Deseret News | Poll shows Utahns want teacher pay raises

Reader comments
Poll shows Utahns want teacher pay raises

Bob G | 4:46 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008

If the teachers want a pay raise they will have to ask the Cottonwood Mall for it. The state has given the Cottonwood Mall $50 million dollars of education funds to the project. It seems that business needs our education funds more than the education of children and teacher pay raises. The governor should be ashamed and appauled by this aciton of our tax funds being usend to build a Mall and probably the REAL soccer stadium. Utah government leadership is a fraud and abuse government. Stealing from homeowners and tax payers should and must be a crime and punishable in the courts with prison and fines. We are tired of an irresponsible govrnment in Utah.

oldman | 6:27 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008

How much do teachers make? What are their benefits? How many days per year do they work? How many holidays do they get? How does their pay match up with other workers? Inquiring minds want to know.

sue | 6:51 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008

oldman I don't know how long it has been since you attended school, but I can tell you , our most important resourse is our children and we pay our teachers the least of most states. I have seen the enormous sizes of classrooms and half of the children it seems don't speak english and all students are having to settle for less teaching time for them while the teachers spend countless hours trying to communicate with the students who do not speak our language. And about the amount of hours a teacher is actually in the classroom has absolutely nothing to do with the amount of hours spent working,Grading papers, making outlines, purchasing supplies with money from their own pockets for the underprivilidged children. I don't think for one minute we pay them enough nor let them know how much we appreciate the jobs that they do for our children.

Comments continue below

hoopman | 7:37 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008

I have had many questions in the past regarding the same things as Oldman posted about, but after having my Wife and my Daughter just finishing up Teaching Degrees and getting ready to Teach, the answer to his questions are they put in Hours and hours of time at home, and would You or I go work for those kind of wages with all the requirements they ask of Teachers ? I know I would not.
Teachers dont get near the pay and benefits they deserve for the hours and requirements that are expected of them along with the impact they can have on young people. Are there crummy, lazy teachers out there..Yes there are..but show me any business or Industry that does not.

Dave | 7:58 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008

Only the board of education can raise teachers wages , they will keep teachers wages low so that they can use them to continually ask for more.

To: Old man | 8:03 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008

Beginning teacher: $27,000

Benefits: No vision, no dental, pay 50% of your premiums. Shrinking retirement.

Days off: Saturdays and Sundays sometimes (depends on how much you have to grade.)

Summers are off for the most part. some will tell you that they go to conferences. I did when I first started but I don't anymore unless they pay me. I'm done volunteering.

There you go...

Anonymous | 8:03 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008

$50,000 to start is what I vote for.

CA Teacher | 8:26 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008

Out here in California, teachers start between $35,000-40,000 a year, work 180 school days, get full medical for two, $40 per month for dental, all major holidays, and I'm not sure how our pay matches up with other preofessions. If I didn't enjoy teaching, I would not be one. I'm sure that starting teachers in utah make less than I do, but I know the cost of living in Utah is rising.

Pay Teachers like Pros | 8:41 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008

Teachers are professionals...it's about time we treat them as such. Pay them more, base their pay on merit, stop mandating silly hoops to jump through. Like any professional, pay them based on merit rather than time in service.

Oldman, if you want to know how much any teacher makes, look up on utahsright.com.

Hoopman, you're right about crummy, lazy employees in any business. It doesn't take 10 years to get rid of them in the other businesses though.

oldman | 8:44 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008

You can bet that on almost any given day you can pick up a paer and the teachers will be complaining. Seriously, I never see any other groups so unhappy in their jobs. I never see other groups - especially those in state jobs - who make far less than teachers - complaining like the teachers. They say they are doing it for the kids. C'mon now - really? I would bet that most teachers make more than the parents of the children they teach. I would wager that they make more than the the incomes of two working people. Honestly, if you hate your job so bad - quit. And, let those who appreciate good money take your jobs.

Retired Teacher | 8:52 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008

I wonder why teachers are evaluated using the performance of others - the students. Teachers have a responsibility to teach. Students have a responsibility to learn. Students who do not attend school regularly, do not speak English, are inattentive in the classroom, fail to complete homework assignments, or are disinterested in performing well on tests will not learn very much. Many do not understand they are risking their futures ... instead of preparing for them.

I invite any taxpayer to spend a day with a teacher in a classroom then provide comment on teacher effort, pay, and benefits. Those who rely on their own memories of elementary and secondary school have a concept very different from today's education experience.

Only the most dedicated - and perhaps financially independent - can affort to spend five or six years at the university earning a master's degree, then work for $25,000-$30,000 a year. In teaching, there is much overtime but no overtime pay. Teachers often spend summers in classes and seminars (at their own expense) to maintain a license or learn new skills and methods.

Want to know what teachers do to earn their salary? Ask a spouse.

Mlungu | 9:17 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008

I have the same questions as Oldman. Teachers work from 9 to 10 months out of the year. They should get paid 9/12 to 10/12 of a full year's salary. They have the time to get a summer job to make up the money. I don't care if they put in time at home. I put in time at home with my job, but I don't get paid extra because I am in a salaried possition. They accepted the job which means they accepted the requirements and the pay. Pay raises and continued employment should always be based on performance. Giving someone a raise just because it has become an annual tradition doesn't make any sense. Neither does keeping a poorly performing employee on the payroll. Both are problems that can be regularly found in all government workplaces, including education. It's not like the state currently requires teachers to do a good job in order to keep their jobs. It is nearly impossible to fire bad teachers unless they abuse the children. Even then it can be tough to get rid of them.

Jun | 9:18 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008

Ok I'm all for Teachers getting paid more..

But did they get in to the job and NOT know about the pay?

Paul | 9:18 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008

Wow, Oldman. That last post had almost no facts in it. Good job. "I never see . . ." "I would bet . . ." "I would wager . . ."
Sounds like you've done a lot of research. I'm so glad to have you blessing us with your well-rounded and thoroughly balanced analysis of the topic.

Robo | 9:33 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008

oldman - They are quitting, that's why there is a shortage! That's why they are trying to improve things. Do you want the children taught or not? Do you want them in a classroom of 50 being taught by untrained people or taught by profesionals in a reasonable classroom size? I bet if there weren't teachers to provide free babysitting so moms could go to work, we would all hear about that. Heck, a teenage babysitter makes $1.50 to $2.00 per hour per child just to keep your kids alive while you go to a movie. My wife has 26 kids in her classroom 6 hours per day 180 days per year. You do the math. AND she is expected not only to keep them alive, but actually teach them something, therefore spending an additional 3 or 4 hours per day. Then it's never the child's fault or the parent's responsibility when there is a problem. Then you have bozos out there suing the school district because their kid fell and broke their arm during recess. You couldn't pay me enough to be a teacher!

Glenn | 9:43 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008

Dear Retired Teacher, Students are the product of the education system. Most organizations and consumers evaluate companies and their workers based on the quality of the products made. I guess you can blame the quality of the end product on the quality of the raw materials. But if you do that then I think you're in the wrong profession.

Cassandra | 9:47 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008

I agree, teaching is a professional job. So let them start acting like professionals and when they can prove they can do that, pay them accordingly. Also how about setting basic standards that they must adhere to or lose the job. Like compulsory drug testing, turning up on time, complying with the law and not molesting or abusing children - Oh sorry, that would mean even more of a shortage, wouldn't it!
The majority of teachers are good, dedicated and hard workers, but there are many who let the whole profession down and who are protected by nepotism and incompetent superintendents and boards. You can't improve the system until you get rid of the garbage in it.
Let us see. In the last year. A driver who racially abused children and didn't lose his job. A superintendent who refused to take action to revoke the credentials of a teacher who has been convicted of child molestation. A state system that asks for proof BEFORE they will investigate! And how many don't get reported? A really professional attitude!

Cottonwood What? | 10:17 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008

Why give Cottonwood Mall funds? Outrageous! Actually, that is not quite true. Turns out it is quite a good idea that will bring more funds that can go to teachers in the long run.

How? Quite simple.

It spurs growth. It does it in two ways. First, it brings in new jobs, which will bring in additional income taxes for the State. Second, it brings in additional funds for the State from taxing businesses in Cottonwood (retail tax and property tax). If done right, it will also increase the property value of those in the area, increasing property tax from the residents as well.

It makes good public policy sense to invest in the Cottonwood Mall. Added revenue for the State equates to added funds going to the teachers. The Cottonwood Mall will bring perpetual funding because it is an investment that will bring in an annual ROI! Enjoy the fruits of those investments, Utah Teachers.

Observation | 10:19 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008

Last year the school districts districts didn't know how man actual classroom teachers they had. Reason: The administration and counselors wanted some of the money the state gave teachers so they counted themselves in that number.

The districts also have problems with class sizes. Average class sizes are determined by dividing the number of teachers, administrators and counselors in to the number of students... so the appearence of class size is lower than the actual class size individual teachers face each day.

You can make the numbers say anything... and the district administrators do a great job of this so that the money can keep rolling in

nick | 10:21 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008

Mlungu-

Ok, if you want to pay them 10/12 of a salary, how about 10/12 of a reasonable salary like $50,000? So we'll make it around $42,000 or so. Deal.

Students are not a "product" | 10:22 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008

To Glenn and others:

Students are not a product like blue berry pies. Glenn's bizarre statement that teachers "make" these "products" is at once amusing and alarming.

Obviously, parents make children, and parents have far more influence on a child's educational, social, and moral outcome that teachers or schools.

If, indeed, students are a "product," then they are like blue berries. If a pie manufacturer receives a load of blue berries and a third of them come from the orchard in poor quality, the pie maker rejects them.

Schools and teachers can't and won't do that with their "raw product." We take them as they come and make the best of them that we can.

But, please, please don't accuse teachers of "making" children or students. We are a part of the process, but family and society determine the quality of the raw materials.

I quit being a teacher | 10:35 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008

Some of you people are really uninformed. You also are judging a whole profession on a few bad teachers - I guess that makes you stupid, you should really try not to flaunt your ignorance. Do some real research and find out what really goes on. Compare teachers salaries to other professionals with similar education requirements. The only reason we have many of the teachers that we do is because they are a second income in the household. If students and especially parents would do there part in the education experience then I think you could base the pay of teacher on testing. I know I quit teaching because its basically a part time job and you cant support a decent lifestyle on that.

Ignorance is bliss | 10:56 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008

As shown by most of the comments here....

Retired Teacher | 11:21 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008

Glenn: you make a good point. Please note a significant difference between industrial quality control/managing adults in the workplace and evaluating teaching: children. I taught handicapped children for more than thirty years and I loved every minute. Real teaching is not a lecture, it is a one-on-one experience. Children arrive in the classroom at all points in the school year. They come with a variety of learning experiences, requiring instruction on many different levels in the same class. Several are a year or two behind in skill acquisition. Teachers should be held responsible for the GROWTH of students while in their care. Teachers cannot be held responsible for what happened elsewhere. Sadly, I have yet to see an evaluation system for teachers that measures student academic growth for a single school year, the time the teacher and student are together. I see only cumulative outcomes, the result of several years of learning with many teachers. And an expectation that EVERY student is average or above. This is unrealistic. Provide teachers with the freedom to use their education, skills, and talents to help students learn. Pay them a wage based on the real time they invest. They will come.

merit pay | 11:25 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008

Itï¿½s interesting that no comments have been made about the proposals for merit pay mentioned in the article. I would support additional pay for teaching areas where there exists a shortage of expertise, such as in math and science. And I support the concept of merit pay, paying better teachers more, but any system put in place has to be well thought out before it is implemented or it can have a disastrous effect on all involved. A merit pay system would have to reward teachers for their individual performance, not how they compare with other teachers in the school or district. If a system is established that makes them compete against each other, cooperation within schools and districts would suffer deeply. If most or all teachers in one school receive a high rating, reward them accordingly, if few do, then reward few of them. Donï¿½t say X% get this size raise, while Y% get a smaller raise, and Z% get little or no raise.

Anonymous | 11:26 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008

If you became a teacher to make good money maybe you should go back to school. Teaching is a public service, well at least how it is ran now. You don't hear cops and firefighters complaining about pay. $460 million has been spent in the last five years to reduce class size and nothing has happened. Turn schools over to the private sector if you want an improvment. Vouchers would have increased money per student and decreased class size but everyone was against it because no one can stop and think for two seconds. If we want teachers to make more and our students to learn better than we need to get it away from the government and turn it into a business where the need of profit fixes problems and fair market competition can be used.

Tom | 11:46 a.m. Jan. 18, 2008

I can't imagine any of the people commenting on this subject to recommend their children go into education. It would be interesting to know how many teachers recommend to their children that they go into education.

Teacher pay is just part of job satisfaction. Try going into the classroom as a substitute and see how much attention you get from the student (unless the teacher has planned a movie).

While we are moving towards a crisis in education, we are not there yet. If you read the tea leaves, you can see there isn't enough money for a quick fix, there is job dissatisfaction, universities are not graduating very many future educators, parents generally hope their children go into something more satisfying that teaching for a living, many parents are looking for alternatives - private schools to home schools, and young teachers are moving either out of Utah, or out of education.

Retired | 12:32 p.m. Jan. 18, 2008

Anonymous, you make no sense. Even if one assumes your grammar and spelling errors are simply from haste, your premise is badly flawed. Teaching is a public service? Is it a service where people are paid to cater to your children while you work at a real job in the private sector?

Because it is regulated by a governing entity, it is evil? Are you posting daily to vilify the fire department? The police department? Many of us live long lives without requiring the help of either. That cannot be said of schools.

How in the world does the "need for profit" fix problems? Teachers cannot "fix" students and unless schools can pick and choose their clients (like private schools can and do), comparisons to private sector "products" just don't hold up.

Grandma C. | 12:51 p.m. Jan. 18, 2008

While working in public schools in four states over many years, I learned a few secrets about teachers. Taxpayers may find this information helpful in deciding how much teachers are worth.

When teachers are in the classroom, they must perform at 100% or better to maintain control of 25-35 students, teach a lesson, perhaps work with a small group, collect data for progress reports, and continually evaluate student academic performance. How many in the business world maintain this level of competence all day?

When teachers are in the classroom, they are responsible for the health and safety of 25-35 students every minute. Does anyone else have such a responsibility in the workplace?

When teachers are in the classroom, every action must please administrators, state officials, parents, and taxpayers. Who else has so many critics?

When teachers are in the classroom, they are not performing their other duties. No returning calls to parents, attending staff and committee meetings, lesson planning, grading papers, referrals for special help, tech support, writing report cards, parent conferences, bus duty, lunch supervision, etc. These activities are performed in 30 minutes of "planning time".

The performance of teachers far exceeds that of most workers!

Anonymous | 12:57 p.m. Jan. 18, 2008

The millions of dollar someone above claimed was spent to reduce class size hasn't even covered the cost of educating all of the "immigrants" we received the last 10 years.

We are further behind now than we were then.

Biology/Pre-med Major | 1:01 p.m. Jan. 18, 2008

Math and science teachers should easily make $10,000 more. It is a wonder you get anyone teaching those subjects when they could go out and get a job in the private sector starting out at more than double the starting wage of a teacher.

I really think we need to pay them $20,000 more if we are going to get the best of the best to become teachers.

I went to school with several future science teachers. They were some of the top students in our class. I often asked why they would teach when they could make more money elsewhere.

Most said money wasn't the reason but they hoped they could make it on a teacher salary. A vast majority couldn't make it and have left teaching.

SAD......

Anybody ever heard... | 1:20 p.m. Jan. 18, 2008

... the expression "you get what you pay for?" If taxpayers want a better "product" then we need to either get better "raw materials," which in the public school sector is not a controllable variable, or else we need to pay all teachers more, and pay good teachers even more than that. Yes, it's a career choice so those going in need to be aware of the pro's and con's of that choice. But that's not a valid argument for propagating the status quo. If we value the process, we should act like it and pay teachers what they're worth.

Burned Out | 1:55 p.m. Jan. 18, 2008

I really appreciate the comments by Grandma C. Many teachers leave in the first 5 years because they are burned out. I made it through 7 years, and hope to go back someday... but I was feeling pretty burned out at the end. Every minute of those 6 hours that is spent with students is important, and we are constantly on our toes... both literally and figuratively. There is no down time during those hours, and even lunch is spent grading, copying, planning, and talking to parents. I worked from 8 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. each and every day, and I often came back after I had fed my family dinner and went back in on Saturdays. On Sundays after church, I would sit, surrounded by student's papers, and grade for another 4-6 hours. I had no life. I loved the students that I taught very much, and I loved teaching. But it was exhausting. Additionally, I think that teachers should be paid based on their performance, not necessarily the performance of their students. I'd like to see parents be held accountable for their children's performance. It's ridiculous to place that much responsibility on teachers and none on the parent.

Anonymous | 2:47 p.m. Jan. 18, 2008

To Merit Pay:

Thank goodness I teach Honors classes and not Special Education or ESL classes. I'm looking forward to that big, fat raise according to the performance of my students. Too bad about some of my colleagues.

Guss | 2:52 p.m. Jan. 18, 2008

Yes especially if the demographics that are called are mostly teachers. This is such a misleading crap poll just to put pressure on the Legislature. I wilsh I could work 9 months and paid for 12 months. All Utah jobs get paid below the national average.

Guss | 2:55 p.m. Jan. 18, 2008

AMen Mlungu

Guss | 3:01 p.m. Jan. 18, 2008

The Legislature gave the schools $40 million to reduce class size. Class size has not been reduced. The Legislature is asking where the money was spent. If we want class sizes reduced. Here is an idea, spend the money that was ear marked for class size reduction. Not somewhere else. Gripe gripe gripe. If the board of educatin is so irresponsibel with the money that they are given. I have no sympathy.

Merit Pay | 4:07 p.m. Jan. 18, 2008

my comments about shortages in specialties mentioned math and science, but were not intended to be exclusive of all other important specialties. I'm sorry if I was not clear.

I can second what Burned Out said above. I teach a one week seminar a few time a year for my work, and if I did not work evenings, my students would never have graded papers or effective feedback on their progress or instruction on areas that need further development. The time devoted by teachers to their profession extends far beyond the normal work day.

Tired of the Status Quo | 5:24 p.m. Jan. 18, 2008

Of course Kim Campbell, teacher's union boss, would prefer the money for teacher raises be placed in the WPU rather than given directly to the teachers by the legislature. In fact, she and her union cronies are freaking out because this takes away their power. How is the Union going to continue to perpetuate the myth and illusion that their members need them if they lose the ability to control their members pay raises. It's a unions job to keep their teachers agitated and disgruntled, otherwise there's no need for a union. That's precisely why they are opposed to merit pay (despite Kim's sugar coated claim that they do support some forms of merit pay, just not the ones that prove the teacher is actually improving student performance). If a teacher actually controlled their own destiny based on performance like everyone who works in the competitive market world (like all of us), then why would they need a union! By the way Kim, your spin on these issues is so transparent.

Teacher | 9:31 p.m. Jan. 18, 2008

I love that the legislature gave the raise directly to the teachers. It bypassed the whole district office. they couldn't say, "sorry, we know the legislature sent you a raise but we had to use it for _______________ (fill in the blank with...esl, more admin, better computers for the district office, etc.)

I actually wish we would just go to a state pay scale and get the district offices out of that area completely. Same for insurance. A state pool would get us better rates and coverage.

Local control could be about actual education issues instead of about where to take money from the local teachers.

Just my two cents.

QOTU | 10:10 p.m. Jan. 18, 2008

Merit pay is a bad idea, especially if it is based only on student test scores. It would set up a whole new bureaucracy that would have to manage the evaluation and cash award process. This is ironic, because the legislature constantly compains about the education bureaucracy. Also, what if a teacher has high test scores one school year and test scores drop the next year? A pay cut? Teachers have little control over what kind of students they get from year to year. If pay is based on test scores, would teachers want to have ESL, special education, or struggling students in their classes? I think merit pay would open a huge can of worms!

In complete awe | 11:13 p.m. Jan. 18, 2008

I am in complete awe at the stupidity of some people on this forum. I've never seen so many experts in a field that they have never engaged in. First of all, it is a myth that teachers get paid for summers and holidays. Yes, they are salaried, and yes they get paid well for the days that are worked (180), but don't forget that the pay also includes numerous hours of work at home with many teachers working 14-16 hours a day on average. Teachers do not get paid for the summers. In reality, they are laid off over the summer, but are denied unemployment benefits due to district payouts over a 12 month period. In other words, teachers should be making more during the school year, but are not paid for a portion of services rendered until the summer months. In some instances a teacher attending a paid inservice or workshop in June will not receive those monies until the end of the following school year in May. Isn't it interesting that schools suddenly became horrible when legislators started using schools as a campaign issue in order to get re-elected? Fix schools--vote out Stephenson and Bramble.

Tooele Teacher | 8:51 a.m. Jan. 21, 2008

Dear oldman (and others who think teachers complain too much),

You asked why teachers complain so much when others don't. You also said that if we don't like the pay, we should quit.

First, teaching is a very public job. The principals don't set our pay, but they hire us. School boards set the pay, but they are dependent on the legislature for the money (and then they still don't pass on as much as we would like). The legislature is voted in by the public, so it is ultimately the public taxpayer and voter who sets our pay. This is why we appeal to the public. Sorry if it sounds like complaining, but where else do we turn? And then we come back the next year for more because we were only given a one-year agreement.

Yes, we knew the pay going in, but this is not just an issue of me wanting more for my family. THERE IS A TEACHER SHORTAGE AND TEACHERS ARE QUITTING! I have been teaching for 10 years, and I am one of the veterans. If we want a teacher in each classroom, we need to increase the pay to attract more. ECON101.

Anonymous | 1:48 p.m. Jan. 21, 2008

No one can go to school to become a professional teacher, owe student loans, sacrifice years, etc
and then haul in the grand total of 27k per annum
and expect to be functional. Could this answer your question to why teachers are unhappy. You go through all the tests and constant continuing ed
and then you will understand the cost and the value of teaching in our current society. The public wants the teachers to raise their children for free.
They send them to school with feined cases of disabilities like adhd and we the teachers are reduced to babysiters and behavior managers. Oh but wait , there is more, you want our pay to be based on merit! How are you going to measure merit? What if one year I have the misfortune to be alotted a classroom with 7 identified students instead of two or three? Should I give up my pay perhaps all I have invested in my career due to the luck of the draw? If you can not see or recompense the value of educators then you deserve to raise up a more illiterate, unskilled, generation with each generat

Canadian Teacher | 6:24 p.m. Jan. 21, 2008

After reading this article I was appauled to see how little teachers are paid and valued in the U.S. I am a fifth year teacher in Canada and make $60,000. A teacher with 10 years makes about 70K. My pay is not based on merit or my subject area. Teachers are highly valued and Universities turn away 3 times the number of applicants they get to the faculty of education. I can't believe anyone would teach under the conditions I have read. Tell your teachers to move to Canada if they feel underpaid and underappreciated, we will gladly take them!!!

Parent of 2 | 7:34 p.m. Jan. 21, 2008

I was shocked at the pay scales I found for Utah teachers on the Web. Hopefully they plan to live with their parents for the rest of their lives or their not going to survive. How on earth would you be able to keep the best teachers when other states recruit teachers from Utah's classrooms? Teachers are probably one of the worst paid of any profession, might as well get a job at McDonald's. As for tying their pay to performance I think we should do the same for all of our state employees. If the Police don't drop the crime rate from one year to the next, cut their pay. If the Firemen don't put out enough fires cut them too. If the Politicians don't control the budget, cut their pay to make up the difference. Then we'd get real change and we'd realize how the tying pay to performance hurts. Instead of pay for performance, we should FIX or FIRE the weaker teachers so they don't end up competing for the smartest kids for their classroom in order to fool the proposed system.

Marilyn Johnson | 10:11 a.m. Jan. 22, 2008

When I taught in Utah, one of my colleagues came to school depressed. He had just purchased a new house, so we were curious about why he was so said. He replied, "I have eight years teaching experience and a master's degree, and I qualified to buy the house under the poverty program." The low pay shows disrespect to the teaching profession.

Debbie | 1:16 p.m. Jan. 23, 2008

Funny someone mentioned McDonald's. I'm a teacher, my husband works for Mickey D's as an assistant manager and he gets paid more than I do. Do you really see nothing wrong with this picture?

Dan | 9:09 p.m. Feb. 17, 2008

I am a teacher in a rural part of Washington. The bottom line here is what the marketplace offers teachers. I am looking to make a change and I would love to move to Utah and teach. However, I make so much more here than I could there. The cost of living is actually lower here as well. I am an experienced and effective teacher who can work anywhere. I put in long hours, teach outside my subject area and deserve every dollar I get. Sorry Utah, you just are not competitive.

New to Utah | 1:45 p.m. March 7, 2008

Here is an example why Utah is short teachers:

I have been teaching ten years, have a B.S. in Elementary Education, a Master's of Arts degree in Curriculum and Instruction, and am bilingual. I was hired by Salt Lake City School District as soon as I moved here. After teaching one week, I was told I would be paid $90 a day, no benefits because I need to take Praxis II: Content and Knowledge exam. I've taught in MN, CA, & WI with clear professional license in each state. I have taken and passed THREE PRAXIS EXAMS (CBEST, MSAT, and PPST). Content and Knowledge test isn't offered unilt March 15, 2008. Thus, I am a substitute until April 15, when the test scores are released. When I pass the test, the district will only pay me eight years of experince (NOT TEN!). Thus, two hard working years have been taken away from my salary. Salary schedules are posted, but not followed. Translation: I am taking a $16,000 pay cut (once test is passed), with higher cost of living, and fewer benefits. This policy does not make out-of-state teachers feel welcome.
Signed,
What should I be when I grow up?

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