Photo above is of the Virginian teachers’ strike
Summary: On Monday Monday January 27th, about January 27th, one thousand teachers in Virginia rallied at the state capitol to demand higher raises and more funding for students. Christina Melendez, one of the teachers, says that she has taught in three school districts in the past seven years and says she and other teachers are tired of using old textbooks and working multiple jobs to support themselves. An average Virginia teacher’s salary is $51,994 which is almost $8,500 less than the national average. When Virginia teachers rallied at the state capitol last January, lawmakers agreed to a 5% raise for teachers. That is however still not enough, Melendez says that “without a major boost to teachers’ salaries, I can’t afford to be a teacher next year.”
Connection: This connects back to what we’ve been learning in class about workers going on strike for better wages like the Homestead strike when workers at Carnegie’s steel plant walked out and went on strike because their wages were being cut.
Reaction: I am shocked that teachers get paid so little when their jobs are one of the most important. I think the government should definitely spend more money on schools and teachers because they’re the ones providing us an education and preparing us for the future so we can get jobs.
Question: Why do you think teachers get paid so little despite the importance of their job? What else could teachers do to raise awareness? (Because going on strike means they can’t show up at school and teach.)
I'm not super aware of the finances behind funding for teachers, but it makes me wonder if it really is that hard to invest in teachers at a state level. What justified reason is there to be an excuse for less funding of teachers? The government should be paying attention to what the citizens want, because nobody likes an unhappy worker not fulfilling what the future could be. Other than protesting, the media or the internet can be used to spread the news around it. This could be set up as a situation similar to how muckrakers would write books revealing the true circumstances behind certain people. What I think could help significantly is for protests not only filled by teachers, but also by the common public people. The huge support from the public can help show how valued education is to many parents and students.
ReplyDeleteTeachers often don't earn very much due to how the occupation is funded and the requirements for becoming one. According to some quick googling, a 60th percentile score on the SAT or ACT and a bachelor's degree are required. These are not extremely rigorous requirements, which leads to very large variation in teacher quality, based on my very anecdotal experience. Due to job stability and pretty good pay, as well as not having to work year round, teaching is an attractive option for many. In other countries, where it's treated as more of an honor such as Finland, the education systems are ranked higher, and I can't help to think it's in part due to the qualifications of the job.
ReplyDeleteI am not too sure of the specifics of this issue, but I think that teachers are paid unfair salaries because of poor distribution of government funds. For example, the U.S. government recently spent two trillion dollars on military equipment to scare another nation into not responding to an attack that the U.S. initiated. That money could have been used to start an increase in teachers' salaries. I think that strikes are a good way to raise awareness, because if the teachers aren't doing their jobs, more people who are not teachers , like the students who are not being taught and their parents, will be affected and will therefore want to help raise salaries because they are now more directly affected by the situation.
ReplyDeleteIn the past few years, there has been more and more talks about teacher salaries and for a good reason. With various school shootings and teachers risking their lives to save their students, teachers have proved their right to at least a livable while leisurely wage. Teachers are the ones that provides the educational foundation for the future workforce, so the government should definitely assign more importance to them. I cannot come up with a general reason to why teachers are paid so little, but I can imagine some of the factors to be government funding and work time. Public school teachers, especially, are paid by the state so to conserve maximum funding, they are paid less. Teachers also have various breaks, holidays, and two months of summer vacation that may contribute to lower salaries. To raise awareness, I think students would have to be involved so the government can see the moral issue and the impact it has on students.
ReplyDeleteIt is shocking to me how many people value education and yet teachers have low salaries. I also think that it is crazy how kids are so pressured to get a good education to then get a well paying job and be able to afford comfortably their living style. This seems to be a dream that many have, yet it is a hard goal to reach if there is a lack of teachers. I personally have have many experiences where my teacher has had to move out of San Francisco because they could not longer pay rent on their teacher salary. I agree with the comments above that their is a lack of government funds for such an important social need. And that strike and spreading information on social networks could help raise awareness.
ReplyDeleteI think that teachers are paid so little because the school districts aren't receiving enough funding to pay them. It is on the government to support public education, which is foundational for having an educated population. If the government really cares about educating its citizens it should put more money into school systems and less into the military, which we spend 649 billion dollars on annually. As far as what teachers can do, they should continue to protest and gain news sources attention. That way it can will spread the issue to more people so they can vote on candidates who will put the change into action.
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