Well the COL in California is ridiculous and has been for a long time. School SLP’s are getting a little bit better pay, but when I worked, we were paid on the same teacher scale with just a tiny boost in pay because of our Master’s degrees.
It was embarrassing what I was paid. Thankfully, I was married to a man who made 4 times my income with less years of education. Most of my college friends could not afford to purchase a home, of any size, and most were renting. Hospitals paid a tiny bit better, but the hours were longer.
Our State averaged out the number of therapists by the numbers in Spec Ed with speech services. So we all had supposedly an average of 55 kids per therapist. But . . . . . the numbers weren’t equitable. I had full caseloads of every kind of kid including augmentative communication evals, and device-building along with my voice, fluency, artic/phonology, language and DHH caseload kids.
That’s why I finally went to the private agencies who “protected” us by keeping our numbers low with stronger pay/benefits and better hours. We were placed at public schools that tried to hire us later from those agencies for cheaper rates. Nope, didn’t happen.
I am fortunate in that my school pays well (for schools) and my caseload is small.
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@SpreadsheetMom, I just sent you a solicitation that I received at 12:46 PST.
Remember that I told you that I still get offers of employment every day? Well you now have today’s solicitation to have your daughter review. I sent a message to you.
For the rest of you, here is the edited version of my email today.
Enjoy the summers and holidays off with school-based work!
The 23/24 school year may be underway already, but The Stepping Stones Group is hiring SLPs for a variety of school-based opportunities throughout CA; full-time and part-time W-2 opportunities with great pay, benefits, and clinical support. Virtual positions are available as well!
Just in case you’re looking for a specific area, we also have positions in the following metro areas:
Sacramento
Los Angeles
Fresno
Bay Area
Central Coast
San Diego…. And more!!
What’s in it for you?
*Referral bonuses
*Licensure assistance
*Professional development allowance
*Competitive compensation packages
*Over 35 clinical field managers that provide clinical support to our staff
*Access to our online professional development program, XXXXXXX which offers free ASHA-approved CEUs, webinars, printable resources, and more!
If you have any colleagues interested in school-based work, we are offering a $1000 referral bonus for our full-time positions available nationwide.
Are you, or someone you know, ready for a new SLP position? I look forward to hearing from you!
Best,
Career Services Manager
EVERY SINGLE DAY I get one of these and one call per week even though I’ve asked them to unsubscribe me.
@SpreadsheetMom as I noted a few times on this thread and elsewhere on this forum…I had a very rewarding and fulfilling career as a speech language pathologist, working mostly in a primary school. I was fortunate to work with a remarkable special education team, and this made the job more that just a job.
I do encourage prospective SLPs to have a conversation with a few current SLPs in varying settings (schools, hospitals, clinics) so they are aware of what the job entails. I think that’s where your daughter should start.
When I am asked to discuss this career with future SLPs, I am very honest about the pluses (loved working with the students, teachers and families), and the minuses (tons of paperwork, data collection and meetings).
I did this for 7 years in NH, and then for 30 in the same school district in CT. I, like @aunt_bea receive(d) calls about open positions and actually did 10 leave positions after I retired from my full time job. I continue to do very limited private practice work, and I’m active in my association.
This was absolutely the best career for me…but it’s not for everyone. Get as much information as your daughter can. And go from there.
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I am so grateful for you all sharing your experiences! I’ll have my daughter sit down and read the entire thread. 
Thank you so much!
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Great. There are several links to various parts of the ASHA website upstream in this thread.
If she has other questions, feel free to ask. There are a few of us in this profession as you can see…and we would be happy to answer any questions she has.
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