[Sophianna]

I hate to talk about something sensitive, but I am at my wits end. I work for a company that puts counselors in schools, and my boss claims they have done all the research and pay comparably to nearby schools and districts. I make less money than I made teaching in the same city more than ten years ago and have found out many teachers with less than five years experience make more than me.

I'm a new counselor - this will be my third year. But I was a teacher for 14 years. I would have stayed where I was by my district had a hiring freeze on counselors so I relocated.

I just asked for a raise and was told no. They do not negotiate. I know this is a lie, as I have three friends that were the same level of experience as me making $15,000 more than me because they pitched a fit and got their raise. Despite that, only one of them still works here b/c it's not a great place to work overall. She also said that she checked with other districts and I would not be paid based on my years experience in a school, but on my years experience as a counselor, so she claims I am actually "making more" than I would be if I left.

I don't know what to do. I can't be without a job and I love my school, but I need to make more money. I have two Bachelor's degrees, a masters degree and am two semesters from my PhD.

What would you do?

[GraceKrispy]

That's a tough one. Working for those companies has ups and downs (as you know). Many times, they have you sign something that restricts you from working for the district(s) in that are for some number of years. Different companies have different policies as far as how you get retirement and the benefits you can access, etc. They may be considering whatever benefits and/or perks you get as part of the compensation package and feel it's similar to what those in the district get.

When I worked as a counselor in the school district where I had worked as a teacher, I got credit for all of those years because counselors were on the teacher pay scale. Since you worked in a different district as a teacher, it's hard to know what you would be making or what they would give you credit for in the district. However, knowing that your friends were able to get more money clearly says it's possible.

Can you contact HR at the school district and ask about the level of compensation you would get with your experience? That might give you more to bargain with. If you don't have a restriction against applying to school districts, I would consider applying if there are any openings. Other than that, I"m not sure what else you can do.

[ih8]

Is there a possibility of going back to teaching? With that much education, it seems like a waste to work for a low salary.

In fact, if you do end up getting a teaching position, you could use that to your advantage with your current boss: you could say "I am moving on to a teaching position which pays $xxx because my current salary is not sufficient." Let that just sink in and see if your boss changes his/her mind. If not, you have something real to continue with. Good luck!