A few years ago, a study released by the American Enterprise Institute concluded that teachers are overpaid.
Not so, writes CNN contributor LZ Granderson. In this wonderful article, he shows the every day courage of teachers–most recently demonstrated when a devastating tornado hit an elementary school in Moore, Oklahoma, and last December when teachers in Newtown, Connecticut, died shielding their students.
Here is the AP story about the Oklahoma tornado, showing how quickly teachers protected their children.
When the think tank desk jockeys have long been forgotten, we will still remember our teachers.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Nice to see the principal & teachers get credit for their bravery and good planning.
I was wondering when the media would give our teachers credit for what they do, have done, and will continue to do – protect our students. Now how can we protect them from CCSS and high-stakes testing?
Dr. Sui-Runyan,
I can’t and won’t speak for “the media.” I have been writing weekly newspaper columns since 1989 that reach several hundred thousand folks.
Here’s a recent example of a column in which I try to give educators for some things that they have done:
http://hometownsource.com/2013/03/20/joe-nathan-column-educators-create-effective-system-for-students/
Here’s another example:
http://hometownsource.com/2013/03/06/a-book-about-trusting-teachers-draws-praise-from-educators-and-activists/
Diane,
Shame on you — apples and oranges. The actions of teachers in the face of the tornado, or at Sandy Hook, etc… however heroic, are not relevant in a discussion of teacher salary. The implication is that no other professional class of adult would act in the same way, which is absurd; the second implication is that teachers should be paid some sort of stipend for the likely eventuality that, like the Secret Service guards who protest the president, they will have to “take the bullet,” either from Mother Nature or from some raving psychopath. BY that logic, we should be paying convenience store clerks $50K and subsidizing people who live in mobile homes in the Plains states, just in case tragedy might strike.
Discussions of teacher salary SHOULD, however, include discussions of teachers’ time commitment, the ACTUAL amount of work we have to do (which goes well beyond the 7:30-2:30 school bells), and the immense responsibility with which we are tasked, as well as our (ostensible, alleged) value to and in society.
I have to be honest, teachers around where I live are darn well compensated. Impressively so, even. I’d love to see some stats nationwide comparing median teacher salaries to cost of living and cost of a new home. I left a job teaching high school making $70K or so in an area where a nice 2,000-sqft home is under $200K. Not bad. I know it’s not the same everywhere, though.
Don A.S.K,
De acuerdo con el primer párafo, especialmente con la primera frase. Y no con el tercer.
Pues, es cierto que en el sistema en que trabajaba, los maestros, espeicalmente los con varios años de experiencia, ganaban un buenísimo sueldo. Eso no necesariamente hace que sea así en el resto del país, como dije…
Andrew King has hit the nail on the head 100 percent of time. People from all walks of life are heroic in times demanding such characteristic. Think Charles Ramsey in Cleveland with the three imprisoned women. To my knowledge, no one has yet to look up his occupation to make a broad statement about the salaries in his profession. And the reason is simple, it is a non sensical non sequitur. Thank you.
My first commitment to my students is to keep them safe
– physically safe from any threat
– emotional safe from anyone who might belittle or bully
– intellectually safe, to learn that it is okay to make mistakes because one is trying to learn
I am a Quaker by convincement. I will not use force to defend my own life if it might cause harm to another.
I will not hesitate to use whatever means are at my disposal to protect those entrust to my care as their teacher.
I am not alone.
I am not exceptional.
Simply put, I am a teacher.
TK,
“I am a Quaker by convincement.” What does convincement mean?
Thanks,
Duane
Friend-ly expression. Friends are either birthright – parents are – or convinced – by choice. And not every birthright Friend is a convinced Friend
Thanks!
Concise and well said. I hope you don’t mind if I share it with others (except for the Quaker part and yes, I will use force to defend myself and my students were that ever to be needed.)
Oh yes! We teachers are overpaid like never before.
We make more than the CEO’s of Citi Bank, Apple, Microsoft, and Walmart.
We hardly pay any taxes because of all our offshore tax havens. In fact, I just had an espresso with Mitt Romney the other day and we were trying to discuss more ways we can show our patriotism and nationalism by getting more of our money to be tax free and off this soil.
When we fail, rather than get evaluated for our performance, we teachers simply get bailed out by TARP funds.
We’re snapping up real estate like water.
We are the most evil, pernicious, selfish plutocrats around. Watch out for us! We’ll destroy society with our lust for money.
And worst of all, we hoard number 2 pencils, shiny red apples, and construction paper.
Some of us even have (and please remove your child from the room if he/she is standing right near you and looking over your shoulder at the computer) dental plans.
Thas a goodin!
Pardon?
If a natural disaster or armed lunatic threatens me, I hope there are some brave hedge fund managers and investment bankers present to protect me.
It’s very interesting to me that when many people talk about teachers being well-paid, they always compare them to average workers and never to other professionals with five years of college. Now why would that be?
In reading the articles in the links on name rang a bell(actually a gong): Jason Richwine. Hmmmmm.
And? The suspense is killing me!
“When the think tank desk jockeys have long been forgotten, we will still remember our teachers.”
In the old paradigm, maybe.
Unfortunately, not so much in the future. Not many kids will remember inspirational teachers reading stories like this: “Do not open the test booklet until you have been told. Do not leave any stray marks on your answer sheet. You will have 45 minutes to complete this test. If you finish early, close your booklet and put it in the upper left corner of your desk………”
To the amazing Oklahoma teachers and staff, thank you for your bravery and courage. Our hearts, thoughts and prayers are with you, your students and your community.
Kevin Huffman in TN thinks all teachers are overpaid. His proposal to the TN state board of education removes step raises for degrees above a Masters, no raises after 15 years, condenses the schedule from 20 steps to three, and collapses degree categories from four to one.
From his proposal:
Base salary: BS & 0 yrs experience=$30,420
Years Experience 1-5= Base + $570; 6-10 yrs =Base + $3190; 11-15 = Base + $6585
Advanced degree= 1-5 yrs =Base + $3,415; 6-10 yrs= Base + $7,030; 11-15yrs = Base + $10,890.
He’s shown nothing but contempt for TN teachers and less for colleges of education. But one can’t expect much from a TfA cult member.
why be surprised by Huffman. As a TFA corps member, he only spent two years in the classroom, so of course he has absolutely no understanding of the value of experience. Which of course is why he is supposedly qualified to run a state-wide educational program, eh?
Kevin Huffman is a used car salesman.
He actually spent time coming up with and illutrating this pay system?
This just boggles my mind. I have spent almost double his top salary offer to earn my undergrad degree, a MAT and to maintain my license over the past thirty years. On his salary schedule I would not be able to have a family or pursue an education, and it would surely not attract the “best and brightest.” I could make more than that working for the local garbage collection agency.
A colleague just sent me this about Haslam’s rational for Huffman’s $20,000 raise when he was appointed TN Comish of Education:
“When Commissioner Kevin Huffman, who was sworn into office, he was the best-paid agency head making $200,000 per year, up $20,000, or 11 percent, from his predecessor. Haslam then echoed ‘In government we’re never going to pay what they do in the private market, he said. But if we’re going to attract great people, we’re going to have to at least make it comparable.’ “
As this article is being read and responded to there sits on the Governors Desk a Deregulation bill that allows schools to lower teachers pay. There were over 400 education bills this year, most were anti teacher, anti education, pro for profit charter, pro voucher etc etc. Governor Fallin will pat the educators on the back for their bravery then sign the bill allowing their pay to be cut.
Methinks the think tank desk jockeys are the ones who are overpaid.
With 29 years of experience, I was frozen at the 18 year with Masters plus 15 hours level for 5 years. The only “raise” I got was the one year I taught summer school for tutor rate for a month. I seldom missed school. I was never ill until the lst year when the stress overwhelmed me and even then I missed only 3 days. I never took personal days. I was not overpaid. I arrived early and worked late, helped other teachers with tech, typed the 4th grade newsletter every month and went to committee meetings. Plus I did all the planning, teaching, xeroxing, professional development, paper grading and record keeping that we all do. FOR THE KIDS, NOT FOR THE SYSTEM!!! I was not overpaid.
What a load of crap. Teachers work less than 9 months a year, get two weeks off for Christmas, or as the pagan union calls it “winter break”, they get another week off at Easter, spring break, almost another week off at Thanksgiving and multiple days off during the year to celebrate real and bogus government holidays. Don’t forget Election Day when the rest of us have to wait n long lines before or after work teachers get the whole day off to cats their vote. And enough about how teachers work long hours during the day. Is that why you can drive by any school parking lot at 3pm and see only a handful of cars, which usually belong to teachers getting paid even more for after school care. I also read that teachers don’t actually vacation during the summer and spend every waking hour prepping for the following year. This is bogus as well and such a blatant lie. Their scrambling right now because school in MI starts in a few weeks and they have to prepare their classroom. If they’ve been working so hard all summer then why the rush. And why is it that so many teachers have side businesses they run as soon as school gets out. I thought they were busy looking out for the children. I’m sure ill get a bunch of liberal teachers trying to convince the general public of their worth, but their product sucks and any such program in the real world where accountability actually mattered would cancel it and design a better system, preferable not one full of lazy, ignorant, union, liberal whacks that spend more time teaching a kid how to put a rubber on a banana than math or God forbid actual social studies based on our founding fathers, not Marx.