How do we Fairly Raise Teacher Salaries?
There is no way to argue that the average teacher is not underpaid. With median annual wages of kindergarten, elementary, middle, and secondary school teachers ranging from $47,100 to $51,180 as of May 2008, there is an obvious gap between what society needs most and what value it puts on it. For this reason, economists and education innovators have argued that the best teachers out there should be earning six figures at least for the role they play in the lives of their students.
This is true. Teachers serve as motivators, educators, therapists, friends, and even social workers on a day-to-day basis. While this is hands down exponentially more important than playing shortstop for the Yankees or entertaining audiences on the big screen, teachers are paid a small fraction of that of the starlets to whom we devote so much attention. Teachers deserve more money, but what is the right way to differentiate the good from the bad?
Race to the Top reform has called for increases in teacher wages for those who perform the best. While this makes sense at first glance, only a few subjects are actually subject to standardized testing, namely math, science, and reading. This leaves incredibly important teachers without any clear means of national performance evaluation. This could include special education, physical education, art, social studies, et cetera. How is greatness measured for these teachers?
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