The Yellow Board

Relocation Salary Questions

Posted by SAX on 7/15/2022, 5:20 pm

Hello fellow directors!
So I am looking and relocating to the state of either Florida or Nevada (opposite ends of the country) LOL.

I'm trying to understand the salary charts of either state. Does anyone have info or knowledge of what the average salary for a middle school or high school band director pays in either state???

Do they get stipends like we do in Texas?

I figure cost if living is higher in those state but not sure if that reflects on the salary.

I have been teaching for 13 years and your help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Re: Relocation Salary Questions

Posted by Bandguy on 7/16/2022, 9:50 am, in reply to "Relocation Salary Questions"

Starting salary in Florida is about 47k.
Try looking at FMEA.org In Florida, most jobs are doing more than just band, it may include Elementary, orchestra or choir. I landed a job in Vegas a few years ago, but turned it down over fingerprinting. They said I had to fingerprint in Nevada and I didn't feel like shelling out for airplane and hotels just to fingerprint.

Re: Relocation Salary Questions

Posted by SAX on 7/16/2022, 11:50 am, in reply to "Re: Relocation Salary Questions"

Do they pay stipends for band directors in either state? We get paid extra for all the other things we do like marching band/UIL and such and extra days too. Thanks in advance for the feedback!

Even $50,000 base pay is low compared to what I earn now. I thought since the cost of living is higher in either state, that the pay would also be higher. LOL.

Re: Relocation Salary Questions

Posted by Houston on 7/18/2022, 8:37 am, in reply to "Re: Relocation Salary Questions"

Is cost of living more expensive in either of those locations? Or is it very specific like Austin and Dallas are higher than many other parts of the state? Example - a quick look at a COL calculator shows me that Orlando is 8% higher than Houston but Milton, Florida is 4.8% lower than Houston with housing being a full 16% less.

So location matters.

Re: Relocation Salary Questions

Posted by Anecdotal on 7/17/2022, 9:01 am, in reply to "Re: Relocation Salary Questions"

This is all purely anecdotal, I don’t have true proof with actual number, but…

I have 2 friends from College that went straight to get a Masters in the south east, and then ended up getting public school gigs in Florida.

While we can all (rightfully or wrongly) complain about the state of Teacher Pay in Texas, it is SIGNIFICANTLY better than over there.

But it also depends on the gig you get. One of the above mention friends taught in a small district for a few years, and with a Masters, was making HALF of what I was making at the time.

Now, he’s in one of the biggest suburban programs over there and makes comparable, but still less.

Texas is not perfect, but it’s better than most (because most of the country is WORSE from a pay scale stand point).

Re: Relocation Salary Questions

Posted by Yep... on 7/18/2022, 6:25 pm, in reply to "Re: Relocation Salary Questions"

And a lot of that discrepancy in pay is due to two things:

1. Most other states don't have a minimum salary floor set by the state.

Because....

2. Teacher salary in most other states is negotiated on a district by district basis by the teacher's unions. If the union is happy with the salary the district is offering, they Green Light the contract.

Re: Relocation Salary Questions

Posted by NLABD on 7/20/2022, 1:58 pm, in reply to "Re: Relocation Salary Questions"

True. My union contract was why I made 76K as a middle school director. I really liked the limited faculty meetings, after school requirements, and other policies designed to prevent admin from taking advantage of teacher time.

When I moved back, I was only able to find something for 58K. Sigh

Re: Relocation Salary Questions

Posted by Hmmm... on 7/24/2022, 6:10 pm, in reply to "Re: Relocation Salary Questions"

I find it interesting that you are sighing over 58K. You must have found the contract & salary terms acceptable or you wouldn't have signed the contract. And, unless there was a family issue that necessitated the move, you didn't have to move. You come across that you were happy at that MS position.

Re: Relocation Salary Questions

Posted by Union Smunion on 7/24/2022, 9:07 am, in reply to "Re: Relocation Salary Questions"

You found the exception rather than the rule. My first contract in union-shop Illinois was for the handsome, union negotiated sum of....$18,650...that's including the stipend. Other contracts in the area were comparable. Chicago paid the most, but factor in cost of living and that Chicago contract had the same purchasing power as the one I had in a rural 5A school. That same year, here in Texas, the absolute minimum I would have made would have been $26K...and we all know almost all districts pay above state minimums (3 years later my first Texas contract was $34K at a 3A school). The year I came to Texas, Illinois' average starting pay was still under $25K.

On top of that, and I've mentioned this before, there was a union meeting during teacher orientation...specifically for all the new teachers who were REQUIRED to join the union, or get fired. In this meeting, we were informed that contract negotiations had broken down, and in two days there was going to be a strike vote...and we were expected to walk out and picket if a strike was voted for. Silly me, I asked what the sticking point was in the contract. Well, the school wanted all the teachers to be on duty by 7:35 every morning. The union thought that unfair and wanted the report time to be 7:38, and wouldn't budge. Everything else regarding salary or contract language was agreed upon. THE UNION WANTED TO CALL A STRIKE VOTE OVER THREE MINUTES!!! This was during the time when the workers at Caterpillar had been on strike for quite a long time because management wanted to increase the prescription co-pay from $2 to $5 (note: their co-pay was set up so that if you only had one prescription or 1000 to pick up, you only paid the $2...and management didn't want to eliminate that). Our strike vote failed by one vote...had one more person voted to strike then all of us new hires would have been on the picket line, with no money at all coming in unless we had parents helping, complaining over three minutes. I have also seen teachers who had a legitimate grievance against the school get thrown under the bus by the union as a bargaining chip.

Tell me again about how great unions are.

Re: Relocation Salary Questions

Posted by Snerk on 8/2/2022, 5:35 pm, in reply to "Re: Relocation Salary Questions"

The 1980s called and wants your salaries back.

« Back to index

[ The Yellow Board ]