Have you heard about the growing teacher shortage in America? This very unfortunate problem is affecting the most people in the west, and it doesn’t look like a good turnout will happen anytime soon. This will take a very long time to fix, but what started this mess in the first place?
There are many things we could blame for feeding this problem. One of these things is poor salary. “45% (of teachers) said poor salary was an issue. It was cited by about three-fourths of those who moved from a small, private school to other schools.” (Bracey, page 331)
“Low student motivation drove the most teachers from large, urban schools (50%) while poor salary was a close second (46%). Starting salary for some Texas schools is only $25,012.”Pipho, page
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“For all schools, only 6% of teachers leave the profession, while 7.2% move to a different school or district. Of those who leave, “27% retire, while 45% report personal reasons for leaving. Twelve percent leave because of a school staffing action, and 24% leave to find another occupation.” “Public school teachers for not leave as frequently as private school teachers do: 12.4% of public school teachers leave versus 18.9% for those in private schools.”(Bracey, page …show more content…
Would you feel safe knowing your child is in the hands of some inexperienced person, preparing them for the workplace?
“Fairfax County Virginia had to beg two retired teachers to come back.” Baltimore had 700 new teachers but still needed 100 more. “NYC had such a hard time finding math and science teachers that it recruited 23 of them from Austria.” (Pipho, page 181) “We're robbing our children of the very people who can help ensure they enter adulthood well prepared for college and the workplace.” (Kennedy, paragraph 4) 43% of Germany’s teachers are aging or could retire.
Some schools are raising the salary for their teachers. “El Paso has sweetened the pot for new math teachers and they can now get a $2,000 bonus on top of a $25,012 starting salary." Teachers who went from non-white, poor student filled school to a less poor, more white school got their salaries raised by $7,300. (Pipho, page
Barber calls the reader 's attention to the low salary of teachers and how their wages need to rise. Although many people know about the salary issue for teachers, they often overlook
The author states in “A New Deal for Teachers” that in America, especially in poorer school districts, teacher quality is lacking. In urban districts, out of the new teachers hired in the next three years, about half of them will quit (usually the quality ones). The recruitment of better teachers is, as the author says, the biggest problem in our education system. He states that he’s been told by urban teachers that many of their colleagues are incompetent. Contributing to this is that state requirements are very low, which allows poor quality teachers into schools. Miller explains that smart and competent people who want to be teachers, are getting more and more difficult to find. This is true mainly because there are fields of work that those
Figlio, David N. "Teacher Salaries and Teacher Quality." Economic Letters 55.2 (1997): 267-71. Sciencedirect.com. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
schools and 234 elementary schools. These schools provided not only education for students but also job opportunities for many individuals. This dramatic change opened up positions for 5,709 teachers (filled by 394 men and 5,315 women), who were paid about $325 per year.
Some people believe merit pay creates competition and favoritism. They seem to think school systems will pay some teachers more than others and create a “battle” for money. In Merit Pay: Good for Teachers? By Gary Drevitch, one interviewee states, “I know it’s worked in some places, but I shudder at the idea of teachers being in competition with each other.” None of these problems will occur if school districts implement a successful, unbiased system. Another issue society presents when it comes to merit pay comprises of differentiating a “good” teacher from a “bad” teacher. School districts can easily evaluate a teacher’s ability to educate students by the work teachers put into helping students. Student’s reactions to a teacher’s class can also help evaluate teachers. More often than not, students will love a class where the teacher clearly demonstrates lessons, explain procedures, and adds elements of fun. On the other hand, students typically dislike classes where the teacher only comes in for a paycheck. This attitude is displayed by their lackadaisical teaching style. Other people argue that money should not be the reason why people go into teaching. Richard Barbieri, author of Merit Pay? argues that money is not an external motivator, but the substance of a teacher’s motivation. Financial incentives will cause employees to work harder
"The Single Salary Schedule for Teachers in K-12 Public Schools." Department of Economics (2002): 1-18. Print.
In my experience, the majority of my teachers were dedicated and caring people to their work. I previously thought that maybe I had gotten lucky with my instructors in which classes I participated in, or maybe I am a more open minded person than those who criticized our educators. Now I see that teachers are scapegoats for other complications outside of their control. Even if some are no longer of a higher caliber, a reason for the decline could be disheartening caused by their limited resources and general disrespect year after year. The government may not be willing to reverse past changes, but now the system whose purpose is to prepare the children of today to become the adults of tomorrow is being annexed by business behemoths striving for ever greater profits to fill their
Many teachers got fired, and a majority of the teachers salaries are cut. “Between 1929 and 1934, average teachers' pay fell from $1,420 to $1,227 annually, a drop
When was the last time that you saw a teacher sporting off a brand new Lexus? Or when was it that you heard of a teacher owning a ranch? The answer to this question is probably never. Although material possessions such as owning a luxurious home or driving an extravagant car might be chump change for people like the rich and famous, for teachers this kind of spending is literally an arm and a leg. Even simple necessities are out of reach with a teacher’s salary. The reason for this problem is due to our nation’s budget. Teachers along with others in the school system are underpaid and are not being adequately compensated for their services. Instead of rewarding teachers with higher pay the government is undermining their work. As a result, teachers are unable to buy that expensive car or even pay off that Honda that they bought when they were in college working for their teaching degree. School budgets must be increased immensely in order to insure the educational growth of students and the professional development of teachers. There are four main reasons that are discussed in this paper, as to why more money should be spent on education.
Teachers may be one of the most important influences on children and teenagers throughout their adolescent lives. They spend a large amount of time around their students, anywhere between six to eight hours a day, five days a week, 180 days per school year. However, even though they are such an important influence on adolescents, the average base salary of a teacher is $31,645 (“Teacher Education”). In an attempt to reward teachers, many states use a “merit pay” system to reward teachers who have higher test scores with their students. Teachers at Oak Grove Primary School received about $900 in merit pay, while librarians and counselors received about $600 (Ciurczak). Although teachers enrolled in incentivized pay programs may benefit from
Somehow there doesn’t seem to be enough money to give teachers even a cost of living raise. Since I have moved to North Carolina I have not had a raise. My salary is the same as it was 5 years ago. I have 8 years of teaching experience, however, I am getting paid as if I only have 3 years of experience. Now let me clarify, I did not become a teacher to make a lot of money, I became a teacher because I love children and I love to teach! I also became a teacher because I knew it would be a great job to have as a mother. I would be on the same schedule as my children and I would be able to help th...
Teachers are getting upset and frustrated with the system because of how low they are getting paid. Most teachers have other jobs and live a non luxurious life because
Although teachers and professors are essential for students to strive beyond the shackles of senselessness, the act of shaming teachers has become popular due to their lack of effort to “cure social ills that no one knows how to treat” (Palmer, 3). Teachers trapped in these situations, such as those that work in underfunded schools, are then forced into the consistent loop of being removed from the system. As Hinchey explains the loop in detail: “(teachers who) work in underfunded schools where “reform” like high stakes testing ensure that a large percentage of students will fail, they are denied professional development, they are forced into using programs from publishers – and then they are blamed for the failure while the for-profit organizations plan to use the predetermined failure of students to eliminate teaching jobs” (Hinchey, 113). The struggles for beginning teachers in the work force in terms of preforming the needs of both the institutions required curriculum while expanding the usage of cultural diversity methods within the classroom is one where the end result could become either exceptional or
First of all, a teacher works for 10 months in a year, and has off when the kids have off. During the off time teachers have time to further their education or upgrade their new teaching license (Elementary School Teachers). The days off are not just the only benefit that a teacher has. The starting salary is about $53,950. Through extracurricular activities teachers can earn earn a bigger salary. According to Ferguson 's Career Guidance Center in an article titled Elementary School Teachers,“Teachers often supplement their earnings through teaching summer classes, coaching sports, sponsoring a club” (Elementary School Teachers). Having a high salary is a major benefit when going into a career field. If a person starts off with a high salary it is a positive thing because they start off with a good income and over the years raises will be even
Duke, Daniel L., ed. Incentive Pay and Career Ladders For Today's Teachers. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990. 42-241. Grand Rapids Community College Database . Web. 6 Apr. 2014. .