In your opinion, do teachers get paid too much, not enough, or just what they deserve?

If you're in the US, you can base your answer on the country as a whole or about your state alone.








If you don't know much about the salaries, here's a link to a US map that contains the average salary of 2004-2005 in any particular state.


Many of these state's salaries vary as much as $20G.





http://www.aft.org/presscenter/releases/...





When you answer, please specifiy where you're from.

In your opinion, do teachers get paid too much, not enough, or just what they deserve?
I think teacher's don't get paid enough. I taught briefly and it was the hardest job I ever had. I spent a lot of my free time with lesson planning and grading papers. Then, in the classroom, I spent a lot of time on discipline. I wasn't paid much because I taught in Catholic schools in the late 70s and early 80s. I was told I "was working for the Lord." Well, the Lord didn't pay any bills, did HE?





Teachers I know now work very hard. They do lesson planning, tutoring, counsel students, work with parents and deal with changes from their administrations and from school boards.





They have to keep up their licenses, so, in the summer, they are in back at the university to keep up their certificates.





It's a hard and challenging job.
Reply:Thank you for selecting my answer! :) Report Abuse

Reply:Teaching is no more a well paid job these days anywhere in the world. but one can make good money through after school tutoring.
Reply:Let's see--since the fact of the matter in CA is that 1 in 4 new teachers will quit the profession before within 5 years says a lot about it doesn't it? If a student is studying biology or chemistry in college and they have the choice to teach in high school or go work for Pfizer, what do you think they will choose? The fact of the matter is everyone in this country complains about how bad teachers are--yet they don't do anything to attract the best and the brightest out of college. No one will come to teaching if the money is bad and they know they will work at leat 60 hours a week and not get paid for it. Add on the money they will spend for a master's--and only get an additional $1500 a year on their salary? C'mon. No way. There are so many great teachers out there who don't do it for the money--but because they love kids and what they do. Understandable. But not everyone will do that, especially in this day and age where jobs are scarce and salaries are stagnant. Plus you have to remember that teachers are paid for 10 months out of the year-but their salaries are spread out over 12 months in some districts. Many teachers work second jobs to make ends meet. It really bothers me that politicians and other people will point the finger at teachers and say they are the reason that schools are failing. If you don't pay them well and demand so much, what do you expect?





And yes, there is no TENURE for teachers in CA--no mater what Gov. Schwarzennegger says. It is called permanent status--and it only affords teachers the right to due process if they are being terminated--it does not keep them for getting fired. That does not mean you can never fire a veteran teacher. You can, but you cannot do it on a whim and you have to have a reasonable cause for it. Now, teachers who are on probationary status or who are on temporary status contracts do not have those rights. It's interesting for people to talk to teachers and learn about these things. So much misinfomration is going around about teachers and what they actually do. If teachers were actually paid for the work they do--many of them would be making more than lawyers.
Reply:Not enough. they only get 40,000$ a year. That's barely enough to get past on raising a home. If they weren't here, were would we be?


Gwinnett County, Georgia; one of the top 25 counties in the nation every year. (We whip the state test; GA is 49th in education)
Reply:Although I'm in Illinois, I believe my answer applies nationwide. Two things should be done with teachers to fix our horrible public education system. One, the teaching profession should have a rigorous and ongoing qualification system. Only the best and brightest should be preparing our children for the future. Two, in exchange for that, teaching should consistently be one of the highest paid professions in the country.





But I wholeheartedly disagree with the stance that the teachers should be highly paid while having no sort of standards, testing, or serious qualification. I think it's sad that we are willing to put our children's entire future in the hands of just about anybody.
Reply:I don't think that teachers get paid enough in Florida. For the fact that it is not a nine to five job. It is a job that requires more hours than that a day.
Reply:not enough, anywhere
Reply:Teachers are woefully underpaid for the amazing skill-set they must have to do the job well.





No one has mentioned this here yet, so I will. Teaching is a female-dominated profession. Therefore, like other female-dominated professions, it is poorly paid and often maligned (blamed for society's ills).





BTW, at least in the state of California, there is no such thing as "tenure" for public school teachers. It's a common myth about teachers that, frankly, I'm tired of. Tenure is a term used for college professors. What teachers have is called "due process". That means, once teachers have been doing the job well for at least two years, they cannot be fired unless the proper documentation has been done. ALL WORKERS SHOULD HAVE THIS RIGHT! The truth is, teachers can be and are fired all the time. But most who aren't cut out for the profession end up quitting on their own.
Reply:in our iran they do not paid enough.
Reply:they do not get payed enough for the type of degree needed. compare the pay of a teacher to someone with a similar type of degree in another field. I am working a full time job when going to school now and am already making about the same as a teacher would start at, even alittle more in many areas. I find that sad and pathetic.





oh and I am in WI
Reply:NOT ENOUGH! Teachers should be paid just as well as other government workers in my opinion, if not better. The education of our children is very important not only to the kids, but to our own future of America.





I do not believe in ten-yer however. (the security of a teacher from losing their job only because they have been in their job for such a long period of time). I believe that if you are not doing your job, no matter what that job is, you should not be safe from being let go.
Reply:I have attended public schools in several states.





My observation, as a student, is that some are paid too much.





I thought the northern teachers put in more effort and were more familiar with the subject being taught. They were interested in the students, and made the subjects interesting. They were true teachers and deserved more pay.





The southern teachers were just "serving time" and really didn't want to be bothered by the students.


The Southern teachers were often disinterested in the subject, often did not know the subject matter, AND would not allow students to ask questions. Those teachers were paid too much.
Reply:teachers dont get paid enough for all that they have to do.
Reply:they get paid to much
Reply:not enough.
Reply:Not enough, considering what they have to deal with these days...Lets just say our school system has gone downhill and the studets attending have gotten way out of control.
Reply:I'm going on my fifth year of teaching in Canada and let me say TEACHER'S DON'T GET PAID ENOUGH!!!!





For those of you out there who think we do, think again. Those outside of the profession don't see HOW MUCH work teacher's do. I usually put in at least 60-80hours of work a week, but of course only get paid for 40hours. There is so much more to teaching than just writing lesson plans. I can go on and on ;)





I'm not complaining, however it would be nice to get paid what we deserve. Teachers do it for the love of teaching, not for the money! On my first day of University, my prof said "If your in this for money, leave now. Go take another major...any other major. And don't walk, RUN!"...hahaha!!!! SO TRUE.





If teachers make so much money, I wonder why so many of my co-workers (including myself) accept summer jobs?????
Reply:Far from enough.
Reply:Not enough. When professional sports players get paid 300%,on average, than a teacher, something is wrong in the U.S.
Reply:I'm in Texas, and I say the pay is not enough. To attract the best into the classrooms, you need to pay the teachers more. Why would someone with the aptitude to be doctors, lawyers or engineers want to teach if you they have to take a huge pay cut? In the old days, teaching had such a poor reputation that only those who did not have the high aptitudes resigned into teaching. And that is part of the reason why students themselves today do not respect their teachers. Believe me, if the students see the teachers driving Porches or Hummers to school, then students will respect the teachers more and want to learn from the teachers. But at the current pay trend that is not going to happen.
Reply:what dooberry said, I'm from Canada