The question isn't how much should they make but how much do their parents think their children are worth? Instead of taxing property owners, schools should send parents bills for each child and charge them. After all, they get far more tax breaks than childfree people....so, they can certainly afford to pay for the schooling too..

and let the butthurt begin....

For sure.

There are to many variables involved ,what part of the country ,private or public school etc.Where I live in Queens NY the average salary for a civil service New York City high school teacher is $122.131 an hour not including a very adequate pension ,sick leave and benefits.

The average teacher makes around $55,000. This is one of those questions that doesn't have a single answer. What you are paid as a teacher is dependent your location and what that district is able to pay. I had lived in Chicago, and I can tell you one of the factors that has been driving people out is property tax. The schools are funded by property tax, and by extension the salary of the teachers. Everytime the teachers go on strike and the CPS caves in. You can guarantee that the property tax will go up. This is one of the many reasons why Chicago is broke and why more people leave than come in.

I started teaching in 2002, and after a previous 4 year degree in my subject area, and nearly two years on top of that for teacher ed, I earned less than I was making as a grocery store assistant manager in 1999. Even worse, as a teacher we got paid each month, so I had no income at all until the end of September. I had to get a $2000 loan from my parents to cover me for the month, and paid it back $200 a month for that year...which put me BELOW what I was making at the grocery store. (And on top of all of that, our contract is for 9 months work, but our PAY is split into 12 equal monthly payments...so that after one month's work--putting in 1/9th of my year's work--, I got paid 1/12 of my salary. People still think we get paid for doing nothing during the summer, when in fact we are simply getting the rest of our pay for work we already did. This isn't such a big deal after 15 years...but for first year people, it's a kick in the gut and a red flag that maybe you should have picked a different career.)

I now have nearly 7 years of college, 15 years experience, and am approaching what I should have been paid to start all those years ago.

One good thing is that I learned to live on a low income and saved everything else for fear of being trapped financially. My investment income last year eclipsed my salary by quite a lot (almost double), and now I'm feeling guilty for considering quiting teaching. I know there is no one to replace me. Last year they hired a guy who taught one year of 5th grade, with no high school certificate, and a journalism degree. They gave him honors classes his first year for some reason, and wanted the rest of us to help him get up to speed (as if it was that simple). I'd been teaching 13 years, with a professional certificate, a degree in my subject, a 3.9 post grad GPA, and a 4 year college honors program under my belt before they even suggested I teach honors.

I always knew I was overqualified and undervalued, but reality has kind of slapped me in the face last year and this year. (We also almost went on strike at the beginning of the year because the money the state set aside for our salaries suddenly was being funneled elsewhere. Fortunately we got our money...but not before the district told us to have our room keys ready to turn over because subs would be replacing us. I knew they were bluffing then! They don't have enough subs during the school year to cover sick days, much less cover every single teacher! Besides, the subs were on our side anyway.)

As much as lawyers

I read all the comments and have something to add. Not only do we have to consider what they do and how much education they need to do what they do we should also consider that most teachers, like anyone else who has attended college, have student loans. Does anyone think it is ridiculous that most people have to give up so much money in student loans? I think education should be based on aptitude and achievement. So many people go to college, study a subject as a major, and never get a job in their field so they decide to go for a teaching certificate. Many hate teaching but what else do you do with a history degree? So few go on to write books or curate museums or lead historical trips. So, there is allot to consider in our education system and not just salary.

Ask a teacher how much they should make. they should determine their worth, not someone else.

how could anyone say that without knowing where the teacher lived. the cost of living is different from place to place. so whatever is a living wage at the VERY least, and if we value teachers as we should, we shouldn't even stick to the minimum.

g

The conversation I have heard many times here in Michigan is that teachers "...make too much money...", and have "...all Summer off." Those who make such statements are pretty much ignorant of the reality of the situation. In my school district in Michigan, a starting teacher had to have a bachelor's degree with teacher certification. Then they had to go on (in the Summer and/or nights), and get an additional minimum of 18 semester hours or attain their master's degree. The first 9 hours was not reimbursed by the district...it comes out of the teacher's pocket. When it comes to, "all Summer off", typically the starting date for teachers in our district was August 14-15 for "teacher's work days" through June 10 or so (snow days added), for the school year...about two months off...if they are not in grad school. When It comes to pay grades, consideration should be given to, amount of education, some get more than a master's... meaning continuing on in grad school to get an education specialist's degree or a doctorate, or other grad school classes. Also in our district, there were pay steps relative to how many years they had been teaching in the district. Therefore, what would be a fair wage for a person who typically has a master's degree or more, and has been a teacher for an average of more than ten years? More than a bar tender? I found it interesting that the lower a person's education level the more likely they were to consider teacher's to be overpaid.

Depending on local cost of living, but I’d say 6 figures, easy. Yes, I’m being serious. We should hold them in the same regard we hold doctors and others who contribute greatly to society.

Good point. How's this for a starting point on the discussion...?