Does anyone know what the teacher pay is like at the private schools around (St. Joes/Allen Academy/St. Michaels/Brazos Christian etc)?

I am considering applying to those if they paid an affordable wage to me compared to what I was able to look up being offered in Bryan and College Station.

I don't know exactly about private schools here, but I taught in a private school in Beaumont about 10 years ago and made probably $20,000 a year less than I would've made in a public school. I took the job only because it was late in the summer when we moved to town and there were no options.

public schools traditionally pay more than private schools.

I do understand that public pays more just trying to find out if I can survive off of what private pays here. Been hearing some horror stories about a local public district.

My wife works for CSISD, the old high school. No issues except the pay is low, but that is every where I suppose. I keep telling her to get a new job, but she won't because she likes it to much.

Thanks ksp.. Would you consider that low?

http://www.csisd.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=162882&type=d&pREC_ID=336038

That to me is somewhat affordable. If it was 20 lower than that I would definitely have a problem. There are just no convenient web pages that show the private rates.

Most of the private schools pay about 1/2 that of public schools, especially for the new teacher with little experience.

Many of the private school teachers are former public school teachers who met the minimum TRS retirement age/years of service and then decided to teach at a less stressful job with smaller classes in private school. The combination of TRS retirement and their private school salary approaches and often exceeds that of their public school salary.

Private schools have the benefits of smaller classes and normally much more parent involvement.

Thanks Mr. Cielo. That is sort of what I am afraid of. What happened to the teaching industry?

Private Schools also do not pay into TRS (Teacher Retirement System)

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Private Schools also do not pay into TRS (Teacher Retirement System)

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Do they pay anything towards retirement? Maybe some schools do?

Do you have a child that would attend the private school? I know Brazos Christian gives a tuition discount to teachers.

I know several people who have worked in private schools locally and all say pay is significantly lower.

If you're going to go work at McDonald's wages at a private school thinking that all of your students will be White, from stable homes, and drug free, I'd suggest you lay in a good supply of vodka. There's a nasty shock waiting out there for you. I know two people who have taught in Brazos County private schools, and they both had tales to tell. One definite plus, though, is that the parents send their children to school expecting them to achieve and do well and take an interest in the school. Whichever way you go, best of luck. There are great kids out there; there are rotten kids out there. Help the ones you can.

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Thanks ksp.. Would you consider that low?

http://www.csisd.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=162882&type=d&pREC_ID=336038

That to me is somewhat affordable. If it was 20 lower than that I would definitely have a problem. There are just no convenient web pages that show the private rates.

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My wife doesn't have a degree, so I would be elated with that!

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My wife doesn't have a degree

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That makes a lot of sense.

Also what did you mean by horror stories OP?

I have taught in the past at a B/CS area public school and am currently teaching at a B/CS private school. Private school is less (~70% of public school salary...not half like some suggested).

Don't listen to horror stories. Every school (public or private) has its issues. Some issues are harder for one to deal with than others. I don't mind more challenging students...but for some that is a deal breaker. You have to know yourself and make the best decision with the information you have.

Does anyone know anything about Allen Academy? The wife and I are thinking about putting our first kid there for high school.

As far as pay, yes much lower. Depending upon which school, not 50% lower but 60 - 70% is about right. As a teacher you will not have to deal with as much of the standardized testing stuff going on in public schools but you will have other headaches to bear.

You will get classes a bit smaller, for elementary though many are only 5 or 6 students less than public schools. For high school, you may get some more in depth classes than at a public school but you will not get as many opportunities with electives, clubs, foreign languages, etc. A couple of years ago Allen had few if any clubs and only Spanish as a foreign language but think they have added back French. I know several parents who have moved their children from Allen to Brazos Christian but Allen is the only independent school (non religious) in the area. The area really needs another private school option but the public schools are much better than elsewhere in the state so not sure if that will ever actually happen. It is hard to compete with a public school for high school, especially now with being able to get dual credit through Blinn.

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Does anyone know anything about Allen Academy? The wife and I are thinking about putting our first kid there for high school.

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I'm a coach there. I've enjoyed being there and the students seem to really like it.

LAW361 I honestly believe that public school has many advantages over private school for High School in this area. First and foremost is size. Allen Academy has roughly 60 to 70 students in grades 9 through 12 and about 30 have traditionally been exchange students. Exchange students can offer many benefits to a program, and they are enhanced when the international students are from a broad array of countries. However, when they are from one country it tends to create a divided atmosphere where individual language and culture barriers are maintained vs shared. The overall small enrollment numbers limit class offerings, athletic teams, fine arts, and social events (dances, prom, class reunions, etc).

For example, at Bryan High School you have 2000 students. This allows them to offer almost 2 dozen AP courses, they have an IB program, Dual Credit, etc. There is also the Hammond Oliver Program, and Bryan Collegiate. Marching band, orchestra and a host of electives, fine arts, etc. that the private schools simply cannot match due to size. Add in normal social events and I think there are clear advantages to public school over private for high school in the Brazos Valley. There is a reason that about half of the junior high students enrolled will leave private school to attend a public high school.

I think public education had been failing since the Richards governorship or earlier. The diminishing parental involvement, coupled with increased state and federal mandates as well as more administrators eager to CYA instead of doing what's best for the students simply because it's best.

Public education won't return our students to the global positions we once held until the high school diploma becomes something more than a certificate of attendance.

Roughly 25% of high school graduates will go on to earn a Bachelor's degree so why do we focus so much on producing "college ready" graduates? As a result, the majority of our graduates end up with boatloads of student loans but no degree and no skills.

Why don't we restore our vocational programs to their former glory and remove them from simply being Ag classes? Let our our students who are likely non-college graduates finish high school with some kind of marketable skills so they can start earning a living after high school.

I remember when larger high schools had multi-year auto repair classes, building trades classes, etc. that students could go get their ASE certification or journeyman license and start making decent money. Now students have to pay to attend a trade school because our high schools are geared exclusively for college prep.

Sorry for the rant.

Ffa and auto classes are still at some HS in town

Law361

My girlfriend wen to Allen and the education she got was amazing. She has told me about the assignments and topics they covered, it far surpasses my public education. A lot of the staff there are very accomplished and challenge their students to consume as much material as possible . This is what I have been told anyway. Thats my 2 cents.

w8liftr - BISD and CSISD both have a robust offering of programs for the non-college bound. BHS still has a multi-year auto technology program, cosmetology, welding and others. CSISD has always had a good media technology program and offers another half-dozen or so career-track programs. Even the agriculture programs have branched out to offer more than just animal science. Career and Technology programs are big in Texas.

There are many fields where you can become certified and get a job right after high school. Some examples off the top of my head are, floral design, certified nurse assistant, emergency assistant operator,veterinarian assistant, computer technician.

I am an Allen parent. Some of the information on thread about Allen is inaccurate or incomplete bits and pieces. It all depends on your child and what kind of education both of you are seeking. Allen is having an Open House this Thursday evening to coincide with our Enrichment Night. Please feel free to contact Allen or come to Open House to see for yourself and ask questions.

As for the pay, visit Allen and they will give you your requseted information. Our tuition was raised specifically for the purpose of giving teachers a over 3 % pay raise. I doubt any public or private school educator is going to give you a complete picture of salaries on a message board.

AFTER you pay to take the necessary classes at a Juco or trade school, not straight out of high school.

Yes there are elective hobby classes offered at some high schools, but nothing to prepare you for the licensing exam at graduation. Ag classes have absorbed many of the vocational trades but the depth isn't there to get students ready for a career in a specific trade.

One major reason is most parents in non-urban schools will admit that little Johnny isn't going to Daddy's alma mater, so they won't allow little Johnny to take classes on a vocational track.

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AFTER you pay to take the necessary classes at a Juco or trade school, not straight out of high school.

Yes there are elective hobby classes offered at some high schools, but nothing to prepare you for the licensing exam at graduation. Ag classes have absorbed many of the vocational trades but the depth isn't there to get students ready for a career in a specific trade.

One major reason is most parents in non-urban schools will admit that little Johnny isn't going to Daddy's alma mater, so they won't allow little Johnny to take classes on a vocational track.

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Again ***FALSE*** In 26 years I have trained over 40 Automotive techs in this town from entry level. Have had 8 make it all the way to master Tech.

All you need is patience and the right person and the right trainer (meaning another master tech to take them under their wing) and they can get there. Typically the ones who do not make it, just are not mechanically inclined.

Sometimes a little research and talking to people who actually work in said field is a good start before spewing inaccurate info.

I have had many more fail that have come from TSTC and UTI than I have from local auto programs.

Even a plumber can work 7000 hrs under a master plumber and from apprentice, to journeyman to master plumber if you have the time and desire to do so.

Why can't our high schools provide some of the hours necessary to get started in a trade? Why can't we have a building trades program to develop skills to earn a living in out booming construction industry over the course of 3 or 4 years of high school?

When I was in high school, we had a building trades program that built and sold a house every year with students spending a half day every day working under or with master tradesmen (who worked with the ISD on either a paid or volunteer basis- not sure which- it was in the 80s after all) to identify areas they want to develop marketable skills and then develop those skills as well as network with local contractors who might want to hire them for summer or post graduation employment. It was a great program and the houses were finished out very well- custom cabinets and trim, high end finishes and thoroughly inspected craftsmanship by code enforcement and the instructors. The proceeds from the sale of the house funded the next house.

Restoring half day vocational programs would do wonders for helping our high school graduates have a diploma that actually helps them get employed if they're not college material.

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Why can't our high schools provide some of the hours necessary to get started in a trade? Why can't we have a building trades program to develop skills to earn a living in out booming construction industry over the course of 3 or 4 years of high school?

When I was in high school, we had a building trades program that built and sold a house every year with students spending a half day every day working under or with master tradesmen (who worked with the ISD on either a paid or volunteer basis- not sure which- it was in the 80s after all) to identify areas they want to develop marketable skills and then develop those skills as well as network with local contractors who might want to hire them for summer or post graduation employment. It was a great program and the houses were finished out very well- custom cabinets and trim, high end finishes and thoroughly inspected craftsmanship by code enforcement and the instructors. The proceeds from the sale of the house funded the next house.

Restoring half day vocational programs would do wonders for helping our high school graduates have a diploma that actually helps them get employed if they're not college material.

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Personally I think it has to do with a false conception that college is "best" for all kids. And if it's best, they don't want to encourage/offer too many vocational programs. Then you run into difficulties when the vocational programs have too many minorities and college prep has too few minorities and/or low socio-ec. Can't have that. So, the solution was to simply make most all of high school college prep.

Techno- FTW (blue star for you)

So our kids suffer for political correctness?

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Why can't our high schools provide some of the hours necessary to get started in a trade? Why can't we have a building trades program to develop skills to earn a living in out booming construction industry over the course of 3 or 4 years of high school?

When I was in high school, we had a building trades program that built and sold a house every year with students spending a half day every day working under or with master tradesmen (who worked with the ISD on either a paid or volunteer basis- not sure which- it was in the 80s after all) to identify areas they want to develop marketable skills and then develop those skills as well as network with local contractors who might want to hire them for summer or post graduation employment. It was a great program and the houses were finished out very well- custom cabinets and trim, high end finishes and thoroughly inspected craftsmanship by code enforcement and the instructors. The proceeds from the sale of the house funded the next house.

Restoring half day vocational programs would do wonders for helping our high school graduates have a diploma that actually helps them get employed if they're not college material.

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If someone from UTI or TSTC applies with me and I give them a job, guess where they start?? Master tech? Mid line tech? Or entry level tech? Hint, it is not Master or mid line, they still start at entry level.

Why waste 2-3 years and over 20K in debt when you can start at the exact same spot with the same free general knowledge you get from Auto class at HS??

After taking the plumbing class at TSTC for plumbings get you Journeyman level after one year. You can almost be there by working for a year under a master plumber. Again same as above, logic is not there to spend all that cash, all that time, when you can get PAID while learning the exact same thing.

I understand your basic principal and perception of why it should be that way, BUT perception does not always equal reality.

Sometimes, if you do not want to go to college, hard work and determination gets you the exact place, in the same amount of time, for less money, less aggravation of going to school.

I guess I did not state my reply clearly. I meant that both public school systems in our cities and I am sure others have classes that provide the training and certificates to start many jobs right after high school. For example, CNA, floral design, computer tech, vetenarian assistant and more. You do not need any more school or training!

Thanks for your replies everybody!

In reply to AggiePirate, the " horror stories " I heard were about teachers being way overloaded with busy work from BISD administration. I have heard that it is not nearly as bad in CSISD but that it is a lot harder to get hired in CSISD (I am not talking about the normal " above and beyond " work teachers normally put in, before people start trying to say that). I am not sure how much merit this has but I have heard it from at least two people I went to college with. Maybe some BISD or former BISD teachers can chime in?

At this point in the game I am beginning not to even care about how the environment is and just want a place that I can pick up a check from, LOL. Thanks again to everybody.

Maybe I should have been a plumber or mechanic after reading some of these posts, but I love kids too much for that!