Teachers/Admin/School people - Where would you work if these were you choices?????

Question

I'm a new college grad and was offered 2 great positions teaching hs chemistry. Which should I choose:

Choice A

Pros - $4,000 more a year, reaching top of a salary guide in only 10 years, more positions for advances in a career down the road if I were to stay in the district, great admin support, a town that's known to pass a school budget

Cons - old school, no great technology, would have to break a letter of intent, 40 minute periods

Has my head

Choice B

Pros - More comfort in the district, know many more people, name carries some weight as my dad served on the board of ed for years, good admin support, brand new facility, state of the art lab equipment and rooms, smart boards, laptop, block scheduling, still good chance of advancement since the district knows me well

Cons - $4,000 less a year, 14 years to reach the top of the salary guide, district notoriously fails budgets, have to work there the rest of the year even if i tell them no (took over a maternity leave)

Has my heart

Answer 1

You must go for choice B.  Money is nothing compared to what choice B will offer you.

You are a teacher. Your purpose in life is to gift children with the best, most advanced and capable education that they can receive. Do you truly believe that you can give them that education without "brand new facility, state of the art lab equipment and rooms, smart boards, laptops" and so on? I don't believe that you can.  Not to the standard that they would hope for these days. Chase the best school. Chase the place you're going to cherish.

If all you want is an extra $4k, you might as well become the janitor for how much you're going to enjoy it.

Answer 2

Choice B

Contacts are worth far more than 4k a year. (how is that possible!!!...i know, I know)

You will find that there are ways to pick up extra pay. teaching an extra class, summers, coordinator positions, department chair when you have some years in your belt. All these things are helped through relationships.

My auxiliary class is more than 4k

Some of my former colleagues are now principals and various other bigshots in my district - I use my contacts to get various things for my classroom. Why would it work? they know my style, they come to me for things at times, I ask them for things.

Answer 3

Heart

Answer 4

totally choice B... Sounds like you would be happier there.  Getting along with your colleagues & admin will make your life much easier! Definitely worth the $4000.

Answer 5

Go with the heart.   Teaching is so hard these days and is getting harder all the time.   The kids are great -- its the parents who believe junk the kids tell them about you and your teaching or when they misbehave it couldn't be their child.   If you go with your heart, you will be able to get through the rough times.

Answer 6

B for sure.  Teaching is hard enough, and having a great support system is crucial to being successful.  4K a year isn't really that much of a difference.  Be happy, you will be a much better teacher, too.  Good luck!

Answer 7

Go with your heart...it's your passion.

Answer 8

I'd probably go with B unless you're in a really tight financial spot.  Most teachers enter the profession realizing we're never going to get rich from it.  $4,000 a year sounds like a lot, but it really isn't that much in the long run...(my $2,500 raise this year amounts to about a $25 difference in each paycheck) and 4 years more to get to the top is not that much, either, if you're looking at a 30ish year career.  I work in the district I grew up in, and it has been really great to work in a community that really feels like home.  Also, teaching science, that lab equipment and technology will be an incredibly important resource for instruction.  Most districts have budget problems.  They work through them.  

Good luck with your decision!