Teacher Pay

I think good teachers are not paid enough. But it is the Teachers Union that drags you guys down. If schools worked like a regular biz and you could fire the sucky non performing teachers and give raises to the good ones (instead of across the board raises), I think you would see a lot better performance.

I know if I had a job where I got a raise of 4% (crappy) but everyone else got the same amount and the only way I could be fired was to have a affair with my student. I dont think I would want to perform to the best of my ability either.

BTW I am 100% commission.

In order to bump this thread and get some ideas going, what could be done to improve the quality of teachers in a school?  Also I just wanted to do some math for you.  If you have children, what do you pay a babysitter or daycare? 

Lets say $3.25 an hour.  I have about 30 students per class for 7 hours a day and 180 school days. 

$3.25 x 30 x 7 x 180 = 122,850

Edit: Becuase it is publicly posted I will just tell you I make $29,500 a year. 

I agree 100% but it is hard to find an evaluation process that is fair and effective.  Not to mention that in many districts they can't even find qualified teachers willing to apply. 

I would think that might encourage teachers to take on a bit more than they can reasonably handle, driving down the overall quality... but a nice thought.

bts

X2. From the spouse of a teacher, son of a teacher, brother, cousin and aunt of teachers.

I would say this comes from someone without any real world experience with teachers. My wife easily works harder and longer hours than I (even without factoring in BT-time), and a lot of teachers that are primary breadwinners have to work other jobs during holidays and summers just to make ends meet.

I don't think this is a fair comparison.  Teachers should not make more because they are "caring" for our kids during the day (whose parent may or may not be at work while they are at school).  We should pay teachers better because we, as a country, value education and because they are providing a good education to our children. Get rid of bad teachers. Daycare is optional, school is not and each has a different purpose.

I wish I could afford to be a teacher ... I absolutely love kids. I get more from the kids I teach in Sunday School or lead in Cub Scouts than they could ever get from me.

In my opinion, you cannot pay teachers (or police officers) enough - outside of you as parents, teachers hold the most sway and have the greatest impact on who your child is going to become, what opportunities they will have and their relative ability to succeed.

<rant> Are teachers parents? No. They are educators.  Are parents educators? Yes - but not as much as their child's teacher.  In order for the teacher to be successful, though, they need the resources - the tools in their tool belt (so to speak) and the school districts need the resources to keep the best + brightest.

My college roommate was a teacher for a 3 years and then left to become a builder.  He simply could not afford to raise his family on the income, even though his wife worked as well.

To echo what has previously been said, merit pay for teachers would go a long way in bringing up the salaries of good teachers.  My son had a mediocre, on her good day, first grade teacher last year (think Delores Umbridge from Harry Potter).  This year he has an absolutely fantastic teacher, one that enables him to get up every morning excited to go to school.

Both are paid the same amount ... actually, the first grade teacher probably gets paid more as she has taught longer.  Where is the incentive for that first grade teacher to take the extra steps necessary to reach a child?  To help them after school when they are struggling?

We can only depend upon the benevolence of a teacher's love of their job so much before we lose them to the economic realities of the market place.

</rant>

Hollis has presented the facts. My DW is a CATHOLIC middle school teacher. She teaches English. Two nights this week she was up until midnight correcting papers. The time off??? Christmas is SIX weekdays and Easter is SIX weekdays. Basically two weeks per school year. The other days when school is not in session? The teachers spend those in meetings or classes. The summer? Two months is about right, not three. I calculated the hours this week for my DW...65. Three days she has NO breaks (no study halls or prep time either).

O.k.....the big question??? Why does she do it? Because of the non-monetary rewards. She truly believes (as do I) that God's plan was for her to affect the lives of children in a positive way. Her former students come back from high school to tell the current classes how WELL PREPARED they were because of what my wife taught them and because of how she pushed them to be better writers. She beams when she tells me about this. THAT is the real pay...

BTW, many of her former students have become teachers. I like to think she has influenced that decision in some way. I am SOOOO proud of her.

Possum, if only all teachers were as dedicated as you... I can't tell you how many times I've heard my teacher friends say "well, I'm not going to this conference because that's not a contracted day," or "I'm not staying late without extra pay because that's not in my contract." While us non-educators get vacation and sick days, it is not equal to "uncontracted" time of my friends. That's why this becomes such a hot topic, because everyone has different experiences. Good teachers should get good pay, just like good employees anywhere should get good pay. It makes me cringe when I think of the words that came out of my monster-in-law's mouth (who could hav retired 2-3 years ago).  "No Child Left Behind is the worst initiative. Some kids are too stupid to teach." I think its time to stop teaching then.

I was actually thinking about this last week. My hubby's a teacher - middle school science. If I work extra hours, I get to take a few hours off somewhere else. He doesn't. He's often at work at 7:30 and at school until at least 4:30 - that's a nine hour day, because teachers don't get lunch. They have to eat with their "clients" every day and make sure they stay in line. I did some quick math, and figured that with nine-hour days for a 180-day school year plus just two weeks for planning, he works 1700 hours a year. The rest of us with 40-hour-week jobs work about 2000. But, then, for teachers, add at least eight hours each week for planning, etc. at home and he comes out working over 100 hours more a year than I do. That's just the planning, grading, etc. He deals with so much crap - angry parents, pre-teen attitudes, bully-prevention, tobacco busts, drug problems, uncaring parents - that's not in his job description. I'm proud of my hubby for putting up with what he does every day, and still taking time to teach his kids creatively.

Do I think all teachers work as much as he does? No. But the ones who do deserve fat raises. When I was a dept. head, we gave better raises to people who worked harder, and cost-of-living increases to those who didn't deserve more. It should work that way in school systems.

I don't really know what right I have to chime in, judge or comment since you guys have more experience in the subject.

Being a young person unsure about my future I've heard the "Why don't you just teach? Easy job, you have a degree." Blah, blah, blah. I think it takes a special person to dedicate themselves to shape young minds and I'm not one of them. I don't respect the teachers who do it for the wrong reasons. I had my fair share of good and bad teachers and the extremes stick out in my mind. Unfortunately I think too many people go into the profession without the drive and desire.

For those great teachers I had I sometimes still have contact with them. Being from a smaller city, my mom was very involved with our education and some were in our social circle, their kids playing the sports my brother and I played, etc. I have thanked those teachers in the last several years for having such an amazing impact on so many children's lives and myself. For those bad ones I'd like to tell them off.

One of my good childhood friends is taking over the PE dept at my elementary school. The teacher is retiring and taught us both. I think its wonderful and amazing how the circle works. They are both proud of the way this has worked out. I think its the best compliment in the world.

Not sure I agree there. Sure genetics gives ability, but unless that ability is tapped, what good is it?

From 5 to 18, teachers spend more waking hours with kids than do their parents, so if they're spending time with sucky teacher, while they may not be screwed, they are severly disadvantaged.