Teacher Pay Debate

Probably fairer to instead say "Maybe because teachers aren't paid so much worse than other professions in the private sector". This emphasizes that high private sector salaries are not the problem, rather low teacher salaries are.

It's a lot better than no pay at all!(Also fwiw, teacher salaries in the US do vary greatly by state. You won't make off like a bandit anywhere, but it's a perfectly respectable amount in some places.)

You’re using one normalized stat to come to a conclusion of “not bad”?Many teachers get $0 or a pittance for supplies and have to spend from their own salary so other people’s kids to have access to learning activities and materials.They’re spending their days dealing with a room full of emotionally selfish brats. You think they grade all that homework from 8-3? Nope. Many spend dozens of hours working outside the classroom.Meanwhile, I’ve worked with dozens of coders who contribute jac

Teacher wages are not that low. I do some math here, read the whole thread (I made an error in my initial post).http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1673075Teachers also have many perks - summer vacation, minimal accountability, defined-benefit pensions, etc. In fact, a rather significant chunk of teacher's comp is perks, not pay, far more so than most people in the private sector.

Stats show teachers get paid around average.

Nurses get about double the salary and literally signed up for this type of work. School teachers often buy their own supplies and aren't remotely prepared for this.

I'm not sure this is a fair comparison on many levels. Especially since you're valuing #2 very highly; it is worth 45% to very few educators. (I suspect you're ignoring time value of money or the fact that teachers generally have to contribute to these defined benefit plans).You're also ignoring credentialing, continuing education, and total education requirements.In my case, I work 40 weeks a year. I work at a private school and just have a 403(b) plan which has les

Workers who switch from teaching jobs to non-teaching jobs see their salaries typically go down. https://www.heritage.org/education/report/assessing-the-comp....Teachers only look relatively underpaid if you lump all college graduates together and look at average salaries. That number is heavily skewed, because many o

That's a really sad comment. Teaching may not pay well, but the tenured teacher has significantly higher job security and potential for other incomes. Yes, it's not a typical programmer pay, but if you are taking it upon yourself to teach children, you take on far more responsibility than any pay can justify and you should act like it.

A lot of my teacher acquaintances have this mistaken idea that they should be paid a lot more because they are “teaching the next generation” or any other variation of that delusion. They don’t seem to understand that the reason they don’t make a lot is because a lot of people can do the job. As we can see from this story.