Goodbye journalism?

May 20, 2008 9:05 AM

I am thinking about leaving my newspaper career and becoming a high school English teacher.

I am 26 and for the past four years I have worked at a newspaper. The first two years I kept horrendous hours (4 p.m. to midnight, Wednesday through Sunday) working on the copy desk. The past two years, I somehow stumbled into a cushy entertainment/features editor gig, with great hours (9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday).

But, as you all know, the newspaper industry is shaky. My paper recently offered buyouts (I wasn't offered one) and warned that people may have duties reassigned. I am horrendously scared of have to return to the copy desk, or worse, BEAT REPORTING. aHHGGHGHHGHHhghghg.

It seems this is scenario across the board in the newspaper industry and because I'm not particularly career-minded -- a job is something you do to make money -- I am in the process of applying to a teaching certification program.

I enjoy working with people and teaching writing and discussing literature. I would also enjoy not having to work holidays or the summer. I guess that sounds selfish, but it's the truth.

Questions:
1. How much do public high school English teachers make? (I know this answer varies on location, but hearing a few estimates would be nice.)
2. How hard is it to get a job as an English teacher?
3. Will the fact that I had a different career before teaching hinder me in any way?
4. Any advice from current teachers would be appreciated!

Thanks.

posted by als129 to work & money (18 comments total)

Are you talking about the United States?

Keep in mind that the bulk of your time will be spent doing things other than talking about literature.

One thing to look at is the salary ramp--the speed at which your salary increases. This and benefits can be more important than base starting salary.

College English teachers with Ph.D's start at about $48k.
posted by mecran01 at 9:15 AM on May 20

Yes, I'm in the U.S.
posted by als129 at 9:17 AM on May 20

Kinda off topic, but I was on my high school's newspaper and absolutely loved it and our amazing advisor. I didn't go into journalism, but a lot of other people who were on the paper did. So keep in mind that you can still use your journalism skills to influence future generations of journalists as an English teacher.
posted by lockestockbarrel at 9:19 AM on May 20

I don't know where you live but you should look into some of the alternative route to teaching programs available through the local colleges in your area. They are specifically designed for people who have had other careers but want a quicker route into teaching.

I had a neighbor who did one in Minnesota after earning her degree and being a stay-at-home mom for years. I believe her program lasted for about a year or so and did include some student teaching. If you teach in an area where there is a shortage of teachers (sciences, math, special education) you can expect to make a little more money than others. (I covered education as a reporter for two years so that's where that info comes from.) Otherwise, you're likely looking at 38K to 45K for a small to mid-size city, a bit more (but not a lot) for a larger metropolitan area. If you're open to relocation, Broward County and Miami-Dade County in southern Florida are desperate for folks ... and you get to live by the beach.

Just a caveat though as a former copy editor/reporter: The rest of the world does not operate like journalism does. Things move much slower. There is far less plain-spokeness and far more of an adherence to a hierarchical structure than there is in journalism. It drove me crazy that people who were my bosses could barely formulate a sentence.

I've been out for seven years and I still ache for 4 to midnight days and crazy deadlines and fighting with coworkers and making up with them hours later over drinks. YMMV.

Good luck.
posted by notjustfoxybrown at 9:22 AM on May 20

Since public school teachers are government employees, their salary scales are frequently publicly available. Do a google search for your location and teacher salaries. For example, here's what my high school instructors made.

English or Language Arts positions are usually the most competitive to get, but how difficult will depend on your location. With a few years of classroom experience under your belt though, given the high turnover of teachers, getting a job will become easier.

From what I've seen, some of the best teachers have had different careers before coming into the schools. The only thing that will hurt you is your potential lack of certification, unless you actually took all the necessary coursework while still in college. To remedy this, you could look into any credentialing programs that operate in your area (e.g. Teach for America, Teach for New York, etc.).

Keep in mind that teaching is one of the hardest jobs. Friends who have their own classrooms work 70-80 hours a week, every week during the school year.
posted by whimwit at 9:32 AM on May 20

I want to emphasize what NJFoxyB said: If you're in the humanities as opposed to math and science or special ed, you'll have fewer job options. One suggestion is to consider applying in inner city schools, esp. if they offer mentoring.

I began my teaching career in a large, overcrowded urban HS. It was stressful and at times demoralizing in the beginning, but it sure offered 'on the job training'!

The NYC public schools have a program called Fellows in Teaching that actually pays for your Masters tuition AND places you in a school; you teach by day and take classes by night. If you are really committed, it is a great program!

A note about 2nd career teachers: they are often the most impassioned professionals I have ever encountered. However, sometimes it is hard for those from the corporate world to make the transition into classroom.
posted by shabby_doll at 9:38 AM on May 20

Getting a job as an English teacher is very easy right now. They're in demand. You will find this helpful.

I have taught in Los Angeles and am going to teach in NYC this fall. The beginning salaries for both cities is ~45k. You get raises every year and you get bumped up into a higher salary tier if you complete certain numbers of graduate units. Here's the NYC salary schedule, just to give you an idea of what these documents look like.
posted by HotPatatta at 9:54 AM on May 20

This is the time to start looking for jobs. Schools are now hiring for the fall.
posted by HotPatatta at 9:55 AM on May 20

I am a newspaper reporter who has considered teaching.

But in my city, and I think this would probably be the case elsewhere, there is no shortage of college graduates with low-value degrees like mine who would only be qualified to teach language arts once they got their teaching certification. The schools around here are hiring for science and math, but not English.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 10:05 AM on May 20

I'm not familiar with the process of becoming an English teacher, but two comments:

- You seem unsure about whether or not you should do this. I'd encourage you to apply and interview. Worst case, you turn them down and keep your job.

3. Will the fact that I had a different career before teaching hinder me in any way?

I'm out of my field here, but as someone taking English classes as recently as a couple years ago, I'd love someone who has experience outside academia. (Actually, one of my old English profs used to be principal of a high school, and he was great at teaching college kids writing. If he made that jump, your jump from writing and editing a paper to being an English teacher seems perfectly logical!)
posted by fogster at 10:08 AM on May 20

Also, keep in mind that folks have been predicting the death of the newspaper industry since the dawn of television. Even if your paper and all the others folded tomorrow, there would still be a need for people to write for the web, for television and magazines. How about taking your skills there? Or teaching journalism at the community college level. Like M.C. Lo-Carb said, there are hundreds out there who want to teach english. You have a specialized skill having been a copy editor (My former editor friends and I joke that if we ever get laid off, we can stand on the side of the road with a sign that says, "Will copy edit for food" and never be hungry again. Little copy editor humor. Any time I'm between jobs, I freelance or get a staff copy editing job. Don't discount that.
posted by notjustfoxybrown at 10:20 AM on May 20

Having a different career before teaching will help you. Career changing is not as scary as it sounds. (I switched to part time teaching and consulting, albeit much older than you after a 25-year career in development.) Lots of stuff in the green about career changing in general.
posted by nax at 11:37 AM on May 20

Advice: stay out of California. My husband's mother heads human resources at a large school district out here, and because of recent budget cuts, she had to fire AN ENTIRE THIRD of the staff. They're bumping up class sizes, cutting programs. That's going on all over the state, which means we now have a huge surplus of unemployed teachers. I'm not sure what's going on with other states; just keep an eye out for more school budget cuts in this touchy economy.
posted by changeling at 11:41 AM on May 20

Well, actually, in general humanities teaching positions are difficult to get. Unless, in my experience, that position is in English. (ESPECIALLY, English as a Second Langauge. And, no, you do not need to speak another language to be an ESL teacher) Since every student is required to get through four years of English, and since English is a NLCB (No Child Left Behind) test subject, English is the easiest of the humanities to break into.

1. How much do public high school English teachers make? (I know this answer varies on location, but hearing a few estimates would be nice.)

Varies by location is a tremendous understatement. Varies *wildly* by location. Example: I am in my third year in this district, with an MA+45 hrs and make ~43k a year. If I worked in the districts adjacent to mine, I'd be looking at about 10k less per year. Even in Nashville I'd take a pay cut. So, varies WILDLY. BUT, your district has a CBA with the local teachers assoc. The pay scale matrix will be a matter of public record and super easy to find on the internet. Your pay will be determined by (1) your time in the district and (2) your level of education.

2. How hard is it to get a job as an English teacher?

It is very easy to find one, but do not expect it to be the ideal environment. (As if such a creature exists in the public schools)

3. Will the fact that I had a different career before teaching hinder me in any way?

Not at all. If anything, it will be a boon. You will bring other (possibly rare, esp. if they involve technology in some way) skills to your department. Also, it will help your interaction with students, especially in a mentor capacity.
posted by absalom at 12:10 PM on May 20

Teaching is one of the hardest things to do. Teaching well is even harder. Don't go into it if you think it would be a nice career change with summers off. Go into it because you are passionate about changing people's lives and feel that you can make a connection with kids. Most teachers who leave the profession do so within the first three years of teaching. Burnout is fast and painful if you aren't ready for what you are getting into.

As someone above stated, you primarily will not be teaching literature. You will mostly be teaching to NCLB mandates and classroom management depending on where you teach. Perhaps if one day you are lucky to get an honors English class you will teach literature, but those classes go to the teachers who have seniority (and also do not even exist in urban schools struggling to make even safe harbor under NCLB). Schools are unbelievably political environments.

I'm not sure what state you are in, but you probably must do a student teaching assignment, which could last anywhere from 12-26 weeks depending on the state. This means no day job while you are student teaching, and student teaching isn't paid. If you are fortunate to find a school that needs an English teacher and cannot find one, you can be hosted by the school and would be required to attain certification within a small window of time. I live in CT, and there is no shortage of English teachers here. Your state's higher education authority (State Department of Ed) probably has information on their Web site about alternative routes to certification and subject areas that they desperately need teachers in.
posted by archimago at 1:57 PM on May 20

Not only pay, but availability of positions and quality of life once you get once will vary greatly, sometimes even within the same local school system. IANATeacher but both of my parents have been (and are still in education but in different roles now). That said, here's what I've gathered:

Your pay is based heavily on your education, with each level of graduate degree giving a boost. So you'll do OK with just a BA (probably making a lot more than you do now, though I may be overgeneralizing what I know about newspaper salaries), but if you do see this as a long-term position, going part-time for an M.Ed. in a couple years might be worthwhile. The other component of your pay is longevity. You will get a raise at least every couple years (at least if you work in Georgia...) and may get more if the state legislature or local board sees fit. Unfortunately, that also means that if tax collections are low, you might not even get a cost-of-living raise some years (though you'd never get an actual dollar-amount pay cut). But teachers here aren't unionized, so that may change the outlook in some places.

If you're not out to save the world, stay the hell out of the inner city unless you can do a magnet school or something. Your goals are "teaching writing and discussing literature", which will be much more difficult when your students are barely able to read. You probably would not enjoy being in "the ghetto", and don't feel like you're being selfish by staying away, because if you hate your job, you're not doing the students any favors. This isn't to say teaching in a suburb is easy -- it isn't -- but at least you'll be able to actually teach a little instead of babysitting/playing prison guard.

Coming into it as a second career is not a hindrance at all, as some other commenters have noted. My dad was in journalism (TV, not print) and government before moving into teaching through alternative certification; for him, it meant better hours and less stress (imagine that!) plus the perks of summers and holidays, which he rarely got in TV.

Good luck. If you find a good position (which you can), I think you'll be happy with your decision.
posted by SuperNova at 2:12 PM on May 20

Re: archimago's comment, I was going to talk about the problems that the politician's favorite solution, accountability, causes for teachers "in the trenches" ... but it seems to me that in high school that's less of an issue. That will vary by state, I guess, but here in Georgia, 8th grade is where NCLB really takes a toll; by high school, students don't all take the same classes so there's less standardization.

We have two major types of high school test. The graduation tests are basic skills exams taken in junior year, and the only one that significant numbers of people fail is science. English is basically reading comp, and you likely wouldn't be asked to do much with it.

There are also recently-implemented end of course tests for some subjects. If you get stuck with one of those, you might have to do some teaching to the test, but English is the kind of subject where there's not much that you really can do, I wouldn't think.

YMMV.
posted by SuperNova at 2:18 PM on May 20

I know that I am not answering your questions but rather commenting on what you have said.
I am not an English teacher. I am an Art teacher.

You said that you are not career-minded and a job is something you do to make money. You may be very unhappy teaching. It is not to say that some teachers feel this way but it teaching is your passion then you will be happier and more willing to put up with all the other things that come with being a teacher.

If your state has a standardized test then you will be teaching to the test. Your department may have a curriculum that you MUST follow. As someone above said, the courses that you may want to teach will go to the senior teachers.

Everyone thinks that teachers get weekends, holidays and summers free. That isn't the case most of the time. Just ask my husband and dogs. I spend weekends creating lesson plans, judging artwork, taking kids on field trips and contests, giving workshops, going to GT training and conferences, etc. The entire spring semester I have had about 5 whole weekends.
During the summer I have to keep my certificate up to date by attending workshops. I have to prep for the upcoming year. We get 2 months off (not 2 1/2- 3 like the kids). I spend about half the summer working on teaching.

Other than that there is some great advice above. Good Luck
posted by nimsey lou at 5:20 PM on May 20