Three jobs and donations: how teachers in the USA survive on meager wages

Hope Brown can earn 60 dollars by donating blood plasma twice a week, in addition, she sometimes gets extra money selling her old clothes.

Фото: Depositphotos

Usually this is enough to pay the bill for electricity or make payment for the car, writes Time.

This financial juggling is now part of her daily life, and the woman did not expect this almost two decades ago, when she received a master's degree in secondary education and became a history teacher in school.

Brown works from 5 a.m. to 00 p.m. at a school in Versailles, Kentucky, then goes to her second job operating the metal detectors at the entrance to Rupp Arena in Lexington. She also runs a travel company with her husband.

“I really love teaching,” says the 52-year-old. “But we don’t get paid for the work we do.”

And she is not alone in this opinion, teachers in six states are demanding to raise their salaries and complain that they barely make ends meet.

In the US, there are approximately 3,2 million full-time secondary school teachers, but with inflation, their salary is currently less than what they received in 1990. Meanwhile, the pay gap between teachers and other specialists with higher education is currently the largest in history.

In 1994, teachers in secondary schools in the United States earned 1,8% less than workers comparable to their education, according to 2017, teachers earn 18,7% less than workers with the same qualifications.

The situation is particularly grim in states like Oklahoma, where teachers ’wages, adjusted for inflation, have actually decreased by about 8 000 dollars over the past decade. The average salary of school teachers in this state was 45 245 dollars in 2016 year. In Arizona, the average annual wage for teachers, adjusted for inflation, has decreased by 5000 dollars over the past 10 years.

The reduction in education funding is not limited to teacher salaries. Twenty-nine states spent per student less on 2015 per year than before the 2008 crisis of the year (adjusted for inflation). As a result, many schools are dilapidated, overcrowded and depend on outdated textbooks and supplies.

Фото: Depositphotos

In the past few years, protests by teachers outraged by this situation in different states, they stopped teaching and went on strike. And rallies continue. Some teachers recently went on strike in Washington State, many are threatening to do so in Los Angeles and Virginia.

The public is also on the side of educators, which can play into their hands before the mid-term elections to Congress. Nearly 60% of people in the Ipsos / USA Today survey, published on 12 September, believe that teachers are underpaid and therefore they have the right to strike.

When Elaine Hutchison's mother began teaching in Oklahoma in 1970, she earned about $7000 a year. In 2018 terms, that's about $45—almost the same salary that Hutchison, Oklahoma's 000 Teacher of the Year, makes now after devoting 2013 years of his life to teaching. Hutchison, 25, is a fourth-generation teacher whose daughter also plans to become a teacher. She says she didn't choose this job for the money, but wants to be paid for doing her job well.

In 1960 year according to EPI, teaching was more profitable than other comparable careers for women, but this was due to the limited opportunities of women, and not to high pay, moreover, over the years, the payment for this work practically did not grow.

For example, nurses—another profession historically dominated by women—currently earn much more than teachers, at $73 a year on average (as of 550). The shortage of nurses in some parts of the United States has led to the introduction of bonuses and incentives for these professionals. And the shortage of teachers in some states has led not to benefits, but to larger classes, shorter school weeks, or emergency certification to work as teachers for people who do not have specialized training.

The average U.S. high school teacher salary is currently $58, a good salary for many states. But actual wages vary widely by state and often don't reflect the cost of living. Compared to professions with similar levels of education, teachers' salaries are much lower. In 950, for example, the starting salary for the average teacher was 2016—38% lower than other professions requiring the same level of education.

Salary stagnation is one reason teachers say school districts across the country are facing talent shortages. This year, a record number of teachers in Oklahoma received emergency teaching certifications despite lacking specialized training. In Arizona, school districts have begun recruiting teachers from other countries to fill the gap. Last year, U.S. public schools hired 2800 foreign teachers on special visas, compared with 2012 in 1.

Meanwhile, fewer people want to be teachers. According to the American Association of Colleges in Teacher Education, in the period from 2008 to 2016, the number of new teachers who completed core preparatory programs decreased by 23%. But teachers who have completed their education often leave the profession: at least 17% leave this profession during the first five years of work.

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