Teachers Deserve Better

By: Grace G.

       Picture yourself sitting in a classroom, and the students are talking and disrupting the teacher who is simply trying to do their job and teach. Have you wondered how much teachers get paid to deal with all that? Well, it’s not as much as you might think. 

       “I truly love teaching,” says 52-year-old Hope Brown, “but we are not paid for the work that we do.” Teachers experience very little reward or appreciation for what they do, unlike their counterparts. At least 95% of teachers have bachelor's degrees,  just like their peers, such as engineers or bioscientists. Teachers only earn 76% of the average salary that's earned by similarly educated professionals. That's 23.5% less on average. For example, a bioscientist makes about $69,880. A teacher only makes around  $53,800 to $57,840. “My younger brother, who’s an engineer—his bonus is more than my salary,” she says.

       Most of the supplies teachers have in their rooms aren't funded by the school. An average teacher spends $450 on supplies without getting paid back. “Utility companies do not care that you had a great day with one of your students. They don’t care that you’re coaching the soccer team. They want you to pay for the services that they provide you,” says NaShonda Cooke, a teacher and single mother of two in Raleigh, N.C. Another thing teachers aren’t paid for is the time they spend coming in over break to grade papers or to spend extra time helping students. This adds up to an average of 17.5 unpaid hours each week.

       The underpaid teacher problem goes beyond the education community, but also to the teacher’s personal lives and their children. A teacher named NaShonda has to skip her doctor appointments to be able to pay for her daughter's college education. “It’s not about wanting a pay raise or extra income,” she says. “It’s just about wanting a livable wage.” Many teachers also have student loans or debt that they still need to pay off for even choosing this career path. 60.8% of teachers who have bachelor's degrees have student loan debt. They pay $342 a month due to student loans; that’s $4,104 a year per teacher. 

       Unfortunately, the struggle of being a teacher doesn't just end in poverty. Teaching is ranked 20th in the most dangerous jobs in America. Teachers are basically on the frontlines when it comes to school shootings or bombings. A teacher named Jean Kuczka worked at Central VP High School, and she had died protecting her students. “She had put herself between the gunman and the students,” said a colleague. Alexis Allen-Brown, a former high school student at Central VP High School says she wasn’t surprised to hear what happened with Ms. Kuczka. “When I found out, the first thing I could think about was… that’s how much she cared about the students,” Allen-Brow said. “She was going to save those babies.” Pretty heart-wrenching, right? Teachers are not paid enough for that. 

       Students are also affected by the underpaid teacher problem. Due to the low pay range of teachers and the dangers, nobody wants to be a teacher.  86% of public schools in the US struggle to find teachers, which affects the future generation and the nation. Without teachers, there would be nobody to teach the youth how to read, write, do math, or know the history of the world. 

       Now do you see how underpaid teachers are? It's time the world realizes how important teachers are, and how much more recognition they deserve for their work and sacrifices. If the world did appreciate teachers, the education system would be much more improved. If teachers had better pay, it would affect students positively.