The average teacher salary in the USA is $65,000. Tbh that's WAY more than I thought.

Thank you for showing that you know nothing about the education world. "100% job security" yeah, right. "never get fired" yeah, right.

You have to try pretty hard to get fired in most places as a teacher.

Interesting distinction. Most people graduating from college are unskilled, but educated. Most of those making more than teachers who lack education are highly skilled

I'm not making a distinction between a 4 year, associate or vocational degree. Even coders dont need traditional college. They all have skills whether critical thinking or technical. I'm referring to the guy flipping burgers, cutting fruit in a bodega, mopping floors in a nursing home, the lunchroom workers and bus matrons.

This is the only thing you have said that makes sense.

My wife works at a job that she has been at almost ten years fewer than I have been teaching, yet she makes $25K more than I do. Her job gives her the freedom to surf the web a lot, because she sends me emails all day about stuff she is interested in online, and she will text me to see if I want her to add anything to her curbside service at the grocery store. I always reply much after she sends them because I am busy teaching with just a minute or two between one class leaving and the next arriving. She also has the flexibility to go home to check on our pets during the day. The way some of you tell it, she works so much more than I do, but I know the truth.

Only a govt bureaucrat could find this task difficult

And that's for 9 months. That's about 87k annualized.

No its not. It's 65k. Period. Teachers are laid off in the summer.

I'm with browski here. I've been teaching high school for 27 years, and for the last 24 years I've never had to do work outside of the school day or on a weekend. 95% of the summer is mine, no work responsibilities. I get paid 94k to teach and that's plenty where I live. Some of my coworkers have summer jobs (not related to school), such as camp directors or bartender and make good money while still getting paid from the school. I would rather enjoy my time off.

The best perks are that I'll be able to retire early with extremely good health coverage. In retirement I'll be better off than someone who made 200k for 30 years.

Some people take the highest paying job but they don't factor in benefits. Teachers have some of the best benefits out of any career. In the long run, benefits are more important than salary.

65k and you get 3 whole months to relax... that's a hell of a gig. Time with your family is way more important than a little more money. If you want to get paid more, you can sign up to work summer school. Or you can work another job over the summer.

I'm sick of hearing teachers complain about their salary. I'm with you if you want to complain to get more resources for students. But if you feel you aren't making enough for the amount you are working, then quit. Nobody is forcing you to teach.

In the 20 years my wife has been teaching I've never known anyone in her district to be fired. At most they get put in another grade level or moved to another school. It's like the catholic church they just move the offenders around. Add in guaranteed salary increases every year and nearly 4 months off its a good job to have. She also works about 6 hours per day. Unless you absolutely hate children there is not much to complain about.

I have coached various sports. Let me tell you that $5 per hour would be a vast increase for me. It has been below $1 per hour in some cases, and never above $3/hr

2 months off, 3 months off, now 4 months off?

They should be well paid. It should be an attractive, well paid job with stringent entry requirements and training. It's an important job and can make or break a child's future.

That’s true. Heck, when I was in school, we had a couple of teachers commit statutory rape of underage students, and they were even criminally charged, but I think they were offered diversion programs, they were never actually convicted, and they were usually back at the school teaching within a few months. Put on leave but still not fired in the end. Aspects of the public were in an uproar over it but like anything else it cooled down and everyone forgot about it.

That's hard to believe as known pedophiles are not allowed to be near schools.

I had 2 colleagues who were accused and they had to give up their licenses. The charges for 1 never went forward because the accuser chose not to push for it (there was an inappropriate relationship but not rape). The other case wasn't "criminal" because the student was not a minor (this one involved kissing and caressing). It was an interesting HS.

Only a dumb woman would say something like this. What do you do for work, balloon butt?

I'll chime in.

Background:

I've been teaching high school chemistry for a decade.

Suburban-type, middle class community.

I have a master's degree.

I'll make close to $70k this year.

I coach cross country and track which adds almost another $10k to that.

I think both arguments have some good points. Do teachers make too much for their 9 months of work? Or is the profession one which is hard to understand if you aren't in it day in and day out, realizing that those 8-10 weeks of off-time can be crucial?

I have a pretty good math and science brain, but certainly not an extraordinary one. I took math, chemistry, and physics courses in college that spanned quite a few difficult topics, relativity, differential equations, introductory quantum mechanics, etc. I had plenty of classmates who were really into those things and really good at those things. I was neither really into them or really good at them. Had I had been more interested, and had I thought it would be important for me to really grasp those concepts for my future career, I certainly could have done better, but I never would have excelled at the level of some of my peers.

I honestly think I'm pretty damn good at what I do: relating to and teaching chemistry to high school juniors. I take pride in it. Retaining a little information about some of those advanced topics has been useful in various ways, but I don't think it's what makes me a good teacher. Should I get paid less than those who have the ability and discipline to take an advanced understanding of the aforementioned topics and apply it in the engineering or pure science fields? Maybe so. It doesn't necessarily bother me if that's the case. They are willing and able to do something that I am not as willing, and in some cases not as able, to do.

On the other side of it, I'm not sure you want those same people in the classroom every day, either. I think there are some innate characteristics that many teachers have that can be honed, but are difficult to learn. I'm certainly better at "reading the room" and responding than I was 10 years ago, but I've always felt like I had a knack for the relational and relatability qualities needed, and enjoyed those aspects.

The other aspect that is highly variable is the amount of time a teacher and coach is willing to put into the job during those 9-10 months. There are about 8 months out of the year during cross country, indoor, and outdoor track, that I spend 70+ hours at the school and at meets. I arrive at the school around 5:45am so I can have an hour and a half before school to work on class prep. Practice is usually from 3:ish to 5ish, and then another 30-45 minutes is spent in my room wrapping up practice plans and having things somewhat set for the next day at school. I am in no way complaining as a lot of that is a choice, but I will say when June rolls around, I'm pretty pooped. I get a lot of recharge from the summer months. If it were a year-round job, I don't think I would be able to do it at the same level of production. So, what do I deserve to get paid? I don't really know. I'm more than happy with my compensation and I really enjoy what I do, performing period after period, and practice after practice, does take a good toll and I'm incredibly thankful for the downtime.