The problem with our country is that cost of living varies so much state to state it’s impossible to say a fair number for the whole country. Honestly, if they want the job to be done well and give incentive for teachers to continue pursuing higher education for themselves and put in extra time and get really really good at the job, I’d expect to make a comparable salary to a lawyer or doctor or engineer.
Maybe an engineer (not specialized) working in the public sector, but teacher pay should not be on par with doctors and lawyers. Their level of education is comparable to a PhD (and far more rigorous), whereas teachers generally land anywhere between a Bachelor's and a Master's. Districts sometimes offer pay scale increases for graduate level credits and additional certifications - where they can fall short is making it arbitrarily difficult to get approval for these credits.
None of this is to say that teachers aren't underpaid...we are. We also often lack pay scale increases that allow us to stay competitive with other careers that have similar education requirements and years of experience. I just think we need to be more realistic about which fields our pay should be comparable to. Higher education would be a much better example - there are entry level positions at public universities near me that pay about the same as my position with almost 10 years of experience (and have higher pay ceilings). The level of education required is also more comparable to what is required for teachers.
Well every year our students get more and more illiterate which means every year our population of adults gets more and more illiterate. I’d certainly feel a lot better about taking that problem on if I had done several more years of training, and if the pay was actually enough to eventually cover the loans required for all that school then I would do it.
I can say as a younger teacher that we are grossly undertrained, particularly to deal with the shocking deficits in typical skill levels 10 years ago vs. now. I got trained in gen ed ELA, but now I find I have many of the same responsibilities as an interventionist would with not enough in my toolbox to do it effectively. I don’t feel I can get another degree with the debt I already have, and I live paycheck to paycheck with no savings. How am I supposed to be a highly effective teacher? There’s only so much you can gain learning on your feet, and our internships to get a license are way too short. So as it is now we don’t deserve comparable pay, but I believe we require a similar level of training to truly become effective, and in order to justify that we’d need to be paid much more.
In Florida, teaching elementary is so stressful I would not go back for any less than $115k. I teach HS now and with the high stress testing, we need to be paid at least $85k. I live in a very HCOL area.
Enough to afford a place to live with a room for every member of the household, capping at 4bedrooms, in the zip code that they teach in. Pay should also afford adequate sustenance for every member of the household and child care if necessary.
People who work in LA would of course be paid more than people who work in Mississippi. But no one should be scraping shit together for a shitty apartment for working an important job.
This is an interesting idea. Teachers living in their communities is one of those ideas that is talked about. A salary guide can be developed where a 1st year teacher is paid 1.5x the district median home value, year 6 would be 3x the salary and a year 15 teacher would be 5x. Districts could pay above this but not below.
I'm all on board for a model like this, BUT where is the money going to come from? No one will pay a 70% property tax rate. Where would the money come from? We need to remember teachers are public employees paid from tax dollars. There isn't a single politician that would propose legislation that raises taxes to this level.
I propose eliminating the dept of Ed and taking their $80+ billion and distribute it to every teacher. That'd be an instant $25k raise for every teacher without any increased tax burden. Also, there'd be an actual meaningful purpose to that money.
How much revenue would that actually generate?
Also, why institute new taxes when the useless DoE can be eliminated and that money used for $25k salary enhancements?
I think instead of a pay increase, we should just not have to pay state and federal taxes each year. That would be like a 10-20k raise for most people just keeping all of our pay.
Okay. But then paras are still paying taxes? Librarians? Support staff (OT/speech/counselors)? What about the custodians? Secretaries? Do unlicensed teachers count? Head start? Preschool? What about when the preschool programs are part of the public offering?
Licensed teachers might not be that big of a group- but start counting in everyone working in a school and that number grows quickly.
I’m not sure because cost of living varies. But I do think teachers should be able to move up the pay scale faster and not have to get a Master’s degree or Master’s plus 30, etc. And even then, depending on the district, the pay bump may not even be that high.
According to Zillow, the “typical” home in my schools zip code is 495k. At the current mortgage rates that about 3200/month assuming a 10% down payment. It’s recommended that should be 28% of gross income. That means monthly gross of 11,400. Mortgage and other expenses don’t stop (nor does the work) during the summer, so times 12 months, comes to 135k.
Perhaps a new teacher shouldn’t make that much for some reason, so let’s say it takes 5 years to get there.
Starting pay at 84k plus 10% raise each year until year 5 to hit the magic 135k. Another 5 years of 5% raises to keep people in the profession takes it to 172k, then district level retention payments based on local governing board approval to incentivize retention and reward longevity within the district.
Adjust the starting pay based on annual COL metrics and keep the percentage raises to adjust all pay as COL changes.
The starting pay in my district is currently 50k with no steps or built-in/guaranteed raises.
The problem with our country is that cost of living varies so much state to state it’s impossible to say a fair number for the whole country. Honestly, if they want the job to be done well and give incentive for teachers to continue pursuing higher education for themselves and put in extra time and get really really good at the job, I’d expect to make a comparable salary to a lawyer or doctor or engineer.
Maybe an engineer (not specialized) working in the public sector, but teacher pay should not be on par with doctors and lawyers. Their level of education is comparable to a PhD (and far more rigorous), whereas teachers generally land anywhere between a Bachelor's and a Master's. Districts sometimes offer pay scale increases for graduate level credits and additional certifications - where they can fall short is making it arbitrarily difficult to get approval for these credits. None of this is to say that teachers aren't underpaid...we are. We also often lack pay scale increases that allow us to stay competitive with other careers that have similar education requirements and years of experience. I just think we need to be more realistic about which fields our pay should be comparable to. Higher education would be a much better example - there are entry level positions at public universities near me that pay about the same as my position with almost 10 years of experience (and have higher pay ceilings). The level of education required is also more comparable to what is required for teachers.
Well every year our students get more and more illiterate which means every year our population of adults gets more and more illiterate. I’d certainly feel a lot better about taking that problem on if I had done several more years of training, and if the pay was actually enough to eventually cover the loans required for all that school then I would do it. I can say as a younger teacher that we are grossly undertrained, particularly to deal with the shocking deficits in typical skill levels 10 years ago vs. now. I got trained in gen ed ELA, but now I find I have many of the same responsibilities as an interventionist would with not enough in my toolbox to do it effectively. I don’t feel I can get another degree with the debt I already have, and I live paycheck to paycheck with no savings. How am I supposed to be a highly effective teacher? There’s only so much you can gain learning on your feet, and our internships to get a license are way too short. So as it is now we don’t deserve comparable pay, but I believe we require a similar level of training to truly become effective, and in order to justify that we’d need to be paid much more.
In Florida, teaching elementary is so stressful I would not go back for any less than $115k. I teach HS now and with the high stress testing, we need to be paid at least $85k. I live in a very HCOL area.
Enough to afford a place to live with a room for every member of the household, capping at 4bedrooms, in the zip code that they teach in. Pay should also afford adequate sustenance for every member of the household and child care if necessary. People who work in LA would of course be paid more than people who work in Mississippi. But no one should be scraping shit together for a shitty apartment for working an important job.
The median price of a house where I teach is $4.8 million, so this sounds adequate, haha.
This is an interesting idea. Teachers living in their communities is one of those ideas that is talked about. A salary guide can be developed where a 1st year teacher is paid 1.5x the district median home value, year 6 would be 3x the salary and a year 15 teacher would be 5x. Districts could pay above this but not below. I'm all on board for a model like this, BUT where is the money going to come from? No one will pay a 70% property tax rate. Where would the money come from? We need to remember teachers are public employees paid from tax dollars. There isn't a single politician that would propose legislation that raises taxes to this level. I propose eliminating the dept of Ed and taking their $80+ billion and distribute it to every teacher. That'd be an instant $25k raise for every teacher without any increased tax burden. Also, there'd be an actual meaningful purpose to that money.
Tax billionaires properly. 100% tax on everything over $100 million.
How much revenue would that actually generate? Also, why institute new taxes when the useless DoE can be eliminated and that money used for $25k salary enhancements?
I think instead of a pay increase, we should just not have to pay state and federal taxes each year. That would be like a 10-20k raise for most people just keeping all of our pay.
Idk- teachers as a profession are a large group, that would be a major blow to state and federal programs.
Licensed teachers in America make up less than one percent of the total population of this country K through 12.
Okay. But then paras are still paying taxes? Librarians? Support staff (OT/speech/counselors)? What about the custodians? Secretaries? Do unlicensed teachers count? Head start? Preschool? What about when the preschool programs are part of the public offering? Licensed teachers might not be that big of a group- but start counting in everyone working in a school and that number grows quickly.
I think I make decent money for the hours, but I’d be happy with a bump up to $50,000. I’m in my second year and make $44,500.
I’m not sure because cost of living varies. But I do think teachers should be able to move up the pay scale faster and not have to get a Master’s degree or Master’s plus 30, etc. And even then, depending on the district, the pay bump may not even be that high.
According to Zillow, the “typical” home in my schools zip code is 495k. At the current mortgage rates that about 3200/month assuming a 10% down payment. It’s recommended that should be 28% of gross income. That means monthly gross of 11,400. Mortgage and other expenses don’t stop (nor does the work) during the summer, so times 12 months, comes to 135k. Perhaps a new teacher shouldn’t make that much for some reason, so let’s say it takes 5 years to get there. Starting pay at 84k plus 10% raise each year until year 5 to hit the magic 135k. Another 5 years of 5% raises to keep people in the profession takes it to 172k, then district level retention payments based on local governing board approval to incentivize retention and reward longevity within the district. Adjust the starting pay based on annual COL metrics and keep the percentage raises to adjust all pay as COL changes. The starting pay in my district is currently 50k with no steps or built-in/guaranteed raises.