Depends what level of court you're clerking for. I think the Court of Common Pleas here is probably, maybe, around $40. I'm applying for the Commonwealth court, which is an appellate court, which I believe starts at around $45 your first year, and you can stay up to three years, with the amount going up.

Also, a lot has changed in the past 5 years... that was pre-9/11

Why do teachers (and most of the rest of us) have a job and doctors and lawyers have a practice?

Just wondering.

What bar are you going to raise?? Will teachers be paid more and learn nuclear physics and 14th century french literature before being allowed to teach?

-Rudey

http://money.cnn.com/2003/07/18/pf/easy_teachers/

Read that.

-Rudey

Interesting article. Did a decent job of covering both sides of the opinions in a small amount of column space

Perhaps I should have clarified. $75k/year??? My comment was directed at the orginal post. I KNOW most teachers don't make that kind of money in every state. My mom is a prime example... and the crap she put up with in her classroom is definitely worth more than what she is making. If she was making $75k/yr, I think she would be happy with that.

I've had my fair share of crappy teachers that, like KSig mentioned earlier, don't do the prep over the summer and think they can teach their children with movies while they chill in the corner reading a magazine. (My 7th grade science teacher in other words.) Yet she was the first on the picket line to protest for higher salaries.

And I'll agree with an earlier post that said that you would think a education student would go into the career TO TEACH and have a rewarding experience, even though the pay isn't that spectacular. BUT there are teachers out there who just do it for the check and complain when they aren't making enough for doing nothing. THAT bugs me.

It was Federal. I stayed with the court for almost three years and got about a $10,000 raise each year, so 9/11 did not affect the salary negatively at all. Why don't you look at Federal clerkships? They're more prestigious anyway.

It's a little late in the game for Federal clerkships (from what anyone I've talked to has said)... I didn't realize that clerking was something I might like to do until about a month ago. Also, this court I have great connections to through my boss and the rest of my firm. I'm also very familiar with the a lot of the subject matter this particular court deals with and that makes me very marketable.

If I would've seriously considered clerking earlier, I might have tried for the 3rd Circuit because I have a few connections there as well.

/hijack

In North Carolina right now, there is such a lack of adequately trained teachers that anyone with any degree that is relevant can teach. You get the teaching job, and you are a "teacher-in-training", teaching classes every day and then going to certification classes on the weekends. Although I value those people because we need teachers so desperately, they do not receive the same amount of education and training that students who major in education receive. If teachers have higher salaries, more intelligent college students will major in Education and receive complete and adequate training in teaching methods. In college today, a student who has interest in Biology is much more likely to major in Biology than Science Education, because they know the salaries have the potential to be higher in biological fields. Many of these students possess aptitudes for educating and motivating others, but they will never consider teaching as a viable career path unless the average teaching salary increases.

So I guess, the bar that needs raising is demanding that new teachers, with a higher amount of pay, be fully trained in education methods and able to pass the teacher entrance exams. Right now, we are at a point where college graduates with sub-par intelligence and educating skills are the vast majority of the future teachers. Obviously, this does not bode well for education in general.

Thanks..Physical Education get a bad rap sometimes...and with what some do, it is understandable. I hope your kids have the opportunity to be in a better class in the future. I have found that the more stuctured the class is, the more respect you get and the stronger impact you have. Believe it or not, i have found that kids actually like it more my way...and it helps out in reinforcing what they learn. Stronger test score :)
I know that there are good teachers and there are bad teachers, but that is the case with every profession and job. I had really good college professors and really good teachers. Each state has different requirements for teachers. Each states entrance exam is different. Each states pay scale is different. I really don't understand the arguement....a job is a job and everyone has the option of deciding what they want to do. You could have been one of those PE teachers who played basketball everyday...I could have been a lawyer. You chose your job because that is what you loved, regardless of the salary. I started out at $24000, including 2 coaches stipends. I drive a bus for extra money..I have another job for extra money. But I will continue to teach because I love the influence I have on others. I love the crazy kids and the ones that I have to break up fights for. I love the parents who attack me, because hopefully their child will still learn something in my class. I honestly feel like I make a difference. Trust me...I could have gone to law schoool...I could have been a lawyer...but I feel I make a stronger impact on society being a teacher. I could continue on, but my 25 min. lunch is over.

Again, to teach you don't need an advanced degree in nuclear physics. A teacher's work is not so difficult that many people couldn't do it. I'm sure those that teach and have PhD's end up in higher roles than teachers even.

I'm not sure where you came up with the fact that your state has a lack of adequately trained teachers, but I wonder if whomever told you that looked into other fields.

-Rudey

The school where I graduated from is in the midst of a dispute between the board and the teachers' union that has been going on since 2001. The teachers have gone on strike I think 3 times, and at some point said they will keep going on strike every year until their demands are met - showing their lack of concern for the students. As comparison for salary scales, the union has used school districts mostly here in Pittsburgh where the cost of living is much higher. The thing is that the average teacher salary is STILL higher than all but one of the schools they used.

The teachers are some of the highest paid people in my hometown and there are many families where both parents teach. They live in some of the ritziest houses to be had. Meanwhile, the area in general is getting poorer and poorer. However, the teachers want the board to go to binding arbitration, which would probably rule in favor of the teachers, which would raise taxes, which would completely cripple the town.

I could rant about this at length but I won't because it's really upsetting. It's torn apart families and friends, ruined businesses (my grandparents' lawyer, who is a really really nice man, is on the board and has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of business due to this) and I don't even want to think about how cynical it's made the kids.

Teachers in many areas are not paid enough. But there are some places where they're getting away with murder.

Over 50% of the people who want to go to law school perform too poorly on the LSAT to be accepted to law school. Not anyone can do it, just like not anyone can spend 15 hours a day trying to figure out how some obscure statute can get thier client acquitted.

33girl, that's a good assessment of what it's like in our neck of the woods...

Unions may get the teachers more pay, but the strikes (there are always a LOT of strikes...some lasting a very long time... Sheila, remember the Riverview strike? Didn't that go on forever) are ridiculous.

My personal vent is the fact that I know somone who pays $200/month less a month in rent because she's a teacher, but her salary is comparable to mine. Different apartments, but the regular rent is only $25 less, anyway. Just a vent.

The other thing that the WONDERFUL South Carolina system does (nationally known for being ranked 50th... or have we moved up to 49th, yet?) is that they allow teachers with no certification because there's such a high need for them.

I agree with the earlier comment... maybe if we started paying them more, we'd get better quality... the expression, you get what you pay for. Though I guess it's a catch-22, because then you'd get teachers that don't care about teaching, but more about the money.