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Underpaid!!!!!! Starting salary here is 32k a year. Take 8% off mandatory for retirement (to pay for the lack of funds in social security), and add a required 15 credit hours in college to renew your certificate in two years. Pay about $1,000 a year for classroom and student supplies. In many districts, you have to pay part of your own healthcare and dental. We pay all of the healthcare costs for family members ($350 each person for first three in last district). Three months off???? In AZ, we work from the last week of July to the first week of June. We spend the time in between preparing curriculum for the entire year or taking college courses to renew our certificate. Most teachers don't have more than one month off a year. It's a joke. You don't teach to make a living.
I know a teacher that works for one of the high school's in Scottsdale and makes nearly $60K a year, not too shabby. I'm not saying that she doesn't earn it but I think she is paid pretty well considering many other jobs that require similiar college courses aren't paid that well.
Are teachers really underpaid or overpaid or paid accordingly?????Lets hear from the teachers and non-teachers???
Two generalized answers:
1. It depends a lot on location -- urban/suburban and northern teachers are generally paid more than rural and southern teachers, the lattermost of which are a lot more likely to be non-union. It annoys me to hear people unequivocally say teachers are underpaid when there are teachers in my school district -- not administrators, teachers -- that make over $100K a year.
2. As a general principle, teachers are neither overpaid nor underpaid. Good teachers are underpaid. Bad teachers are overpaid. That's what happens when you have a system that rewards genius and mediocrity with the exact same pay; and unfortunately, that system incentivizes mediocrity and disincentivizes competence.
A lot of people are throwing out dollar figures that teachers make in their districts but that doesn't mean much if you don't back it up with the cost of living in your area. $100,000 doesn't go very far in San Diego, heck, with housing prices there it is almost poverty level.
Also consider that those teachers that are making the top pay in their districts also have a masters plus enough credits for a PhD or they HAVE a PhD. In the public sector a job with that much education required would make double or triple what a teacher makes, easily.
Most teachers also do NOT get any vacation time during the school year. They might get a couple personal days and that is it. While it SEEMS like they have all this time off there are many days where the teachers are at school when your kids are not. I compared the days off for the teachers in our district to DH's time off from his job and the teachers had 2 weeks more off/year. That isn't very much.
During the school year most teachers also work much longer then your 8 hour day. At our kids' schools they are required to be there 1/2 hour before school starts and they are required to stay an hour after school finishes. Most teachers stay longer OR go home and correct papers, tests, etc. Their typical work day runs from 7:00 am to at least 6:00 PM, then if you coach a sport or head up a club at school you can extend that day to 8:00 or later.
Yes, there are some teachers in some areas that are well paid and you typically find those higher paid teachers in good districts. You also have to consider that there are MANY teachers making $15,000-20,000 after many, many years of experience because they teach in poor districts. Last time I heard the average teacher salary in the US was around $45,000--that is almost poverty level in our area.
My former sister in law complained incessantly about the "low pay" of teachers, a mere $47,000.00 in her case. After hearing her complain at every family event for two years, I pointed out to her if she wasn't bright enough to research her salary potential before she went to college to be a teacher, it was quite possible she isn't bright enough to teach. I don't know what teachers make, I do know I researched pay potential for the degree I sought before I went to college.
I think it depends on the area you live and what you teach.
In my home town the dist. just hired a foot ball coach and is paying him $80,000 a year and he is not qualified to teach - now I would say our district has some issues ...this is RIDICULOUS!
On the most part ... teachers work 9 months of the year and make what others make working 9-5+ 12 months of the year ......... so I am going to say over paid!
Look at the administration office they are getting big $$
I am a Early Childhood Professional ... I do not work for the school district (anymore)
My former sister in law complained incessantly about the "low pay" of teachers, a mere $47,000.00 in her case. After hearing her complain at every family event for two years, I pointed out to her if she wasn't bright enough to research her salary potential before she went to college to be a teacher, it was quite possible she isn't bright enough to teach. I don't know what teachers make, I do know I researched pay potential for the degree I sought before I went to college.
I think $47,000 for 9 months sounds awesome to me .. she has 3 other months she could pick up a summer job and add another 10 to her grand!
Average Teacher works
8-4 (8 Hours)
1 hour break so now we are down to 7 hours of actual work
They average $45,000 per year
and they work 39 weeks per year
so they are making about 1153.00 per week of work ..this is giving them paid winter breaks and spring breaks .. and snow days etc.
So basically teachers are making $33.00 per hour that they are working.
Most teachers have aides and students grade test now! So what work goes home?
In my oppion they are over paid ..many go into the profession for the wrong reasons ........... to get summer off? What about the child you are teaching ? What about the child who needs a good teacher?
If your heart is where it should be then you are probably under paid!
Average Teacher works
8-4 (8 Hours)
1 hour break so now we are down to 7 hours of actual work
They average $45,000 per year
and they work 39 weeks per year
so they are making about 1153.00 per week of work ..this is giving them paid winter breaks and spring breaks .. and snow days etc.
So basically teachers are making $33.00 per hour that they are working.
Most teachers have aides and students grade test now! So what work goes home?
In my oppion they are over paid ..many go into the profession for the wrong reasons ........... to get summer off? What about the child you are teaching ? What about the child who needs a good teacher?
If your heart is where it should be then you are probably under paid!
I challenge you to spend a week with a teacher and see how inaccurate your assumptions are. Yes, a teacher may be in the CLASSROOM from 8-4 but when do you think all the papers get graded, prep for classes happens, tests get made up, etc? Most teachers are NOT paid for holidays. They are paid for days worked. Very few districts even give teachers vacation days so their vacations are only when school is out.
Now, add the cost of continuing education, which is REQUIRED and there is NO tuition reimbursement like most companies offer. A masters degree costs in the neighborhood of $30,000-40,000, all at the expense of the teacher--puts a big dent in the pay scale there. Most teachers do NOT have aids and having students grade papers is not normal nor is it acceptable in any reputable school district.
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