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$34.06 an Hour -- That's how much the average public school teachers makes. Is that "underpaid"?
The Wall Street Journal ^ | February 2, 2007 | Jay P. Greene and Marcus A. Winters

Posted on 02/02/2007 5:20:28 AM PST by Zakeet

Who, on average, is better paid--public school teachers or architects? How about teachers or economists? You might be surprised to learn that public school teachers are better paid than these and many other professionals. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, public school teachers earned $34.06 per hour in 2005, 36% more than the hourly wage of the average white-collar worker and 11% more than the average professional specialty or technical worker.

In the popular imagination, however, public school teachers are underpaid. "Salaries are too low. We all know that," noted First Lady Laura Bush, expressing the consensus view. "We need to figure out a way to pay teachers more." Indeed, our efforts to hire more teachers and raise their salaries account for the bulk of public school spending increases over the last four decades. During that time per-pupil spending, adjusted for inflation, has more than doubled; overall we now annually spend more than $500 billion on public education.

The perception that we underpay teachers is likely to play a significant role in the debate to reauthorize No Child Left Behind. The new Democratic majority intends to push for greater education funding, much of which would likely to go toward increasing teacher compensation. It would be beneficial if the debate focused on the actual salaries teachers are already paid.

It would also be beneficial if the debate touched on the correlation between teacher pay and actual results. To wit, higher teacher pay seems to have no effect on raising student achievement. Metropolitan areas with higher teacher pay do not graduate a higher percentage of their students than areas with lower teacher pay.

In fact, the urban areas with the highest teacher pay are famous for their abysmal outcomes.

(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: edbasher; education; nea; teachers
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To: babble-on
As much as they want...

Liberals boost teacher pay because teachers on average vote for liberals and the money passes through government hands. It is straight rewarding of friends, and trying to get as much of the economy as possible in public hands. None of it has anything to do with performance because there isn't any.

241 posted on 02/04/2007 6:30:49 AM PST by JasonC
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To: Buggman

Your point is excellent.

My wife is a high school English teacher and she puts in at least an extra 20 hours a week during the school year grading essays, tests and research papers. Then in the Summer, she does spend time putting together lesson plans and preparing for the next school year so it's not all fun and games.

I call BS on the report for if in reality teachers were making $ 34 an hour, there would be a glut of college graduates in the market looking for these "high" paying jobs.



242 posted on 02/04/2007 6:43:23 AM PST by WildWeasel
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To: Scotswife

.... and you assume wrong!!!!!!


243 posted on 02/04/2007 10:34:31 AM PST by Apple Pan Dowdy (... as American as Apple Pie)
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To: Apple Pan Dowdy

I have never heard of a public school district that did not pay its teachers for coaching sports.
Is this a public school? or private?


244 posted on 02/04/2007 11:51:54 AM PST by Scotswife
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To: moog

Always wear your SuperMan suit. It gets rough out there.


245 posted on 02/04/2007 11:59:17 AM PST by A Strict Constructionist
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To: Scotswife

Often the "pay" here is only a few hundred dollars here and hardly reflective of the amount of time the coach puts into it.


246 posted on 02/04/2007 12:10:17 PM PST by moog
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To: A Strict Constructionist

"Always wear your SuperMan suit. It gets rough out there."

Do you know how much my first graders would tease me if I wore those funny briefs with a cape outside of my pants? I'd never hear the end of it. Geez, they give me a bad enough time as it is. :)


247 posted on 02/04/2007 12:12:05 PM PST by moog
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To: moog

"Often the "pay" here is only a few hundred dollars here and hardly reflective of the amount of time the coach puts into it."

I've experience that...yes.
It is still money that is not counted in the annual salary.
Generally the coaches get a lump sum at the end of the athletic season.


248 posted on 02/04/2007 12:48:43 PM PST by Scotswife
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To: Scotswife

Here it IS counted in the salary.


249 posted on 02/04/2007 1:12:03 PM PST by moog
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To: Scotswife

I will have to ask him what the "pay" is for coaching, but I just know that it was a manditory extra and from what I remember him saying, they give him $8/day extra for doing it. Like he pointed out that sometimes doesn't even cover the gas he uses getting to the games. It's public school in a very poor district.


250 posted on 02/04/2007 1:37:55 PM PST by Apple Pan Dowdy (... as American as Apple Pie)
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To: moog

"Here it IS counted in the salary."

Can you choose?
As in - a choice whether to take the lump sum after coaching duties - or choose to have the extra coaching money figured into the salary?

What I'm wondering is if the coach is getting paid more than other teachers with the same seniority but are not coaching.

If they're forced to coach for free - that is something the union reps wouldn't stand for in most states.


251 posted on 02/05/2007 8:45:39 AM PST by Scotswife
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To: Apple Pan Dowdy

A mandatory extra at $8/day.
Sounds like the union is weak at negotiations.


252 posted on 02/05/2007 8:46:57 AM PST by Scotswife
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To: Scotswife

It depends on the location here. In some you can, in others, it is figured into the salary. Note that the unions here aren't quite as prevalent as in other places (though you'd think they could move mountains by the way some people talk).


253 posted on 02/05/2007 2:31:49 PM PST by moog
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To: moog

"(though you'd think they could move mountains by the way some people talk)."

Oh..they do move mountains in our area.
There's no way they would stand for the situation you describe here.


254 posted on 02/06/2007 7:32:48 AM PST by Scotswife
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To: Scotswife

Most of the teachers at my school and area aren't really political at all because they actually have other things like their family to worry about after school. I am fairly political, but I have so much going on that I don't always have time to deal with the "politics" either. The biggest ones in power here are the bureaucrats (in the legislature). If we cross them too much, some get pretty vindictive. But you make do and do the best job you can.


255 posted on 02/06/2007 11:22:21 AM PST by moog
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To: Publius Valerius

A year ago, I completely agreed that teachers were at least adequately paid if not over-paid. Then, my best friend became one.

She now makes the same as she did working as an administrative assisstant for an accounting firm. The benefit is all that vacation! The trade-off:
She puts in a good 50-55hrs/wk of work in to her job while school is in session. She feels that to do an adequate job, she would have to put in 60-70hrs a week!She "teaches" special ed in an inner-city urban school. Most of the time, it's more day-care than teaching. Her after-school work starts with daily occurences of detention and additional help for her students who average 2-3years behind in reading and english. After that, she comes home to grade papers, develop lesson plans, fill out IEP government forms, and make routine calls to parents to try to keep them involved in their childs education.
If it's mostly day-care, why care so much, why try? Because her efforts some times pay off. A small fraction of her students show promise and improvement. On a good day, she sees this promise. On a bad day, a child shows the class his private part and two fights break out. There are a lot more bad days then good. The stress of this comes home with her, but it's worth it to make a difference. However, she is not properly educated for the job she has been given. Why? Because no one qualified wants her job, for her pay.
This doesn't even start to give a picture to you of how tough it can actually be. I don't know why I even try.


256 posted on 02/15/2007 11:16:05 AM PST by scottjk32 (I get it now)
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To: captain_dave

Does the 34.06 include benefits (health care and pension? both are the best in the entire country). Amen.


257 posted on 02/15/2007 11:22:36 AM PST by gakrak ("A wise man's heart is his right hand, But a fool's heart is at his left" Eccl 10:2)
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