Despite all of the evidence to the contrary, there are still folks out there who think that teachers are fairly well paid. The truth is, they aren’t. At least not when compared with other professionals who receive equivalent education and training. Despite the extremely important nature of the work, teachers often need to take on second or even third jobs to make ends meet, which impacts both their students’ learning and their own experience within the profession. So, for the sake of gaining some valuable perspective, let’s take a look at a few workers that are paid better than teachers.
(Photo Credit: Gratisography)
1. Bartenders.
Although most bartenders don’t receive health benefits, when their wages are broken down by the hour and compared with a teachers’ hourly wage, many bartenders come out on top. Some expertise is required for this position of course, but that training doesn’t begin to match the educational background that teaching demands.
According to PayScale data, the average poker player earns more than the typical teacher after gaining a few years of experience. Certainly this job comes with a lot of risk, but it’s also exciting (in a different way than a classroom) and it offers much more flexibility than teaching.
3. and 4. Some house and dog sitters.
The hourly pay for house and pet sitters varies, but those folks toward the top half of the range earn more than the average teacher. It’s interesting to note that our society pays a lot of people more money to watch our dogs and our homes than to educate our children.
While it takes skill, determination, and hard work to make any career a successful one, these occupations have one thing in common: they don’t require a college degree in order to get started. Compare that to teaching, where a master’s degree and certification is often the minimum requirement for entering the profession. There’s no guarantee that bartenders or dog sitters will earn enough money to make ends meet – but at least they don’t necessarily start out with tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt.
Every day teachers make a choice to stay in their jobs even though they know they could earn much more doing something else. These professionals deserve our respect and gratitude for their hard work and their personal sacrifice. And, they also deserve much higher compensation.
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