K-12 Teachers Should Be Paid More - Free Essay

K-12 teachers foster students' ability within Kindergarten and twelfth grades to learn independently and acquire the necessary skills, which would enable them to succeed in the future. Even though they have a lot of tasks to undertake to help mold their students, the salaries of these teachers do not match their skill sets hence the need to increase their pay. Compared to other comparable careers, k-12 teachers are paid significantly fewer amounts based on the type of education they are required to have so that they acquire the position. Despite teaching being a prestigious career in the U.S., the salaries of k-12 teachers do not reflect their social importance. Therefore, I believe that k-12 teachers should be paid more to reflect the work they do.

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Ideally, a common position in education reform is that schools and the education system can be improved by paying k-12 teachers more. In this aspect, the sentiment is understandable in the sense that teachers and schools are valued hence the need to reflect the value in how much the teachers are paid. However, increasing the pay may bring forth some unfortunate paradox when looked at closely. For instance, when the schools are improved by increasing the pay of k-12 teachers, two outcomes may be expected. These include improved performance of the existing teachers once their pay is increased and replacing the existing teachers with those drawn by higher salaries. It is also not guaranteed that the highest performing students end up being the best teachers (Yi & Choi, 2015). In essence, some teachers love their careers to the extent that they still value their profession despite the low salaries and high stress. Some people would even argue that k-12 teachers should care more about their profession and the students other than their pays.

One reason that makes me believe that k-12 teachers should be paid more is because they work beyond the normal time for work. They do not just perform their roles inside classrooms but also bring home tasks, which comprise of coming up with lesson plans, test questions, as well as checking test papers. Even over the weekends, during school holidays and summertime, the teachers can still be busy undertaking extra jobs such as creating and submitting reports to immediate superiors (Gill, Lerner & Meosky, 2016). Moreover, since k-12 teachers start to connect with students in their childhood and early developmental stages, they serve as second parents to the students, thereby doing the job of parents. During school periods, it is evident that most of the time, students spend with their teachers. Some of those teachers know and understand their students more than how their parents know them.

Just like parents, k-12 teachers have a substantial and huge responsibility in the development of talents, honing the skills, as well as teaching values, which shape the future of the youth. They do not just help the students earn some degree or diploma, but also earn them better lives both presently and in the future. It can be established that some k-12 teachers may resort to spending own money to enable them to perform their jobs well. Most of such cases occur in remote and rural areas where funding from the national government is insufficient (Yi & Choi, 2015). As such, the teachers may have to spend personal money on purchasing school supplies and materials that enable them to do their jobs effectively as teachers. They even provide financial assistance to pupils and students from poor families that are not capable of affording the necessary learning materials.

Additionally, as the k-12 teachers impart a chunk of skills and knowledge to their students, the learners become rich and famous as opposed to the teachers who remain unrecognized. These teachers provide a quality education that helps students succeed in their lives. Various principles, skills, and disciplines are taught that makes it easy for learners to accomplish their goals. Based on this, it would be crucial to compensate these teachers as they deserve due to their successful contribution to the education sector and society in entirety (Royer et al. 2019). Some k-12 teachers work in inconvenient environments. As opposed to those who teach and coach their students through online platforms, some teachers spend hours talking and standing in uncomfortable classrooms. Most of them have to encounter an uncomfortable journey before they can work in their assigned schools, hence the need to increase their pays.

Furthermore, k-12 teachers are considered as valuable treasures that the government ought to keep. When not treated appropriately through compensations and proper salaries, they may look for greener pastures in other regions. Some countries are in need of quality education and would look out for quality teachers. They can only be retained through adequate recognition and value for their profession (Gill et al. 2016). Through quality education, a system will create more jobs, fight poverty, and help in achieving financial freedom. When proper education is acquired across a nation, it would be efficient to deal with corruption as the voters become more intelligent.

Even though knowledge might not be a tangible weapon for a country, it would be a powerful advantage that enhances competition. Therefore, the government should boost its investment for the k-12 teachers by increasing their pay. Importantly, under various circumstances, public funds tend to be used to accomplish undeserving expenditures such as huge amounts spent in ousting rival politicians, repetitive repairs, and reconstruction of low-quality public infrastructures (Yi & Choi, 2015). Some of these unnecessary expenditures can be used to give the teachers a raise on their pays. A hike on salaries and benefits through compensations will make the teachers more motivated to work, appreciated, and valued.

Concisely, when k-12 teachers earn more money, there will be an increase in their job satisfaction hence increasing their efforts in classrooms (Royer et al. 2019). In essence, higher salaries tend to attract teachers who have better experience and credentials, which consequently improves the quality of learning and education. Through this, most teachers would pursue graduate degrees that assure them of better rewards in the professional field. On the other side, low salaries will discourage aspiring teachers from pursuing their careers since other industries and sectors would provide considerably higher pays.

In conclusion, based on the work environment and conditions that k-12 teachers go through to equip students with the relevant skill set and knowledge, I affirm that they should be paid more. Low pays and lack of benefits for these teachers make them unmotivated hence deterring them from accomplishing their tasks effectively. Increased salaries will help eliminate any need for alternate employment, thereby ensuring that the quality of education provided in classrooms is increased substantially.

References

Gill, B. P., Lerner, J. S., & Meosky, P. (2016). Reimagining accountability in K–12 education. Behavioral Science & Policy, 2(1), 57-70. Retrieved from https://muse.jhu.edu/article/634509/summary

Royer, D. J., Lane, K. L., Dunlap, K. D., & Ennis, R. P. (2019). A systematic review of teacher-delivered behavior-specific praise on K–12 student performance. Remedial and Special Education, 40(2), 112-128. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0741932517751054

Yi, Y., & Choi, J. (2015). Teachers' views of multimodal practices in K-12 classrooms: Voices from teachers in the United States. TESOL Quarterly, 49(4), 838-847. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/43893789?seq=1