I thought community colleges were just a fraction of the cost of 4 year colleges? In my state at least CC are free to local HS grads. I think in a lot of cases you would have to do it out of a desire to teach rather than as an profit maximizer.
I genuinely would like to teach - K-12 or higher ed.
I will not work somewhere where I am expected to put in extra hours for no extra pay, allow people to physically and verbally abuse me, and doesn't pay enough for me to make rent and bills.
I don't expect a CC to pay amazingly, but if they want good people they should at least make sure that they offer a better deal than jobs who only want a GED and right now they aren't. Plus the salaries are skewed: I could get a good paying job at my local CC... in the development or 'business' side of things. But not to actually teach. If you can pay data analysts 70k there's no reason to stiff your educational staff. It says a lot about the values of that institution.
> I will not work somewhere where I am expected to put in extra hours for no extra pay
So you'll never teach K-12 without giving up that restriction.
People often joke about how teachers have summer off, 2 weeks at Christmas, fall break, spring break, etc. but don't talk so much about the hours of work they do at home every night grading or doing lesson prep, or the hours of time they put into advising or coaching extracurriculars, as well as required professional development that normally has to be done on their own time.
Yeah, that's why the 'and' is emphasized. I can see why that's the case (grading takes a variable amount of time, so does advising, and required PD to keep teachers up to date is very reasonable). I wouldn't mind doing that if I were paid enough to be secure, but you want me to do that and probably have to work a second job? No.
We're not talking about profit MAXIMIZING, this is planning your own exploitation.
You would have to be supported by someone else or be independently wealthy to take typical CC jobs.
In the US in my area, I'm pretty sure you'd be better teaching K-12 because the unions are bigger / stronger and hence the benefits and job security are greater.
I would happily teach at a CC for ~40-50k. I consider having my basic economic needs taken care of a necessity to being a good teacher - there is a correlation between poverty/economic stress and agitation, irritability, etc. Being in constant stress is not going to be conducive towards teaching well. If I have to work 2 jobs, I'm going to not spend my time grading thoroughly, I will choose the quick and easy route to curriculum development instead of tailoring the curriculum, etc. Oh and forget time for office hours or student emails; have to go deliver groceries or work at a car wash so I can make rent.
I'm not going to take a job where I'm not given what I need to be good at the job - it's terrible for me and it's terrible for the students. The only 'winner' is the institution.
Almost anybody who is teaching is doing it out of a desire to teach. It's certainly one of the lowest paying ways to put years of experience/specialized knowledge to use.
