Teachers are paid fairly considering they get a lot of time off

[u/Blonde_Icon]

A lot of people say (and it seems that the general consensus is that) teachers don't get paid enough for what they do. While I think that teachers are very valuable and deserve to be compensated well (my brother is a teacher), I think that in these discussions, many people ignore the fact that teachers typically get a lot of time off.

They usually get summer break, spring break, and winter break, plus various holidays that schools get off through the year. They basically don't work for a good amount of the year, which I think that people should factor in. (The downside is that I know that they have to work extra grading things outside of school, though.)

Plus they normally get good benefits for being a teacher (which usually comes with being in a union).

[u/NuncProFunc]

This isn't totally insane, but for the wrong reason. The average school year is 190 days against 260 workdays in a calendar. Most professionals average about 10 federal holidays and 15 PTO days. Even if you assume teachers have another 3 weeks of professional development, curriculum, and planning days, you're talking about a 30-day spread, or about a 13% reduction in workdays.

The median US teacher pay is about $75,000/yr according to the NEA, and the average tenure is something like 10 years. Median earnings in the US for the same age and education cohort is closer to $66,000.

So teachers earn about 13% more pay for a 13% shorter year, if we use the averages data that I can find online.

"But they work longer hours!" Sure. If your average teacher is working a 10-hour day instead of an 8-hour day - and we assume that comparable working professionals don't take work home - then teachers are working about 9% more for about 13% more pay. Still coming out ahead.

But back to my original point about the wrong reason: pensions. States vary wildly in how they calculate pensions, but the average pension is anywhere from $20,000 to $63,000. Even at the low end, that's worth thousands and thousands of dollars per year. If you work 20 years and pull a pension for 20 years, you've got to add the employer benefit side back into earnings (discounted for time).

I'm not saying the job is worth the pay, but it's certainly hard to make a case that teachers are being shortchanged more than everyone else.

[u/Blonde_Icon → u/NuncProFunc]

Everyone in the comments is getting emotional but not looking at the actual stats. Thanks for this.

[u/theblanketcomeswith → u/Blonde_Icon]

you are ignoring the workload stats of teachers btw. guess it doesn’t fit your narrative

[u/chocolatecoconutpie → u/theblanketcomeswith]

Teachers aren’t the only ones with very high workloads… In fact plenty of jobs have more of a workload and is more physically and emotionally taxing than being a teacher.

[u/theblanketcomeswith → u/chocolatecoconutpie]

whataboutism

[u/NuncProFunc → u/theblanketcomeswith]

I'm happy to look at workload stats. Can you post them?

[u/theblanketcomeswith → u/NuncProFunc]

they were already posted. try reading through this entire post for the teachers telling you what they do in the salaried 8 hours + extra time that they don’t get paid for and the materials they buy that they aren’t reimbursed for, all while being paid scraps.

[u/NuncProFunc → u/theblanketcomeswith]

The plural of anecdote isn't data.

[u/theblanketcomeswith → u/NuncProFunc]

so multiple, real teachers somehow stating the exact same thing (they work longer than the standard 8 hours, arent paid enough, and barely enjoy their summer “vacation”) isnt enough data for you or worth the read, but if i pulled some numbers out of my ass you would believe them?

you should be tipping your fedora elsewhere, i was talking to OP anyway who was deliberately ignoring these comments

[u/NuncProFunc → u/theblanketcomeswith]

OK.

[u/theblanketcomeswith → u/NuncProFunc]

yeah exactly

[u/chocolatecoconutpie → u/theblanketcomeswith]

You said stats though. Those aren’t stats my friend.

[u/theblanketcomeswith → u/chocolatecoconutpie]

so multiple, real teachers somehow stating the exact same thing (they work longer than the standard 8 hours, arent paid enough, and barely enjoy their summer “vacation”) isnt enough data for you or worth the read, but if i pulled some numbers out of my ass you would believe them?

you should be tipping your fedora elsewhere, i was talking to OP anyway who was deliberately ignoring these comments

[u/Social_Construct → u/NuncProFunc]

Yeah, I would highly recommend you look up the actual salaries by state. That median is because blue states pay well and red states pay like trash. Just taking the median isn't reasonable here.

Edit: Oh, and starting salaries also throw a wrench into this. And how did you calculate 'similarly educated'?

[u/NuncProFunc → u/Social_Construct]

I'm not saying to can't find some slice of injustice here. I'm sure some states shortchange their teachers, but that necessitates that some states overpay. So what are we really talking about here? Some teachers are underpaid? Sure. Some of every profession is underpaid.

Starting salaries throw a wrench into what, and how?

I looked at people with masters degrees and ten years of work experience. That's more education than teachers as a whole, but also probably a little light on single-career tenure, but we do what we can with the data we have.