How little is too little, when it comes to teacher pay?
We are, as a state, 48th or 49th in the nation. I listened to a past teacher yesterday, speaking of breaking her pay down to $4.50 an hour after grading papers and everything was accounted for. And, as if such a poverty wage was not enough insult, she bought some of her own school supplies.
Imagine that.
So, it would seem, wouldn't it, we better do something? Suck in a big breath of air and raise taxes just a smidgen, because we simply can't leave it like this.
But, how much do we raise these salaries? Much at all? The website teacherportal.com says Utah's average starting salary is $38,570, and our average overall salary $47,033. Throw some chairs my way, if you will (school chairs, preferably) but I'm not sure much of an increase is required.
I think of the stereotypical school teacher of the past, and do not imagine they were the richest of folks. And, I wonder if back then they were upset about their pay. Our school systems were once the envy of the world, and that envy came in a day when teacher pay might not have been all that great.
Bless the teacher, and raise the pay some, but not much.
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