[stevesearer]

Teachers rarely shop around at all, though when they do it is most likely for reasons other than pay like a better faculty fit, improved schedule, or better-aligned educational ideals. For teachers I know, which span both public and private realms, pay isn't a highly motivating factor, whereas the items mentioned above are.

In fact, many teachers at private schools are paid far less than those at public schools - even up to half as much. Why? Because they believe in private schooling and enjoy the freedom that comes with it. Oddly enough, many of these private schools with low pay have much higher performance than the surrounding public institutions.

I have a theory that student success is much more tightly aligned to parent involvement than that of whether teachers are highly paid or not. In private schools, parents pay for the education directly out of their own pocket and therefore have an expectation to get their money's worth and to not have that money squandered.

But you are right that most teaching positions do come with great time off and benefits - even for those starting out.

[larrys]

"Oddly enough, many of these private schools with low pay have much higher performance than the surrounding public institutions."

Not odd at all because if you look at the student body it tends to be quite homogenous at a private school vs public (where anybody can attend) so much of this makes sense. Everybody at the private school can either afford it (and comes from a highly motivated family who pays and obviously cares about education) or is given a scholarship (and is also highly motivated). The school has the stick of being able to kick people out if they act up or disturb the other students.

I went to a private school but my sisters didn't want to go and went to the local public school. I also remember at least one person who started in my class and returned to the local public school. They preferred to socialize and have many friends (private school class in total was quite small).

I think many people (who haven't attended a good school whether it be college or high school) fail to realize the big advantage of being around a group of people who are enjoying the experience and essentially want to be there (not that there wouldn't be some people who would rather not and were forced to but they were in the minority from my experience)

[jbooth]

Last I knew, the stats on private school teachers being lower paid are heavily skewed by catholic schools where you have nuns doing it for pennies. Dunno which numbers you're referencing though, so that may or may not be a factor.

[stevesearer]

I'm actually not familiar with any specific numbers from research, just anecdotal evidence from the private school I attended, the one I taught at for several years, and hearing about other schools in that area.

Interesting point about nuns, I hadn't thought about that but it could very well be true.

[larrys]

I can confirm what you are saying for the private school that I attended (a boarding school). The teachers lived on campus generally but the pay was much less then in the local public school. Some of the teachers were lifers and raised their families on campus. Others were just passing through to other opportunities. One of my teachers (this was way back) father was a secretary of transportation.