One teacher in Ohio has revealed she will go into debt if she carries on being a teacher.
The 23-year-old took to TikTok to vent about her salary, nearly having a ‘panic attack’ due to the little amount she receives every month.
Lexie Firment is the science teacher who works at Blufton Middle School in the town of Avon, just outside of Cleveland.
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She filmed the video in her car, where she talked about her monthly expenses, in comparison to her measly paycheck.
In her video, she said: “I'm a teacher, and I can barely afford to pay rent with my salary.”
She implied that after paying her rent every month, she is left with $500 left over.
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She continued: “Guess how much my car is? $400.
“Guess how much insurance is? $100.”
“Oh, yeah, that's right.
“You do the maths.
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“I'm left with owing money at the end of the month.
“That's not even with groceries.”
Coming to her realisation, she gasped: “Holy s**t.
“That's not even with groceries.
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“I realise every single month I am transferring money out of savings into my checking account.
“Just had the realisation in the car that I'm actually gonna go into debt if I continue being a teacher.
“Like, genuinely, genuinely, wow.”
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Lexie graduated college in May 2022, making this her second year of being a teacher.
She continued anxiously: “'I'm literally having a crisis right now.
“I'm literally going to have a panic attack right now … I literally cannot do this.”
“I don't have money … I don't know how I'm gonna pay off my credit card this month.”
According to Indeed.com, teachers with one or two years of experience in Ohio get paid $40,000 annually, before tax.
After taxes in this state, this would mean a teacher would take home around $1,350 per semi-monthly paycheck.
People rushed to the comments to support Lexie, and it figures she isn’t the only teacher going through the same situation.
One person said: “Not to mention gas, student loans, insurance, subscriptions, brb I’m crying in the club.”
Another said: “I wait for payday with a knot in my stomach and then cry on pay day because I have $30 left.”
One person claimed that it wasn’t just teachers who are going through the crisis, saying: “This isn’t just teachers.
“This is all of us.”
Mia Williams