Overworked and underpaid. What comes to mind when hearing these words? Teachers. All too often have the snickers and sordid remarks of ignorant people regarding teachers deserving low compensation gone unnoticed, untouched. What these people fail to see is that teachers are the foundation of their own world, the building blocks of their own career and future. Teachers deserve, of course to be recognized for the powerful and influential human beings that they are, but furthermore, to be correctly and justly compensated for the virtues that they possess and instill in the youth of America.
Many people argue that, for the amount of time a teacher is “seen” to put in, compensation is completely acceptable; an average teacher works from 8:00a.m. to 3:00p.m., weekends and summers off, with random breaks in between. However, what these people are not aware of is that teachers, unlike many professions in America, take their work home with them every single day. According to the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) (Kent, 2008), teachers were more likely than other professionals to bring their work home with them and teachers were also more likely to work on a Sunday. United States teachers must also resort to attaining another form of employment due to their low compensation. In fact, the ATUS (Kent, 2008) also portrays the fact that teachers are more likely than other professionals to be multiple jobholders.
It also evident that many other countries in the world pay their teachers a great deal more than what American educators earn. An international study shows that America is ranked number 22 among participating countries with teachers earning less than 60% of the average pay for a full-time, college-educated worker (Murray, 2011). It is now becoming a little more frequent to hear proposals of pay raises for quality teachers in America. For instance, Teach for America proposes $130,000 per year for teachers who are willing to forgo their tenure rights, which is a hopeful and optimistic way to “weed out” unqualified teachers (Stephey, 2008).
During a Spotlight Interview with Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education in the United States, he had also proposed that quality teachers deserve to be rewarded with higher compensation based on their extremely significant duties including educating young American children. Teachers are not only responsible for coming into a classroom and talking at children for seven hours a day. They are responsible for the academic, physical, and emotional well-being of each and every child that walks into their classroom. They are responsible for filling the minds of children with knowledge that they will use not only today but for the rest of their lives. These youth will eventually be filled with knowledge that cannot be attained anywhere else but an encouraging and life-changing classroom. These youth will learn morality through the eyes of the honorable literature character, Atticus Finch. They will learn how to balance a checkbook with the fundamentals of perplexing mathematics skills. They will learn just why one cannot heat gravy for a hearty Thanksgiving dinner in a metal bowl in the microwave with the exciting world of electricity. These are just a few examples of the knowledge students will take away from their schooling experience.
Furthermore, it is essential to get down to the bare bones of the matter. If a child is terminally ill, would it not be vital for this child to be seen by the best doctor that money could buy? Of course. If a child is unjustly accused of a severe crime that he or she did not commit, would it not be imperative for this child to be represented by a lawyer with the highest success rate, not to mention, hourly rate? Without a doubt. Is it not just as important for a child to receive a high quality education under the authority of a knowledgeable teacher? Absolutely, and with that said, it is both appropriate and warranted for a teacher to be compensated just as much as the above mentioned professionals.
No comments:
Post a Comment