Reader comments
Panel brainstorming benefits to keep teachers in classroom

I am a long-serving teacher (over 20 years)in Australia. I am about to leave my profession because of the lack of promotional positions, limited pay relative to other professions, and lack of recognition. If there were ways to improve the resources I have to work with (instead of having to supply my own materials and transportation - I am a peripatetic teacher of instrumental music), and the facilities that are available to work in, then, MAYBE, I would consider staying on. Yes, a pay increase is long overdue. Administrators and legislators talk about the value of education, but then don't value it themselves (evidenced by the poor pay and conditions).

We have the same problems here in Australia that you do in Utah! When will legislators wake up? When it is too late!!

Absolutely. Especially in a state where many families raise four or more children. A $10,000+ raise would definitely make teaching much more attractive.

While you're at it, making the profession not so "flat" might help. Some teachers leave because they need variety. Kitty (Catherine) Boles of Harvard has some ideas about how to do this. Google her.

I'm a science teacher that just moved from Utah to Idaho Falls. My salary went up and living expenses went down. What a bargain! To all Utah teachers out there--I highly recommend the move :)

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I am one of those former Utah teachers who left the state because I could not make ends meet. To let you know how bad it is, I was offered aproximately $27,000 a year from Provo School District to teach and I have a masters. At the time of that job offer I was making about the same amount working part time while going to graduate school. I wanted to cry. I went overseas and now make about 3 times what I would be paid in the great state of Utah. Some of my former and current colleagues are also former Utah teachers. Teachers are leaving for other states not because they want to but because they have to. They have no other choice. I once heard an assistant superintendent say, "Utah spends less then any other state on education but scores in the top ten in every academic category. So why should we pay teachers more?" I say, think of where you could be if you had teachers who were allowed to make a living at the profession. Wake up Utah legislature!! And stop paving Highway 6 every summer. That may help free up some money.

With this kind of money being paid the compeition for teaching positions will go up as well.
You would see many professionals leaving their jobs to go teach.
I am not sure how the system would deal with this.
Many current teachers will be forced out of their jobs to make way for better qualified canidates.
Teachers from other states would start coming here.
With more money being paid comes a greater demand for accountability.
And of course we have to factor in the very generous benefit package that comes with being a government employee.

If they could just get the feds and the big-district curriculum telling-us-how-to-do-our-jobs people out of our hair, maybe then teachers would stay. We already have enough who start teaching. They just get fed up with it and leave.

A decent size school would help a great deal to empowering teachers and making them successful as well. Schools being built right now are at least twice the optimum size.

Did I just read that they want science and math teachers to work year round? Yeah that is going to make them happier...

Most teachers I know really need that couple of months away from the students to reload and get their sanity back. They don't want to work even more hours than they are working now. It is already overwhelming for most of them. Adding a bigger work load isn't going to get more people into the profession.

What the legislators need to see is that we have a shortage. We need to pay them a lot more for the work they are already doing.

$10,000 - $15,000 is a big step in the right direction. I really think that would do it.

But don't make the already stressful work load even bigger. Of course our legislators are going to have a hard time doing that.

We can only hope.

Turning to a trimester system doesn't seem to be the solution. Prospective teachers will then look at the situation and see that the pay has been raised to be competitive with the surrounding states, but the number of contract day will be higher in Utah. So, we would be back at square one where teachers are getting paid less per contractual day then in surrounding states. The other problem is that Utah spends less per student than every other state in the country. Teachers need an increase in pay AND better resources in the classroom to keep up with other states. The legislature needs to stop looking to skirt around the issue and simply give the money to education the way it is. This will help to keep teachers and create a competitive market so the best teachers stay.

I want to be a teacher so bad. I am just finishing up my degree as a communication major at the University of Utah. I had a child and spent most of my free time as a volunteer in the schools. After a few years I felt that it was time for me to consider becoming a teacher. I registered for school and discovered that I was drawn to communication. I was lured there because of the need to make more money. Money is at the heart of the issue and so is the amount of time it takes to become a teacher. I still am interested. Where do I go from here. I am so sick of school and need a break and would love to teach right away. I am nearly broke with all my school loans so spending more money on school is not an option. I would like to start teaching anything and then go back for more school later.

Hallelujah! Finally someone is paying attention to the needs of kids! Our children and grandchildren are best served by educators who don't have to work evenings and weekends at WalMart and McDonalds to make ends meet. The article was deceptive in that the $47,000 starting salary is not an idea from the legislature, but from the creative minds of Rex Wilkey and Lyle Cox of the Washington County School District. Why can't we get them to replace Bill Hickman and Steve Urquhart?! We might get some productive action from the legislature then for our most valuable state asset...our children and grandchildren!

Giving a teacher more days to work in exchange for increased pay may cut into teacher efficency and increase burnout. I, for one, need summers to regain my sanity and prepare for the coming year.

Teachers work in a high stress environmnet created by state and federal mandates,unruly students, and larger than manageable class sizes. Remove some of the stress and teachers will consider the job as a permanent career.

As a teacher, my summers are convalescent time. I would not teach without them, rather, I would be in a rubber room.

How idiotic can we be? We say our children are our future then we pay our teachers like laborers. The state legislaturers should follow a teacher around for a year and see how many hours he/she really puts in for the meager pay he/she gets. Then we budget money for soccer stadium. I realize there are bad teachers that give all teachers a bad reputation. But the vast majority of our teachers are excellent educators that are entrusted with the safety and education of our children for most to the day during the school year. You get what you pay for!!! It's time we did something substantial to keep quality teachers in our State.

Most of the people I knew when a teacher in Utah Schools have been forced by economic necessities to find other better paying employment.

There are many thousands of good trained teachers who would love to teach if they could afford the luxury. Better pay and less interference from the teachers union would bring many of them back to the classroom. . .. .

Other Western states offer: 1) Reduced class sizes, 15 per class through 3rd grade. 2)Specialized teachers, PE, ART and Music, which give the teacher a 1 hour break each day to do paperwork, correct homework etc, while their class is involved in the other activities. and 3)Increased pay.

We moved from Nevada and knew we would take a financial hit but it was a shock. My wife had 16 years expirience teaching, the school district in Utah gave her 7. Nevada you don't pay state taxes and the school district has its own retirement system so there is no Social Security taxes. Her salary was cut by 40%.
In order for Utah to compete it has to increase salaries at least 25% and I think hiring specialized teachers will be of benefit to not only the teachers but to the children as well.

More money would be great, it would definitely ease some financial stresses of being a teacher. I feel a bigger issue is something needs to be done to hire administrators who actually care about teachers and who treat teachers with respect. As a teacher I hear more complaints about incompetent, overpaid administrators than I do about teacher pay.

Teachers certainly don't need more hours in the classroom or even more salary per se. My wife would gladly retain her current salary if she could actually TEACH during the day instead of do government mandated testing and paperwork, and actually get home by 6:00 p.m. instead of 8 or 9 or even 10. She would also gladly retain her salary if she could either always have an aid in the classroom or have a significantly reduced class size. 24 to 26 2nd graders is outrageous, especially when they read from Kindergarten up to 4th grade level. The school district won't let the grade teams divide up students by capability level to teach reading, so here is one teacher in each and every classroom trying to help basically illiterate children learn to read while at the same time challenging the more advanced students. So, each teacher ends up preparing 3, 4, or 5 different lesson plans each day rather than just 1. My experience is that more money is fine for awhile, but it doesn't solve the problem long term. That takes improved working conditions. RESPECT is right on the money (no pun intended).

My student teacher from last year told me that the University of Utah has many openings for their teaching program that are unfilled. She said they had 3 cohorts last year and have only one this year. Salaries must increase substantially to attract college students into the teaching programs and, once trained, keep them in Utah.

I cringe when I see plans to pay science, math and technology teachers more than other disciplines. Selective pay hikes will serve to demoralize already undervalued teachers from other areas of study.

Great idea, legislators. Don't pay teachers what they are worth; let them work more hours if they want more money. Yeah. That'll fix the problem. and $10K raise? A college grad should get more than $37K starting out, but beginning teachers in our district get $28K. No respect.