Ryann Fox 

Dr. Christine Junker 

ENG 2100—W90  juv

10 April 2021 

Teacher Salary—A Never-Ending Issue 

Teaching is one of the most underpaid professions in the world.  Some of the most

influential people in society are teachers, and they can also be some of the most respected people

in the world. Teachers should get a raise in salary because they do not get paid enough to meet

the average cost of living and because teachers spend a lot of their own money on teaching

necessities. After all, teaching is becoming less popular because of low salaries. Teachers

deserve an increase in salary because performance pay is not successful in low-income schools. 

The average cost of living in America is higher than the average salary of teachers, which

makes living on a teachers salary difficult. Because the average cost is so high, American

teachers have trouble being financially stable. In “Why Raising Teacher Pay Is So Difficult,”

Daarel Burnette II states that, “Nationally, teachers today are paid on average $60,483 annually

—17 percent lower than America’s typical college graduates. . .” This statistic compares the

average salaries and cost of living for teachers to the salaries other college graduates. The

nation's average cost of living and the average salary for a teacher proves that teachers do not

make enough money to support themselves. Living in America is about 63,000 dollars a year this

shows that teachers are making less than the average cost of living. (“Topic: Cost of Living in

the United States”). When thinking about these statistics in certain areas, teachers are really

struggling. In Oklahoma—the state with the lowest paid teachers—the cost of living is quite

expensive, and they do not get paid enough to afford a home, a car, and a family. All of these
factors considered is a reason teachers deserve to get paid enough to support and maintain

themselves.

Teachers deserve a raise in salary because the national average salary for a teacher proves

that teachers cannot support an average-sized family. Studies have shown that most teachers are

unable to support a family on their income alone. Michelle Exstrom, the author of “Teacher Pay

Is a Problem,” writes,  “One study found that in 30 states, a teacher with 10 years of experience

who supported a family of four would qualify for several forms of government assistance.” In

most states, teachers are financially unable to support a family of four without government

assistance. Teachers cannot provide for their families without a second job. Sahil Kapur, author

of “Kamala Harris Offers $315 Billion Plan to Give Teachers a Raise,” says that “An NPR/Ipsos

poll in May 2018 found that 59 percent of teachers have worked a second job, 46 percent have

incurred debt to meet expenses. . .” Teachers cannot support a family of four without a second

income or some sort of outside wages. A salary increase is necessary for teachers because they

cannot meet the average cost of living for a family of four—meaning they cannot provide for a

family of four without government help. Teachers are barley support themselves without a

second job or government help—raising a family is hard, why make it harder by financially

depriving teachers. Teachers should not have to struggle to make ends meet for their family,

which is why they deserve an increase in their salary. Not only are teachers unable to support

themselves and their family on a teaching salary alone, they also are expected to financially

provide for their classroom and their students materials.

Oftentimes, teachers also spend money on classroom necessities such as pencils, crayons,

markers, etc., so they should receive a salary increase to compensate for the money they put into

their classrooms. “. . . at least 8 in 10 have used their own money to buy school supplies.”
(Kapur). Teachers deserve a pay raise because they spend money on their classrooms they do not

get back. It is unfair for an employer to make their employee pay for work materials. This

situation would never be acceptable at a factory job, so it should not be acceptable and normal in

America’s schools? In a New York Times Bestseller book called, “Teach Like Your Hair’s on

Fire,” experienced teacher Rafe Esquith writes, “All teachers use some portion of their meager

paychecks to buy classroom supplies. It’s ridiculous.” (99). Esquith proves the fact that every

teacher is expected to buy and supply their classroom materials with no reimbursement. Many

schools are dismissing classroom budgets because of the schools low income—because of this,

teachers are expected to supply classroom materials with their own money, which is why they

deserve a raise in their yearly salary.

Teachers' should receive an increase in their yearly salary because teachers need to go to

college to get certifications and licenses. Like many professions, teachers are required to have

certain education to teach. This can be expensive and teachers do not get paid enough to pay for

these certifications or reimbursed for their accumulated student debt. Teaching requires years of

extensive training from a college student when in reality, they will not be financially

compensated for the extra work they are putting in like other professions are. Teachers have

worked hard to earn a degree, yet they remain one of the most underpaid professions (Burnette).

Most of the time, teachers go to college for four to six years—sometimes even longer. The

average cost of going to college in America is over 20 thousand dollars per year. Since teachers

make, on average in America, $60,000 per year, it would take almost three years of a teachers

salary to pay off their student debt—this does not include the price of tests to get ones teaching

license, which is another 200 dollars. Also, many teachers get their masters degree while

working. Because student loans are paid on monthly, teachers often miss payments and
accumulate more interest on their loans. Not paying full monthly payments result in poor credit

—making it hard for other aspects of their lives—and results in interest build up, causing

teachers to pay, in extreme cases, double the amount of their original student loans.This means

that teachers have the stress of running their classroom and seeking out another degree that will

cost them over a years salary to earn. Because teachers accumulate so much debt while in

college, teachers should get an increase in their yearly salaries. 

Because teachers are expected to pay for their own classroom supplies, certain subjects

are not always available in every school because they are too expensive for teachers to pay for

out of pocket. Esquith explains that say that it is becoming less popular for teachers to offer

teaching science because it is too expensive to pay for the materials for labs, experiments, etc.

Due to schools having budget cuts, materials for certain subjects are now at the expense of the

teacher. (99-100). Teachers are unable to afford materials for music and art as well. Students are

the ones suffering and missing out on the wonders of science class, music class, and art class

because teachers cannot afford to supply their own materials—that is unacceptable. Because

teachers are expected to give a portion of their own money to their classrooms, they should

receive a salary increase.

Because of the low salary teachers receive, teachers are becoming harder to find and

retain. Teachers are tired of fighting for a pay raise and continuing to get a low salary. 90 percent

of teachers who are leaving their profession to say that they do not plan on returning (Exstrom).

Teachers who have been in the profession for years are starting to give up their positions because

they are given poorer income . Not only are experienced teachers beginning to take a new career

path, but fewer college students are entering the teaching profession because of the low income.

Because of the low-income teachers receive, many young people are not going into education
(Aleksandrova). College students are steering far from the teaching profession because they

know that teachers do not and will not make the same amount of money as other college-

educated professionals. The low-income teachers receive is pushing out the experienced

teachers, and keeping young students from wanting to study teaching, and because of this,

teachers should get an increase in their salary. 

Teachers deserve a proper pay raise because the pay for performance system is not

successful in every school. Instead of a proper salary increase, schools adopted the pay for

performance system. This system pays teachers based on their students performance in the

classroom and on standardized tests. Performance pay was originally intended for teachers to

earn a higher salary, however, this is not the case in every school. Each school district that

participates in performance pay has different outcomes. Low-income schools with low level

students perform lower than schools that have high-performing students (Jones). This means that

teachers in low-income schools are less likely to get a high salary because it is based on

standardized testing, rather than the teachers ability to teach. Not only is standardized testing not

a true measure of a students knowledge, it is not an accurate depiction of a teachers ability to

teach. The results of standardized testing in some states could be very effective, however, most

of the time, it is not a true measurement of the teacher’s or students' abilities (Tienken). This is

unfair to most teachers because a student that is doing well in class could fail the standardized

test—this leaves the teacher with a poor salary because of one test. “Evidence clearly shows that

pay for performance based on standardized test scores is not universally effective, and could be

harmful (Adams, Heywood, and Rotherstein 2010; Springer et al. 2010). Because the

performance pay is not successful in all schools, teachers should receive a proper pay raise.
 People who oppose teachers getting a raise say that it is too expensive to give teachers the

financial satisfaction they want. However, this is not true. There have been many plans proposed

over the years to give teachers the financial help they deserve. The most popular and achievable

plan was proposed by Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris produced a three-step plan to close

the gap of teacher salary across the nation. In the first step, the federal government will provide

10 percent of the wages to get teachers on the same pay level as most educated professionals in

America. Then, the government will match each state $3 to their $1 toward teacher income until

the gap is closed. Lastly, the states will be responsible for maintaining the wages for their

teachers (Kapur). Harris believes that this plan would only take 3 to 5 years to be in full effect

after. Giving teachers the salary they want and deserve is not far from reality. Many Americans

do not like this because they do not want a raise in tax, they do not want to take funds away from

other school expenses, and they do not want to raise the salary of someone who gets summers

off. These are not valid arguments because taxes would not raise much at all. Also, if a good plan

was set into place, there would be no reason to take money from other school expenses like

sports, clubs, and maintenance. If America implemented this plan or a plan that was similar,

teachers could earn the wages they deserve—with the government's help, this could be an issue

of the past.

People who are against teachers getting a pay raise also say when teachers get a raise,

they continue to strike, and they insist on more money. When reading about teachers going on

strike after a raise was given, the articles explain that the reason teachers would continue to

strike was because they did not feel like they were being listened to. In Oklahoma, the state that

pays educators the lowest salary, gave their teachers a raise of $6,100 per year. They continued

to strike because they needed more classroom funding and more funding per student (Reilly).
This is just one example of teachers fighting for the pay that they deserve. Teachers are not only

insisting on a salary increase, but they are also demanding financial help in the classroom, which

is not being satisfied. As talked about before, funding a classroom can be expensive. Educations

are worried about their students getting the best supplies, books, and resources for the classroom.

Teachers were happy about the raise, but they were not thrilled about the fact that their main

financial issue (classroom funding) was still being ignored. If teachers were given the salary they

should earn, and enough classroom funding and funding per student, the riots would likely cease.

An educators top priority is the success of their students, if they do not get paid enough to

maintain their classroom and their home life then the quality of their teaching will likely drop,

leaving students and families suffering. Teachers deserve more than what they are earning now,

and teachers should get the financial help that they strive for—not only for them, but for their

students.

Teachers should get a raise in salary because they do not get paid enough to meet the

average cost of living and because teachers spend a lot of their own money on teaching

necessities. After all, teaching is becoming less popular because of low salaries. Teachers

deserve an increase in salary because performance pay is not successful in all schools. Without

teachers, we would not have doctors, authors, geographers, etc. Teachers are the people who give

children the materials, the resources, and the tools for success, and without that, where would we

be? There is no valid reason or argument why teachers should be having financial burdens and

worries. Teachers need to be paid the salary they deserve because they are so influential to

America’s youth.
Aleksandrova, O. A., and Iu. S. Nenakhova. “Raising the Pay of Schoolteachers: How 

the Goals Are Being Achieved.” Russian Education & Society, vol. 57, no. 1, 

Jan.2015,pp.1–16.EBSCOhost,search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true

db=eric&AN=EJ1139089&si te=eds-live.

Burnette II, Daarel. “Why Raising Teacher Pay Is So Difficult.” Education 

Week, vol.   37, no. 28, Apr. 2018, pp. 1–16. EBSCOhost, 

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=12949048

9&site=eds-live.

Exstorm, Michele. “Teacher Pay Is a Problem.” State Legislatures, vol. 

44, no. 6, June        2018, pp. 22–23. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=129724771&site

eds-live.

Jones, Michael, and Michael T. Hartney. “Show Who the Money? Teacher Sorting 

Patterns and Performance Pay across U.S. School Districts.” Public 

Administration Review, vol. 77, no. 6, Nov. 2017, pp. 919–931. EBSCOhost, 

doi:10.1111/puar.12789.

Kapur, Sahil. “Kamala Harris Offers $315 Billion Plan to Give Teachers a Raise.” 

Bloomberg.Com, Mar. 2019, p. N.PAG. EBSCOhost, 

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=140634858&site=

eds-live

Reilly, Katie. “Oklahoma Teachers Just Got a $6,100 Pay Raise. They’re Going to  
 Strike Anyway.” Time.Com, Mar. 2018, p. 1. EBSCOhost, 

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=128765020&site=

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Teach like Your Hair's on Fire: the Methods and Madness inside Room 56, by Rafe Esquith,
Viking, 2007, pp. 99–100. 

Tienken, Christopher H. “Pay for Performance: Whose Performance?” Kappa Delta 

Pi Record, vol. 47, no. 4, Jan. 2011, pp. 152–154. EBSCOhost, 

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ994559&site=

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“Topic: Cost of Living in the United States.” Statista, 21 Jan. 2021,

www.statista.com/topics/768/cost-of-living/.