Word: teacher
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...aspiring public school teacher, I know firsthand that raising teachers' salaries will attract better teachers, that teachers work just as much or more than professionals who are paid much more, and that raising teachers' salaries only requires the redirection of funds already earmarked for education to those areas that will cause the greatest improvements in public school education...
Although the lack of respect afforded to teachers certainly does not encourage college graduates to become teachers, the relatively low salary does much more to discourage them. Most of my high school classmates were amazed that I was going to Harvard and that I was "just" going to be a high school history teacher. They wondered how I could live with the lack of respect most teachers receive. However, most Harvard students are perfectly willing to enter a profession that is not particularly respected by the general public; witness the number of us who become lawyers and politicians...
Societal respect, although important, only goes so far. Money goes further. I have often told other Harvard students about my volunteer teaching endeavors or my desire to become a public school teacher, and received the response of: "Gee, I'd love to teach but I have to pay off my student loans," or, perhaps more bluntly: "Yeah, I'd like to teach, but I actually want to make some money." When it costs over $32,000 per year to go to Harvard, the average starting salary of a teacher in Massachusetts with a bachelor's degree...
...worse yet, people who want to become teachers go to less expensive and less academically rigorous college. One promising graduate of my high school declared that she chose to attend Framingham State College due to the low salary she would receive as a teacher when she graduated. The solution is to raise teachers' salaries so that they reflect both the education needed to be a good teachers and the vital importance of educating our children. Higher salaries will encourage more college graduates to become teachers, which will expand the applicant pool, increase competition for teaching positions and allow school districts...
Another argument against raising teacher's salaries is simply that taxpayers do not want to be taxed more in order to pay teachers higher salaries. Such an argument can be used in any debate over increased government spending and the benefits of raising teacher salaries justify its cost. Massachusetts has already declared its commitment to education by spending millions upon millions of dollars; the problem is not finding the money to pay teachers more, but ensuring that funds are channeled into the areas where they can make the most difference. For example, Lowell High School has recently undergone...