Do a majority of public high school teachers still enjoy pensions, three month breaks a year, and legendary job security, or is that going away as well?
- Pensions are going away as states find they're unsustainable. My state (Alaska) has moved into a defined-contribution model, which I believe is like most jobs that offer any retirement benefits.
- Yes, 2-3 month breaks are pretty sweet.
- "Legendary job security." I believe this is going away. I have tenure, and my district still offers it. That's a good thing, I believe, because it allows good teachers to stand up for good educational practices. I am definitely able to support students and new teachers better because I am not in fear of losing my job. I know some states have moved away from tenure; I'm not sure how many.
Are these enough to keep good CS teachers in education? I don't think so. If you're a good software developer, I believe you can manage a career where you take some time between jobs. You can build toward a much earlier retirement than you can as a teacher. You can live a wealthier lifestyle along the way.
Neither career is a rosy field of happiness. But my point is that if you're a good high school CS teacher, you can probably find a much more appealing work situation outside of education. If we want good CS teachers available for high school students, we should probably look at this pretty carefully.
