Anyone work for a school district?

olaHalo

Got offered a job recently for a school district.
Job is a step down from where I am now but the pay is similar (slightly less)
However the benefits and doors it will open seem to be better. (Im basing this off what Ive heard and my own logic)
The position I'm at now is fine. However I am at the ceiling as its a very small MSP. I also have no benefits at all.

The interviewer was telling me that he can tell Im over qualified but getting my foot in the door for the school district will be better in the long run. Many people have told me similar things.
From my point of view Im trying to gauge which place will benefit me more in 5 years from now.

Just wanted other perspectives...
Thanks

Polynomial

Doors it opens? Staying in academia is a choice a lot of people make, but they don’t make it for growth. They make it because it’s safe, consistent, and the hours and benefits tend to work well with family-life. The pay and advancement? Notsomuch. Maybe the projects you'll get to work on will help you get a better job elsewhere down the road?

ScrawnyRonnie

I applied for a job in that area. I haven't heard back yet and it's been weeks. I don't know with all the snow days and closings if that's pushed them back or what. How long did it take for you to hear back? I was told the applications have to be approved by the school board before they bring people in for interviews.

cyberguypr

What Polynomial mentions is what everyone I know at a school setting mentions: stability, but zero progression path. One of my buddies suffered 4 years of pay freeze. In most cases you are just waiting for someone to move on (smart guy), retire, die or something. Not saying it's a bad move, just make sure what you are walking into and adjust your expectation accordingly.

emerald_octane

I've worked at a school district, never again. Disgustingly old kit for critical operations over highly stuffed pipes, angry teachers (though some can be nice). No budgets.

GOV or CORP Sec for me moving forward.

devils_haircut

I just started working for one a couple weeks ago, and I'm liking it so far. Granted, this is my first non-contract, full-time IT gig, so I was thrilled to be able to step into a role that gets my hands on not only helpdesk/desktop support work, but also networking, servers, firewall, phone system, and basically everything from the top down.

HOWEVER...

I work for a company that takes over a school's IT department for them on a contractual basis, not the school itself. So in addition to the usual perks of working for a school like stability, easy hours, and basically being my own boss, there's still room for upward mobility if I want to move later on. And I get an annual training allotment of $3k after my first year, so that's nice, too.

I'd say it's a good fit for someone in my shoes with limited experience. Not sure how others might feel.

kohr-ah

My teacher in college worked for and still does for a school district.

Benefits he said were most the time you are off by 5pm, You get to touch a lot of technology, and he gets the same pension a teacher does if you stay long enough. (10 years? Doesn't have to be same district but has to be in same state )

Downsides are it takes a bit to get up to a decent pay range. Budget isn't great and lots of teachers don't understand that so explaining it sometimes sucks.

He loves it though and has been doing it for 12 years.

eansdad

Working for a school district can be hit or miss. When budgets are cut IT is always a 1st look. Having worked in one for the last 8 years I can say I truly hate it. The last 3 years our department has been on the block for outsourcing but always comes off (it would cost them more...that's how bad pay is here). We are managed by a promoted math teacher that doesn't know anything. We have an upper level administrator who is making people work out of title to by-pass certain people for promotions. If it wasn't for the fact that I have 2 trips planned for this year I would leave now. I don't like the idea of leaving and having to take time off after being on the job just a few months.

If it hasn't been mentioned before school districts have a LARGE amount of drama and politics that go along with the job. I've worked for major PC manufactures, Federal contractors and a University Hospital and never have I seen so much drama....

Tremie24

Work for one right now. So far its been good. Easy hours, a lot independence, and good people. Some teachers are needier than others. It's stable, good benefits, and pay is good. As far as room for advancement, I'm not sure, but I'm not too worried about that right now. This is my first IT gig.

olaHalo

Thanks for the insight everyone.
It really helps.

ScrawnyRonnie wrote: »

I applied for a job in that area. I haven't heard back yet and it's been weeks. I don't know with all the snow days and closings if that's pushed them back or what. How long did it take for you to hear back? I was told the applications have to be approved by the school board before they bring people in for interviews.

I applied like 2 months ago. Just interviewed yesterday and was offered the job an hour later.
So be patient.

ScrawnyRonnie

olaHalo wrote: »

I applied like 2 months ago. Just interviewed yesterday and was offered the job an hour later.
So be patient.

Wow that is a long wait! I still have hope then. One of my former computer networking teachers who still works for the county told me to apply. He said he knows the IT director for the county and that they wanted to hire some of his former students. Sounded like I had plenty of good reasons to expect a call, plus he let me use him as a reference. I'll continue waiting then!

devils_haircut

Several people have mentioned poor budgets, but my experience so far has been the opposite. Maybe it's just my school, or maybe it's just Indiana in general, but they are throwing money at us faster than we can spend it. Everyone thinks that putting more tech in schools is the answer, but most teachers and administrators don't even know what to do with the tech they already have.

The Superintendent was talking about buying ~900 new laptops just for our Elementary school. We already have more devices than students...adding 900 more would nearly double the number of computers we support. But he has money to burn and doesn't know what to spend it on.

Tremie24

REMOVED UNNECESSARY QUOTE

Same here. Seems like our IT director is always buying stuff. We have thousands of chrome books that are getting ready to deploy. Gave district teachers new laptops. Put new switches in all the schools. Not to mention all district staff has iPads.

qcomer

I work for a school district. Currently serving as the IT Director. I have worked in k-12 full time for about the last 7 years or so, before that Army and private sector. In all honesty, it really depends on the District, the politics, etc.

MagnumOpus

Excellent thread. I have been considering trading up for a ISD position. Glad to see it may be a worthy move.

olaHalo

After much thought and some insight about how my current employer throws his team under the bus I will likely accept the position with the school district.
Its nice to have options...

JDMurray

Does your county school district offer a pension plan or has it gone entirely 401(k)?

In the past, one could look forward to working 30 years in a county or district job and get a nice pension for it. Those days are almost gone.

brentw722

I currently work for a school district now, well I am in higher education to be exact. I must say that I do love it. The pay may not be as high as the private side, but I am willing to accept that. I get plenty of days off, pension, and benefits are great. Where I work it seems like we have tons of money to spend, so we are getting new technology all the time. I get to learn a lot of new and different technology because of this. Stress is not as high compared to other places.

I have read people say that it may take while to advance, but I advanced to a new position in exactly one year. Getting a position higher up may take a lot longer though. You could always move to a different school district one you get the experience. Seems to be a lot of politics once you are in the higher positions, but for now I don't have to deal with that.

neo9006

I concur what alot of others have said. I work for a state university right now. Your benefits are great if you put the time in. JDMurray hit it on the nail though. I am in that boat if I do 30 years I can get a pension the rest of my life. I work 6-3 everyday. I have right now 12.5 days to burn up before Aug 31 and then after that I have 340 hours still. But I been there too long. Like 19 years this August. As for promotion, I think that really depends on who you work for. Right now I feel like ex-boss (still for some reason supervisor on yearly review) kept us down for years in pay while he worked his up. I wont discuss how much pay difference is between us. As for promotions good luck on that one, I stayed for the stable job, but screw it. I have 2 degrees and when the secretary is making more money then you, its time to leave. I have issues with my job but who doesn't. But as the old saying goes, the cookie will crumble.

seth_turner_04

Others have already said what I was planning on saying. I have been working for a k-12 district for 8 years now. I truly love everything about the job except the lower pay scale. I'm juggling between moving on and finding a better paying job vs the lower paying but secure and enjoyable job I currently have.

neo9006

I feel you seth_turner_04, I know exactly. I guess that is the main discussion between my co worker and I. We had a discussion. I know what everyone in my office makes more or less and what others in my company make. We had the discussion about one person in dallas, she does the same work as us that we know of. I am sure she does some other things we might not know exactly of. She has been here a year more then my friend and the pay difference is 15k a year. We shake our heads. I figure my co worker has 2 years and then he is gone and going to draw his pension. He will be at early retirement. I don't see staying around unless they pony up some major cash to keep him. I understand there are others that can do our jobs, but with as much as we do, a family can't live on 13.00 an hour with benefits, no way not even here in texas. We been telling our boss get another full time person, it seems like they are dragging their feet, I can't wait to be disappointed come Aug when we get our letters saying how much money we are getting for the next year if I am around then. We just need to keep our heads up and things will work out.

busines4u

Olahalo - what will you be doing at the school district? How does this compare to what you are currently doing?

I'm just curious.