We Need To Reevaluate How We Educate And Value Teachers

The cost of living has gone upward, so why are teacher’s wages being cut?

Many people agree that teachers are not being paid enough, even students agree and they don’t always know the inner workings of the education system.

According to the Washington Post: “Average weekly wages (inflation adjusted) of public-sector teachers decreased $30 per week from 1996 to 2015, from $1,122 to $1,092 (in 2015 dollars). In contrast, weekly wages of all college graduates rose from $1,292 to $1,416 over this period.”

Teachers are as important as doctors, lawyers and even judges. Where else would doctors have learned about identifying illnesses and how to treat them? How would mathematicians learn the pythagorean theorem without the aid of their high school teacher?         

Let’s take a step back and find something to compare this to. The Edvocate (a “website devoted to advocating for education equity, reform and innovation”) ranks Finland as having the eighth best education system among 20 other countries. The United States did not make it on their top 20 list.

Probably because Finland’s education system is as far as it can be from The United States. One of the largest differences is that a Finnish teacher’s education is more rigorous.

Teachers in the United States get a degree in a subject and a quick certificate in teaching. In Finland, they go through examinations and practice and, even then, only the very best are hired once they receive their master’s degree. Unfortunately in the United States, some teachers who didn’t accomplish their dream of becoming mathematicians or scientists, go into the career of education as a back-up plan.

Don’t be mistaken. There are teachers who only have a certificate for teaching and prepare their students not only for tests, but also for the future. Those few teachers care as much as a teacher with a higher degree. They have admiration for education.                                            

“My teacher, Ms. Jean-Paul from high school, motivated me to broaden my writing abilities and to not settle for less,” said North Campus student Jordan Richardson, 19. “She prepared me for college-level writing.”  

Teachers are an essential part of our communities and futures, so the United States should make teachers hold up to that belief.