The study conducted, by the National Center for Policy, documents valuable information when considering teacher salaries. According to the study, “public officials and teacher unions often compare teacher salaries in a particular city or region against the national average or against other U.S. cities.” (Danielle Georgiou, Pamela Villarreal , and Matt Moore, 2005) What exactly is national average? National average takes the sum of all the different teaching salaries paid out in the U.S. and divides it by the total number of salaries paid. National average is simply calculating mean. (Wikipedia, 2011) Perhaps national average is an interesting value to know and understand, but it should not be the deciding factor as to whether or not teachers deserve a pay raise.
When considering teacher salaries, cost of living for the particular region should be taken into account. Cost of living is simply the cost for money spent on food, clothing, housing, and other basic necessities. (bing Dictionary, 2011) Common sense would tell us that a teacher making $45,000 in California would actually be making considerably less than a teacher making $45,000 in Tennessee due to the difference in cost of living between the two states. The example I just used is an extreme difference, but there are differences within the same state also. For example, my husband’s family lives in a rural county where the average salary is much lower than the average salary where I live in Sumner County. The cost of living is also substantially lower between the two counties, but the teacher pay scale between the two counties is not a significant difference. In the small rural county, teaching is considered a high income occupation. In Sumner County teaching is not a high income occupation. If cost of living was taken into consideration, I would dare say Sumner County teachers would receive a pay raise over the rural county.
In conclusion, I feel teacher’s pay relating to cost of living has affected my school and students due to teacher’s attitude towards the present pay scale. As cost of living continues to increase and county budget dollars decrease, there is not enough money left over for cost of living raises for teachers. I have noticed that new teachers do not seem to be as disgruntled concerning the issue, but veteran teachers are frustrated. I agree with the study that public officials should consider cost of living for the county or region when determining teacher’s salaries.
References
bing Dictionary. (2011). Retrieved November 10, 2011, from http://www.bing.com/Dictionary/search?q=define+cost+of+living&qpvt=What+is+cost+of+living&FORM=DTPDIA
Danielle Georgiou, Pamela Villarreal , and Matt Moore. (2005, October 24). National Center for Policy Analysis. Retrieved November 10, 2011, from https://elearn.mtsu.edu/d2l/lms/content/viewer/main_frame.d2l?ou=2975445&tId=19133317
Wikipedia. (2011, July 24). Retrieved November 10, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_average_salary
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