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Utah school districts face teacher shortage

What do you expect with one of the lowest paid professions? This has been a problem for years and years. With budget surpluses in the state, it appears that the state isn't interested in solving the problem. Probably because their kids are either a) out of school or b) go to private schools.

We have too much adminstrative expenses in our Public School System, or too many chiefs, with too much pay. Then you would have the funds to pay the teachers a decent wage.

I used to think Utah schools were the best. I got a great education and my teachers were creative and resourceful. You can see by the SAT and ACT scores that Utah teachers are doing their job. Our family moved out of state four years ago. My children now go to schools in a different state. The difference is shocking. There are so many more programs here that could never be offered in Utah because of lack of funds. More one on one contact from teachers has made a big difference in every class. There are not as many struggling students in title one type programs, the students are taught in class. Some of my friends used to be teachers in Utah and vowed to never teach there again (low pay and outrageously high expectations). We have to buy all the school supplies, pay for all field trips and send donations to help teachers; something not allowed in Utah, but it only adds up to about $150 per child per year. Money well spent! Every class has 2 full-time teachers and the class size is under 25 for all grades under 6th grade. In Utah, my son had 54 kids in his third grade class, with two teachers. It was an experiment his school tried for that year. What a nightmare. One teacher taught from a closet over a loud speaker and had no contact with students. The other teacher enforced the no talk, no noise policy. It was so chaotic that the teachers didn't finish the course studies for the year. So many kids failed their end of grade tests that the district told the school not to do it again, ever! I sympathize with everyone, both teachers and parents doing their best to teach our kids.

I know why there is a teacher shortage, and it's not just about the money. Teaching has gotten ridiculously demanding. There are so many laws and so much paperwork. I taught for a couple of years. All I wanted to do was teach kids, but the paperwork kept me in the classroom from 6:00 am until 9:00 or 10:00 pm my first few months - and in on Saturday (and I am not exaggerating). It got a little better after a while, but never great. I had to see a physician for stress-related problems. I know there is a big push for more quality education, but imposing more rules and "accountability" (i.e. paperwork) on teachers is not helping the shortage. Every day I was praying I wouldn't break some petty law such as missing a signature on one of the MANY papers at a SINGLE IEP meeting (big deal)! But if those auditors come in, it is a HUGE deal, and it's scary to teachers. If we want better education, we need to have fewer students per teacher, secretaries for the teachers, a more structured curriculum, and/or get parents more involved in the school. I loved my students, but I hated the profession.

Teacher shortage? Utah has the lowest funding level in the country? Maybe these things are related. How about changing the public mentality and increasing tax rates for education? That would allow Utah to compete for the teachers. Why expect teachers to work for a pittance in Utah when they can go anywhere else in the country and have an actual living wage? My perspective: my wife is an Illinois teacher with about the same education & tenure as a relative in Utah, but our relative gets paid about 60% of my wife's salary. Think about it.

My oldest son just graduated from the UofU with a Master's in Exercise Science with an emphasis on special needs students. They wouldn't even consider staying in Utah because of the pay. They looked at Wyoming first, and last week moved to Texas because of the financial advantages to them. Until Utah is attractive financially, these quality grads will go elsewhere.

I am a teacher who graduated from USU with a Masters and a special ed credential. Once I graduated from school I went to CA and I now make twice as much as teachers in UT. Granted CA does cost a little more to live in than UT, but if I left here and went back to UT with UT pay I could barely survive.

I am a teacher here in Utah. The only reason I can afford to be a teacher here is because my husband makes good money as a computer programmer, and that allows me to do something I enjoy doing for very little money (I have compared my job to my friends' volunteering at the public library-it's more like a public service.). Our school just lost one of its best teachers because he simply couldn't afford to raise a family and continue to be a teacher in Utah public education. As housing costs continue to soar, this problem is only going to get worse, not better.

Sounds like the UEA just put out a press release and it turned into the daily news. Maybe Utah teachers ought to get a clue and realize that their association/union does them a great disservice. Instead of blaming Utah, the Legislature, and a lack of taxes throw out the feminazi regime and get some decent people out to run the show.

Without the efforts of the so-called unions to bring pay do 45th in the nation, the shortage would be even worse. However, Ray, who says that there are too many administrators needs to check his facts. Adminsitration costs in Utah are $53 per student and in the two large districts that some would like to split it is $35 -- the national average is $160. Average expenditure per student in the nation is $8,044; in Utah it is $4,838. The eprcent of the budget spent in the classroom in Utah is over 64 percent, the the U. S. it is 61 percent. Class size, is a joke.
So one enters teaching planning to get rich. But a little respect for those who teach our children is in order.

Holy cow! Whenever someone mentions that there is an actual teacher shortage and it might be tied to the fact that surrounding states pay more, much more, then it must be the "evil" UEA behind it? I didn't see one quote in the article from a UEA representative. They only quoted district human resource personnel. So I guess they are under the control of UEA as well?

In addition, even the governor has realized the seriousness of the situation and is recommending surplus funding to address it. Oh wait, is he just a minion of UEA as well?

I think that the personal stories speak for themselves. Read them and weep.

I have taught school for over 20 years, most of those years in Utah, though I now live out of state. Not only do Utah teachers get paid less than their counterparts in every other state in the union but they use our own money to fund projects, increase classroom libraries, supply math and science materials. Utah owes a debt of gratitude to its dedicated teachers who make certain their students get what they need, even if they have to supply it for them. If Utahns pat themselves on the back and say, "Look how much we do with so little money" they need to take a hard look at the truth: Utah teachers are making it happen, often with great personal sacrifice--financial and otherwise.

Any state that worships George Bush will demonize school teachers and chase them away. What do you expect Utah? But wait, school vouchers will solve this problem right? As long as Utah continues to be a lemming to the Republican party, this will be a problem.

Teachers make very good money. If you include the cost of benefits, a self employed person would have to earn about $55 per hour to equal a teacher's pay after 15 years experience. And teachers have no risk of losing their jog (almost everyone else could lose his/her job any moment). In fact, teachers are actually one of the highest paid occupations per hour--exceeding nurses, engineers, lawyers and many doctors. These are FACTS folks. The shortage is due to artificial restrictions such as teacher certification, not pay.

According to the article, and posted teacher salaries, entry level teachers are now making $30,000 per year and advanced teachers are making $55,000 to $60,000 per year. Now let�s see. $30,000 per year divided by 182 day by 8 hours per day is $20.60 per hour. $60,000 per year divided by 182 days by 8 hours per day is $41.20 per hour. Now this is with all extended holidays and other time off, sick leave and some personal days. Now the next thing you are going to read is how much time teachers put in after school and during their own time. So does everyone else and teachers are provided with at least one prep period per day and in some districts and schools two depending on the school format. An easy way to end the teacher shortage and increase pay is to extend teachers and schools to full year. This would put beginning teachers salaries at 20.60 times 8 times 250 is $41,200 and advanced teachers making $41.20 per hour time 8 times 250 $82,400. Kids would still do 9 month school but they would be spread across 12 months which would lower class sizes. I think that Parents and teachers like their summers too much. By the way, how much do those teachers who are making $30,000 per year make in the summer doing other jobs? I started teaching in another state in 1995 at 18,000 per year with no benefits. Utah teachers need to appreciate how good they have it. It may be better other places but it is also worse. When you live in a state where there are families of 5, 8, 10, 17 you are going to have lower spending per pupil and the tax base is not there to support more.

So sad!! People use to want to stay in Utah even if they had to deliver mail, after getting a college degree, because it was a better environment for their families. There is sure more crime in Utah now and hey, there are some really nice communities out there in other states that do pay teachers well and do provide a good living for college grads. Wake up Utah, you get what you pay for. You had better start paying your teachers well or you will loose many more of them.

Teachers make very good money. If you include the cost of benefits, a self employed person would have to earn about $55 per hour to equal a teacher's pay after 15 years experience. And teachers have no risk of losing their jobs (almost everyone else could lose his/her job any moment). In fact, teachers are actually one of the highest paid occupations per hour--exceeding nurses, engineers, lawyers and many doctors. These are FACTS folks. The shortage is due to artificial restrictions such as teacher certification, not pay.

I recognize the difficulity of getting current and accurate information in some cases. I think the use of a 2004-2005 graphic by the Deseret Morning News in this article is poor journalism! The article would have been better without it since so many changes have been made since that date. Seven phone calls might have given readers more accurate information.

A more informative graphic might have been the one shown plus a similar one with current salaries would help us to understand if the recent salary adjustments are making progress or not.

I know several teachers who are making more money than I do and they have benifits that I don't BUT I couldn't do their job and I appreciate their dedication. I also know others who I feel do important jobs that are proabably under compensated as well.

I also have misgivings about some, which in my opinion are greatly over compensated. Perhaps I just don't understand the need and the value of corporate executives or a sports stars etc. getting millions in salary and other benefits based on their long term contributions to our society.

School teachers and most public employees will proabably never be in the million dollar class and shouldn't be. Retirees or those who only have Social Security are hit especially hard including any raises for school teachers and others as salaries seem to be skyrocketing. The average teacher salary shown is the top salary for many people after many years of service.

The use of the outdated graphic only adds to my confusion !

Oh please folks. As a former Utahn with a daughter teaching in Utah, the salary level in Utah is pathetic. I live in Ohio, with a cost of living pretty equal to Utah, and teachers are paid about 40% more here. And as for "Do the MathII", you need to do your homework. No dedicated teacher works only 182 days and 8 hour days. Add to that money out of their pockets to pay for classroom supplies, books, posters, etc. This is not a problem that is going to go away by ignoring it.

Every Utahn beleives that teachers should make more money until we tell them how much we will have to raise taxes to do so. In this state we still have larger families so the cost to educate these kids is more per family. This is the reality that politicians in this state all know but have refused to deal with for generations. We have to find a better way to fund education.