Take home pay

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Take home pay

by Linda

Oct 1, 2019

I'm currently teaching at a foreign school while preparing my application for dodea. I'm just curious what a regular pay month would look like if hired to teach at a dodea school. What type of deductions and approximately how much would be deducted (i.e. health insurance, pension, income tax, etc)? I know it's a very general question, and please feel free to use hypotheticals. Just wondering about percentages and weighing the financial benefits/drawbacks/similarities/differences compared to my current job. Do benefits accrue significantly with time? I want to try and make the most informed decision. For reference, I'm 45 years old and would be hired as a local hire, so no extras that conus teachers would receive. Thank you.

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haha It will vary wildly, obviously. The highest salary step you could enter on would be Step 11 (with 10 years of creditable experience). Your salary lane would depend on your level of education. Look at the salary scale to try and see where you might fall:

https://www.dodea.edu/Offices/HR/salary/upload/overseasEducatorsDailyRates_18-19.pdf ...See MoreIt will vary wildly, obviously. The highest salary step you could enter on would be Step 11 (with 10 years of creditable experience). Your salary lane would depend on your level of education. Look at the salary scale to try and see where you might fall:

https://www.dodea.edu/Offices/HR/salary/upload/overseasEducatorsDailyRates_18-19.pdf

You would not likely qualify for LQA but would likely get Post Allowance which would be an additional tax free amount that ranges from $150-$600 per paycheck, depending on location, family size, etc.

You would pay no local taxes but would be subject to US income taxes (which will obviously vary). Health insurance will also vary by family size. Family of 3 runs around $160 per paycheck for high coverage. The gov't will match up to 5% of your own contributions towards your Thrift Savings Plan. Union dues run around $800 a year.

So, a lot of variables. I'm on a slightly higher step, with a Masters. My gross salary is around $3K per paycheck, my deductions (with a family of 3) are around $1K, and I get an additional $300+ tax free on top of that per paycheck for post allowance. I'm sure I'm forgetting something, getting something wrong or otherwise misleading you, but that is a rough idea.

It's hard to compare with your current job as int'l schools also vary wildly. We taught int'l before getting into DoDEA so have some idea of the differences (in general). You would pay US taxes with no foreign income exclusion (but no local taxes). You would pay SS but would also be paying into SS and building up a benefit (such as it is). Retirement/pension is not great, not horrible with DoDEA compared to US states/districts. You would also have SS and your TSP money. All of which is generally better than most int'l schools (but not all obviously). You would go up a step every year until you hit a longevity step and the salary scale generally goes up every year. You can also generally advance a salary lane by adding additional credits.

You would be working on a US military base and teaching primarily children of military personnel. This has it's advantages and disadvantages. Schools, admin, locations etc. vary wildly. It is nice to have access to base facilities (shopping, library, gym, swimming pool, clinic, etc.) without having a language barrier and also have the option to do many things on the economy.

Depending on whether they bring back a transfer round (rumored to be happening this year) you could also potentially pick up full benefits (LQA and travel) at some point which would obviously change the picture significantly.

In general, it's a great gig for many people (but not for everyone) and work life balance, working environment, etc. compare favorably to many int'l schools, but obviously not all.

Oct 1, 2019

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Linda @haha Thank you so much for your detailed reply! Your answers are always very helpful! :)

Oct 3, 2019

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