Contrast what teachers do and what they make and the fact they have 4 years (or more) of college, and it all adds up.
They all are underpaid.
Unmitigated BS
Contrast what teachers do and what they make and the fact they have 4 years (or more) of college, and it all adds up.
They all are underpaid.
________________________________________
One has to take into account the fringe benefits they receive while working, the allowable retirement age and the pension and other retirement benefits they receive.
I know teaches that have retired at 50 and receive more in pension payments than they would have earned had they continued working. With the average life expectancy now over 80, they were effectively earning twice their salary during their working years.
A 3% salary is effectively a 6% increase when you take into account the pension benefit increase.
If they want a larger salary now, they should negotiate a reduction in their retirement benefits. Of course, that will not happen.
I've interviewed about thirty teachers while on the school board and what I see are youngish (30 or so) "teachers" that have come out of lefty colleges and have learned the various "teaching techniques" superintendents like in order to keep them in control.
Essentially, cookie cutter "teachers" to match up the national indoctrination that public schools provide.
How do you think we got all those Jay Leno Doofi and the snowflakes in need of safe rooms ?
Sounds like you’ve been buying the lies coming from Big Education.
Just going to college to get a degree that qualifies one for a given field does not make that person worthy of a given salary.
Some degrees are useless. Some institutions granting otherwise-useful degrees render those degrees useless. Some of the holders of useful degrees from qualified institutions are useless.
Likewise, not every important job has a great salary — and not every job that has a great salary is actually important.
Furthermore, public-sector unions of all sorts should be disbanded.
In the same market, I have an advanced degree, a skillset just under engineering, a second language and 30+ years experience and just broke $70K within the last year or so. Plus I work 12 months per year, not 9.
Every teacher opening in our school district gets literally HUNDREDS of applications. When my present job opened, they told me that I was one candidate of four. As the guy who wrote the article says, we will never know if they are underpaid, because they won't allow it to be a supply and demand thing which sets the pay.
If you want to teach in suburban Pittsburgh, you are either going to have to have very good connections on the local school board or whomever does the hiring or get a few years experience down south or West Virginia to distinguish yourself from the competition.
This is NOT a situation which describes underpaid.
‘Contrast what teachers do and what they make and the fact they have 4 years (or more) of college, and it all adds up.’
any professional worth his/her salt should be expected to have four or more years of advanced schooling...but I guess you have some point to make...
“They all are underpaid.”
All? Disagree. Some states have lower salaries like Montana. But NY and AK, HS Teachers can earn over $80K. In NY the average is $72K. Not bad for working about 3/4 what most people work.
And while starting teachers have to put in a lot of extra work building lesson plans, teachers with a few years pull out the stuff from previous years for most lessons. Much easier.
I respect teachers, but Not all deserve that. My father use to say there were two kinds of teachers, those that loved kids, and those that wanted summers off. He was Professor of Elementary Education at a major university.
I think a third selection could be, those that want to coach.
We are in the same zone with teachers as we are with sexual assault victim. You can’t question them. Well sorry, many teachers are not very good. Look at how we rank among other countries.
Just an FYI, my mother was a teacher and then guidance counselor, and my wife was a teacher. So I have been around a few.