Her day begins at six in the morning. She jumps in the shower while lesson plans run through her head over and over. She gets herself ready as quickly as possible and runs downstairs to prepare her two children for their day at school. The children are still cranky from reviewing their arithmetic all night long. She finally corrals everyone into her vehicle. As she waits in the car line to drop them off, she listens to them recite their spelling words. At last, she pulls up to the school entrance. The children gather their school supplies and run into the building. Now she is off to care for the twenty other children who rely on her guidance every single day. This is an everyday life of second grade teacher and my mother, Colette McClure. This is how she and other many teachers being their day. The most gruesome detail about the teacher lifestyle is the close to nothing paycheck. Public school teachers should be paid more because they do more than just teach and all other professions would be impossible without them.
The career of teaching comes with many more tasks than just educating students. First aid care, mental therapy, and interior decorating are just a few jobs a teacher holds. They bandage children who have fallen off the monkey bars at recess. They comfort children with issues at home or self-confidence problems. They spend thousands of dollars of their own money, which is most of their paycheck, to provide decorations and technology for their classrooms. A more personal outlook on a side job of being a teacher comes from second grade teacher, Colette McClure. She currently holds an extremely diabetic seven-year-old in her classroom. The child brings a service dog every day to school that detects when his blood sugar is off. As the child’s teacher she is responsible for checking his blood sugar before every meal or whenever the service dog alerts, measuring classroom snacks according to his blood sugar count, and caring for the service dog during the school day. She also took a generous amount of her own time during her summer to be trained to care for the diabetic child. This training was aside from the countless hours she spends preparing lesson plans, decorating her room, and other small details to ensure the maximum educational growth for her students (McClure.) If public school teachers were simply educators one might be able to argue they are paid enough. When adding in all of the small jobs that no one ever takes time to notice, there should be no question when it comes to raising their pay.
When individuals take a moment to think about their very own childhood, what do they remember the most? Their answer is most likely “school.” Maybe even some would respond with “my teachers.” Anyone who has ever been successful in life can thank a teacher. Even the greatest masterminds of our society had to start somewhere. Who taught the accountant one plus one equals two? Who taught the brain surgeon the basic functions of the brain? Who taught the President of the United States how to remember the preamble? A brain surgeon’s salary is averaged at about $400,000 per year (Brain Surgeon). A public school teacher’s salary averages around $44,000 per year (Robson and Foreman). A brain surgeon’s salary deserves to be high because their job is literally saving lives, but is that not a teacher’s job also? Public school teachers have taught us all the very basics of our foundations. Many of them taught us more than just lessons from lesson plans. They have taught us life lessons that have been equal to or sometimes more important to our success. All other professions would be simply impossible if it were not for public school teachers.
The two examples I have provided are just a mere presentation of why public school teacher’s salaries should be increased. District, state, and national officials should definitely consider opening their eyes and take a glance at public school teachers and the fantastic job that most of them do. We are constantly hearing from these important officials how vital a good education is. Finding invested and dedicated public school teachers will soon be difficult simply because of the poor pay. It is time for the government and tax payers to make an investment into today’s future.
Works Cited
"Brain Surgeon." Www.study.com. N.p.,n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.
McClure, Colette. Personal interview. 11 Oct. 2015.
Robson, Nate, and Carmen Foreman. "Teacher Salaries, by District." Oklahoma Watch. Oklahoma Watch, 21 Apr. 2014. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.
