Law School Vs Graduate School for Teaching Forum

[sunyplatt]

So Given the cost of becoming a lawyer in the U.S. and considering what the average salaries are now for attorney's is it more economical and would it pay off better financially to go to grad school to become a teacher in one of the better pro education states like NY, MA, NJ etc. than to attend law school. In theory an average lawyer should make close to what a physician or dentist makes for example but in reality lawyer's are now only making a fraction of what their counterparts in the health sciences are.

I have met several attorney's who say law is not what they thought and there is no money in it anymore. There is now a teaching shortage and this seems to be a better path from a financial perspective given the amount of debt it takes to become a lawyer and the benefits that originate with teaching, pension vacation time etc.

Obviously location will affect this but in the northeast and west coast it looks to me like teaching may be a better option. Law school does not seem to be worth it anymore on the average although of course it will be for some but not all.

[64Fl]

1) If you have decent undergraduate grades and study for the LSAT, there isn't a need for a high amount of debt as a lawyer.

2) It is very clear how to get into schools that offer great employment outcomes with high salaries: a good GPA and high LSAT. Many people attend those schools with significant scholarships.

3) Even if you can't get into a tippy-top school that nearly guarantees $190k to its graduates, an ok GPA and a decent LSAT can get you big money at a state law school that will give good employment prospects (e.g. $60k as a local private attorney or with state government).

4) The problem with teaching shortages is that the demand is set by state governments. If this were the private sector, salaries would increase to attract new teachers. Unfortunately, legislators hate paying teachers more money, so you can simultaneously have a persisting shortage without an increase in salary to solve it. As it stands, teachers in many states start at $35k or so, which would be incredibly low for even "shitlaw." The current reality is also that a lot of people will become teachers upon hearing that there are jobs, because a teaching degree is quite easy and people enjoy the idea of teaching. That line of reasoning is exactly how we got to the massive surplus in teachers that then caused people to stop getting teaching degrees and lead us to the current shortage. That's all to say that teacher shortages/surpluses are pretty cyclical.

[nixy]

I think a better question is, do you want to be a teacher or do you want to be a lawyer? They’re not very similar professions, really.

[notinbiglaw]

It depends on your goals and what you want to do.

A lot of lawyers are former teachers because they couldn’t stand the idea of coasting to ~110k annual salary with basically no opportunities for advancement.

Others became lawyers because they wanted to stay in New York at a higher standard of living than is possible with a teacher’s salary.

But more teachers opt to move out to the boroughs and teach in the nicer/more suburban schools and live comfortably though modestly.

Just a word of caution. Good teaching posts in NYC DOE are are hard to get even if you’re near top of class in masters in education at Columbia teaching college. It’s a lot of fit and need and the teachers basically stay forever so it’s not unusual for a school to not have a single full time opening for years.

The schools that are recruiting year after year almost by definition have issues with turnover. Considering how strong the incentives are to stay in one place for 5-6 years (eligibility for tenure), this is usually a big warning flag for a difficult school to work at.