Should I switch to special ed (p3/seit)

amother

Thu, Jun 11 2020, 11:18 pm

I work as bookkeeper and earn a salary of 50k for working 28 hours a week 12 months a yr.

I have a bachelors in business and have been toying with the idea of getting a special ed masters and doing p3/seit.

If you are a p3 or seit, how many hours do you bill for each week, how many total hours of your week is devoted to working Including travel from school to school breaks between kids etc. how much do you make per yr and does that include summer?

Do you spend a lot of time at home preparing speaking to parents etc.

amother

Blonde

Thu, Jun 11 2020, 11:42 pm

SEIT is not the dream job people think it is. You may find it unstimulating, boring, and frustrating. It can take a half a year until you fill up your hours that you'd like to work. Your students will very likely not continue from year to year so each September you are looking for work again. You only get paid for the hours you work, instead of a set salary, so no getting paid for yomim tovim, vacations, snow days, sick days, days your client is absent, and summer. Many children are not approved for summer services. Those that are, only get for 6 weeks so the rest of the summer you can't get paid. You may not get your full hours until January, or even later!
Paperwork can be a pain. Preparation can be very minimal.

SETSS pays less but can earn well per hour if you work in small groups. However, many schools partnered with agencies to send them their students so the providers are forced to take a big cut.

Edited to correct a typo.

amother

Olive

Thu, Jun 11 2020, 11:45 pm

amother [ Blonde ] wrote:

SEIT is not the dream job people think it is. You may find it unstimulating, boring, and frustrating. It can take a half a year until you fill up your hours that you'd like to work. Your students will very likely not continue from year to year so each September you are looking for work again. You only get paid for the hours you work, instead of a set salary, so no getting paid for yomim tovim, vacations, snow days, sick days, days your client is absent, and summer. Many children are not approved for summer services. Those that are, only get for 6 weeks so the rest of the summer you can't get paid. You may not get your full hours until January, or even later!
Paperwork can be a paid. Preparation can be very minimal.

SETSS pays less but can earn well per hour if you work in small groups. However, many schools partnered with agencies to send them the students so the providers are forced to take a big cut.

I am a seit and yes yes yes to all of this. its not a dream job by any means. there is a reason that the hourly rate is "high" because at the end of the day you dont end up bringing home that much.

amother

Olive

Thu, Jun 11 2020, 11:54 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

How much do these jobs earn per hr?

depends where/what agency...can be anywhere 55-75- SEIT ps3 is sig. less
but again please dont get excited by a "high" hourly rate. you dont get paid for holidays or vacations. there are tons of half days when your hours get cut. you dont get paid when a child is sick or absent. you dont get paid if a child is late. Also it can take a lot of time to fill up your hours. cases can be very sparse in the beginning of the year. many seits dont get work in the summers..
this is aside from the fact that I really dont think this field is a good idea for someone who doesn't have a passion to help children who take extra patience and creativity to work with. not implying that you dont, just putting it out there...

amother

Apricot

Thu, Jun 11 2020, 11:54 pm

I also had a bachelor's in business and after a few years got my masters in special ed.

Can I ask why you want to switch to doing special ed?

I agree with all the downsides everyone wrote above, but for me the change was worth it anyways and I don't regret it.

amother

Plum

Fri, Jun 12 2020, 1:55 pm

amother [ Blonde ] wrote:

Would you consider speech or OT instead of special ed?

I'm a speech therapist. I really don't recommend giving up a good $50k job to go into the therapies. The average salary for a speech therapist through an agency is $60-$65 an hour. Like seits, there is no pay for vacations, holidays, or if students are absent. There is a TON of preparation and paperwork. I literally spend my entire Sunday and many evenings on this. While I don't usually have a hard time getting cases in the beginning of the year, unlike a Seit who has 3-4 students I have 20-25. And you need to write quarterlies and annuals for all of them, speak with all of their parents and teachers regulalry, and be on top of all of their problems. It can get really overwhelming sometimes. And the job is exhausting-running around the school doing session after session after session back to back. I'm not sure exactly how much I make per year, but I don't think it's that much more than $50k. And I work close to 30 hours per week. Honestly if I could do it over again I would go back to school and get a degree in computers or accounting.

amother

Azure

Sat, Jun 13 2020, 11:41 pm

I’m a speech therapist and agree with the above, but after a while your prep time goes way down because you’ve already prepped tons of stuff you can reuse with different kids. And you learn to be more efficient with the paperwork. It’s a very rewarding job seeing the kids make progress. If OP wants to help people rather than deal with numbers, it’s something to consider.

amother

Green

Wed, Jul 01 2020, 8:06 pm

amother [ Plum ] wrote:

If you would consider working for the public school system, the salary for a therapist is considerably higher, and you would have paid sick days, holidays, and vacations, health benefits, pension, etc,

amother

Cobalt

Wed, Jul 01 2020, 8:45 pm

Are you used to getting homework in bookkeeping? Because if you go into seit be prepared for homework! Setss has reports as well once a year. If you work in groups you can make a lot per hour with setss but because you are considered an independent contractor you pay way more in self employment taxes. Setss and seit is a great job if all you need is a cushion. It's terrible if you are relying on that money to pay your monthly bills.

amother

Wed, Jul 01 2020, 8:48 pm

I want to work one on one with kids or small groups. I don’t really get satisfaction at my job and I think I’d enjoy working with kids and being part of a school enviroment. I would also love to be more on my kids schedule and be off with them Chanukah winter etc. I would work in Jewish schools not public. A huge dream of mine is to have summers off. Is possible to make over 40k a yr in special ed without working summers?

amother

Olive

Wed, Jul 01 2020, 9:49 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Over 40k without summer, only in a Jewish school, having off for things like Chanukah vacation? Not likely if u are doing setts or Seit. Maybe as a special ed classroom teacher

amother

Magenta

Wed, Jul 01 2020, 10:31 pm

amother [ Plum ] wrote:

Odd. Here in Los Angeles, speech therapists make close to triple that per hour. That's individual. Work for the public schools, and you make a ton of money.

amother

Slategray

Wed, Jul 01 2020, 10:58 pm

I don't know where you ppl live. In bp for the agency I work 15 hrs of pendancy cases in one school I made 38k no summers. And I filled up right away yearly. It definitely is possible to make more than 40k.

amother

Fuchsia

Tue, Jul 07 2020, 9:42 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

if you do 20+ hours a week and don't take off often, you can probably make $40,000. I RARELY take off. work full days 9-2:30 and half day friday, and work summers...can make $50,000+ .
but most of my friends/coworkers take off more than me, so they don't make as much. can also do p3 on side, which I do....

amother

Smokey

Tue, Jul 07 2020, 9:44 pm

amother [ Slategray ] wrote:

Which agency do you work for?

amother

Slategray

Tue, Jul 07 2020, 10:51 pm

amother [ Smokey ] wrote:

Which agency do you work for?

I have worked for 3 dif agencies in bp over the years separately. Got basically same rate up down 3 dollars. I'd rather not post names but between yeled. Omni. E and d. Yes I can. Aim. Integrated. Encore

amother

Magenta

Wed, Jul 08 2020, 12:26 am

amother [ Fuchsia ] wrote:

A full day is 9-2:30?!