Wages

[PrincessKsMom]

Look at the difference between the salary of the POTUS and any sports figure. Even the benchwarmers make more than the POTUS. Also depends where you live.

 

[Liberty Belle]

I know how you feel. I'm a special ed aide, also, except we're called para educators here and have other duties (leading reading groups, leading the class when the teacher is in a meeting or doing other things, etc). Some days are better than others, of course, and I love my job, but I only get paid slightly more than when I was a receptionist years ago.

I guess I should feel pretty lucky though, because paras here start at, I think, $12 an hour. It goes up with experience and education, but the most you'll make is around 16 or so an hour.

 

[DISUNC]

There are many different ways to make something of oneself.

I think it is a shame to encourage every child to go to college. Lets face it, not all children are college material, whereas a good vocational school would be great for some kids.

The biggest mistake I see people making is equating a college degree with potential income.

AMEN!!!!!!!

 

[Stacerita]

Sometimes wage isn't for what a person will do. But for what most people won't.

And yes, always push college. It gives that person more options. I know a person who has a masters, but manages a Trader Joe's. He gets paid very well and supports his family.

 

[need_a_Disney_fix]

College is not for everyone. I am 50 and changed careers from nursing (LPN...community college) to computer drafting (once again community college). I love my job at an engineering firm and make $50,000 annually PLUS excellent benefits. One of my kids has a college degree and the other will be attending technical school using his GI Bill. There are opportunities for everyone and it comes down to the individual.

 

[disykat]

Does your position require that college degree, or do you just happen to have one. Not all jobs care if you have a degree, so they don't pay you for having one.

Most aides here do it not only because they enjoy the job, but mainly for the schedule. I know some with college educations, but they don't consider it an asset in their positions.

 

[rangermom]

This topic comes up all the time with my firend. She always worried about how much other people make. She is never happy and always complaining. DH and I (both with degrees) work for the federal govt. We have a modest salary, but we love our lives and are proud of what we do. Both of us could go to the private sector and make way more money, but we're happy and have great benefits.

Stop worring about what other people make. If you are happy with your job and you agree to the salary you are being by accepting the job, then just enjoy it. Life is much more important than money.

 

[Abbie]

I don't think everyone is cut out for college but I don't think a college degree is ever "wasted", no matter if you end up in your chosen field or not!

I know when I was in school in education, I knew going in that I would never make the kind of money that someone in another field would make upon graduation. Surely you were aware of that while working towards your degree? But it was important to me and I chose it, knowing full well I would never get paid what I was worth, and I never really regretted it. Frustrating sometimes but it is what it is. I've been out of the classroom now for 20+ years and work in an entirely different field and love it so there are always other options for you if you decide to do something else!

 

[tasha99]

College isn't for everyone--I think many kids would be better off learning a trade than going to college. I also don't think there is or should be that big of a correlation between education and salary. It's a free market, and people get to make choices about what they want to do.

In a way, I'm in the same boat as you (I make a measly $15/hour as a legal assistant.) I'm applying to grad school now to be an slp. I chose that in part because I know there's a shortage and it pays well (and also of course because I think I'd like it and be good at it.) You could always do something else or go back to school.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

It sounds like you're under-employed. Around here, any kind of aide makes terrible money, whether it's a school aide or an aide in a hospital or nursing home. These jobs do not require college degrees in my geographical area.

As another poster mentioned, many people who work at schools do it as much for the schedule as for the $$.

I worked my way through nursing school in a clerical job because aide jobs (which would have been great experience) paid so little!

 

[aprilgail2]

There are many different ways to make something of oneself.

I think it is a shame to encourage every child to go to college. Lets face it, not all children are college material, whereas a good vocational school would be great for some kids.

The biggest mistake I see people making is equating a college degree with potential income.

I agree! Not to many of the people where I work have college degrees yet tend to make more than many people with college degrees- Its the reason that generation after generation come to work there, not unusual for brothers, fathers, sons, mothers, daughter, uncles etc to all be working there at some point- when you have a new employee the first thing you ask is "who you related to?" Its not the best job in the world but not to many places you can make that kind of money with the benefits and pension that we have without college. My friends son didn't go to college, he barely made it through high school but he is now 23 and just bought his own house-he went right from high school to work with a plumbing company and is doing great.

 

[PatsGirl]

Although I agree that college is most likely the best way to go regardless of the future goal, it's not for everyone. I started telling DS that he had 16 or more years of school but by the time he was a freshman in high school he figured out that college was an option , then he realized that hey, tech school is also an option and off he went. While many of his friends took trade classes that have enabled them to make $50K right out of school, he majored in horticulture and by the time he decided he hated it, it was too late. He was accepted in a major state university horticulture program that offered turf management, agricultural design, etc. but he decided early on that college was not for him (he didn't tell me though even after SATs and college apps!).

He's in the Air Force now and loving it. He thrives on structure and maybe, just maybe he knew what was best for him I can now see that he probably would have not made it through college with good grades, if at all. He is a thrill-seeker, prefers physical work to classroom, and really needed a boost to his self-esteem which the AF is bringing to him.

Long story short, there are other options: military, technical schools, high-paid physical positions, college isn't for everyone and it certainly doesn't guarantee better money than the average joe -- I an attest to that, with two degrees, inches from my Masters, and making just okay $$ because of the position I CHOSE.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I just feel like I have wasted years of money paying for an education that I was told I would need to make good money. When I run into someone who didn't go to college and makes double what I make, it makes me question my decision. Heck it makes me question why I encourage college for my kids. If they can make the money that this lady makes, why send them off to college. Why not have them to get a fast food job in high school and encourage them to work their way up?

My dd is going off to college in the Fall. We have told her that working in a school is a "calling". If you want to make big bucks don't go plan on working in that field.

It stinks.

 

[ajk912]

Sometimes wage isn't for what a person will do. But for what most people won't.

And yes, always push college. It gives that person more options. I know a person who has a masters, but manages a Trader Joe's. He gets paid very well and supports his family.

I agree. Garbage collectors don't make the money they do because it's a glamourous, self fulfilling job. They make the money because no one would that job for $9 an hour.

 

[Sonya]

I am a nurse.

I often marvel that baseball players get millions of dollars to hit a ball with a stick, while I, who am responsible for peoples' lives, makes a living, but not huge, wage.

I think some of this stuff speaks to what is important in this country, and what is not.

ITA. I have always wondered why they make the big bucks while firefighters, nurses, teachers, etc. make so little. Someone said "but can you do what they do?" Well no, but why would I want to be able to hit a ball very far or why is it important to society to score a touchdown? Has that made anyone's life better? Has that saved a life? Educated anyone? And with KC's baseball and football teams playing so badly, why are they still getting paid? If I taught as bad as they played I would be fired!

BTW- when I started teaching 14 years ago I remember every day driving past KFC and seeing an add they had on their sign for "drivers wanted". Being KFC delivery driver made more than I did teaching.

 

[mill4023]

It may seem unfair, but wages have never been based on how much a particular job "deserves". It's based on what people are willing to pay for someone with those particular skills.
Professional athletes get paid huge salaries, not because they deserve it, but because millions of sports fans are willing to pay to see someone do things that only a few people in the world are capable of.

People with a college education make more (in general) because they have acquired additional skills and knowledge that non college educated people don't have. There are plenty of examples of successful people who didn't go to college, but going to college certainly makes it easier to be successful.