Wow is that chart off. They list Maryland at $50,410, and that is WAY off. First year teachers in the highest paying county in MD make $37k, and don't crack the 50k mark until their 7th year. That's the highest paying county. Most of the counties in MD pay anywhere from $24k to 33k, with $50,000 not happening until after the 15 year mark.
Okla. 33,277 S.D. 32,414 Nation 45,771 WOOHOO! WE KICK SOUTH DAKOTA'S ASS!! Yeah!!!!!! I think I'll go buy a happy meal...
You're looking at base and starting salary. The explanation indicates that benefits, and supplementals - like coaching are included. It may not look right for someone right out of school, but when I went to conferences, there were a lot of teachers with a lot of seniority.
I looked at base pay and the time it would take a teacher to get up to the level they listed. Also, from the 2nd link, they only include benefits for California's number, and only include supplimental pay for a small handful of states (Maryland was not one of the handful). If these numbers are accurate, Maryland should be overwhelmingly full of long-time teachers. From the schools I've visited (a large number between observations and my job), that just doesn't seem to be the case.
Slightly off topic, just thought I should bring it up... Pay for teachers over here is horrible, about €17,000/yr. What is almost comic about it is that when there was a teachers strike that lasted for a good 3-4 months about 4 years back (when I was in my 2nd year of secondary school - it's a 6 year course) over pay disputes, the government decided not only to deny their teachers their pay rise, but to simultanteously raise the wages of the political hierarchy (high up government ministers, etc).
How is the cost of living in Ireland, though? What kind of standard of life can you have for 17k Euro/year?
Ireland... has the highest living costs in Europe. For a male under the age of about 24-25, you would be paying €3,000 on a small car like a Micra, women have it easier but not a whole lot. My house is in the south Dublin suburbs, a middle-class area with a few working class areas around it... it is a 2 story, 4-bedroom house built on just under 1/10 of an acre and is valued at about €350,000. Land (and I guess living) costs are cheaper outside Dublin, but the west of Ireland is incredibly obscure and really still a developing economy. A can of (decent) beer over here is about €2 and a pint is €5. Cigarettes are €3.15 for 10 or €6.15 for 20. They don't sell 32 ounce bottles for €2.50, or at all for that matter. A pair of brand-name jeans over here would set you back €80-100. Brand name T-shirts (e.g. Nike) are a good €30-40. What is more is that this is a sellers market to the worst extent; there are no outlet stores such as 'Belz', and when a British chain of stores (Tesco) decided to buy Levi's jeans in huge bulk and sell them to consumers at cheaper prices a few years back (meaning Levi's themselves would not lose any profit), Levi's decided to bring Tesco to court demanding they sell their jeans at higher prices; the worst bit - Levi's won. The list goes onand on. I went to Florida in June this year and August last year with some friends and the 'gameplan' if you will, was to work & save up a good €700+ just for spending on stuff that would be used back over here (e.g. clothes). So imagine trying to survive on €17,000 over here.