Salary Of Teachers

Salary For Teachers

Wouldn't it be wonderful if teachers were compensated like star athletes? Teaching children or playing basketball in front of 20,000 people. What if a teacher could teach because he or she loved teaching, not in order to get a paycheck? Imagine not having to worry about whether the School Board approved another pay raise or not.

Most of us go get a job to work for many, many years and save money so that we will be able to live on that money after we stop working. If a savings account were to pay 5% interest (and few are near that today), one would have to have $1,200,000 in cash in the savings account to take out that much money, just taking the interest earned. That money would have to be accumulated in savings after you had paid your house note, your car note, utilities, insurance, and all of your other monthly expenses. That necessity is a rather daunting requirement while still trying to enjoy life.

Worse, salary income only comes from trading hours for dollars. If one cannot work, the income stops. The potential is there to create a second income stream, particularly with the talent that teachers have - how to teach. It's generally understood that teacher salaries are too low. Yet teacher salaries make up the bulk of education expenses in the united states, creating quite a conundrum. If teachers are paid more, education costs will skyrocket. The first thing to know about teacher pay is that it does vary from state to state. Some of the worst performing states and districts in the nation have the highest teacher salaries. So it's not fair to suggest that there is a dollar-for-dollar correlation between high teacher pay and positive educational outcomes.

So it's important to keep in mind that teacher salaries do and should vary according to the local cost of living.

Another reason we see poor correlation between teacher salaries and educational outcomes is that not all teaching work is equal. The work that a teacher does in a failing Bronx high school might not compare at all to the work done by a teacher in a well-run, middle-class suburban school, in terms of workload. Teaching at-risk children is extremely hard work. One unfortunate thing about teacher salaries is that they do not reflect this difference. Teachers who work with the most difficult students under the most challenging of circumstances get paid the same salaries as those who work in much more favorable conditions.

So is it fair to say that paying teachers more money will not make a difference and will not improve education? Teachers do need to have higher salaries. It will improve education in America if they do. Higher teacher salaries will attract more qualified individuals to the field. Furthermore, higher teacher salaries will help retain the best and most effective teachers at the highest-need schools. Right now, about half of all new teachers leave the public school system within five years. How many bright, eager and competent teachers have been driven away by the low salary? Let's end the bleeding away of good teachers, and finally pay them what they are really worth.

It is not a top secret that the teaching salary of educators is low. Tip #1: Plan ahead. Traveling involves so much planning, especially on a tight budget. For one airplane fares are way cheaper if they are booked months before. Tip #2: Budget thoroughly. If you will be allocating more than half of your salary for that trip, you had better save it for years first. You need not compromise your needed expenses for a single trip alone. Traveling is not only intended for professionals with higher pay. Teachers can also enjoy this kind of opportunity. Your teaching salary need not be a hindrance to realize this.