Is $34.06 Per Hour 'Underpaid'? - Teacher salaries

Manhattan Institute ^ | 2/2/07 | Jay P. Greene

[DouglasKC]

ish all the teacher bashers would just go to college, get a degree in education, and become a teacher . It's such an easy thing to do. "Try it , you'll like it !!" Then you can get the good benefits, great pay, summers off etc. just like they do .Remember though , today it will probably cost you a minimum of $20,000.00 /yr. for the college (tuition only) so you will probably need at least $ 100,000.00 in student loans just for that expense .( few get out in four years anymore the way it is structured )

I don't think that anyone bashes teachers. I think that everyone reacts to the NEA using the power of propaganda to fill their coffers.

As for how much teachers "have" to spend to become teachers....so what???? I had to spend 4 years of my life in the military to become proficient in the IT field. When I wanted to start my own business I had to invest almost $100,000 of my own money to do so. Yet I don't go around complaining that I had to actually INVEST money to make more money.

[swmobuffalo]

"All right already - you proved you sleep with a teacher and get benefits from the NEA. Now go play with your crayons and coloring books."

No rude little person, I'm MARRIED to a teacher and we get NO BENEFITS from the stinkin' NEA. He wouldn't lower himself to join that trashy outfit.

I don't play with crayons and coloring books, my children are all too old and my grandson too far away.

You on the other hand probably could profit from a trip to the woodshed. Just another example of not hearing the truth and being stuck on the hype.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Ok, for any professional I know, 40 hrs would be a short week. How's that?

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Good rant. You are right on. BTW, Florida is quite a bit cheaper for instate. Anyway, there are tons of people who graduate and don't make as much as a teacher. Contrary to popular belief, they don't just hand out money to other people with degrees.

[lonestar]

the huge benefits package they receive during and after employment.

What do teachers get in retirement benefits? And teachers don't make that much per hour.

Where I live they have to contribute to their own hospitalization insurance while the county elected officials and employees get free hospitalization for themselves and their dependents.

[twinzmommy]

Exactly! It just infuriates me that the Teacher's Unions manage to get so much press about the "low salaries" -- SO many people I know with degrees come out of school making jack.

I'm all for paying people what they are worth. I really and truly am. But seeing the students in the education program at my school just makes me want to toss out our education system as it currently exists and start over.

Question -- in all of these posts no one has referenced that oftentimes many teachers have a "down" period during the school day for grading papers, conferences, etc. Is this still the case in schools or not?

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

There is down time here in FL. No doubt that teachers work more than their scheduled time. So do most other people on salary. A good experienced carpenter doesn't make as much as teachers first year pay and it is just a much of a skill as teaching. Teacher pay should be based on merit like most other systems. Unfortunately, the unions are against this and it is difficult to measure how effective a teacher is in the classroom.

[NHResident]

Touchy, touchy....clearly you have been taught your manners in the public school system. CLEARLY, all your 'trips to the woodshed' did nothing but leave you with an extremely low opinion of yourself.

Go find someone (preferably home-schooled) to teach you basic mathematics. You might also benefit from having someone explain Emily Post's Rules of Etiquette to you.

[swmobuffalo]

Blah, blah, blah, your manners aren't the greatest in the world either and I've been out of patience with your type for years.

[NHResident]

It's always so wonderful to sit back and see how the 'quality' of your response eliminates the need for any countering statement.

[VOA]

In my experience, there are two camps in the ranks of public school
teachers:
1) the majority that thinks $34.06/hr is simply a cruel mis-appreciation
for their having sat through mickey-mouse education courses...
AND
2) the elite cadre of teachers that still can't believe they are
actually paid a decent wage to teach. These are the folks who keep
the schools functioning, despite the unionist in section 1) above
and the mismanagement and pilfering by the school administration.

[grey_whiskers]

Also remember, the next time your school district talks about running low on funds, their teacher salaries may be well below the national average.

You're right! HALF of all teachers nationwide earn less than the national average.

It's simply SCANDALOUS!

Cheers!

[grey_whiskers]

Or, better yet, HALF earn less than the Median.

(Homeschooled mode.)

Cheers!

[ContraryMary]

Any teacher who only works during school hours is not a good teacher. Any reasonably decent teacher is grading papers/tests and working on lesson plans in the evening and on the weekends. My guess is that the hourly rate quoted in the article is based only on time spent "on the clock" so to speak (while working in the building).

I agree with that. However, any salaried person on the private sector works overtime without getting paid for it and without those extra hours included in their rate of pay. Teachers should be no different.

[BobS]

You have a good point. I work with a couple of guys that have Phds in physics. They know what works and what doesn't work. Professors should be required to teach at least one course in high schools. Isaac Newton's math works every time it is tried. So teach calculus.

[swmobuffalo]

"It's always so wonderful to sit back and see how the 'quality' of your response eliminates the need for any countering statement."

ROTFLMBO


You waited SEVEN days to produce that little trite remark?!!

[Timmy]

Based on the quality of the product they produce, they are the most over-paid of professions.

[Timmy]

I wish all the teacher bashers would just go to college, get a degree in education, and become a teacher . It's such an easy thing to do

I realize you didn't mean it, but this is a very true statement. Becoming a teacher is much easier than just about any other profession. In fact, professional teachers have the lowest average ACT/SAT scores of any other profession. Some of my classmates (class of '76) are now teachers, many of them didn't deserve to graduate high school.

[undeniable logic]

Another way you can look at it is babysitting. If that is all that we are doing (and some people really believe that), then I should get paid an equivilant amount. My son's daycare is 128 a week. So lets go by that. On average, I have 25 students in each class @ 128$ each, that comes to $3200 per week. times that by 36 (weeks in the school year) and you end up with a yearly salary of $115200. A far cry from th $43,000 I am making now.

No offense, but if the math skills you exhibited in the previous paragraph are any indication, you are way overpaid at the $43k you are making right now. You are forgetting all expenses in addition to the teachers' salary.

Let me use your own logic. The average cost of public education is between $8k and $10k per year. Times 25 students is $200k - $250k per year. Hence, according to your own calculation, you are making $225k (average the two) per year, about twice that of the daycare provider.

I hope you don't actually believe that the salary of a daycare provider is approximately $115200 per year.

[Timmy]

Here we go again, bash the teachers.

Yes, bash the teachers, but don't take it personally. Many of us have taken on the responsibility of educating our children, rather than turning them over to the government to be babysat and brainwashed. We simply don't care for the system and those who perpetuate it.