Why Teachers Should Be Paid More

The median pay for public school teachers in the United States is about $42,000 per year. The median salary for all Americans is about $50,000 per year. The average teacher makes less money than the average American. I have had many friends who have considered becoming teachers; they are often met with remarks such as "you certainly aren't in it for the money" or other similar things. Some truly passionate individuals do not let the statistics deter them, but many do.

One of the best ways to attract high achieving students and professionals to a particular career path is through attractive salary prospects. Some of the smartest high schoolers choose their future career partially because of earning potential. A student who is extremely gifted in chemistry may hope to become a chemist or a chemistry teacher. Chemists earn on average $53,000 per year, much more than average teachers. This more than ten thousand dollar gap may be enough to make the decision for many people.

This type of process can lead to another related problem; when some of the most intelligent people choose careers with which teaching salaries cannot compete, the average teacher is less likely to be from the smartest tier of prospects. This is not to say that there are not exceptional and intelligent teachers, it simply means that because teacher salaries do not compare to many other fields, schools cannot always attract the best talent.

This is a huge issue. If schools cannot pay enough to recruit the smartest teachers, students have less potential to learn. I know that the teachers that I learned the most from were those who were extremely intelligent and "not in it for the money." Low-quality teachers produce low-quality results.

In order to give students the opportunities that they deserve, teachers must be held to higher performance standards. In order to hold teachers to these higher standards, schools must find higher quality teachers. In order for schools to find higher quality teachers, salaries should be higher to attract more qualified individuals.