The Value of Teachers: Looking at the Dollar Signs

It has always been my belief that society shows it's values by where the money goes. Out of the top ten highest paid positions in our country, nine of them are in the medical field.  Surgeons lead this by making an average of $108 per hour.

Sports figures also make some serious money as well. Alex Rodriguez makes 27.5 million dollars each year playing baseball. Society loves it when a guy can hit a ball with a stick of wood.

Being a CEO isn't too shabby of a job either. The average CEO makes $84 per hour. 

So let's take a look at teachers. Arguably they are the most important asset to our society.  I mean without teachers, we wouldn't have doctors and CEO's. Certainly the importance of teachers must be reflected in the pay they receive. Right? 

The average teacher in Missouri makes about $44,000 per year. You may argue that teachers only work nine months out of the year. If you tried to make this argument to a teacher, you would probably get punched. Anyone who knows a teacher knows they work 12 months per year. They may only be in the classroom for nine months but they have graduate school, summer inservice and summer classes. Teachers work constantly.

So what are we to make of the fact that teachers make an average of about $43,000 per year? What type of signal is society sending with its dollars?

I would argue society is saying teachers are not highly valued. Or maybe it would be more correct to argue baseball players are more valued than teachers.  I think society believes teachers are important. However, I don't believe society wants to attract the most talented individuals to education because that's hard to do when you are offering so little.