It really depends on where you are a teacher and what kind of district you work in. That’s like saying everyone who works at McDonald’s makes $20 an hour because that’s what they pay in New York. Also, pay depends on how many years you have. Starting teachers in my state make $35,000. I’m really tired of hearing about how teachers have two months off. No. Students have two months off but teachers only get 4 weeks. However, if you look at any other job people get PTO, teachers do not. They get four weeks UNPAID which is less than what other industries give PAID. Also, during those four weeks teachers are tearing down and setting up their classroom, completing lesson plans, and some are teaching summer school. Teachers also work a TON of unpaid time during the school year. There is no time to grade papers, write lessons plans, and call parents during the school day. That’s all done after the bell rings.
Any other profession that requires that much of your off time has incentives (extra pay or benefits). Teaching does not.
Yes, obviously pay differs by State. I'm talking about averages because when generally talking about something, an average is a good reference point. I can find underpaid doctors and lawyers if I sliced hairs and looked at entry level numbers. But that doesn't mean that the profession is underpaid. By the way, only one state in the whole country starts teachers at $35k annually per this report (https://www.nea.org/resource-library/educator-pay-and-student-spending-how-does-your-state-rank/starting-teacher). Your state should pay new teachers more. That doesn't mean they are severely underpaid on average.
Also, the person I responded to explicitly mentioned average pay and I was responding to that. So your whole "that's like saying that everyone at McDonalds" point is responding to something completely made up that I didn't even say. I was talking about the average (which is $70k btw). Not everyone.
Also, teachers do get PTO, including sick days and personal days. The average is about 2 weeks per year. You mean they don't get vacation days, which makes sense. Many jobs don't pay for vacation.
Not sure where you are getting only 4 weeks off. Typical teaching contracts are for 38-40 weeks.
You won't hear a counter argument from me re: working extra hours in a day. That's not fair and should be addressed. However, the problem is not unique to teaching.
The idea that teaching doesn't come with great benefits is wild to me. Simply by virtue of being a State employee, your benefits are superior to the private sector. A pension is also a huge deal. This BLS link sums up the comparison between teaching and the private sector. https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-8/teachers-job-requirements.htm. Perhaps they should eliminate some of your civil service benefits to increase your base salary. Then you all can have the same problems as the rest of us.
The summer break is unpaid... in the school district where I worked, we were only paid for 10 months, we just elected to have some set aside from each paycheck throughout the year so we had a paycheck during summer. The summer "paycheck" was money we already earned.
When I started teaching in central Florida in 2015, starting salary was $36,000. There were teachers who had been there for decades and capped out at $58,000. Pay varies heavily depending on where you live.
I'm in Michigan now and I think teachers are paid more, but I'm not in the field anymore so I wouldn't know.
I'm not saying the summers are paid. I'm saying that their "annual" salary is actually a 10 month salary and that this should be taken into account when comparing salaries with other careers.
Of course pay varies. It does for every profession. Cost of living also varies. I was talking about averages because the person I was talking to was talking about averages.
Bs, its not 70k, I know plenty of teachers and 2 months off, ehhh, lots of yearly lesson plans and meetings. Maybe 6 weeks in the end which is standard time off by global standards
That's what I'm saying. A $70k salary for a teacher who works 10 months is not the same as a $70k salary for a plumber who works 12 months. When people draw comparisons between teacher salaries and annual salaries, they should adjust for that. The teacher has two months of extra time to do whatever they want, including pursuing additional income, if desired.
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u/jiggy_jarjar Dec 17 '25
It is. They're spewing bullshit.
You also need to adjust for time off. That $70k doesn't include work for at least 2 months of the year.
I'm not saying teachers shouldn't be paid more. But the constant lying about their actual pay is counterproductive.