Overall, should teacher salaries in the US be increased?

[Vega]

Duh.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Duh.

Such eloquence truly speaks to the need to have better teachers in the United States.

[DC Al Fine]

I don't think it makes sense to pay teachers more on average.

But, you have to factor in the whole picture.  If someone just has a bachelor's degree, they get the summer off and a large amount of vacation time, pretty normal and decent hours, they get good benefits and tenure, that all factors in.  So, it's really a range.  For a teacher in South Dakota fresh out of school, $40k might be perfectly reasonable.  For an experienced teacher in New Jersey who has a masters in chemistry, is on a professional development committee and coaches football, $100k might be reasonable.  But, this idea that we should increase all teacher salaries by 50%, that's bonkers.

I agree with this. The other thing to consider is the substantial pension advantage teachers enjoy over similarly paid private sector workers. The rule of thumb we use in the accounting profession is that a defined benefit pension plan is worth roughly 20% of base compensation. So a teacher making 40k is really making something like $48k.

What are teachers' health insurance plans like? Are they significantly better than the private sector? That too might make for a higher total compensation package.

[anvi]

Yes, and most of the administrators and specialists need to be eliminated. The redundancy of school administrators is unsustainable, and it's the reason for the extraordinary cost of compulsory education in the US.

Once upon a time, the people with Master's degrees and PhD's were in the classroom. Now they often sit in a backroom somewhere, making pointless bureaucratic policy decisions that make school districts worse.

Agreed!

[King]

They should be rounded up and shot (krazen).

[TJ in Oregon]

In general yes, but it should have more to do with job performance (which I know is an ambiguous term) than it does.

The other thing I think needs to be mentioned is that have a graduate degree does nothing to make someone a better teacher than a bachelor's does. The implicit requirement of a masters' degree is simply a cash cow for the universities. It's an unnecessary requirement that burdens potential candidates for no reason.

[traininthedistance]

I don't think it makes sense to pay teachers more on average.

But, you have to factor in the whole picture.  If someone just has a bachelor's degree, they get the summer off and a large amount of vacation time, pretty normal and decent hours, they get good benefits and tenure, that all factors in.  So, it's really a range.  For a teacher in South Dakota fresh out of school, $40k might be perfectly reasonable.  For an experienced teacher in New Jersey who has a masters in chemistry, is on a professional development committee and coaches football, $100k might be reasonable.  But, this idea that we should increase all teacher salaries by 50%, that's bonkers.

Okay, I'm sorry, but this is balderdash.

The hardest-working person I know– bar none, and this includes plenty of professional types whose "hours spent in the office" are high– is a high school physics teacher.  She has to get up at 5 in the morning, and most days stays after school for awhile, so it's longer than 8-hour days.  There's plenty to do at home– grading, lesson plans– and plenty to do even in the summer (conferences etc.).  Like most teachers, she has a master's (which she got going to class at night BTW); and like many teachers these days she started out in one of those inner-city fellowship programs, and eventually left that to go to a Catholic school that paid less because it was just too insanely hard and draining.

Her life puts mine to utter shame.

Of course teachers deserve to get paid more; much more. We can talk about other reforms to go along with such a boost in pay and prestige– I'm skeptical about some, positive about others, personally– but that boost in pay and prestige really needs to come first.

[TDAS04]

I don't think it makes sense to pay teachers more on average.

It makes sense.  The average teacher deserves far more money than what the average US teacher gets paid.

[Mr.Phips]

Not in Upstate NY.  Teachers here start at nearly $40,000 and can reach well over $100k.  And many of them do little work outside of school.  Teachers in NYS have one of the strongest unions in the country.  The myth of teachers being grossly underpaid needs to end.

[Vosem]

Depends where and who, but in general, yes (voted yes), particularly high school teachers/teachers of AP subjects or otherwise crucial or difficult courses. Administrators, by contrast, need to be paid significantly less.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Not in Upstate NY.  Teachers here start at nearly $40,000 and can reach well over $100k.  And many of them do little work outside of school.  Teachers in NYS have one of the strongest unions in the country.  The myth of teachers being grossly underpaid needs to end.

I won't stand for this. All the hardest-working people I've ever met are teachers, and they work 'til midnight after school. My parents are both teachers and they have to grade papers, grade tests, and grade homework every night, as do my school teachers. Perhaps you should learn what the teaching life is actually like before you opine about how lazy other people are.

[Mr.Phips]

Not in Upstate NY.  Teachers here start at nearly $40,000 and can reach well over $100k.  And many of them do little work outside of school.  Teachers in NYS have one of the strongest unions in the country.  The myth of teachers being grossly underpaid needs to end.

I won't stand for this. All the hardest-working people I've ever met are teachers, and they work 'til midnight after school. My parents are both teachers and they have to grade papers, grade tests, and grade homework every night, as do my school teachers. Perhaps you should learn what the teaching life is actually like before you opine about how lazy other people are.

My mom is a teacher and works harder than many others.  There are many that simply know the union is there to protect them and do as little as.possible.  One of my moms best friends is a speech therapist in the school district and openly brags about how she doesn't care and that the district can't do anything to her.  She makes about $90k a year.

[AggregateDemand]

My mom is a teacher and works harder than many others.  There are many that simply know the union is there to protect them and do as little as.possible.  One of my moms best friends is a speech therapist in the school district and openly brags about how she doesn't care and that the district can't do anything to her.  She makes about $90k a year.

Therein lies the problem. Master's degrees and PhD's moved into administrative or "specialist" positions where they make lots of money but make little or no difference. The teachers who actually make a difference in the classroom are often under-paid and misrepresented by unions who only protect the lazy zealots and the over-educated administrators/specialists.

It's a pitiful sight, and I can scarcely fault federal regulators for overstepping their constitutional authority to fix it.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Not in Upstate NY.  Teachers here start at nearly $40,000 and can reach well over $100k.  And many of them do little work outside of school.  Teachers in NYS have one of the strongest unions in the country.  The myth of teachers being grossly underpaid needs to end.

I won't stand for this. All the hardest-working people I've ever met are teachers, and they work 'til midnight after school. My parents are both teachers and they have to grade papers, grade tests, and grade homework every night, as do my school teachers. Perhaps you should learn what the teaching life is actually like before you opine about how lazy other people are.

My mom is a teacher and works harder than many others.  There are many that simply know the union is there to protect them and do as little as.possible.  One of my moms best friends is a speech therapist in the school district and openly brags about how she doesn't care and that the district can't do anything to her.  She makes about $90k a year.

Every teacher I've ever known works their ass off to teach a bunch of ungrateful brats who don't care and you're saying they shouldn't be paid better because of one speech therapist?

[Mr.Phips]

Not in Upstate NY.  Teachers here start at nearly $40,000 and can reach well over $100k.  And many of them do little work outside of school.  Teachers in NYS have one of the strongest unions in the country.  The myth of teachers being grossly underpaid needs to end.

I won't stand for this. All the hardest-working people I've ever met are teachers, and they work 'til midnight after school. My parents are both teachers and they have to grade papers, grade tests, and grade homework every night, as do my school teachers. Perhaps you should learn what the teaching life is actually like before you opine about how lazy other people are.

My mom is a teacher and works harder than many others.  There are many that simply know the union is there to protect them and do as little as.possible.  One of my moms best friends is a speech therapist in the school district and openly brags about how she doesn't care and that the district can't do anything to her.  She makes about $90k a year.

Every teacher I've ever known works their ass off to teach a bunch of ungrateful brats who don't care and you're saying they shouldn't be paid better because of one speech therapist?

I'm just talking about my area really.  In many parts of the country where teachers don't have strong unions to protect them, I'm sure they work very hard and deserve more money.  

And I'm not saying there are not any hard working teachers in my area, because there are.

[KCDem]

We should increase the salaries and teachers should be able to beat kids since the parents can't do it themselves.

[Deus Naturae]

US teachers are paid more than their counterparts in most other developed countries:



I don't think many would argue that the quality of public education in the US is superior to that of most other developed countries. That suggests that teacher pay has nothing to do with the problem. It's not that complex.

[AggregateDemand]

US teachers are paid more than their counterparts in most other developed countries:



I don't think many would argue that the quality of public education in the US is superior to that of most other developed countries. That suggests that teacher pay has nothing to do with the problem. It's not that complex.

This is make-believe data (no methodology cited) from a study which concludes that teachers around the world need higher pay, including the United States.

Here is some OECD data

http://www.oecd.org/edu/skills-beyond-school/48631286.pdf
http://www.oecd.org/education/school/1840245.pdf

Look at the increase in spending per pupil and experienced teacher salary. A majority of our educational costs are financing new buildings and new administrators.

[Indy Texas]

I don't think it makes sense to pay teachers more on average.

But, you have to factor in the whole picture.  If someone just has a bachelor's degree, they get the summer off and a large amount of vacation time, pretty normal and decent hours, they get good benefits and tenure, that all factors in.  So, it's really a range.  For a teacher in South Dakota fresh out of school, $40k might be perfectly reasonable.  For an experienced teacher in New Jersey who has a masters in chemistry, is on a professional development committee and coaches football, $100k might be reasonable.  But, this idea that we should increase all teacher salaries by 50%, that's bonkers.

At school from 7am to at least 4pm, and perhaps later if they coach or sponsor any extracurricular activities or clubs. And then they get to go home and grade papers and prepare lessons. Teachers don't work any less than anyone else and they work more than a lot of people in other professions.

[bedstuy]

I don't think it makes sense to pay teachers more on average.

But, you have to factor in the whole picture.  If someone just has a bachelor's degree, they get the summer off and a large amount of vacation time, pretty normal and decent hours, they get good benefits and tenure, that all factors in.  So, it's really a range.  For a teacher in South Dakota fresh out of school, $40k might be perfectly reasonable.  For an experienced teacher in New Jersey who has a masters in chemistry, is on a professional development committee and coaches football, $100k might be reasonable.  But, this idea that we should increase all teacher salaries by 50%, that's bonkers.

At school from 7am to at least 4pm, and perhaps later if they coach or sponsor any extracurricular activities or clubs. And then they get to go home and grade papers and prepare lessons. Teachers don't work any less than anyone else and they work more than a lot of people in other professions.

This article says teachers work an average of 53 hours per week during the school year.  Factoring in the amount of vacation time a teacher gets, that's not really on par with higher paid educated professionals like doctors and lawyers.  Medical residents routinely work 70-80 hours a week.  Bankers can work 100 hours a week.  Those professions also have less time off and generally more work related stress. 

Obviously, teachers work hard and many of them are underpaid.  I'm just saying, you can't say every school teacher should make 6 figures or that it's a singularly difficult job. 

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Yes. Starting pay should be 50-60k/year, and it should gradually rise towards a top pay of 150k/year over the first 25 years of teaching.

[Mister Mets]

No, I think there are other ways to improve the system.

Salaries aren't that great, but it is worth noting that the benefits are significiant.