Professional Pay for Professionals: A Cause Worth Fighting For

By NEA President, Reg Weaver

The facts speak for themselves.

Teacher salaries are falling further and further behind the salaries of non-teacher professionals. College-educated non-teachers now make over 50 percent more than the average earnings of a teacher. And male college-educated non-teachers make 60 percent more than male teachers.

In 1960, the gap between a college-educated non-teacher and a teacher was $1,585. Today it is more than $18,600.

The only question is, what are we going to do about it? History teaches us that trend is not necessarily destiny. Good people working together on commonly agreed upon goals can create their own destiny.

And that is exactly what Team NEA aims to do. We are going to crank up the volume on the issue of salaries. We are going to activate our members. We are going to reinvigorate the culture of advocacy within our organization—one where educators are neither embarrassed nor ashamed about standing up for themselves and their profession.

And there's plenty to motivate us. Low teacher pay comes at a very high cost. It is one of the major contributors to high teacher turnover, which has a very negative impact on all students, but especially the poor and minority students.

 More than one-third of teachers who do not plan to stay in teaching blame low pay. For male teachers that number is 43 percent, for teachers under 30 it is 47 percent, and for minority teachers it is 50 percent. In other words, the very groups we are aiming to recruit and retain are leaving the profession because of poor compensation.

Low teacher pay is a quality of education issue—a student achievement issue. And the good news is that the public understands this. A Phi Delta Kappa-Gallup Poll found that 88 percent of the public would support raising teacher salaries to address the teacher recruitment and retention challenge. What's more, the recent Teaching Commission survey shows that 70 percent of the public favors raising teacher salaries across the board, even if it requires higher taxes.

Team NEA is calling for a minimum starting salary of at least $40,000 for all teachers and a living wage for all education support professionals. But improved salaries for all school employees are not going to just happen—we are going to have to fight for them.

The research is clear. By increasing teacher pay, we will increase teacher quality, which, in turn, will increase student achievement. Poor and minority students in particular will benefit as caring, experienced, and skilled teachers replace the revolving door faculty.

And by becoming the "go to" organization on school employee compensation, NEA will also build its membership.

But let's face it, there are serious obstacles to overcome along the road to higher school employee salaries. 

While we are fortunate that the public understands the realities of the classroom and the importance of a quality public education, we must focus our attention on the policy makers. Many would say that the intrinsic rewards of teaching justify paying teachers less. And it is true that teaching can provide professional satisfaction and warm your heart in ways other professions cannot. But how can you expect educators to be focused, committed, and at their best on a daily basis when they are fearful of the consequences of not earning enough to support their families?

Many policy makers profess their devotion to children and public education, yet they have failed to support legislation that would provide the funds necessary to pay teachers and other education employees salaries that reflect their professionalism. We must give them the courage, and the incentive, to do what they know is right.

TEAM NEA is proud to advocate for professional salaries for you—you deserve it!

photo: Calvin Knight