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In reply to the discussion: TIME's new cover: This is what it's like to be a teacher in America [View all]PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,853 posts)some of the individual stories don't make real sense to me. They'll report a wage of $50-60,000/year, and claim they still need an extra job or two to make ends meet. A lot of people manage somehow on significantly less than that. Yes, starting pay in many places is often abysmal, but after a couple of decades the pay is decent. Plus, many of them have spouses or partners who are presumably working.
I was once in a conversation with an elementary school teacher who was complaining about how little she made, and when I asked her just how poorly she was paid, she told me she made $60,000/year. I have never earned that much in my life.
I realize this makes me seem completely heartless. I'm not. I will repeat, teachers should be paid more. They also should get a fuck of a lot more support from administration and parents. The stories I hear about ill-behaved students enrage me. When I was in school we were expected to sit quietly at our desks, and very little note passing ever went on.
The underlying problem of poor teacher pay is, in my opinion, rooted in the fact that too many people who don't currently have children in the public school system simply don't understand that a strong educational system benefits everyone. Taxes are a dirty word to far too many. There is zero sense of the common good, and worse yet, a sense that anyone can baby-sit a bunch of kids. Because a lot of people view teaching as baby-sitting.
The really sad point is that this cover story probably won't change a thing.