Give Teachers More Pay: Should They Be Paid More

Think where your children would be without teachers? In the midpoint of teacher protests and walkouts in six states, there is overwhelming support from the compact majority of Americans across the country for teachers to be paid more. A recent poll released by the New York Times shows that approximately three-fourths of American adults believe that teachers are being paid less than they deserve. This report shows that two-thirds of the public is in favor of tax increment to serve for a salary increase of public school teachers. Furthermore, many teachers who have been struggling for fully funded pensions, higher teacher salaries, and increased funding for education are now running for public office. There is increased debate across the country concerning the need for higher teacher salary either through merit-based or differentiated pay. Merit-based and differentiated pay has the potential of reducing specific shortages in the number of teachers, especially those in schools or subjects that are in high needs; these strategies are, however, not a substitute for an increment in base pay.

Increase the Base Pay

The critical role that teachers play articulates the need to recruit them from the top tier of university and college graduates. Currently in the United States however, the low level of pay has failed to attract a significant number of teachers from the top tier of university and college graduates. This explains why only 23 percent of teachers in the country graduated from the top third of their class (Achen 21). Several studies conducted in the United States, Korea, Finland, and Singapore demonstrate that students are more likely to achieve academic excellence when they are taught by highly intelligent teachers. Highly Certified teachers impact more meaningful knowledge. Consequently, students who are exposed to top-level teaching and learning methods ultimately earn more. They are therefore able to pay more in taxes. This means that raising the base pay for teachers will have the effect of attracting a critical mass of teachers from the top third of their graduate class which will then lead to the production of workers who will be better equipped to pay taxes (Shabazz 43). However much this constitutes a slow process, the eventual impact of this strategy will be largely felt across the nation. The benefits of raising teachers’ pay transcends the realization of increased tax collection. This amplifies well with the possibility of students increasing their lifetime earnings through employing an extra year of study.

The pay for teachers in the United States is considerably lower compared to other countries. In addition, in contrast to teachers in other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development nations, the United States’ teachers work for longer hours and get paid relatively lower (Keys 32). This is raised by the fact that currently in the country nearly all the states lack a tough pension plan for public employees. This reflects on the nation’s failure to provide public school teachers with a secure retirement plan. A recent report released by The Pew Charitable Trusts highlights a $1.4 trillion shortage in state pension funds as well as the fact that only three states have a significant percent if fully funded pensions (Reyes 15). This value is approximately 90 percent. The low pay accorded to teachers has compelled a considerable number of them to work second jobs. Between 2015 and 2019 18 percent of all public school teachers in the United States were working jobs that are outside the school system (Imberman