Teacher's Salaries

The talk about teachers' salaries has been a consistent conversation for years in our country. As interests rates, inflation, and the cost of life in general increases, why are salaries not? For the work teachers' do, are they really getting the compensation that they deserve? Teachers' are given sometimes even unlivable wages in todays day and age, and it is unfair considering the work that they do. It is important that teachers' are paid the wages that they deserve, and that they are consistent. I think that the work teachers' do outside of class is often overlooked. The result of low wages often consists of. teacher strikes, which then leaves them not working, and students not learning. Teachers' are overworked, overtired, and underpaid, and something needs to change for the people who shape the future society. 

This is a picture of Dr. Jill Biden

who is a huge advocate of the "Grow

Your Own" initiative. She even

recently visited The University of 

Tennessee to speak and learn more 

about "grow Your Own" in Tennessee

This is a topic that I am extremely passionate about. Don't think that just because I am going to be a teacher means that I obviously would be for teachers getting paid more; I just think that the work they do is often overlooked, and they are seen as babysitters instead of the men and women who teach the future of America. Now I am not a teacher yet, but I can advocate for those who are by saying that it is so much more than what it looks like. According to the National Council on Teacher Equality, the typical first year teacher who is coming in with only a bachelor's degree, can expect to make around $32,000 in some areas, or around $50,000 in areas with a higher cost o living such as the District of Columbia. The problem with expecting a raise, it often times schools expect you to further your education to a master's degree as well. According to the Education Data Initiative, the average cost of a master's degree can range anywhere from $30,000-$120,000 depending on the school, major, and length of the program. Still, even on the low end, a master's degree will run you at least $30,000. With the average teacher making $40,000 a year, there really isn't any money to spare to be able to achieve a master's degree without tasking out loans. I think that there should be loan forgiveness for teacher's in America not only for the fact of obtaining a master's degree, but also because of the teacher shortage. There needs to be increased educational opportunities for students all over the country as well. Getting an education does not need to be a luxury. Tennessee is taking a step in the right direction by creating the "Grow Your Own" initiative, which provides innovative, no-cost pathways to the teaching profession. This program supports recruiting, developing, placing, and retaining diverse educators, and helping them be successful in the best ways possible. This program can help a lot with the push for teachers to receive higher wages, as well as support them through navigating graduate school at little to no cost to them. Not only does this help teacher's lives by having higher pay, but it helps them further their education, which in turn helps the future students and leaders of America get the best possible education they can.