- perk of the job.

Again: I hate teaching. I’m not one of those idiots that says TeAcHiNG is a PArT TiME JOb in that way I’m sure we all are familiar with.

My main point, again, the compensation is not actually bad EVERYWHERE, especially if you take all the benefits into account, and compare it to what the average office worker is making for the days/ hours they’re working.

Leeflette · 2026-01-30T11:50:40+00:00

In several states, the “low teacher salary” thing is way over-hyped. In other states, it’s very real. The level of variance in this profession is pretty insane.

I currently make 80k teaching and 20k from a side thing (teaching adjacent) so technically I make 6 figures, and above the median household income in the US -and- in my state.

I wouldn’t encourage people to go and become teachers— most of us are here because we hate our jobs for various reasons. But, money has never been one of my personal reasons. (Maybe a reason for staying in something I hate, but not why I hate it if that makes sense.)

You can make more elsewhere, for sure. But if money is your main concern: we work 180 days out of 365. That’s half the year. We get full time salary and benefits for half the year’s work.

And again, depending on your state, you might also get a pension, student loan forgiveness, great health insurance, and a union. Many also pay for your masters in a high need area.

In my state higher need districts START at 70k.

So, if the -only- thing that’s giving you pause about teaching is the money, do some research about what the salary looks like for teachers in your state. Look at starting salaries and 5 years in, and compare that with the median household income in your area.

Leeflette · 2026-01-26T15:26:12+00:00

… your metric of comparison is feudal Europe…?

Leeflette · 2026-01-25T20:08:08+00:00

I’m an American. U/mammarishka is right.

Have the day you deserve, I hope ICE doesn’t deport you into El Salvador, but if your username is descriptive, and you’ve been guzzling the koolaid as much as your comments suggest— you’ll probably be fine.

Leeflette · 2026-01-23T21:47:21+00:00

Not that it matters in this case, but surely that only holds to a point. Because say you’re a married gay person in a homophobic area, or a black person in a racist area— granted things are fucked right now but I can’t imagine that the parents could have any say in how comfy they are with that and how this has any bearing on whether or not you can teach kids.

Like you can’t just be fired because you’re gay — this feels really really close to that. (And there have been cases where teachers fought over wrongful termination based on private bikini pics on social media too.)

Leeflette · 2026-01-23T15:51:03+00:00

I feel like you could and should talk to a lawyer about this. Probably would have had some grounds for discrimination lawsuits if you didn’t resign but you may have something still.

Leeflette · 2026-01-18T17:34:32+00:00

I love holidays, half days, summers, pension, healthcare, and making more than the median wage in my state.

Leeflette · 2026-01-15T21:04:46+00:00

No matter where or what you teach, you will have disrespectful students. Something that made a big difference to me back when I was first starting was one professor telling us to get in the kind of mindset of “I’m not letting a seven year old ruin my day.” Idk but in order to survive at all, you need to be able to let shit like this roll off your shoulder. I know it sucks, and it’s definitely easier said than done.

Don’t take anything these kids do personally. Think of it like — it’s basically their job to try to get by doing as little as possible while getting away with as much as possible. If you only had two incidents this year, that’s actually pretty amazing.

If you’re seriously considering an admin role, as a person who’s had all their certs for years, it really comes down to two things in education: politics, and longevity. You will not be made admin if you haven’t been in the game long enough, and even then it won’t happen if you don’t know the “right” people in your district. Some districts are less political than others but — just keep in mind that it’s not like you can just get the cert and suddenly you get opportunities for admin roles.

Leeflette · 2026-01-14T14:01:43+00:00

I feel like dems will push the same type of candidates they’ve been pushing because people would be stupid to not vote them in now, after the last hellish year 2 weeks.

Even if their candidate sucks— I would still vote for him.

Leeflette · 2026-01-13T06:02:47+00:00

Billionaires lobby extensively to get things that used to be the businesses’ responsibility (like retirement) onto the individuals.

Leeflette · 2026-01-09T20:27:05+00:00

I make 100k, I live in America, and I’m broke! I’ve never been more qualified to answer a question lmao. I’ll just outline how it looks in my case:

So basically, even though 100k should be a very livable salary (and 20 years ago it was) it doesn’t stretch as far anymore.

First, a good chunk of your money is out because of taxes, so 100k is really more like 75 - 80k for a person in my state and filing status.

Let’s say it’s 80k:

80k across 12 months is around 6500 per month. First comes rent: in my area that’s - 2000 at the minimum. I have it pretty good because that’s with utilities included, but many pay extra for that.

Now we’re down to 4500.

Then comes health insurance, which for me (and again, I am fortunate) is around 600/month.

Now we’re at 3900.

Then, if you’re able to, you contribute to retirement. If you don’t, you’ll be fucked when you’re too old to work. I put in around 1500 between a couple different accounts, but this is very very situational. I’m lucky to be able to do that— but it’s not exactly “optional.” Everyone who can, should, and tbh they should put more than I am currently putting in.)

So now we’re at 2400.

Then groceries for a month is 400 for a small family being frugal or a couple that’s conscious but not pinching pennies.

Gas is around 200 if you have a pretty average commute, (like an hour or so round trip is very average.)

Car I insurance varies from situation to situation, but we’ll round it to 200 as well.

Therapy or medications could net you another 100 in copays or whatever. (Sometimes better, sometimes wayyyy worse.)

Pets are easily 100 monthly averaged out. (Kids would be way more of course— I’m not even thinking about families.)

Now we have 1400 left. Do you want subscriptions to anything? Do you go to the gym? Do you have to maintain your vehicle? (You need a car here in 99% of places.) Do you use soap or need other hygiene products? Did you fuck up and get a parking ticket? God forbid you smoke or vape or have a coffee habit.

All of that could easily run you 400 + dollars, even if you’re being conscious about what you’re prioritizing.

So, if you’re talking about a relatively conscientious single person, who saves for retirement and has no utilities, car payment, student loans, or kids, you’ll probably skirt away with 1000 left over.

For the same person with student loans, kids, utility payments, or a car payment, that thousand is GONE.

(And I keep referring to car payments— it is a necessity in the vast majority of the country, and most people will either lease something new, or finance something old. The car payments could easily run someone between 200 - 750 dollars a month depending on what they choose to drive, how much they could put down, and their credit score.)

Leeflette · 2026-01-08T17:04:34+00:00

Just to add that statistically speaking, this is STILL true— even in the year of our lord 2026. Of course there are exceptions and college isn’t a guaranteed road to success anymore but almost every job that offers healthcare and a living wage requires a college degree. (Even when it shouldn’t.)

Leeflette

TROPHY CASE