What They Don’t Tell You About Teaching
Teachers deserve a bigger paycheck. Imagine holding your bladder for 7 hours, rushing through your 35 min lunch, lecturing a full room multiple times a day, and managing multiple unpredictable minds simultaneously. After your paid work day ends, you take whatever you couldn’t get done in the classroom back home with you and work until you go to bed. Welcome to teaching in public school. Please don’t misunderstand, there’s an incredible amount of reward in this career, but it is not without enormous risk. Schools are more dangerous than they’ve ever been, and public education has become more about politics than instruction. These days a teacher is required to add mental health counselor and referee to their resume.
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It Doesn’t Add Up
Teaching requires thinking on your feet and juggling while you ride a unicycle around the classroom spinning plates. All of this is for about $60,000/year if you make it past the first 10 years. Your lovely starting salary is a big fat whopping $45,000/year. This is after passing your teacher certification tests and graduating with your four-year bachelor’s degree. In comparison, a dental hygienist’s median pay in 2021 was $77,810 after graduating with a two-year degree.
Risk Vs. Reward
Every job has its ups and downs. Realistically, every job applicant looks at risk vs reward for whatever position they’re applying for. The risk is there in droves, but the reward is working two jobs to make ends meet. Our local district has lost more than 20 teachers since the start of classes on August 10. No, this is not normal.
In an article written by Nathan Cobb for The News Herald, an email from Holly Buchanan, Bay District School’s Executive Director of Human Resources and Employee Support Services, was referenced. She wrote “We’ve had more resignations thus far than we wish we had, but several of them are for reasons completely out of our circle of control. Some employees have resigned due to family issues, personal health reasons or family member health reasons, while others have resigned because they are moving. A handful of people (also) have noted on their (resignation) forms that teaching was not what they expected.” (Article by Nathan Cobb) -It wasn’t what they expected. This says it all. While I don’t know any of these people personally, I’d wager many personal health reasons had to do with concern for their blood pressure.
Teaching is not for the faint of heart and requires immense discipline. The bank accounts of those brave enough to take on the task of molding young minds deserve a much bigger deposit. As the kids would say, “That math ain’t mathin’.”
Teaching Has Changed
The evolution of the classroom has a rich history that I encourage anyone to research, but you don’t have to be a historian to understand that the responsibilities of a teacher have increased substantially. Therefore, so should the pay.
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There’s also the ever-present fear that they might be tasked with defending their students’ safety. Everyone has seen the video circling the internet instructing teachers to place a chair in the door handle. It’s a tactic they can use to prevent someone with bad intentions from entering the classroom. Teacher’s also face the possibility of upsetting the wrong student. A teacher’s entire career could be ruined because an angry child chooses to be vindictive. They face public scrutiny and high stress situations every day in hopes of educating the youth of America.
It’s Time for a Change
The political mood has set a precedent where students can go unchecked for their actions and the teacher has no recourse in their defense. If they are brave enough, in today’s climate, to venture into the world of education, then they deserve to be compensated for it. There are amazing teachers out there who go to work everyday because that’s what they’ve been called to do. They have God-given talent and a passion for creating and sustaining an environment that facilitates learning. Their job is immensely important.
Not everyone can do what a surgeon does, and the same principle applies to teaching. Teachers deserve the world and paramount respect with a paycheck to match. Until these major issues are addressed, we will continue to see a decline in the quality and quantity of individuals choosing to pursue education in the public school sector.
