pAre public school teachers paid too much or too little?

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62 %

Too little

19 %

Too much

12 %

About right

1 more option

@Nov '12 c 228 comments V 602 votes

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602 Votes

u

18 hr
DrSilicon voted

v Too much
Fri

Prime_Meridian

v I'm not sure

That all depends on HOW you measure their endeavors: Actual hours worked; money spent out of their own pockets; or number of students they've actually taught something USEFUL.

Post
Fri

Laity1

v About right

It's not a matter of too much or too little. The system needs an overhaul so that merit-based pay can prevail. Too much of the resources are consumed by administration, compliance, and unions. Presently, good teachers are left with only altruism to continue to motivate them.

Post
u

Fri
Zach endorsed OrcinusOrca

v Too little
May 16

whatheheck

v I'm not sure

This really depends upon where the teacher is working.

Post
u

May 15
smbiz voted

v Too little
u

May 15
mwr endorsed ellisbell

v Too little
u

May 14
REISNERA endorsed SofaKingCool

v Too little
May 14
Bob72370 voted

v Too little
u

May 14
nagydonnac voted

v Too much
May 14
cpt_chernobyl voted

v Too little
May 12
Fyi1957 endorsed autiger

v About right
May 11
BravoJuliet endorsed Bobolinsky

v Too much
u

May 11
MarkColwell endorsed ellisbell

v Too little
May 10
MsElizabeth voted

v Too little
May 10
LHoran voted

v Too much
u

May 9
callmecrazy voted

v About right
May 9
JoinCCA voted

v Too little
May 9
oldtimer2 endorsed Jack-Black

v I'm not sure
May 8
Thunderchicken endorsed Bobolinsky

v Too much
u

May 8
DrNickels endorsed Moose_Crossing

v Too much
u

u

May 8
captbigtime endorsed SofaKingCool

v Too little
May 8
amadorlicea voted

v Too little
u

May 8
pmonteen voted

v Too little
May 7
Astropaq endorsed autiger

v About right
u

May 7
LilliB voted

v Too little
May 7

LEC

v Too little

The should be paid lots with one caveat, if the kids going into their classroom in September, come out with no more learning, they be gone. And do away with No Child Left Behind, it is killing our schools as it was meant too... terribly disappointed that Obama didn't end that one.. what is wrong with him?.

Post
u

May 7
buckilaked voted

v Too little
May 7
Food4thoughts voted

v Too little
May 7
ddj8694 voted

v Too little
May 7
ZombieMedic voted

v Too little
May 6
foodbaby voted

v Too little
u

u

May 6
Wooky endorsed ellisbell

v Too little
u

May 5

URBS

v Too much

Many Public School Teachers are paid too little but because of the unions there are many that are paid way too much. In fact many private School Teachers are paid less than Public School teachers.

Post
u

May 4
politicteen voted

v Too little
May 4
AndrewMC voted

v Too little
u

u

May 4
mxdirtdude endorsed ellisbell

v Too little
u

May 4

BossTweed

v Too much

We won't even know. Since the Unions prevent the parents and citizens from holding the Teachers accountable they are very very bad for Public Education. There are many, many, GREAT teachers and under the Union rules the Terrible Teachers down the hall make the exact same for pathetic results. Except in pathetic No Win situations ala......"Urban" Schools...and Schools buried in the children of Illegals. Those Teachers should be paid for just showing up.

Post
May 3
getchapull77 endorsed Bobolinsky

v Too much
u

May 3

fraps

v Too much

In general not only are they overpaid, many are incompetent.

Post
u

May 3
Mr_me endorsed SofaKingCool

v Too little
u

May 2
PJS1973 endorsed SofaKingCool

v Too little
May 2
Bill2E voted

v Too much
May 1
JustTheFacts endorsed Bobolinsky

v Too much
May 1
Ddegnernm voted

v About right
May 1
Keystroke voted

v About right
u

Apr 30
Khajiit voted

v Too little
u

Apr 30
Clara007 endorsed ellisbell

v Too little
u

Apr 30
FatTony14 endorsed SofaKingCool

v Too little
u

u

Apr 30
princessmi endorsed SofaKingCool

v Too little

Fri

Prime_Meridian

v I'm not sure

That all depends on HOW you measure their endeavors: Actual hours worked; money spent out of their own pockets; or number of students they've actually taught something USEFUL.

Post
Fri

Laity1

v About right

It's not a matter of too much or too little. The system needs an overhaul so that merit-based pay can prevail. Too much of the resources are consumed by administration, compliance, and unions. Presently, good teachers are left with only altruism to continue to motivate them.

Post
May 16

whatheheck

v I'm not sure

This really depends upon where the teacher is working.

Post
May 7

LEC

v Too little

The should be paid lots with one caveat, if the kids going into their classroom in September, come out with no more learning, they be gone. And do away with No Child Left Behind, it is killing our schools as it was meant too... terribly disappointed that Obama didn't end that one.. what is wrong with him?.

Post
u

May 5

URBS

v Too much

Many Public School Teachers are paid too little but because of the unions there are many that are paid way too much. In fact many private School Teachers are paid less than Public School teachers.

Post
u

May 4

BossTweed

v Too much

We won't even know. Since the Unions prevent the parents and citizens from holding the Teachers accountable they are very very bad for Public Education. There are many, many, GREAT teachers and under the Union rules the Terrible Teachers down the hall make the exact same for pathetic results. Except in pathetic No Win situations ala......"Urban" Schools...and Schools buried in the children of Illegals. Those Teachers should be paid for just showing up.

Post
u

May 3

fraps

v Too much

In general not only are they overpaid, many are incompetent.

Post
Apr 30

harold_lloyd

v Too little

Teachers are grossly underpaid and underappreciated. Just like the public school systems are underfunded and undervalued. There seems to be an unspoken and hidden agenda to change the public education system to where it's not even recognizable. It's right out of the playbook of a national movement to eviscerate government in favor of private and for-profit enterprises. http://billmoyers.com/episode/encore-united-states-of-alec/

r1 reply

Post
May 2

Bill2E

IF we returned to the three R's, and get rid of the special programs in our schools we could afford to teach. Nowadays it is best if you have great sports teams and can compete with the best. Very few students are actually interested in history, mathematics and proper english. Get back to the basics and educate the children properly. Get the campuses closed and keep everyone out that is not a student, shut down the extra curricular activities until the school at large achieves basic math, english, and other essential courses of study proficiency. Learn the basics then look at the possibility of football, baseball, volleyball and other non essential fluff.

Post @Bill2E
u

Apr 29

fistv

v Too little

While we pay our teachers too little while we pay our administrators way too much.That a superintendent makes 3-4 or more times what a teacher makes is obscene.

Post
Apr 26

johnny_potseed

v I'm not sure

I'm sure it's like any other job, some get paid far too much, while others get paid too little.

Post
Apr 25

TheHandsomeOne

v Too much

Just like the Supreme Court ruled about an accused person's bond.... 'any bond amount set, made without discussing a very specific list of questions in order to determine if the accused poses any flight risk.... is excessive' All government workers are over compensated since the people paying them truly have no part of the negotiations with their collective bargaining unions, which in and of themselves are plain wrong. You work for your neighbors who pay you, yet you form a collective union against them of which they have zero say about your hiring, firing or perks, much less when you force them to increase your wages despite the economy being tanked and a huge numbe...

Post
u

Apr '13

teacherjoe13

v Too little

So according to some folks, my old history teacher with his bachelors, almost ten years experience, a second job to help pay the bills, and a wife who is a guidance counselor, is paid too much. I call crap and say teachers should be paid far more and respected the way they used to be. What happened America?

Post
Dec '12

RadAuthNat

v Too little

teachers get paid too little. BUT WE PAY WAY TOO MUCH ON EDUCTAION. Our tax money gets sucked up dry by the NEA and other public school special interest groups (mostly state and local level). there is a very small amount that goes to ACTUAL EDUCATION FOR OUR KIDS OR TO THE BOTTOM LEVEL TEACHERS. now, there are a few states that pay regular teachers WAY over the top, like IL and MI and CT. Also, worldwide, we pay THE MOST IN EDUCATION AND GET THE WORST RESULTS ... lower scores etc.

B2

r2 replies

Post
Apr 25

TheHandsomeOne

People should educate their own, even if in community cooperative efforts. If they cannot, they should cease and desist procreation in wholesale mass.

B1

Post @TheHandsomeOne
Apr 26

RadAuthNat

@TheHandsomeOne %% YEAH, that's a good one!! In fact, it would stop the brainwashing going on in our schools.

Post @RadAuthNat
Dec '12

Jan_Matt

v Too little

The little things that teachers use to make learning/ getting good grades fun, such as stickers and other wall charts/ decorations comes out of the teacher's pockets. I think these little things do make a difference and they do help and the costs definitely add up.

r1 reply

Post
Jan '13

Politicskid

To what, $300? That doesn't mean that a lot of the bad ones are underpaid.

Post @Politicskid
Dec '12

Colin2k41

v I'm not sure

It depends

Post
Nov '12

Loridae

v Too little

Teachers don't make good money, but having said that, I do believe Teachers should receive raises only when their numbers are up. Why should they get raises and tenure and not have to prove they're doing their job? I would like to hear from some teachers on the subject.

r1 reply

Post
Jan '13

Politicskid

Correction: Young teachers don't make good money, regardless of how good of job they do. Old teachers can make $150k annually including benefits, regardless of how good of a job they do. It looks like they're aren't any teachers on here...

Post @Politicskid
Nov '12

tkiech

v Too little

The public or parents don't even have the slightest as to what goes into a teachers day and Night of preparing and caring for their students. Teachers of today have far more responsibility than the teachers of 25 or even 15 years ago. Teachers are vastly underpaid especially in today's workplace!

r2 replies

Post
Jan '13

Politicskid

Regardless, there's plenty of applicants for teaching jobs, 10 for very position. So it can't be that bad of a job, as lots of people want to do it. So why do we need to pay them more? The job of the schools is not to pay the teachers a lot; it's to educate kids well.

Post @Politicskid
Apr 25

TheHandsomeOne

Do you really think it requires a $100K masters degree to actually teach up to and through the high school level? Does it even require any college degree to be able to teach your own children the basics say through elementary school? Say what, most parents who only graduated high school are not qualified to teach up to 6th grade basics? Sounds like a bad problem.

Post @TheHandsomeOne
Nov '12

mrit

v Too much

Over paid. Only work part of the year. Horrible test scores. Unions that won't allow the termination of teachers which abuse children. It's time for vouchers and let parents truly get involved in their child's education instead of unions which keep pushing for higher taxes for the children when it only goes to fund absurd pensions.

r2 replies

Post
u

Apr 26

teacherjoe13

So you're telling me only $44,000 a year for the average high school teacher is too much? Considering they spend anywhere between 5-10% of THEIR pay on supplies to educate your children, I think its far too little. As for test scores, there are other factors than just teachers. Student apathy, malnourishment, or they just aren't good test takers..to name a few. Walk a mile in a teacher's shoes before you say they're overpaid.

Post @teacherjoe13
Apr 26

mrit

@teacherjoe13 Yes.. Absolutely!! I think $44,000 per year for a teacher who abuses the children under their care is too much. As for the non abusive majority which won't pressure their Unions to retract the benefits of teachers who are convicted of a felony, well....... I'm going out on a limb here but yeah they morally don't deserve $44,000 per year!!. But hey I'm a reasonable guy so let's look at the benefits of the poor teacher. Lets start by looking at the CALSTRS (resources calstrs.com) retirement calculator for a teacher earning $58,000 per year (9 months if you don't count summer brake). This is the Salary.com average salary for San Diego Teacher, which ...

Post @mrit
u

Nov '12

Jim49418

v I'm not sure

I think it all depends on a lot of different factors. Just look at the recent strike by Chicago teachers. Many might argue that those teachers were overpaid, but just look at the cost of living there. So, are they really overpaid? I know a young teacher, who just started a few years ago, and works very hard, still takes college courses, and I have to think that she is a great teacher, but she makes very little compared to her counterparts that have tenure, and are makeing close to 100k per year. I dont think it's fair to just lump all teachers into a group. I'm sure there are a lot of great teachers that are underpaid, while at the same time, there are a lot of jus...

Post
u

Nov '12

whatchoise

v Too little

People-- If you all worried more on how our politions an goverment are ripping us off an filling their pockets an not what little teachers are paid, where else but in politics can you give yourself a BIG Raise. the rest of us get the scraps including teachers, an yes theirs is a 12 month job too, most summers are ate up with up dating their training, without pay, plus buying schoo; supplys that the schools can`t suppy. So before you worry about what little a average teacher gets, I`d worry about what the goverment takes. Will there be anything in retirement for you younger folks or will you be standing in food lines an living in card board boxes when you`re old an can`...

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u

Jul '12

ellisbell

v Too little

Considering the importance of the work they do, teachers should be paid on a scale with doctors, to attract the best candidates.

B2

r1 reply

e56 endorsed

Post
u

Jul '12

SofaKingCool

v Too little

far too little. When compared to other careers that require a four year degree and in some states a masters degree, teachers are some of the lowest paid. Lowest paid for a career that is so vital to the future of our nation as a whole is absurd.

B2

e33 endorsed

Post
Jul '12

autiger

v About right

I'm a teacher.. No complaints.. I'd take a raise.. but with the economic tough times that would be stupid. I do realize I'm paid by the taxes that we all pay. I'm thankful.

B2

r1 reply

e23 endorsed

Post
Jul '12

Bobolinsky

v Too much

Public school teachers make on average $10,000 more per school year than their private school counterparts. In addition, public schools spend on average nearly twice as much per student than private schools. . That alone should be reason enough to think that public school teachers are paid too much. . Do I even need to bring up the National Education Association aka NEA aka the largest public-sector teachers' union?

B1

r4 replies

e22 endorsed

Post
u

Jul '12

OrcinusOrca

v Too little

Increase pay, but tie salary to performance. We need higher pay to attract better talent, but we also need greater accountability. Teachers' unions need to understand this trade-off and agree on measurable evaluation criteria. And no more tenure. Disclaimer: my wife is a public school math teacher and I work in corporate America.

e14 endorsed

Post
Jul '12

Moose_Crossing

v Too much

Teachers get paid a full salary while working a short year. In my town the median salary is $72,000. Not bad for 180 or so days of work.

B1

e9 endorsed

Post
Jul '12

Nautilus

v Too much

Although some are under paid a lot are paid too much. And based on the end product maybe the question should have been are public school teachers smarter than their students. Private school teachers pay scale is much lower but then they have no unions.

r2 replies

e8 endorsed

Post
Jul '12

Jack-Black

v I'm not sure

It depends on where you live. The ones that work in the big cities with union thugs that make upwards to 75 to 100's of thousands they are paid too much. If they work in smaller cities making 29,00 a year they do not make enough.

e7 endorsed

Post
Jul '12

Wilberhum

v Too little

Good teachers create a good future. As long as we underpay teachers, the good ones will use their talents in other fields.

B2

e5 endorsed

Post
u

Jul '12

seedtick

v Too little

Let's qualify this vote...Those teachers who really care and perform should be paid well. But, those deadheads who are just punching the clock in and out do not deserve any recognition at all. They should all be paid according to their performance...and when they fail to perform they should be moved out to make way for someone who will actually teach our children. Teacher's unions are ruining our schools when they protect these deadheads.

e6 endorsed

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Politix

pAre public school teachers paid too much or too little?

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