End of Year Thoughts

Yet another school year is over.  We spent our last day together about a week ago.  This was my first year teaching in a private school.  There are definitely some advantages to this environment, but there are also some disadvantages.  

One big disadvantages is that numbers matter.  You want to have large enough classes so that the school is efficiently using resources, but you also want to have small enough classes for students to be able to get more individual attention.  It is a fine balance.  

Related to that is the number of teachers.  As class sizes ebb and flow, so do the teachers.  You may be out of a job because there are not enough students to require a separate teacher.  

Another disadvantage is the pay and benefits.  Compared to the public school system, private schools make a lot less money and benefits are usually not as good.  This year I made about 55% of what I made while teaching full time in the public schools.   I am lucky to have pretty good benefits, but I had more while working in the public system.  The trade-off is the smaller classes and environment.    

I've got some decisions to make.  Do I stay another year?  Can I afford to stay another year?  

I've got some thinking to do.