My husband works in the computer industry. When he first met me he had considered leaving it all and becoming a teacher. One of the things he liked about me was that I was a teacher. Then he saw my paycheck. He told me that I got paid a lot more than what he thought. Then I had to break it to him...that was my paycheck for the month...not the week like he thought. Ah. His desire to teach went away....quickly. There is a reason why they say teaching makes a great second income....because it make a lousy first one. :) Mine was particularly sad as the whole time I was teaching, Arizona was ranked 48th in pay for teachers. We didn't really have unions and your contract went from year to year. You were lucky to get $500 increase each year. Most years the pay scale was frozen. With the exception of the year I was in curriculum my pay over a 10 year span only went up $6K...and I have a lot of education to help me move over on the scale. The teaching world and the corporate world are … [Read more...]