Teachers are employees of the State. Generally state jobs that do not require election, pay very little, due to several reasons. 1) What are the persons qualifications for the position. 2) What is your educational background? 3) Do you have a Masters or a Doctorate degree? 4) What is your tax base? What is your per capita spending?, what policies does your state have in place to advance americas youth? If you are in a State that has other priorities, such as Kentucky, pay, and working conditions are deplorable. Expectations are extremely high, and the hours are long. (No Child Left Behind Act) You must be a teacher because it is your one true calling in life. Both my parents were teachers, and would never do it again under the current conditions. Contact your local N.E.A. assoc. or your congressman, governor, and PTA. for more info.

Here in Canada, or at least Ontario, teachers get paid VERY well, regardless of what they would like you to believe. 10 years ago, when I was President of the Students Council, I actually got a look at the salaries for my school. A teacher that had JUST gotten out of Teachers College with no special degrees was making 45k a year to start. It might not sound like much to an American, but trust me, that’s a decent wage living in Canada to START with. The Head of the English department (Who had several Masters and B.A.s, he was a University Teacher who came to teach High School because he was dismayed with the students High School’s were pumping out to University) was making just under 80k a year plus several bonuses that the Board was paying him for not only his credentials, but also his being head of a department. The Teachers in this Province are spoiled whiners if you ask me. They are currently in a HUGE huff with the Provincial Government regarding “Prep Time”. That is to say that they want their classroom time cut back so they have more time to prepare lesson plans, work with students ETC. Now, this might sound reasonable. But consider this; I am the Training Officer for the Artillery Battery I am attached to in the Reserves, as well as being the Operations Manager for an I.T. Firm in my civilian job. As the Training Officer, my sole function in life is to ensure that the troops of the Battery (And occasionally the whole Regiment!) are taught everything they need to know about being a Solider. (This means anywhere from 45 to 1500 people depending on where I am stationed) I have a staff of 7 Officers and 10 NCOs working for me. Not ONCE have ANY of us ever thought for a SECOND of complaining to the Department of National Defence that we need prep time for ANY reason, and most of us have Civilian Jobs to worry about too! We take our work home or we stay late. Why? Because we CHOSE this job and we take our mandate to teach our troops QUITE seriously. On top of that, one of my last contracts before I became the Operations Manager of the company was to contract to a local I.T. School and teach the Microsoft Systems Engineer Course, several Microsoft Certified Professional Courses, 2 End User Specialist Courses AND maintain the schools labs, all AT THE SAME TIME! Again, not ONCE did I suggest that I needed to be paid for “Prep Time”. All of these demands on my time were not only made clear when I chose BOTH professions, but its just common sense for heaven’s sake. If the teachers really want to ensure the quality of Student they are producing, perhaps that should get out in to the real world and ask for prep time to see how long it is before they are out the door. This isn’t to say that we are not dedicated teachers out there, indeed, some of them seem to be working three jobs in their profession! But these people should keep the Teachers Union from making such ridiculous claims!

You have, by now, received good answers related to some of the nuts and bolts of how salaries are computed, but I'd like to interject a quick, broader response. The basic point of your question is simple enough to answer: Teachers get paid so little because there is not enough money in the school budget to pay them more. [and I'm answering this in regards to public schools -- private schools are similar but not identical situations] The background question has to be "why is there so little money for salaries" and that gets to a series of logical conclusions which can ultimately be related to the larger sociological issue of "why does our society value sports performance over academic performance?" Part of this is answered economically -- teachers don't gereate revenue in a public school, so even though you can tie future economic strength to the quality of schooling, teachers do not have the kind of public policy controlling power that someone who makes a direct contribution to the economy might have. Now if our society valued education so highly that every experience was considered a learning experience, and our television content, home life and liesure time were all driven by the opportunity to learn, the teacher would only be the facilitator and might not be able to demand money and the salary might make sense. But as our students come to us knowing little and caring less and having their time out of school, all too often, used to erase what it is we teach (or dedicated to making money to live on as the economy demands that they be wage earners), and, at the same time, the technological and other advances in our world are demanding better prepared students who have a braoder range of knowledge, teachers are constantly having to revamp, rethink and rework their methods to better serve an increasingly unprepared and hostile captive audience (remember, schooling through high school is mandatory). While I shan't knock any particular politician, the No Child Left Behind act was an example of this paradox. The act demanded higher scores and changes in staffing and experience, but did not make clear where the money would come from to implement these reforms. Even when there is, on paper, an interest in improving the schools, there is little practical applicability, only the expectation of result. If we wish to increase teacher salaries, all we need to do is bring in some non-teachers, tell them that they must teach 35 recalcitrant 12 year olds for 8 months and that they, as teachers, are responsible for the success of the future based on the students' scores on a standardized test. Until people see the teacher as valuable, the priorities in terms of resource allocation won't change.

This is a culture that places little value on education and even less on teachers. More money is spent on jails than on schools. Prison guards probably make more than teachers. A school is a warehousing service to keep the young occupied while parents struggle to make ends meet. The purpose of education is to provide people with a means of making a living. A teacher is needed to deliver course material. Most people believe that with a little training they too could become a teacher, so what's the big deal.

One reason is that teaching is traditionally one of the few jobs deemed suitable for women. As there has always been a discrepancy between the rates of pay for men and women, the salary of the 'schoolmarm' did not rise throughout the years at the same rate as that of other professions. Now things are more equal, but in order to bring the salary of the teacher in line with that of other professional careers, somebody would have to perform true wizardry with the education budget. Mind you, a few less nuclear weapons per year would do it.

In Texas, many starting teachers make close to $180 to $190 per day. That may be low wages for some people, or high wages for other people by comparison.

Yea, not enough money in the school budget, BUT have you seen the hours that teachers work? and their actual job, at some times it may be stressful... BUT in the summertime? and when kids have days off?? its not like getting paid what they do is horrible... the more that they work, the more they get paid also 1year = x dollars, 10 years = x+5 dollars, 15 years = x=+15 dollars... personally i like their pay for what they do, (im going to become a teacher...) but its not the worst job out there ^_^

I am an ONtario teacher and stared 8 years ago. I am very surprised to hear that 10 years ago a new teacher with no degree was making 45K in ONT. I have two degrees and was making 37,000 - a lot less than I made as a dental hygienist at the time which was 50 K. we have a bargaining unit but wages a pretty consistent across the province, especially now that the bargaining is done at the provincial level. Our top salary now is about 80,000 that is fOR a teacher with 11 years experience and two degrees plus at least two specialist certificates. Dept heads do get up to 4000 added on but do not get much time if any to do the extra work. My husband is one so I know. I have never seen any other profession have to put in 11-13 years to get to top pay. Other professions such police and nursing have 5-7 year wait. We put in many, many hours of our time, I have not gotten home before 5:30 -600 so far this year.I use all of my prep time (40 minutes) and most of my lunch - no more recess breaks in the balanced day. I have worked many other jobs and this is the most intense job I have ever held. You are "on" from the moment you walk in the class to you leave. there is no down time - yo do not sit back and drink a cup of coffee. I have up 18 little 4 year olds needing help at the same time. Not only for daily living issues but then try to teach on top of that. I challenge anyone who has any other job to trade places with me during the first month of junior kindergarten and also challenge them to teach these children to read with no one to help you. Do you have any idea the process of learning to read - it is quite complex to say the least. I was trained as a high school math teacher and thought it was somewhat of a joke teaching the little ones. It is one of the hardest but most rewarding jobs around. Remember how many there are at one time and all the time. They do not just do what you tell them because you said so. You have to really know how to hook them - you do this by giving your heart and soul - what other job do you know of where the employee spends their own wages to do the job. We spend a lot because we end up loving these kids. In the end we are paid according to our qualifications and years experience. I do not believe that a new teacher should make almost 1/2 of an experienced teacher given the fact they really have to do the same job from day one. The extra qualification courses leave much to be desired. We are paid well but as I said I made more from a two year course with much less stress. Please do not be so opinionated until you have walked in the shoes - and yes I was also in the air force for a short time.

Most jobs reward quality, today teachers should get minimum pay - they are no good!

Level of education, experience, subject being taught and how desperate they are to fill the position.