Are teacher's really underpaid?

Question

I work as a teacher in Korea. I make $40,000 a year. I don't see any certified teachers working here, so they must be getting paid more state-side. What's the deal? How much are teachers really paid? I think $35,000 and up isn't too shabby.

Answer 1

I can say YES!!! try to be a business minded person you'll earn a lot,.:) hehehe

Answer 2

It's really underpaid.

Why don't ask the Education Section for more?

Answer 3

No. Teachers average 50k a year, and only work two-thirds of the year. They get the huge summer vacation, a long 'holiday' break, and every holiday ever thought up.

Don't give me the c**p about how much prep work you do. If after a few years on the job you haven't got your lesson plan pretty much set, you need a class on organization. It isn't like third grade science changes year to year.

As for your continuing education requirement, guess what? Every professional has to continue their education. Many have legal requirements to continue in the career. Others have informal requirements that you need to meet in order to get any type of promotion. I don't know of anyone that does continuing education during work hours.

I know, you will say that you are influencing the future of the country,and how important this job is. BS!!! Teachers don't determine how children perform in school, parents do. Good teachers don't mean nothing without involved parents.

Ok, now all you teachers, give me a thumbs down, and tell me how wrong I am. And then go enjoy your day around the pool...

Answer 4

as a former teacher, i tend to slightly agree with phil. (insert shock and horror expressions here).  i felt that i was amply paid for the work i did.  staying in the same grade each year my lesson plans were tweaked from year to year to keep it interesting (more to me than the kids) but, otherwise, they were pretty much the same.  tried and true.  i had a teaching assistant that would grade papers (school admin. requirement) and with art, p.e., computers and music cutting into our day, only had the kids about 4 hours a day for class.  i know i am going against the norm here but we tend to put teachers up on a pedestal.  we are people, like anyone else.  we went into a profession out of choice, knowing the pay scale and benefits,  not because anyone forced us to.  we can, then, not cry foul because we got what we asked for.

Answer 5

Teachers, police, firefighters... all strong symbols of America, and great platforms to use for running for office.  Politicians who talk about underpaid, overworked heros are really just manipulating the public.  Those three jobs are usually compensated adequately, and in the case of police, usually overpaid.

I can definitely understand politicians using this propaganda, but I find it alarming how many teachers actually believe it.  I know several teachers who make 50k+ and actually complain about how little they make for 9 months of work every year.

Answer 6

Yes, in Indonesia too. They (the goverment) pay about Rp. 1,000,000 (about US$ 100) for a junior teacher a month. about Rp. 2,000,000 (about US$ 200) for a senior teacher a month. It's a really, really underpaid.

Answer 7

If you compare it to other professions and consider the schooling that they need -- yes, they are underpaid.

Answer 8

As a starting salary, it isn't bad.  The problem is that teachers' salaries don't go up at the rate of those in other professions.  My business majors may start out with similar salaries, but in five or ten years, they are earning more than twice that amount.  The same cannot be said for teachers.

Answer 9

Yes, we are underpaid.  We work more than 8 hours each day, and we work on weekends, too.  The classroom is very stressful trying to keep ill-mannered and disobedient kids orderly and avoid conflicts with students with emotional problems that we cannot discuss publicly.  There is a lot of paperwork behind the scenes, too.

In spite of what one guy on here thinks, you do NOT have your lesson plans set after a few years because your administrators move you to different grade levels or different academic levels whenever they please, and when new textbooks come out every few years or the district adopts new curriculum plans, you have to start fresh in your lessons.

Answer 10

Highly underpaid!

Some teachers' starting salary can be as low as 20K and they don't always get annual raises that keep up with, say, the price of GAS!  

They do NOT work only two-thirds of the year with a huge summer break.  The school year begins in August and ends in June -- that's 10 months not 8.  And after the kids go home, the teachers still have to average grades and close up the school.  They also arrive a few weeks early to get set up.  When you take into consideration the fact that many teachers spend summer months in re-certification classes or in conferences like the IB-training center in New Mexico, they barely have a couple of weeks free and clear of any professional duties.

But, hey, if you think their salaries are too high, pay them babysitters' wages.  Let's see, $5 / hour for 6 hours is $30 / day for 150 kiddies ... Do you REALLY want me to keep going with this kind of math to show you the bargain you are getting at 40K / yr?

Answer 11

Can't really work out the wages you quote into GBP - but someone has really rattled Phil's cage! Perhaps you should try teaching for a few years Phil!

Answer 12

Average 50,000 a year? Not in my state. I've been teaching for 5 years, going into my 6th, and I am just now hitting the 40,000 mark with a master's degree in special education to boot. Yes, ultimately a child is the parents' responsibility, but guess who gets to deal with them when a parent doesn't do his or her job? Who gets to spend hours of addtional time planning strategies to help that child (oh yeah and 25 others) learn to read, write and do arithmetic? We don't have set year to year to lesson plans. Believe it or not, we like to try new things to encourage learning each year! Put yourself in a classroom for a year, Phil, and then you can judge. Even better, an inner city classroom (where the most underpaid teachers typically are) with thirty students for just one day. Your tune would change in a heartbeat.

Answer 13

its not high enough to attract candidates - we have a nationwide shortage of math and science teachers.

There is alot of anger on this topic. One of the problems is that since we are public employees, our negotiations are public. This leads to misplaced anger from some. We are here to teach kids - I wont be the one complaining about my salary - I chose this profession - but I will defend it from people who dont know what they are talking about.

I work year-round - its the kids who have vacations...so no I wasnt at the pool all day - I was at work.... and if you think curriculum is set after a year or two - you really have no idea what teachers do.

To answer your question - 35k and up is not too shabby - but not if you have an advanced degree. And not when a math or science major gets job offers in other professions at 25% more starting.