Persuasive Essay Example on Teachers Pay Should Be Raised

The case of teachers being paid more has been in conversation for many years. There have been many protests and organizations to bring the realization of these teachers' struggles. Some positives can conclude to, quality of teachers improving students' performance, keeping teachers in the education system, and keeping teachers from working second jobs. The extra work that teachers put in for the little pay they receive does not add up. 

Teachers' pay being raised can be proved to help students perform better in their education. Having a qualified teacher can help the performance of or achievements in students' education. Micheal Hobbs of UNC.edu states “An inequitable distribution of highly effective teachers is contributing to hard-to-close achievement gaps in American K-12 education” (UNC 5). The salary for teachers can also be known as single-salary pay. A single salary pay or schedule can be defined as a pay increase for every year of experience. This is usually adopted by districts rather than being a requirement. The final step or increase is usually when an educator is around the age of 55. But these single salary pays are what can cause the effectiveness of quality teachers being in the education system. Micheal Hobbs of UNC.edu mentions “Single-salary pay systems exacerbate the most pressing problems in American K-12 education.” “A large body of research finds that the inequitable distribution of highly effective teachers helps explain the student achievement gap” (UNC 7). Point being the salary scheduled pay is having an effect on bringing in or distributing quality teachers to positively appoint students in the right direction. 

Many teachers are considering leaving the education system due to the pay they are receiving.  The number of individuals in this profession lowers every year due to the low pay they sustain yearly. Jennifer Calfas of Money.com stated “Hundreds of teachers across the country are leaving the profession as a result of low pay. (Money.com 1)” As teachers leave the profession of education, they start to rely on the second and third jobs they had on the side of being a teacher. Having thousands of teachers around the nation speaking upon the situation of the low amount of income with having more than one job, speaks to how poorly the education system is treated. Individuals say that teachers do not need to leave the education system due to the care they receive daily. They receive health and pension benefits, which in the long run should be enough. The benefits teachers do get should not be compared to the amount of their yearly salary for many reasons. The health of an individual is dependent on one's self. The benefits they receive are 45 percent of their annual pay. Jon Kenon of Teacher.Org mentioned “The benefits portion of teacher compensation is equal to 45 percent of their annual wages. For a teacher making $64,133, that works out to almost $29,000 a year. (Teacher.Org 2)”  Having their benefits being taken out by 45 percent of their annual salary is leaving the individuals with almost half of their paycheck spent for them. And as good as health care and pension benefits can be, having no other option but to have these benefits be used or paid for by your paycheck is just another reason as to why teachers' pay should be raised. 

Teaching isn’t always the only job an adult can have. But in fact, almost one-third of the teaching population is working a second job. Often people tend to have a biased opinion on teachers deserving of having more than one job due to the number of breaks they get along with the students.  Half of the teachers use this break, working for something school-related. Which does include summer school. Tim Walker of naeToday quotes “Far from enjoying a two- or three-month vacation, they use a good chunk of that time writing curriculum, attending workshops, catching up on professional reading, etc. And many of them work summer jobs, generating additional income necessary to make ends meet. (naeToday 1)” Adding to the conclusion of teachers not making enough in their salary, which leads them to have a second job to meet their day to day needs. 

Teachers have been fighting for a higher pay raise for the amount of work they are putting in. Some positive groups of teachers have protested for having been, quality of teachers improve students performance, keeping teachers in the education system, and keeping teachers from working second jobs. These reasons have been proven by teachers with higher pay bringing more quality teachers into education. Allowing teachers to want to stay in education, and not have to put as much stress on themselves by only having to work a single job.