CNBC: Why Teachers Are Paid So Little In The U.S.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

Why Teachers Are Paid So Little In The U.S.
Dec 10, 2020
CNBC

As the dad of an elementary school teacher, this video pulls my heartstrings. I watch her pay for supplies out of pocket each year and go through the stress of exposure to COVID as she has returned to in-class work.

The video is from December, 2020 but the facts and data still stand. I hope Congress can address this issue in the BBB or separate legislation soon.

Give a teacher a hug for all of us........

[Tomconroy]

2. My mother was a teacher in CT. It didn't pay well.

It pays a lot better in CT now. Probably not true most places.
Teacher pay in CT was a big issue in the 1980s. It was fixed. Taxes went up though.

[JT45242]

3. Was a teacher for 20 years ...

Teachers are paid little because of many reasons but here are the top few.

1) People are not willing to pay higher taxes for higher salaries for teachers. A tax levy will pass when you threaten to take away whatever sport is most important to the local population.
2) Since everyone went to school, they think that just about anyone can be a teacher. They don't realize how much education is required to get, renew, and maintain a teaching license.
3) Decades of people claiming that teachers get 3 months off a year. A typical job is 40 hours a week for 50 weeks a year. Teachers usually work more than 50 hours a week (once you throw in lesson planning, grading, responding to parents, professional developmen, etc) for 40 weeks out of the year. I averaged over 2800 hours a year as a high school science teacher when you added in all the grading, setting up and tearing down labs, etc. Most of this time is 'hidden' in that it happens on nights and weekends.
4) People who feel called to go into teaching usually know that they are never going to make good money. And the reality is often that anyone who tries to be the primary wage earner for a family leaves the profession. As a secondary family income, it can work. But there were a lot of sacrifices that we made to live on my teaching salary.
5) School boards would rather spend money on "OOH SHINY" objects like computers, smart boards, etc than higher salaries to teachers.
6) School funding in many states (like Ohio) that are tied to dollar amounts and do not increase with inflation. This was a common 'tradeoff' for the revenues that were supposed to stream in from state lotteries or casinos.

I loved teaching, but lost my union protection as the state of Ohio took away binding arbitration from us and a school board member came after me and I had no recourse. Working for a non-profit now trying to shape education in a different way.

[Salviati]

4. 7) Teaching is often seen as 'Women's work'

And is thus not valued as highly by our society.

[DBoon]

5. 5) School boards would rather spend money on "OOH SHINY" objects

It is easier to pass a bond issue that pays for capital expenditures ("shiny things" ) than to raise taxes long term for operating expenses (like teacher salaries)

Teachers also bear the brunt of anti-union propaganda and school privatization advocates.

[Diamond_Dog]

6. My husband is a retired Ohio school teacher.

Everything you said 100% spot on.

I remember it used to be that the people who took your money in the toll booths on the Ohio Turnpike made more money than Ohio teachers.

“Since everyone went to school, they think that just about anyone can be a teacher.” So true. And the loudest, most opinionated, crybabies,wouldn’t last five minutes in front of a classroom of today’s high schoolers.

[AZLD4Candidate]

7. I offered to setup an e-library of 100,000 books and a complete AV library

with graphic novels, audio books, etc.

They never responded. Last week we are in a workshop where I found out the school district paid oodles of money for an e-library for the high school that is mainly for K5.

#5 is accurate.

Overseas, I had access to a complete everything I needed, including a actual and an e-library.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

9. Thank you for your service to education. Ohio still benefits from your work!

Maybe I'm an oddball but I feel teaching is the most honorable profession on earth, perhaps alongside some in the health field. And, there is no more productive investment than in public education, alongside basic food and health needs.

You are correct that most politicians would rather invest in physical monuments to their tenure such as new roads or structures than in education which has mostly long-term returns to society.

Good to hear you found a productive fall-back profession than benefits humanity!

KY.........

[tblue37]

11. Don't forget, a large part of those who would vote on the taxes to pay teachers are

the same anti-intellectual people who despise intelligence and education, so they don't want to vote for taxes to subsidize education.

[oregonjen]

8. I was a preschool teacher

Which included lesson planning after school, buying extras for fun projects, low pay, continuing education classes and ZERO benefits. It’s not glorified baby sitting. Preschool teachers are expected to prepare young ones for Kindergarten, which is not an easy task. We are sometimes the first to identify developmental issues in children and encourage the parents to seek evaluations and therapy for their kids.
I finally left because I saw more behavioral issues in the children which meant way more work and stress, and no raise in pay.

[Dustlawyer]

10. Two of my kids are teachers and one is leaving after this year, the other is not sure.

My son loved teaching advanced HS English. After being forced to work in unsafe COVID conditions he caught COVID and his gf got it from him. He feels that the District and the state (Texas) didn’t care about his safety and that changed his mind about teaching. He has a Masters degree and taught at an underprivileged HS.

My daughter was teaching new teachers this summer and they all caught COVID. Turns out two teachers with COVID informed the school and were told to attend anyway. They did and the result was a teacher shortage to start this school year at her school. The school board decided they did not have to notify parents when a teacher had COVID, no quarantine for anyone. That failed miserably as you might expect.

We wonder why kids today seem to struggle with basic subjects. It is because no one seems to give a shite about public education. The wealthy go to private schools and screw the rest.