Teacher Salaries
A Mini-Lesson by Noah Shepherd
Embedded Files
Learning Targets
After completing the reading for this mini-lesson students will...
...identify the problem with underpaying teachers
...describe the benefits of increasing teacher salary
In case you were not able to sit and listen to a 20-second clip, this is a brief synopsis of the video. A study conducted by Trevor Wheelwright (2021) found that teachers in Virginia made 10.4% less than the average wage of other employed individuals within the state. Virginia ranked 50th in the nation for teachers' salaries, only ahead of Washington D.C. Although Washington D.C. and Virginia have the worst pay for teachers, this still remains a problem across the country. In the same study conducted by Trevor Wheelwright (2021), he found in Arizona that teachers made 5.7% less than other members of the workforce in Arizona. As future educators, we should be alarmed at these statistics! Thus, introducing the issue at hand...
What's the Problem With Underpaying Teachers?
What's the Problem With Underpaying Teachers?
Suppose you were to magically forget the fact teachers are often showing up for their shifts way before the first bell rings, and leaving their shifts long after the final bell has rung (Lyon, 2006). Also, maybe it completely slipped your mind most teachers are paying for most of their classroom supplies out of pocket (Lyon, 2006). Even if both of those pieces of information were not reasons enough to increase the pay for teachers across the country then maybe this information will.
High-quality education is a shared goal and value nearly everyone in the United States has. Therefore, everyone wants the highest quality of teachers to educate their children...right? And, if Matthew Hendricks (2015) found that the highest quality of education was where there was a higher pay for teachers, then teachers are well overdue for an increase in pay! Well, yes, but the people in government in charge of the salary do not think so. Studies have shown teachers who were the most high-quality, experienced teachers were the same ones with higher salaries (Hendricks, 2015).
What are the Benefits of Increasing Teachers' Salary?
There are many other benefits that come along with investing in better quality, tenured educators. In a journal by Eric Hanushek (2016), he noticed the schools who put more money in to teachers' salaries, had significant "improvement in student achievement". With the United States ranking 13th in the world for reading scores (Balingit, 2017), the country is clearly in need of better teachers. Especially, if the United States wants to continue to boast about how great they are. Therefore, according to Hanushek (2016), the solution to better test scores and improving the rank of our national education is raising the salary for teachers. Not only do teachers deserve an increase in salary so they can afford their cost of living and supplies for their own class, but to improve the performance of students. In turn, leading to a better educated society, ranking at the top in test scores and quality of education.
Although this video supports incentive pay, which has been proven to be a massive failure (Hanushek 2016), it does make the point that teachers perform better when they are paid more. As a result, students perform better and everyone's needs are satisfied.
What Do I Think About Teachers' Salary?
Since I am in a teacher preparation course, I am obviously going to become a teacher. Without a doubt, I have a clear bias towards increasing pay for teachers because that would lead to my own personal, financial gain. However, in contrast, myself (like most teachers in the field) are not going into this profession for the sake of the money. Most teachers chose to follow this career path because they have an extreme passion for education, shaping the minds of the youth, and building a positive relationship with the younger generation. Most teachers have come to the consensus these intrinsic motivations have a much greater impact on their teaching compared to the extrinsic values, such as a paycheck. This may be true; however, taking advantage of the selfless acts of teachers across the country and not paying them for all the time they put into preparing children for the real world is criminal. Teachers have an immense influence on many key aspects of our society. From world rankings (the ever-so-desired #1 spot us Americans yearn for), to teaching skills necessary to make it by in this cruel world, teachers absolutely need a giant increase in pay, immediately.
Complete the Knowledge Checkpoint Below!!!
Complete the Knowledge Checkpoint Below!!!
References
Balingit, M. (2021). U.S. schoolchildren tumble in International Reading Exam rankings, worrying educators. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2017/12/05/u-s-schoolchildren-tumble-in-international-reading-exam-rankings-worrying-educators/
Hanushek, E. A. (2016). School human capital and teacher salary policies. Journal of Professional Capital and Community.
Hendricks, M. D. (2015). Towards an optimal teacher salary schedule: Designing base salary to attract and retain effective teachers. Economics of Education Review, 47, 143-167.
Lyon, C. R. (2006). Demonstrating poverty in a multicultural education course: Buying school supplies with limited funds. Multicultural Education, 13(3), 46-46.
North, E. (2021). Virginia, D.C. ranked as worst two places for teacher pay. 8News. https://www.wric.com/news/education/virginia-d-c-ranked-as-worst-two-places-for-teacher-pay/
Sanchez, J. (2021). New program could boost teacher salaries up to six figures, improve student outcomes. Fort Worth Report. https://fortworthreport.org/2021/06/16/new-program-could-boost-teacher-salaries-up-to-6-figures-improve-student-outcomes/
Wheelwright, T. (2021). Best States for Teacher Pay in 2021. Business.org. https://www.business.org/hr/workforce-management/best-us-states-for-teachers/.
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