I, too, teach 2nd in a Catholic school in the Midwest. I've been teaching 23 years, my whole career, in Catholic schools. Our starting salary is $21,000. I make $31,000. We, too, have well kept schools, try to keep up with our texts, and technology and the latest trends in education. My youngest is a senior in the system this year and tuition is $2000/year. When my oldest started out in first grade back in 1986, tuition was $120. Things have changed! We have to pay the tuition because it's not fair to the teachers who have no children in the system. They do pay for insurance for us, you pay for your family, and they do contribute to a retirement account for us. I really like teaching there, but you don't do it for the pay. As my first principal used to say, " The benefits are out of this world."
