Unfortunately, as I mentioned, I have to work another year at my "real job" before I can become a teacher. It has nothing to do with the process of becoming a teacher, or the lack of jobs, but rather with my own personal financial situation. I just don't think I could afford to teach this year - and by that I mean: I don't think I could sustain such a big hit to my salary quite yet. (Well I could, but I have a family to think about...)
Not wanting to wait though, I took a job teaching a night course in physics at a local college. Asked how it went after the first night I replied "have you ever done something that made you feel like a part of your soul just woke up?"
It felt that good.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
The cost of certification - part 3
I just signed up to take the basic skills test. It's a test that all prospective teachers must take as a first step towards certification.
The cost was a by-now-unsurprising $86. That's $60 to take the test, plus a $26 "registration processing fee".
For reference, a person making $55,000 per year makes about $26 per hour. And I simply can't believe that an actual human being had much to do with my online registration.
I wonder where that $26 goes... ...and how many people are taking this test every year...
The cost was a by-now-unsurprising $86. That's $60 to take the test, plus a $26 "registration processing fee".
For reference, a person making $55,000 per year makes about $26 per hour. And I simply can't believe that an actual human being had much to do with my online registration.
I wonder where that $26 goes... ...and how many people are taking this test every year...
The cost of certification - part 2
Having looked around a bit more, I've found an alternative certification program that fits my needs best. It still runs about $15,000 for the program, but it consists of 8 weeks of courses and intense preparation in the summer, followed by a year of teaching at a local high school, during which I'll be evaluated by a mentor teacher and the staffers of the alt cert program. If things go well, I get certified to teach in Illinois after that first year in the classroom. Importantly, I'll get paid a regular salary during that year, so I only have to figure out how to go 8 weeks without salary in the summer.
About that: I've decided to aim for the classroom in the fall of 2012, rather than 2011. This is so my wife can get good and settled in a new job in the fall of 2011 (anyone looking for a fantastic 8th grade science teacher???), and we can save some money for my certification and the lean months before I begin teaching. It means another year before I start teaching, and I hate that. But it makes the economic end of things so much more do-able.
From a bottom-line standpoint, the $15k for the program isn't simply exorbitant, it's insane. Paying such a hefty sum for the "privilege" of drastically reducing one's income just doesn't compute. Comparatively though, the price seems like a good deal. As already mentioned other (traditional) programs require more time without salary and cost as much or more in tuition. However, considering that teaching is a calling - that this is something I feel deeply that I want to (and must) do - $15k isn't going to stand in my way.
On balance, if the only things to be said in favor of the cost of certification pertain to my own personal commitment to the process and the relative (but still extremely high) cost of competing programs, I suppose it's an indication that something else is seriously broken with this system. I mean, how many talented teachers have abandoned the idea of teaching because the first-order economic analysis indicated that it would be extremely foolish to follow this path?
About that: I've decided to aim for the classroom in the fall of 2012, rather than 2011. This is so my wife can get good and settled in a new job in the fall of 2011 (anyone looking for a fantastic 8th grade science teacher???), and we can save some money for my certification and the lean months before I begin teaching. It means another year before I start teaching, and I hate that. But it makes the economic end of things so much more do-able.
From a bottom-line standpoint, the $15k for the program isn't simply exorbitant, it's insane. Paying such a hefty sum for the "privilege" of drastically reducing one's income just doesn't compute. Comparatively though, the price seems like a good deal. As already mentioned other (traditional) programs require more time without salary and cost as much or more in tuition. However, considering that teaching is a calling - that this is something I feel deeply that I want to (and must) do - $15k isn't going to stand in my way.
On balance, if the only things to be said in favor of the cost of certification pertain to my own personal commitment to the process and the relative (but still extremely high) cost of competing programs, I suppose it's an indication that something else is seriously broken with this system. I mean, how many talented teachers have abandoned the idea of teaching because the first-order economic analysis indicated that it would be extremely foolish to follow this path?
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