Teacher’s net loss

I spent seven years as a full-time teacher in Wake County. In 2009 I had a child and decided to stay at home. My child will be entering kindergarten for the 2014-15 school year, and I was weighing the option of returning to the classroom as a full-time teacher.

When I investigated the salary I would make if I returned to the classroom, I got a rude awakening. During the 2008-09 school year, I made $46,088.50 as a Wake County public school teacher with a master’s degree and six years of experience. If I returned to Wake County public schools with a master’s degree and seven years of experience, I would make $39,978.90. I incorrectly assumed that I would probably be making about the same salary I did in 2008-09, but $6,110 less was quite a shocking math lesson!

Those of us who took time off from teaching to care for our young children and who are interested in going back full-time have no incentive to do so. After all, who would want to go back to the same job they left and make $6,110 less a year?

Debbie Mallard, Cary