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Teachers and professors have some of the most important jobs in society IMO, yet they are criminally underpaid for it. I went to a rigorous high school that regularly sent many kids to top colleges. That wasn't by accident, that was because they were well educated by the teachers at the school. And the teachers actually make less there than they would in public schools. This past semester at uni I had a calculus professor, great guy, taught one or two huge classes of business calculus. You know how much he makes? About $35K a year. Granted, there are also very well-paid professors (like my accounting professor, $150K/year) but it seems like they tend to be department heads or fellows or some other such thing.
Depending on the school, teachers also function as babysitters. Lord knows some kids barely have parents present at home, so the people they spend eight hours a day with inadvertently end up as their sort of surrogate parents. Yeah teachers get three months of vacation in the summer but honestly I'm not sure that'd be worth being paid very little money in order to teach in an underperforming or violent school.
If you add in benefits such as pension, their pay isn't that bad. In NC, the pay is quoted as "low" as it starts @ $35k a year. What teachers don't tell you is their pension costs add about a $20,000 a year cost to that salary that people in the private sector don't get. They are lucky to get 50% matching on 5% of their pay, ie 2.5%. So I don't believe the pay is really low when you look at the entire pay package.
The average teachers salary in the US is about $53,000 plus benefits and pension -all for 40 weeks of works a year. If that isn't enough money, teachers are free to apply for jobs at private schools or jobs in the private sector, no?
Teachers are paid so little because they are dependent upon funding from taxes. In most cases, if the voters do not vote in tax levies, then the budget will not allow higher pay. However, teacher's make more than I have ever made, and their benefit and retirement packages are better than most in the private sector, and they are off when their children are off, so I'm not shedding any tears for teachers.
Teachers and professors have some of the most important jobs in society IMO, yet they are criminally underpaid for it. I went to a rigorous high school that regularly sent many kids to top colleges. That wasn't by accident, that was because they were well educated by the teachers at the school. And the teachers actually make less there than they would in public schools. This past semester at uni I had a calculus professor, great guy, taught one or two huge classes of business calculus. You know how much he makes? About $35K a year. Granted, there are also very well-paid professors (like my accounting professor, $150K/year) but it seems like they tend to be department heads or fellows or some other such thing.
Depending on the school, teachers also function as babysitters. Lord knows some kids barely have parents present at home, so the people they spend eight hours a day with inadvertently end up as their sort of surrogate parents. Yeah teachers get three months of vacation in the summer but honestly I'm not sure that'd be worth being paid very little money in order to teach in an underperforming or violent school.
So why are teachers paid so little?
Responding only to the professor salary aspect.
Your professor must be an anomaly. Starting salary for a tenure track professor here in Miami at FIU is about $75000. This is base pay and there there is additional for summer classes. Tenured professors are in the sub-$100,000 region. Department heads or senior distinguished professors are over $150,000 to $200,000.
At the uni were I work, the starting salary for tenure track profs is in the mid 40s - low 50s, depending on the discipline. It's a 10 month salary, and almost all of us need to pick up extra work during the summer (most either by teaching or getting a research grant). We haven't had a salary increase in over 3 years, and the admins cite that it's because of budget issues. Even the people who got promoted to tenure only got a 2k salary increase. They recently did a statewide analysis of prof salaries, and it seems to be in line with comparable unis in my state. (not the top research uni, which pays a little bit more). I would be making more than I do now if I had continued teaching high school (assuming, my years of experience was adding up). But at least with this job I look forward to going to work instead of having a down half a bottle of tums every morning like I did when I taught high school.
Edited to add: As to why teachers get paid so little..... I think it's always been like that historically for most 'public servants'. Police officers and firemen don't get paid well either (and perhaps even worse). There was a time when the small pay was offset by respect and appreciation from the community, but that's pretty much gone out the window in recent times for most public servants.
The average teachers salary in the US is about $53,000 plus benefits and pension -all for 40 weeks of works a year. If that isn't enough money, teachers are free to apply for jobs at private schools or jobs in the private sector, no?
My wife and I are both teachers. I'm almost 40, going in to my 19th year. Our pay is adequate for the area. I don't feel that my pay is low and I've never complained about my salary. Our household income is about $147k in an area where the cost of living is higher than avg. That might seem high, but again it's just "ok" for our area.
My benefits are ok. They aren't as good as many people believe them to be, but they are fair.
Some college professors make great money. They are usually the ones that parlay their teaching skills into other opportunities: Writing books, Public Speaking, Media opportunies etc. If you are a qualified expert on a specific type of discipline, and can think ouside of the box, there is a lot of money to be made.
I make a hell of a lot more teaching than I did in my previous vocation, journalism. But that's still not saying a lot. I work for a private school, so taxpayer dollars have nothing to do with the equation. I can pay my bills and save a little, and have okay benefits (no pension, etc., given that it's not a public district, but a modest 401(k) option, at least). If I wanted to make more, I'd take my talents elsewhere, but I like my job, so I tolerate the compensation. It's not like I have any choice other than tolerate it or leave, as private schools are rarely unionized and we don't have collective bargaining.
It's a fairly disrespected profession, and I think that shows. It's hard to attract and retain the best and brightest when the field pays relatively poorly in most cases. And when you have a hard time attracting the best and brightest, it's hard to argue for better compensation. So those who are doing a great job have to resign themselves to making what the powers that be feel is valid compensation for the bad apples.
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