Saturday, February 13, 2010

Teachers' Pay Looks Good From the Outside Looking In However, the Picture in the Inside is not as Good


According to studies such as the Manhattan Institute’s study of teachers’ salaries in America, public school teachers are actually paid 11% more money than the other professional workers in America. The literature indicates that private school teachers’ salaries are much lower than public school teachers’ salaries.
According to BLS statistics, the average teacher wage in America is $34 an hour. These wages exceed those wages of the average wages of the following professionals in American:

• Accountants earn a median hourly wage of $27.89
• Architects earn a median hourly wage of $32.96
• Civil engineers earn a median hourly wage of $33.41
• Medical scientists earn a median hourly wage of $33.24
• Fashion designers earn a median hourly wage of $32.39
• Computer programmers earn a median hourly wage of $32.40
• Architects of the internet age earn a median hourly wage of $32.40

Teachers can make a very good living in teaching depending on the subject specialty and their state’s school district. However, teachers also many teachers also indicated that they spend a great deal of money out of pocket for materials which other professional may not be spending.

Teachers’ positions used to be more secure and in the last few years due to the economy many school districts are cutting their teaching staff and schools budgets to the bone which affects the moral and climate of the teaching profession. In the meantime more and more expectations are being placed on teachers to perform miracles in the classroom with little support in some situations from the home.

Teachers’ do not have the opportunity in many situations to take care of basis needs such as going to the bathroom when the need arises as other professionals have the benefit of having. Teachers cannot leave students unattended. Administrators are planning master schedules much more interesting in work productivity of teachers than planning for instructional planning time which puts undue stress on teachers to perform their job with all the extra demands due to NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND.

Even though the picture looks good on the outside many teachers will tell you that the inside problems of teaching are much more difficult than the picture on the outside. Many people think of teaching as being a good job with a good salary with summers off. However teachers are required to continue to continue their professional learning experiences in order to continue to be teachers. Because of this requirement many teachers take college classes for credit or work on degree programs to improve their salaries or attend workshops in the summer months.

The picture looks brighter on the outside than in the inside of teaching so many young teachers do not stay in the teaching field and in a few years there is a prediction of shortages of teachers throughout America. Steps need to be taken to assure we have the quality teachers our students in America need in the future. Many states such as Georgia are looking into Pay-Per Performance Programs at this time.

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