4 ms·

Comparing teacher pay to the median wage isn’t an apples to apples comparison because the average teacher has between a bachelor’s degree and a master’s, a stat

by dwater 4y ago

Comparing teacher pay to the median wage isn’t an apples to apples comparison because the average teacher has between a bachelor’s degree and a master’s, a state certification with regular training and renewal requirements, and a good amount of professional experience. I was a high school teacher and when I left my salary went up by 50% on day one, passed 100% increase within 2 years, and tripled within 5 years. The median wage earner in a large city is probably paid hourly for service work. I do agree that the single pay scale across all public school teachers is an issue. You will never get someone to teach high school math, science, or tech if salary is a significant consideration.

treis 4y ago
It's pretty close to the median worker having a bachelor's degree so that doesn't really skew the comparison Ultimately teaching salaries are fine. The median teacher makes about the median salary. But it comes with great job security, benefits, and significantly more time off than the median job. The benefits are high enough to attract enough teachers. The problem are parents and administration. And more recently kids missed a couple years of school due to Covid and went feral. It's gotten to be a significantly worse job. Solution is to cut the bullshit. Not pay more to incentivize people to put up with the bullshit.
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  > Ultimately teaching salaries are fine. The median teacher makes about the median salary. But it comes with great job security, benefits, and significantly more time off than the median job. I know 3 public school teachers, in CA/NYC/NJ. Their 6 to 8 weeks off in the summer (if that, due to ongoing training), is nowhere near enough to offset the low pay per hour and most importantly, having to deal with garbage parents and their misbehaving kids. They also work many extra hours at home during the school year doing grading or prepping exercises or whatever. If we have a get together, the teachers will pretty much guaranteed to be working all or some portion of the evening. > The benefits are high enough to attract enough teachers Only if you think 30+ kids per class is acceptable. I would want no more than 20 kids per class.
  - treis 4y ago
    Average teacher salary in California is $84,000. Official working days total out to about 12 weeks of vacation. Realistically less than that but still much more than your typical worker.
    - lotsofpulp 4y ago
      Why are they being compared to typical workers? The question of if teachers are sufficiently paid is answered by asking if current classroom sizes are sufficiently small and staffed by sufficient quality teachers. Whatever price that makes that happen is the appropriate price, regardless of what people in other jobs are earning.
      - treis 4y ago
        >Why are they being compared to typical workers? Who do you want to compare them to? >The question of if teachers are sufficiently paid is answered by asking if current classroom sizes are sufficiently small and staffed by sufficient quality teachers. Whatever price that makes that happen is the appropriate price, regardless of what people in other jobs are earning Like I said before the solution is to cut the bullshit. Not pay more for people to tolerate it.
        lotsofpulp 4y ago
        >Who do you want to compare them to? For the purposes of determining appropriate prices, why is it necessary to compare their price to anyone? Supply and demand determine appropriate pricing.

by dwater 4y ago

treis 4y ago

It's pretty close to the median worker having a bachelor's degree so that doesn't really skew the comparison Ultimately teaching salaries are fine. The median teacher makes about the median salary. But it comes with great job security, benefits, and significantly more time off than the median job. The benefits are high enough to attract enough teachers. The problem are parents and administration. And more recently kids missed a couple years of school due to Covid and went feral. It's gotten to be a significantly worse job. Solution is to cut the bullshit. Not pay more to incentivize people to put up with the bullshit.

lotsofpulp 4y ago
> Ultimately teaching salaries are fine. The median teacher makes about the median salary. But it comes with great job security, benefits, and significantly more time off than the median job. I know 3 public school teachers, in CA/NYC/NJ. Their 6 to 8 weeks off in the summer (if that, due to ongoing training), is nowhere near enough to offset the low pay per hour and most importantly, having to deal with garbage parents and their misbehaving kids. They also work many extra hours at home during the school year doing grading or prepping exercises or whatever. If we have a get together, the teachers will pretty much guaranteed to be working all or some portion of the evening. > The benefits are high enough to attract enough teachers Only if you think 30+ kids per class is acceptable. I would want no more than 20 kids per class.
- treis 4y ago
  Average teacher salary in California is $84,000. Official working days total out to about 12 weeks of vacation. Realistically less than that but still much more than your typical worker.
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    Why are they being compared to typical workers? The question of if teachers are sufficiently paid is answered by asking if current classroom sizes are sufficiently small and staffed by sufficient quality teachers. Whatever price that makes that happen is the appropriate price, regardless of what people in other jobs are earning.
    - treis 4y ago
      >Why are they being compared to typical workers? Who do you want to compare them to? >The question of if teachers are sufficiently paid is answered by asking if current classroom sizes are sufficiently small and staffed by sufficient quality teachers. Whatever price that makes that happen is the appropriate price, regardless of what people in other jobs are earning Like I said before the solution is to cut the bullshit. Not pay more for people to tolerate it.
      - lotsofpulp 4y ago
        >Who do you want to compare them to? For the purposes of determining appropriate prices, why is it necessary to compare their price to anyone? Supply and demand determine appropriate pricing.