Teacher Salaries: Stating The Obvious

The National Education Association is announcing that teacher salaries are not keeping up with inflation in some 41 states and the District of Columbia. No surprise there, as teachers in our California district haven't had an increase in four years and my take-home pay is now less than it was in 2001 due to increased health insurance costs.

This despite consistently rising test scores.

And no, switching districts is not an option, for to do so would result in loss of seniority and a permanent pay-cut of about $15,000 for each and every future year. And as the TeenWonk will be going to college soon, we can't afford that sacrifice.

I know that it's not realistic to expect that teachers are going to get rich doing their jobs, but their salaries should at least keep pace with inflation.

Funny thing is, I think that it would be safe to assume that teachers' workloads have been increasing in all 50 states.

And folks wonder why many of our best and brightest young people never consider a career in public education or, if they do enter the classroom, become discouraged and leave within five years? -------------------------------------See our latest posts right here.