What if We Improved the Benefits of Teaching?

Photo by Razvan Chisu on Unsplash

Our teacher shortage continues to grow. More and more teachers are leaving the profession for a different career and a new approach to living their lives. Is addressing salaries a solution?

Education is not like the pharmaceutical industry. Salaries cannot be based on sales or company profit. The industries are run completely differently.

But what if education did operate more like pharmaceutical companies? What if there were bonuses? What if salaries were high? How would this work? How could this work?  

What if we considered our Return On Investment (ROI) when we create teacher salaries? What are our returns? Our profits? How does society benefit in the long-term by having a highly educated population?

What is the value created by having an educated populace?

What would make teaching a sought after profession? What would make people want to choose to teach?

Instead of shooting all of this down, let’s imagine. 

In my small survey of educators on Linkedin, 62% are considering or have left the profession due to salary. In addition, 60% feel the same about the benefits offered. These are the largest issues in my current data pool.

We have to examine both salary and benefits if we want to change the profession. The old arguments of “teachers only work nine months out of the year” and “you didn’t go into teaching for the money” are not valid. As any worker, teachers need to be able to afford to live, and many hold advanced degrees in their fields. Retaining teachers will be impossible if we cling to these old excuses.

Lack of salary growth over time is also a huge problem. Teachers who remain in the profession live with stagnant growth while incoming teachers are paid higher salaries than those who have decades of experience.

In the United States, public teacher salaries are complicated. Tied to local area taxes and public officials’ campaign promises, changing the salary scales nationwide is an unwieldy task. Independent and parochial schools are independent from politics, but they often have even lower salary scales. 

So, what is the solution? It’s complicated and challenging, yes. That is no reason, however, to not grapple with the problem and try to create remedies. 

Consider these ideas:

• National salary standards. The national government can create standards based on education, experience, and other qualifications. Even creating a standard basic pay target could be helpful.

• Bonuses. Schools and districts can provide yearly bonuses. While teachers may not receive the tens of thousands of dollars a pharmaceutical rep does, certainly a system can be created to offer a financial incentive for their work.

And, a variety of benefits can impact one’s income. We need not focus solely on the salary. Let’s get creative. 

• No taxes. What if teachers did not have to pay taxes? A decision such as this significantly impacts income. Is this suggestion that radical? Imagine the number of people who may join the profession if they knew that taxes would be eliminated.

• Housing stipend. What if teachers received a monthly stipend for housing? Many districts are already building entire apartment complexes for their teachers. Just providing teachers with a stipend commensurate with the school’s cost of living could be simple enough.

• Free health insurance. Why not offer teachers free health insurance? This option would eliminate costs for teachers and put more money in their pockets. The federal government could provide funds to support a program.

• Childcare paid in full. Paying expenses for childcare cuts into income significantly. What if teachers received childcare at no expense? 

• Transportation stipend. Why not offer funds to support a car payment or costs of public transportation to work? Gas is expensive; why not provide funds to assist teachers with the cost?

• Energy tax credit. Energy costs can be high, particularly in the more extreme climates. Paying for teachers’ monthly energy bills can provide them an additional several hundred dollars.

Salaries and benefits must be competitive, not within the small world in education, but with careers who pay employees holding advanced degrees. Leaving comparisons within the industry keeps us in the same cycle and will not attract or retain educators.

Yes, my suggestions are costly. Of course, we will need to find money to support any solutions. 

So what is the ROI? The profit returns are on our future. The return on investment is having an educated society. Quality education is a requirement for societal growth.

We must ask ourselves the question: What is more costly? Paying for solutions, or paying for an uneducated society?