Why Teachers Should be Paid More...

Why Teachers Should be Paid More

The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called 'truth'.- Dan Rather
            I believe teachers should be recognized for their continuing efforts. They need to be recognized and rewarded with excellence. Teachers deserve a raise because of their effort, grades, and the danger of their job. Education funding has been promised over and over again, however these promises have never been fulfilled. Our teachers are a very important asset to our society. Our kids need these teachers, need their education, and there should not be any dispute about money. Our teachers should be passionate, proficient, and qualified at their job. Teachers are educators, not nannies. Parents need to help their children to learn, so that child can have a good academic progress.

Yes, it is true, teacher only work 180 days out of the year. However, that does not mean they do not work the rest of the days of the year. Teachers spend a lot of sleepless nights grading papers and planning for the next day’s agenda. The teacher is focused on the continuing progress of their students. In addition, they are passionate about their student’s success. Therefore, good teachers should be compensated and “bad” teachers should not be teaching. There is a huge gap when it comes to good teachers and bad teachers. According to galegroup.com, “Having a good teacher, as opposed to a mediocre or poor teacher, makes a big difference. Raising average teacher quality does seem a promising direction for public policy.”

Furthermore, I believe a teacher should be compensated for their student’s academic progress.  All students have the same rights. If a student has difficulties learning the required material, then that child should be put into a tutor class. It should not be the teachers fault if that student has a lower learning capability than other students. I believe the teacher will have more motivation to ensure their students do well. According to galegroup.com ,  “The average annual salary offered college graduates going into teaching this year was only about $26,000, ranging from as little as $19,000 in North Dakota to $33,000 in Alaska. Graduates taking engineering jobs, for instance, averaged almost $43,000. The average for graduates who went into the field of computer science was $41,000. For those in business administration it was $35,000, in accounting $34,000 and in sales and marketing about $33,000.”

Here lately, our teachers are in a danger zone. There have been many school shootings and our teachers are being killed along with their students. For teachers being in a hazardous environment, they should be paid better money. One shooting was not too long ago. It happened in Newtown, Connecticut at Sandy Hook Elementary. In 2012, there were a total of 10 school shootings, which killed 41 people and 13 injured.  Our teachers are putting their life on the lines everyday and should be rewarded for it. Teachers do not receive enough recognition from the public or the government.

In contrast, bad teachers are being paid the same amount of income as a good teachers. A good teacher can do everything right, while a bad teacher can be lazy and they both have the same salary. This part of our school system needs to be fixed. I do believe that if students apply themselves than they can become very successful. I understand that it is not all of the teacher’s responsibility to teach their students, but students must be willing to work hard and apply themselves.

In conclusion, I think there have been a lot of promises that have not been met. It comes down to our good teachers being dragged down and working extra hard for no reason.  I think we can all help our teachers by being a good parent and pitching in and teaching our own kids. According to galegroup.com, “Some parents will make excuses regardless of the situation, and they are raising children who will grow into adults who turn toward excuses and do not create a strong work ethic. If you don't want your child to end up 25 and jobless, sitting on your couch eating potato chips, then stop making excuses for why they aren't succeeding. Instead, focus on finding solutions.”

Works Cited:

Grant, Leslie W., James H. Stronge, and Thomas J. Ward. "What makes good teachers good? A cross-case            analysis of the connection between teacher effectiveness and student achievement." Journal of Teacher Education 62.4 (2011): 339+. Academic OneFile. Web. 12 Apr. 2013.

Hancock, Carl B., and Lisa Scherff. "Who will stay and who will leave? Predicting secondary English         teacher attrition risk." Journal of Teacher Education 61.4 (2010): 328+. Academic OneFile. Web.    12 Apr. 2013.

Kirchhoff, Allison, and Frances Lawrenz. "The use of grounded theory to investigate the role of teacher              education on STEM teachers' career paths in high-need schools." Journal of Teacher Education      62.3 (2011): 246+. Academic OneFile. Web. 13 Apr. 2013.