All this talk raises another important question: if teachers improve, are we willing to pay them more?

 

 

US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, education historian Diane Ravitch and other supporters make the argument that American teachers are underpaid. Do they have a point?

 

·        In 1970, first-year New York teachers made $2,000 more than first-year lawyers. Today, they make $115,000 less.

·        U.S. teachers spend more hours in the classroom than teachers anywhere else in the world. Three weeks more than No. 2 New Zealand. They are the 5^th lowest paid.

·        They make $17,000 less than other American workers with the same level of education.

 

Critics argue that teachers are overpaid based on results. For instance,

 

·        41% of teachers graduate in the bottom 1/3 of their college class (unlike Finland, where 100% are in the top 1/3).

·        America is ranked 25^th out of 27 countries in high-school education.

·        America is not ranked in top 10 in the three major categories – reading, math, or science.

 

Of course, American teachers face problems little seen in other countries, such as having one of the highest poverty rates in the developed world, language barriers, and massive government funding cuts (34 states and Washington, D.C., have cut education budgets since 2008).

 

All these conditions make figuring out a teacher’s worth (and salary) very difficult.

 

 

If teachers are paid as well as lawyers – as they once were – then the argument goes that students at the top of their college graduating class might be more tempted to teach. This might improve student performance and results. But the other side demands better results before teachers can be better paid. This may not draw some of our best minds into the classroom.

 

Top-performing countries have solved this problem by respecting teachers as professionals and paying them like it. In America, it’s created a conundrum that keeps education mired in the bottom of the international rankings.

 

Until the system moves forward, students are largely left on their own to improve their performance when it comes to:

 

 

America’s public high schools struggle in the rankings, but we’re still ranked #1 in college education. That means a poor secondary system is probably not preparing you for tough college challenges. The system is pushing you to prepare for college, as much as you can, on your own.

 

Let the administrators and bureaucrats take care of teacher pay; you work on yourself. The system demands it.

 

After all, teacher pay may not be competitive, but you have to be. Get expert help if you need it.