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Saturday, June 25, 2011

"Overpaid Teachers"

Great article deconstructing this myth:
U.S. census data shows that annual pay for teachers has fallen drastically over the past 60 years when compared to the annual pay of other workers with college degrees. According to a recent study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the average national starting salary for a teacher is around $30,377. But the study showed that other college graduates entering professions that require similar training and responsibilities start at much higher salaries. For example, public accountants start at $44,668; computer programmers start at an average of $43,635; and registered nurses start at about $45,570. The average earnings of workers with at least four years of college are now more than 50% higher than the average earnings of a teacher. And in addition to starting salaries being lower, inflation has grown faster than the increases in teachers’ salaries each year. Over the past year, inflation increased 3.1%, while teachers’ salaries increased by only 2.3%. 

Because teachers do not work a 9 to 5 job and do not work the familiar full-year schedule that most professionals have, many people think that teachers are well-paid when compared to other professions. But that myth couldn’t be farther from the truth. Teachers work just as long or longer than the typical 40-hour work week of other professions. Six or seven hours is their contracted workday, but unlike other jobs, teachers are expected to work at home, at night, and on weekends. For teachers, the workday isn’t over when the last bell of the day sounds. Teachers spend an average of 50 hours a week on instructional duties, including an average of 12 hours each week on non-compensated school-related activities such as grading papers, advising students and clubs, and bus duty. The Center for Teaching Quality studied teachers in Clark County, NV, and it found that most teachers worked significant numbers of additional hours outside of the school day. The official report stated, "Very little of this time is spent working directly with students in activities such as tutoring or coaching; far more time is reported on preparation, grading papers, parent conferences, and attending meetings." 
[...] 
The rewards of being a teacher are often used to explain why teachers’ salaries are not as high as other professionals. But those lower salaries come at a high cost to society. Nearly 50% of all new teachers leave the profession within five years, and 37% of teachers who are planning to stop teaching before retirement blame low pay for their decision. Although most educators enter the teaching profession because they want to work with children, schools must realize that to attract and retain the most dedicated, committed professional teachers, they must provide salaries that are attractive and comparable to those of other professionals. The future of America depends upon it.
(Just wish the author had put in links; I'll try to find at least some of them. Primary sources, folks...)

13 comments:

  1. "The rewards of being a teacher are often used to explain why teachers’ salaries are not as high as other professionals."

    Right, we're not in it for the money and don't expect to get rich. Herein lies the rub that begins to unravel the lies that even they can't believe. You hear the Repubs, Pols, and Ed Reformers agree that people don't become teachers for the money. IF, AS THEY AGREE, WE'RE NOT MOTIVATED BY MONEY, HOW WILL MERIT PAY IMPROVE TEACHER PERFORMANCE?????

    I just don't get it. I know why they contradict themselves. What I don't get is how those who drink their Kool Aid AND THE MEDIA don't see the gaping hole in their argument and logic.

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  2. They do see, but they don't care. A smart mouth, fat guy is much better copy than trying to explain logic.

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  3. As a teacher who has been in the profession and us passionate about teaching is giving serious thought to leaving! Why? Don't mind working till wee hours at home and weekend prep, paying for disability insurance and now my medical benefits, little parent support and more challenging student behavior and disaligned state standards..... No..... It the little value that Chrissy and others have placed on this very important role teachers play! So sad!

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  4. I could not agree more! I am wililng to be that at least 50% of the people in NJ screaming about teacher salaries are those WITHOUT a college degree. Now, I am not saying that a college degree is necessary to make a living; there are numerous examples of those who have done extremely well without that piece of paper. But, we do require our teachers to earn (and pay for) that piece of paper, so we should be paying them as we pay other college educated professionals, no?

    I've said it before...you are about to see a teacher shortage in NJ....ten years or less.

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  5. I'm a teacher and I know people WITHOUT college degrees making 6 figures in corporate, and those said people LEAVE work at 5:00, don't bring work home, and can work from home when they are getting furniture delivered. With all this going on in NJ, I've often thought of leaving the profession simply because I hate being labeled as lazy and arrogant by the fat guy in Trenton.

    As far as the people screaming that teachers have "free" benefits and "free" summers, I have 2 things to say to them: 1. If we have it so great, why didn't you become a teacher? and 2. it's a clear case of Schadenfreude...they immaturely think, "if I'm going to be miserable, everyone else has to be miserable, too, especially those freeloading teachers!!"

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  6. Educators in general are in deep stuff because of Christie and his Merry Band. I know very well about the loss of funds these new laws will cause for teachers, but we have to factor in how much more devastating the hit will be on other educational personnel --- assistants, secretaries, security. Imagine a school secretary with a family of four earning 30K and now paying out even 10% for those coverages! How does she make up that kind of hit? Not in salary increases because the Reverse Robin Hood and his Merry Band have limited entire Board budget increases to 2%. It will be a miracle if these folks can hang on to their homes. BUT, the Banker Buddies are safe, so it's all good!

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  7. I am also a NJ teacher contemplating leaving the profession. I'm a bit fed up with whiny kids who want everything delivered on a platter, enabling parents who don't understand why I won't "give" Mikey an A when he only submitted half of his homework assignments, school administrators who are far more concerned with their own convenience rather than on the most effective ways to use their staff, overpaid superintendents and curriculum specialists who don't know diddly about what's going on in their classrooms and politicians and lawyers with an agenda to demonize hard working professionals as a means to transfer the educational system to private enterprise for the sake of profit. I'm so lucky to be in my 60's. God save the young people going into this profession!

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  8. If I can't retire until I'm 65, I have a good 20 years left; I've already put in 16. Is this what they had in mind with this legislation or with the end of tenure do they plan on giving folks like me the boot? If this is headed where I think it is, schools will need to hang onto folks like me because there should be severely diminishing levels of education graduates. Maybe that is why they are willing to accept uncertified staff for charters. There are so many twists and turns in this but my mind just doesn't think about profit potential so I can't fathom their reasons.

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  9. After 15 years I would have qualified for low income housing for a family of four, but I am overpaid! What should I be paid? Food Stamps? Give me a break, I have an empty checking account every month, and have to work summer school every year, and now with two kids getting ready for college in a couple of years, I am lost for how I will pay for it. They say I am burned out, but tell me I have to work more years. I make to much, but I can't pay my bills. I am lazy, but I have to run from job to job. Now I have to put more into my pension and health care, and can't possibly make that up in salary anytime soon. I though we outlawed slavery in this country!

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  10. A fast comment on merit pay: Over 10 years ago, I did a big old literature review on the studies that examined the possible efficacy of merit pay plans for public school teachers. What I found was:

    1. The plans that pit teachers against each other are highly corrosive to school culture and climate. So teachers STOP sharing critical information with each other. Consequently, student academic performance tends to fall.

    2. The strongest predictor of which teacher receives merit pay under the "teacher vs. teacher" plans is the quality of the personal relationship a given teacher has with the principal (the "brown-nosing" effect).

    3. The merit pay plans that reward entire schools (teachers, nurses, cafeteria workers, janitors) seem to be the most efficacious, BUT are NOT popular with politicians (probably because the collaborative effort might smell like socialism).

    Now, these data are old, but I would urge real caution in trying to go down this road....

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  11. Here are my thoughts on the whole pension/benefits thing.
    http://teachermomnj.blogspot.com/2011/06/some-thoughts-on-pensions-and-benefits.html

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  12. Thanks, everyone, for posting - lots of good stuff here.

    Catherine, any chance of posting on your research?

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  13. I think teachers need to be compensated a lot more considering the importance of their job. Not to mention the fact that they spend a lot of hours developing lesson plans and grading papers etc. It will be hard to retain quality teachers with lower salaries.

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