Are Teachers Underpaid?

[notherhalo]

my mom was paid $52hr + benefits for teaching adult school to people mostly in class to keep govt benefits

if anything, she was criminally overpaid 

[Brandon]

3 hours ago, Jay said:

Criminally? Sounds like something you would read on Twitter, like "hilariously" or "spectacularly"

If the pay is so bad why do people become teachers?

Makes no sense.

 

 

This has generally been my thought process with any job. Here in America you have the right to chose your profession and subsequent pay.

The only thing that changed my mind a bit was an ex that was therapist that worked with kids and didn’t get paid big bucks. Seeing her thought process and her goals she was meant for that profession, but was also cool not making real money. She accepted it and knew what she was getting into. That said, she now makes bank with Kaiser and owns her own private practice on the side.

[Adam]

My wife makes like $100K plus gets like $40K worth of health benefits for us. Plus she can do like 10 optional trainings a year and gets $50/hr for those. Highway robbery

[Blarg]

4 hours ago, Jay said:

Criminally? Sounds like something you would read on Twitter, like "hilariously" or "spectacularly"

If the pay is so bad why do people become teachers?

Makes no sense.

 

 

For my wife it was a calling. I know that sounds odd but she is one of those few people that find that one thing that is life fulfilling and purpose driven. 

 

[cez]

i'm tremendously overpaid

thanks

[Jay]

2 hours ago, Blarg said:

For my wife it was a calling. I know that sounds odd but she is one of those few people that find that one thing that is life fulfilling and purpose driven. 

For some people money isn't an issue so they have the freedom to pursue whatever occupation makes them happy.

[mp170.6]

It might be helpful to use some qualifiers here.

CA PUBLIC teacher = overpaid
CA private teacher = probably underpaid
Elsewhere = probably a toss up

[cez]

class size is a big deal to me.  i wouldn't teach in anywhere but small districts in CA even if i got paid 50% more than where i am, especially with the cost of living down there.   

retirement system in cali is a big vat of shit, too.  

private school teachers anywhere are generally overpaid. aside from really prestigious private schools, having a college degree in papier mache but saying in an interview that you just love reading or having a personal connection with a principal who has a degree in basket weaving can land you a job as a reading teacher.  i'm sure that's not the case for tank or a lot of other private school teachers, but to say it's not pretty normal is idiotic. 

public school minimum requirements to teach in a discipline are pretty laughable, but worlds better than that.  they also take at least an extra year of college classes specializing in pedagogy to obtain.

 

[mtangelsfan]

Out here they get paid little to nothing

[Adam]

I couldn’t do it. My wife teaches special ed in Santa Ana. Probably the biggest struggle is that the parents don’t give a crap generally. Most of them view school as day care and 2 hot meals for their kids. At my sons back to school night his classroom was packed. Nearly all the kids had both parents there. My wife had 3 of 19 kids’ parents show to hers

[Blarg]

That is not an unfamiliar story.

[Tank]

being in a private church school, I make less than 70k and am not likely to reach that amount before I retire sometime in the next 8 years. I went into this profession with my eyes wide open about how much I was going to make, and I accepted that a long time ago with no regrets.

I felt that my choice of profession was also a calling. I enjoy working for my church.

I wouldn't mind making more money, but I have no complaints about how much I'm making now. I'm at the top of my profession and am proud and satisfied with what I've achieved personally.

I could make more working in a public school, but I'd also have a different set of headaches there that I don't currently have.

I have a good retirement plan and will also collect social security.

[Tank]

56 minutes ago, Adam said:

I couldn’t do it. My wife teaches special ed in Santa Ana. Probably the biggest struggle is that the parents don’t give a crap generally. Most of them view school as day care and 2 hot meals for their kids. At my sons back to school night his classroom was packed. Nearly all the kids had both parents there. My wife had 3 of 19 kids’ parents show to hers

our turnout for back to school night is decent but not quite as good as your wife's. typically, parents of kids who really need the most help are the parents who never show up.

I have two kids this year with an IEP. none of their parents bothered to tell us. that's always fun.

[ten ocho recon scout]

16 hours ago, Adam said:

I couldn’t do it. My wife teaches special ed in Santa Ana. Probably the biggest struggle is that the parents don’t give a crap generally. Most of them view school as day care and 2 hot meals for their kids. At my sons back to school night his classroom was packed. Nearly all the kids had both parents there. My wife had 3 of 19 kids’ parents show to hers

This.

Whether its special ed or regular. It comes down to the school and area.

Where i grew up and work, they are underpaid. They take so much shit from little butthole gangsters day after day...i wouldnt do it.

People see the summers off and say "thats bullshit". Sure, its a great perk. But the day after day having to deal with the kids who have no discipline at home...

Elementary school not so much. Im mainly talking about high school.

[Angelsjunky]

On 9/19/2019 at 10:06 AM, Adam said:

Tank teaches at a private school, so he has the kids search for vegetable porn with him

Do you mean like this?

(I think I see @tdawg87 down there at the bottom)

[Taylor]

The same people who say teachers are overpaid are the ones who complain about the public school system.

Starting salary for teachers in California is about $40K. In what universe is that sufficient pay? Modesto?

[eligrba]

On 9/19/2019 at 10:29 AM, Jay said:

Criminally? Sounds like something you would read on Twitter, like "hilariously" or "spectacularly"

If the pay is so bad why do people become teachers?

Makes no sense.

 

 

There is currently a teacher shortage across the country with fewer people entering the profession every year.

[mtangelsfan]

4 hours ago, Taylor said:

The same people who say teachers are overpaid are the ones who complain about the public school system.

Starting salary for teachers in California is about $40K. In what universe is that sufficient pay? Modesto?

All the same ?

would it tweak your theory to tell you that out here system sucks and the t archers are paid too little?

is that allowable?

 

[tdawg87]

On 9/19/2019 at 5:12 PM, notherhalo said:

my mom was paid $52hr + benefits for teaching adult school to people mostly in class to keep govt benefits

if anything, she was criminally overpaid 

What, and I can't stress this next point enough, the F*ck.

$52 an hour. How tho.

[Stradling]

42 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

What, and I can't stress this next point enough, the F*ck.

$52 an hour. How tho.

That comes out to $75k for a 9 month school year. 

[tdawg87]

7 minutes ago, Baghdad Strad said:

That comes out to $75k for a 9 month school year. 

That doesn't sound right

[Stradling]

1 minute ago, tdawg87 said:

That doesn't sound right

$52 an hour times 40 hours a week, Times 36 weeks. 

[Tank]

[Lou]

6 hours ago, Taylor said:

The same people who say teachers are overpaid are the ones who complain about the public school system.

Starting salary for teachers in California is about $40K. In what universe is that sufficient pay? Modesto?

$40k for 8 months of working until 3:00 every day isn't too shabby. 

[Taylor]

2 hours ago, mtangelsfan said:

All the same ?

would it tweak your theory to tell you that out here system sucks and the t archers are paid too little?

is that allowable?

 

Perhaps it would be better if teachers were paid better.