Nathan Foss Foss 1

Mrs. Walston
English III
17 November 2017
Knowledge comes with a cost
Imagine if you will, you d;edicate your time and money towards a degree, a degree that

allows you to get your dream job, only for you to dedicate all of your time towards this job and

get paid barely enough to survive on. This is what teachers experience, they work hard and spend

money getting a degree in the subject they wish to teach and. After all of this they are hired, only

to work hard and spend all of their time grading and planning, all while earning a lower average

income than an Ice Cream Taster, a House Sitter, and a Toll Booth Worker. Teachers are treated

as a disposable asset, that can be replaced at any time, and little is being done to bring upon a

change regarding this issue. Therefore, teachers should receive higher pay for several

reasons such as schools would have less teacher shortages, teachers would be motivated to

teach better, and the next generation would be more likely to want to teach.

Schools will experience less teacher shortages, and more applications for teacher

positions if teachers wages are increased. Teachers are more likely to resign if the pay is not

sufficient for their lifestyle, but if they are paid more they will be more likely to want to remain

at their jobs or to apply for a teaching position. In several studies, the more pay a teacher

receives, the more likely they will continue to teach others. In a study conducted by the

University of Pennsylvania, 48% of teachers who leave their jobs leave due to dissatisfaction

caused by low pay. A study conducted by the National Center for Educational Statistics states

that a teacher with 10 years of experience makes only $4000 more yearly than an entry-level

teacher. These statistics show the correlation between low teacher pay and satisfaction, which

lead to teachers leaving the educational field. If almost half of teachers reason for quitting is

related to dissatisfaction caused by low pay, there is strong evidence to pay them more. Teachers

who have 10 years of experience should be paid significantly more than entry-level teachers,

because they have more experience and have been working for longer duration of time which
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warrants a significant raise in pay. Yet in a study done by the OECD in 2014 displays that

teachers in the United States who have worked over 15 years salary only grows on average 23%,

which is marginally lower than in other countries. Despite evidence proving that teachers

perform their job better when they receive an increase in pay, schools still refuse to increase their

salary, Nnive Calegari, a former teacher, stated that Over 60 percent of teachers working

second jobs, dining with their children at food banks, and even selling their blood to make ends

meet(Nnive Calegari 2014). These studies show how little teachers are paid, and how it

correlates to shortages of teachers and those who have the yearn to teach.

Teachers who are paid more have the desire to teach their students more, teach better, and

their students learn more from them. If teachers receive higher pay, more will want to teach more

and will teach at a higher rate, and teach students higher quality information. In various studies a

connection is drawn between the quality of information taught, and salary of the instructor. In a

study done by London School of Economics, students received 5-10% greater scores on
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assessments when teachers receive a 10% increase in pay, and a study conducted by the OECD

found that students are more likely to be low performers if the teacher and school have pay

shortages (OECD, 2015). The information from these studies makes sense due to the way

teachers inform their students, which can be affected by the payment received by the the teacher.

When teachers earn more they have a higher likelihood to care, and feel more passionately about

informing students. When students are placed into an environment that cannot afford to strive to

better educate them, the students suffer, this all leads back to low payment towards teachers.

Students overall benefit from teachers gaining an increased income due to the teachers having

the urge to teach when they make more money, so that they continue to make money.

If teachers continue to earn less without any increase in pay, finding individuals who still

want to teach will become increasingly difficult. People will not want to become teachers if they

know that they will not be able to support themselves, due to the low income that teachers make.

Studies have been conducted showing how younger generations are becoming less interested in

pursuing a career in teaching due to the low income earned by those who teach. A study

conducted by Sean Corcoran displays that 46% of teachers are dissatisfied with their job, and the

survey The American Teacher taken in 2011, by Metlife inc. showed that 66% of teachers felt

their salaries were unfair. When this data is displayed to younger generations they feel that

teaching is not a viable option for a career. Younger generations who consider these issues see

that the lack of good pay and the dissatisfaction experienced by teachers, come to the conclusion

that teaching is not for them. These issues regarding satisfaction and pay display to children and

teenagers who are considering careers that teaching is not a good option as a career. This lack of

future generations having an interest in becoming an educator, combined with current teacher
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shortages will lead to an education crisis, causing many schools to close due to lack of funding

and lack of teachers. Schools that remain open will require teachers who will be able to take the

workload of teaching multiple subjects to account for the lack of supply.

Yes, it is hard to suddenly increase the pay of all teachers, due to the sudden need of

funding that it would require. This would require a large sum of money so that it can be

distributed to teachers, so that teachers would earn more. The pay increase would not occur

overnight, it would have to happen gradually over a period of time, and teachers would most

likely have an increase of about 5% in income. Although the money required to raise teacher pay

significantly is a large sum, funding can be reduced towards the military, public events, and

towards building more motorways, this will not be a permanent fix but will be a temporary

solution while more permanent ways of reducing government spending are being analyzed.

Some might say certain school systems would be unable to afford these changes, others could
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say this will not work. These changes can work and will be worth it,countries such as

Switzerland, The Netherlands, and Germany pay their teachers marginally more and the students

intelligence reflects this, with 89% of Swiss students completing secondary education (OECD

2015). Certain areas could pay teachers depending on the teachers degree, and they would gain

more income at a slowly increasing rate. Teachers need to be paid more, or else the shortage of

teachers will only continue to increase, and those who had interest in teaching will find other

occupations.

Teachers should be given an increase in pay, because this increase would allow for an

abundance of applicants, well informed students, and future generations having the want to

become a teacher. This is because students are taught better when teachers receive more income,

due to the teachers caring more, there will be less of a shortage of teachers due to them earning a

fair income, and future generations will continue to want to become a teacher because they will

be able to live comfortably off of the income. These are important issues that need to be

resolved, or The world may face a shortage of teachers and younger generations not having any

interest in teaching causing large problems involving schools not being able to teach certain

subjects due to a lack of teachers. The issues created by low income being received by teachers

creates an effect similar to one having a low credit score, these are similar because they both

involve the slow change getting worse gradually, until teachers, like banks will no longer provide

services to the schools /the individual with the low score. These issues will become important for

the future of education in the United States, if action is not taken within the next 10 years a

drastic shortage of teachers is projected to occur. Furthermore a study done by the Washington

Post in 2016, projects that within the next 8 years the supply of teachers will not meet the

demand, with only 50% of the demand being met. This will cause a catastrophic amount of
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teacher shortages at schools, leading to a drastic decline in education in the United States.

Overall this issue must be addressed further, and improved on to create a better learning

environment, no shortages of staff, and individuals who will want to become teachers.

Works Cited

Walker, Tim. Want to Reduce the Teacher Shortage? Treat Teachers Like Professionals. NEA Today, NEA Today, 13 Oct. 2015,

neatoday.org/2015/08/26/want-to-reduce-the-teacher-shortage-treat-teachers-like-professionls/

Straus, Ulrich Boser and Chelsea. Mid- and Late-Career Teachers Struggle With Paltry Incomes. Center for American Progress, Center for

American Progress, 23 July 2014,

www.americanprogress.org/issues/education/reports/2014/07/23/94168/mid-and-late-career-teachers-struggle-with-paltry-incomes/

Wong, Alia. What If America's Teachers Made More Money? The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 18 Feb. 2016,

www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/02/what-if-americas-teachers-made-more-money/463275/
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Walker, Tim. International Study Links Higher Teacher Pay and Teacher Quality. NEA Today, NEA Today, 20 Nov. 2014,

neatoday.org/2012/01/04/international-study-links-higher-teacher-pay-and-teacher-quality/

Strauss, Valerie. Why Teachers Salaries Should Be Doubled Now. The Washington Post, WP Company, 25 Mar. 2014,

www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2014/03/25/why-teachers-salaries-should-be-doubled-now/?utm_term=.d7bbb819d

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Zhao, Emmeline. Teacher Pay Can Increase Without Adding To Budget: Public Impact 'Extending The Reach' Analysis. The Huffington Post,

TheHuffingtonPost.com, 24 Oct. 2012, www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/24/teacher-pay-can-increase-_n_2011397.html.

Ball, Julie. Teacher Supplements Vary Widely in North Carolina. Citizen Times, The Citizen-Times, 19 May 2016,

www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2016/05/17/teacher-supplements-vary-widely-north-carolina/84287184/

OECD. Switzerland. OECD Better Life Index, OECD, 2015, www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/switzerland/.

Strauss, Valerie. The United States growing teaching shortage: How it looks state by state. The Washington Post, WP Company, 18 Oct. 2016,

www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/10/18/americas-growing-teaching-shortage-how-it-looks-state-by-state/?utm_

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