It’s Time To Pay Teachers More

I’ve been an IT professional for the last 28 years and just recently took an early retirement package offered to me. Not that I had any intention of retiring, but after working for the same Fortune 50 company for 25 years it was time for a break.

I’ve always dreamt of teaching. It just sounds very noble. Teachers make a difference. Obviously. Look at your life. Who taught you reading, writing, math, social studies, science, all of your electives and so many soft skills? You may not have liked all your teachers, but I think we can all agree they worked hard and their job wasn’t easy.

I’ll just say that last bit again…they worked hard and their job wasn’t easy. It’s even harder now with the pandemic and trying to move all learning to an online medium. And yet they get paid so little! Most teaching jobs start at around $40,000. So let’s get this straight. They usually have over 20 kids in a classroom, they need to impart a lot of information in many different ways to accomodate different learning styles, and they need to do it in a way that captures the attention of each child.

Hmmm…ok. Seems easy enough. And besides, I’m a Program Manager! I’m very organized and can manage people. I’ve had to deal with my fair share of difficult situations. I usually volunteer for the projects at work that no one wants to do. The more difficult the project, the better. And I have kids of my own plus I’m a coach of a robotics team. I can do this.

I thought I’d start with a substituting job. I found a 1/2 day substituting job with 1st graders. On the day of my first gig, I went a little early and got to meet with the teacher. When I proudly told her this was my first day of being a substitute her face fell and she immediately said she was sorry. My heart started racing. What could she be sorry for? She explained that her class was a bit “talkative” and she had one child who was on the spectrum and another that had ADHD. I would be going through slides she’d already created, have the kids watch various educational videos and do some math on their computer. The kids were at lunch but they’d be back shortly.

And then she left.

And then they came.

They looked me up and down wondering who I was. I introduced myself and enthusiastically told them what we were going to do that afternoon. I immediately started to dive into the slideshow about math. The volume was getting louder and louder. I did my best to take control of the class and tried to make this math topic the most exciting thing since Santa Claus. But I was losing some of these kids and others were complaining they couldn’t hear me because the kids in the back were too loud. And they were loud! I asked, then told, then demanded they be quiet. I tried engaging them in the lesson.

And then it happened. It was like watching a wildfire move quickly across dry grass. In a split second, a student was flipping the light switch on and off because “that’s what the teacher does when the class gets loud”, which then triggered the child that was on the spectrum, the kids in the back were getting louder, one child was in front of me crying because she couldn’t hear, another was at the front of the class hitting a bell because “that’s what the teacher does when the class gets loud”. I had lost control of these 15 kids in less than 30 minutes. And then out of sheer desperation, I did the elementary school clap. Parents with elementary kids probably know what that clap is. It seems to be a very powerful and magical clap. Because when I issued the clap, that room was silent. It was truly a miracle! And then I sent one of the loudest kids to another classroom. Now they started getting that I meant business.

I couldn’t take my eyes off these kids for a minute. I kept them busy and engaged. And then it was recess. I’d been counting down the minutes because we all​ needed a break. I got everyone lined up and walking sorta quietly down the hall when someone told me it was misting outside and we’d need to do indoor recess. What!? I found myself wanting to drop to my knees and beg for the recess. What did these kids care if it was misting??! I certainly didn’t! These kids needed fresh air! They needed to run around and scream! Please don’t take that away from them! And me!!

Ultimately, they had mercy on us all and we got that recess time. I challenged the loudest kids to race each other up and down the grass. I wanted them back in that classroom with no energy left. I got through the rest of my 4 hours without a lot of drama. But it was the longest and hardest 4 hours. And I got paid $40 for that.

Are you kidding? $40??

So let me get this​ straight. These kids are our future. And we need them to be the best and brightest. But we don’t want to attract the best and brightest adults to teach them? Cuz not many are going to be enticed with $10/hour to substitute. And not many will be enticed to earn $40,000 a year to teach.

After that day, it was clear that these kids need the teacher’s full attention all day. Then of course there are meetings after school. So when is the teacher supposed to grade the work, create the lesson plan and develop the lesson content? Well, that would be after their 8-hour day and/or on the weekends.

It’s time to rethink this entire system. These teachers work hard. They have to know a lot. They have to understand every child’s personality or possible issue to adapt the teaching for them. We need to start paying them the way they should be paid. Entry level teachers need to be making at least $60,000 a year and then nice pay bumps upwards for years of service and/or meeting certain delivery criteria. I’ll let others work that out.

But I want my kids to be taught by adults who feel happy, not resentful. Who are well learned, not the bottom of the barrel because this is all we could get. It’s time for a change. And you should want that change to happen as well, for the sake of our future.