Yes, as a music teacher, you know going in that you are going to net earn less than an administrator . . . . .
. . . . maybe.
Let’s explore.
Suppose you are feeling that being a classroom music teacher just wasn’t a good plan for you and that you might want to consider admin.
Do you really want to trade being someone’s music teacher for being someone’s principal?
Can you see yourself happily doing that job?
That said, I know many former teachers who were never as happy as they were as a member of the administration team.
If you want to parley your music education position into an admin gig, it's best to do it early in your career.
Why?
Because the financial rewards you gain with a higher salary will have the opportunity to compound over a longer period of time during your life.
The downside of an admin position is, if you are young and starting a family, the job will create a substantial drain on one of your primary assets, namely time.
The other reality that needs to be considered is that while you working in a 7.5 hour job, your principal is basically working a 24-hour job with no real time for developing a business. They are on call night and day. You’ve heard of “death by a thousand cuts”? Try “death by a thousand phone calls and emails”. They don't get the options that you do to check out at 3:30.
It's as if they have an ankle bracelet on and it's dialed into the school. For wearing that ankle bracelet, they are mightily rewarded but it’s not like you can’t reward yourself in your 16.5 hour business.
As a music teacher, you primarily report to a principal. As a principal, you report to everyone above AND below you on the school ladder – and every parent gets their own personalized rung.
There is probably no school job description that has changed and ballooned in the past three decades as much as being a principal. Their endless admin responsibilities – especially during Covid – have pushed many principals to the point of leaving the profession.
Has their compensation grown commensurately with their increased duties? I don’t think so.
The phrase that comes to mind is “Is the juice worth the squeeze?”
To their benefit, their “pay and stay” (IRAs and Roth IRAs) investments are sizable and begin compounding right away.
In your 16.5 hour business, you report to no one but yourself. Not so for the principal.
The bulk of a principal’s medical and health benefits are often the same as yours. They have no union protection nor the legal liability package that comes with NEA membership.
They have a different vacation package then you have, and sick days don't really factor into their professional life.
If they are out sick, it's typically on their assistant principal or student advisor to pick up the slack.
When you're out, you need to leave lesson plans and report your pending sick day on the internet to the substitute service.
I’ve seen teachers who groused about coveting their principal’s salary. They lose focus on all the extra responsibilities that come with their boss’s job. Admin are fielding “must answer” calls at ten in the evening and six in the morning while you are developing a deeper relationship with a bag of Cheetos and a Netflix series. You have much more latitude to develop your own down time as well as your business.
It’s not what you make; it’s what you keep.
Remember my “. . . maybe . . ." back at the top?
Don't feel you have to be an administrator or a principle to make a lot of money in the education world. As long as you figure out your 16.5 hour business, you'll be fine but don't hesitate.
Do what gives you satisfaction during in those 7.5 hours we refer to as “your job”.
If you feel that admin gives you the feeling of “power”, there are many other ways to get that feeling by developing your own business. By focusing on your “business” career, you may be leveraging your autonomy for less front-loaded money but if that is what you are really looking for in your life, you should go for it.
Frankly, anyone who pursues a career in education thinking it will fulfill a need for “power” has larger demons to resolve before working with kids or teachers. The gig is about “service”, not “domination” or “power”.
“Compensation” comes in a variety of forms. Next to a paycheck and a state pension, the one I valued the most was time – a 7.5 hour job gave me latitude to do a multitude of opportunities to explore different musical interests which often led to a larger revenue stream.
Teaching music to kids and developing young proactive leadership qualities in my students was working for me.
No admin gig could replicate that sensation for me.
Whatever you decide to do, take action today!
Start with some research.
Talk to friends.
Identify the ruts you might be in and recast them as an early chapter in your impending best-selling “success story”.
Create a one, five, and ten year scenario that mirrors you and your families values, goals, and wants and start on that plan.
And as far as comparing what you and your principal get paid, remember that even if the grass seems greener on the other side, you still have to mow it.
. . . . maybe.
Let’s explore.
Suppose you are feeling that being a classroom music teacher just wasn’t a good plan for you and that you might want to consider admin.
Do you really want to trade being someone’s music teacher for being someone’s principal?
Can you see yourself happily doing that job?
That said, I know many former teachers who were never as happy as they were as a member of the administration team.
If you want to parley your music education position into an admin gig, it's best to do it early in your career.
Why?
Because the financial rewards you gain with a higher salary will have the opportunity to compound over a longer period of time during your life.
The downside of an admin position is, if you are young and starting a family, the job will create a substantial drain on one of your primary assets, namely time.
The other reality that needs to be considered is that while you working in a 7.5 hour job, your principal is basically working a 24-hour job with no real time for developing a business. They are on call night and day. You’ve heard of “death by a thousand cuts”? Try “death by a thousand phone calls and emails”. They don't get the options that you do to check out at 3:30.
It's as if they have an ankle bracelet on and it's dialed into the school. For wearing that ankle bracelet, they are mightily rewarded but it’s not like you can’t reward yourself in your 16.5 hour business.
As a music teacher, you primarily report to a principal. As a principal, you report to everyone above AND below you on the school ladder – and every parent gets their own personalized rung.
There is probably no school job description that has changed and ballooned in the past three decades as much as being a principal. Their endless admin responsibilities – especially during Covid – have pushed many principals to the point of leaving the profession.
Has their compensation grown commensurately with their increased duties? I don’t think so.
The phrase that comes to mind is “Is the juice worth the squeeze?”
To their benefit, their “pay and stay” (IRAs and Roth IRAs) investments are sizable and begin compounding right away.
In your 16.5 hour business, you report to no one but yourself. Not so for the principal.
The bulk of a principal’s medical and health benefits are often the same as yours. They have no union protection nor the legal liability package that comes with NEA membership.
They have a different vacation package then you have, and sick days don't really factor into their professional life.
If they are out sick, it's typically on their assistant principal or student advisor to pick up the slack.
When you're out, you need to leave lesson plans and report your pending sick day on the internet to the substitute service.
I’ve seen teachers who groused about coveting their principal’s salary. They lose focus on all the extra responsibilities that come with their boss’s job. Admin are fielding “must answer” calls at ten in the evening and six in the morning while you are developing a deeper relationship with a bag of Cheetos and a Netflix series. You have much more latitude to develop your own down time as well as your business.
It’s not what you make; it’s what you keep.
Remember my “. . . maybe . . ." back at the top?
Don't feel you have to be an administrator or a principle to make a lot of money in the education world. As long as you figure out your 16.5 hour business, you'll be fine but don't hesitate.
Do what gives you satisfaction during in those 7.5 hours we refer to as “your job”.
If you feel that admin gives you the feeling of “power”, there are many other ways to get that feeling by developing your own business. By focusing on your “business” career, you may be leveraging your autonomy for less front-loaded money but if that is what you are really looking for in your life, you should go for it.
Frankly, anyone who pursues a career in education thinking it will fulfill a need for “power” has larger demons to resolve before working with kids or teachers. The gig is about “service”, not “domination” or “power”.
“Compensation” comes in a variety of forms. Next to a paycheck and a state pension, the one I valued the most was time – a 7.5 hour job gave me latitude to do a multitude of opportunities to explore different musical interests which often led to a larger revenue stream.
Teaching music to kids and developing young proactive leadership qualities in my students was working for me.
No admin gig could replicate that sensation for me.
Whatever you decide to do, take action today!
Start with some research.
Talk to friends.
Identify the ruts you might be in and recast them as an early chapter in your impending best-selling “success story”.
Create a one, five, and ten year scenario that mirrors you and your families values, goals, and wants and start on that plan.
And as far as comparing what you and your principal get paid, remember that even if the grass seems greener on the other side, you still have to mow it.
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