Are U.S. school teachers underpaid, overpaid, or paid fairly?

As a person who is able to refuse a job before taking it, teachers are paid what they are will to accept. It's not as if teachers are somehow not able to understand that they do not have to work for free but are forced to anyhow. It amazes me really, teachers go to school to become teachers knowing full well what they are going to earn when they become teachers then they complain about being underpaid, kind of makes you think they aren't that smart when that happens. But anyway, I think the teachers are basically in the same boat as so many other people trying to do a job in the US. You can't do it the way that is best you have to do it the way the laws allow you to. It would be hard to teach and do well I think since the kids have more rights than the teachers do. I would say all in all though that they are underpaid. They require more schooling than a lot of jobs and they dont' get paid much. They have to try to teach stupid peoples children that do not value an education and are not required to respect the right of other students who are there to learn.

It depends on which end of the stick your on. As a teacher, like everyone that works, you never get paid enough. Then again, the higher the salary, the more lucrative the job and the more teachers you have that are only doing it for the money.

That causes the quality of teaching to deteriorate. A teacher that becomes a teacher no matter what the salary, is a true teacher.

It depends on the place and other factors such as cost of living and how much other time they spend on pre-work and continuing education to maintain their license. Overall most teachers I know believe they are paid fairly - factoring those who have summers off, health, dental and other benefits - yes the work is not easy but no one I know goes into teaching to make money - not even at the university level - from my own teaching experience there is nothing like having worked with a student of group of students to become the person they want to be - or gain the career they want - teaching is about adding value to society as well as dealing with the brunt of the behavior of the children

Teachers are some of the underpaid humans within the operating career. They submit with such a lot, it doesn't matter what grade they instruct. From screaming brats to irate young adults, they have got to be politically proper and invariably and under no circumstances say too harsh a phrase to reprimand them. Their paychecks get reduce each yr due to the fact of finances cuts, and so they paintings hours that pass past the school room. From grading papers to creating a lesson plan to handling mum and dad, they spend plenty of time of their residence handling youngsters rather then their possess. They typically have got to sacrifice time with their household to maintain anyone elses, like at an after-university application or bus responsibility. With all they have got to do, and so little they're paid to do it with, I have got to say lecturers are most likely underpaid.

I think they are underpaid. There is a lot of responsibility when it comes to teaching. During school hours for teachers it is just like having 18 to 22 or even more children of your own. The teacher is suppose to teach, watch out for the children's safety, as well as their own. A teacher is held responsible for anything that happens to a child while he or she is in their care. Then they have to take the job home with them to grade papers, etc. Because while they were doing all that other stuff at school, they didn't have time. I am not a teacher, there is not enough money in the world for me to teach, and take care of that many children for any amount of time! I say PAY THEM MORE before there is no one left willing to teach!

Well, it appears that you think teachers are underpaid. However, if you will watch your local newspapers around the end of October, beginning of November, the school districts have to publish financial statements. You will see that some tenured teachers make $20,000 to $50,000 or more more than the beginning salary. And remember to get an average annual salary of $46,597 more than 50% of the teachers need to make more than the average. Do the math. Remember when you were in school how you could have straight A's and then fail a test and your average came down to a B or high C? Well, salaries work the same way.

Teachers don't put up with any more than parents. In fact parents do, on the average, more teaching than teachers and are parents 24/7/365. Today, teachers simply call the police or child protective services or demand that kids be put on the ADHD list so they can be given drugs to sedate them. Recesses are non-existent in schools supposedly due to the liability but probably more likely to be due to the failure of teachers to supervise the playgrounds. I've lost most of my respect for all but a few teachers -- those who are obviously great teachers because most teachers have lost sight of the fact that they are not only public servants but they are supposed to be teaching ethics and morals -- an extension of parents. Instead the kids are being brainwashed and are not taught to think for themselves while the teachers are too busy using their mandated reporter status to get their way regarding drugging kids out of the thought process.

In our area, more and more parents are homeschooling because the school fees have gotten so high that their kids are eliminated from all but the basic classes due to middle class being unable to afford the extremely high real estate taxes and high fees while poor and illegal immigrant children are given the whole nine yards at our expense. Another reason the parents are homeschooling is that the quality of education is going down the tubes. The evidence is in the test scores and the tests being manipulated to ensure that there is no way to compare and therefore no way to measure improvement. However, when the kids get into situations where they are required to think and solve everyday problems and they can't do it, it's a very clear indication that the quality of our schools is dropping significantly. We rank very low internationally -- that's why the government is outsourcing our jobs and giving out so many H1b visas.

Look on Yahoo answers. How many questions are asked by kids -- really simple questions that the older generation would have tackled in grade school. How many people can't spell? How many people use very poor language? Where is the pride in education? It used to be that proper use of the language and proper spelling was important. But now, read your local papers. Even the newspapers misuse where, wear, to, too, two, their, they're, and other simple words in the language. Morals and ethics were taught in the schools years ago so that if a student became pregnant, it wasn't celebrated as it is today, the student's reputation was tarnished.

Today, the average age for teens to have sex is 14.9 years old. We preach dependence instead of independence and responsibility.

Even if parents are more permissive than ever, teachers have a moral duty to ensure that the kids learn right from wrong and that can be taught in schools -- it just isn't. Instead of teaching kids about the law and why they should obey it, we teach tolerance and teach that illegal immigrants should be given a pass on the law. How is that going to teach kids proper behavior?

Teachers are paid well and in many cases way overpaid for what they do. If they don't want to teach for the right reasons -- educating our future and only want to teach for money, then there will never be enough for them and they should look elsewhere. Parents are working two or more jobs just to pay real estate taxes, mortgage, rent, utilities, put food on the table, health care, etc.. Even working two jobs, many parents are still "above the poverty level but not far enough to be able to afford anything other than the necessities. If our laws were obeyed and our taxes and costs weren't so high on the middle class, I think the schools might show improvement and we might have less crime because at least one parent might be able to stay home to supervise the kids or may be able to spend more time at home.

Sorry about the tirade. Education is very high on our list of important subjects and the fact that the US is so far down on the list of developed countries as to quality when so much money is spent on it here really gets me going.

Average, but often the buy school supplies with their own money.