Why Do We Need To Pay Teachers Essay

“Those who can do, and those who can’t do, teach” is a revolting idiom which (sadly) perfectly reflects how unvalued the teacher is in American society. By elevating teachers’ status in our culture along with increasing compensation and requiring more rigorous requirements to become a teacher, I believe we can decrease our teacher shortage, increase American students’ success, and give teachers the credit and quality of life they deserve.

We need to facilitate a cultural shift by heightening teacher status; because when society demeans teaching and paints teachers as inept; it makes it harder to attract the best and brightest.

In South Korea, teachers are known as ‘nation builders. In Finland, teachers are considered noble, prestigious, accountable and masters of their profession. In China, teachers are viewed as being on the same level as doctors and lawyers. England is taking steps which America should

So next step, American society needs to pay teachers what they’re worth. When teachers earn more money, their job satisfaction increases and they are more likely to give their best efforts in the classroom. Higher salaries also attract teachers with better credentials, experience and education, which increases the quality of education. We can finance teacher payload without adding to our budget by frontloading compensation: we should raise starting salaries, have smaller subsequent increases (salary progression shown to be less important in decision to become a teacher and teachers retention isn’t normally related to salary progression). Additionally, we can modestly increase class sizes; we’ll need fewer teachers, be more selective about the teacher's which also increases status and makes the profession more attractive. Plus, we can offer ways for teachers to take on additional responsibilities (like mentoring younger colleagues or supervising extracurricular