Do Teachers Have the Right To Complain About Pay?

[dianejohnson]

As a 30+ year teacher... this is truth. I encourage people to NOT go into teaching. Day to day, it is miserable. Everyone tells you how horrible you are (admins, parents and teachers). The pay is poverty level -- literally.

The only good part?... about every 5 to 10 years, you have a student come back and say "You changed my life."

[arozeisarozie]

Waiting on the respect and well-being video, my guy. You are cathartic.

[munimathbypeterfelton]

Hell yeah, teachers have a right to complain about pay. And not just the low dollar value. Every time an administration adds a new responsibility on top of the old ones to a teacher's list of daily duties, an increase in pay is required. Otherwise, you may as well be working for free and sitting on the street corner with your empty coffee cup begging for spare change. Not cool, and completely inappropriate for college-educated working professionals who do more good for the world in 180 days every school year than most other people and professions out there do in an entire lifetime.

[sylviagreenberg]

Yup. And when they freeze pay, you NEVER get that back!

[megantaylor]

The pay at our district increases $300-500 each year BUT we have to purchase all our own supplies. I asked for a pack of pencils from the office for a child who really needed them and the secretary sternly told me “we can’t do this for everyone.” They ration printer paper to us like meal tickets during the depression. My office chair broke and they told me I’d have to buy myself a new one 🤦‍♀️ Y’ALL

[pelicanformation]

The biggest argument against teachers is usually the holidays and the hours. Both arguments are a bit bogus.

[karenroelke]

Devin, listening to this video is total deja-vue for me. I recently retired as an elementary librarian after 29 years with the largest school district in El Paso, TX. Your detailed comments about the salary schedule are spot on. I'm sorry to hear that other districts in the country mirror the same problems as my former one. I loved teaching and being a librarian, but I don't miss the financial shenanigans and lack of respect we've had to endure. Without sounding saccharine, I truly believe that next to parenting, teaching is the most important career in our society. Teachers and educational staff (minus Central Office types) deserve so much better. On a lighter note, your videos are hilarious and leave me crying with laughter as a former high school teacher. Keep it up; you're a bright light for all of us in the pandemic!!

[amyhaselgren]

I taught (resigned this summer) for 27 years, blood, sweat and tears, and every bit of what you’ve said is true! More responsibilities, less time, less money, more restrictions on how you teach, less support for discipline issues, I could go on but need to get online to look for a job, that I’m overqualified for, to support my family and pay for health insurance. 🤣

[margaretkeeler]

Let's also talk about how teachers are expected to take people's gratitude as payment. I don't care how much we're great people, how much parents respect us, or how when Covid hit we became "heroes", those words don't help with my bills. Martyrdom is a big problem in the education world. Yes, I teach because I love it, but I also do it because it's a job. Another argument I hear quite a bit is how teachers get summers off. I do? It's written into my contract that I have to teach summer school- there goes June. I used to spend July planning for the fall so I could stop spending my nights and weekends working, but that happens regardless. We start the new school year August 1. Also-those nights and weekends I talked about got cut a little more in 2019-2020 when our school started Saturday school. Yes. I worked on Saturday. Sunday should have been a day of rest, but instead it's a day of grading and scrambling to plan Monday's lesson. This all would be okay- not great, but okay- if I got paid more than a pittance. If anything it would make a lot of us less bitter.

[TracyW-mebr]

“Raises” always come with more days or higher insurance or other such insulting thing

[breeandtea]

Absolutely outrageous for them to do this to our incredible teachers

[ljamison]

Wherever your journey takes you, I hope you keep speaking out for teachers. Your voice is sorely needed in this discourse.

[theinvisibleswordsman]

I have a Master's degree and can't afford health insurance.

[ryanworkman]

I love when people tell me that teachers should be paid better than CEOs and then vote against tax increases...I teach in Wyoming so...to be honest money is good...right now anyway

[WildflowersCreations]

As a parent and involves citizen I know this to be all to true and it is disgusting. Thank you for making this video and hopefully it will make more people aware of this horrible misconception of "they knew that they were getting into", or in other words it being bullshit. Teacher's have every right to complain about their pay and poor conditions and DEMAND better!!!

[deconstructingthevoice]

Yes. This is the truth. :( I have a cousin who has been a kindergarten teacher for over 20 years. I love her and I love to teach. I was a 7th grade math teacher for the year of 2006-2007 in Dallas ISD. I went on to get a masters and then got a job in tech, which is essentially to what I still do now. However, before I got my IT remote-friendly job, I was a sub for several years. The connection with the kids made me want to stay as a full time, but when I asked my cousin if I should consider going back to teaching full time, she without hesitation told me not to consider it.

[BlackfoxCritterGlitter]

I have 14 years experience with a Master’s degree...and drive a school bus. Driving that bus is not for fun, that’s for sure...I need that extra money.

[grt]

Thanks for doing these, Devin. I'm a proud teacher but acknowledge that we get shit on pretty much every day.

[PiggiesAllTheTime]

My mom is a 3rd year teacher and she is miserable and wants to quit especially since her school is 2 hours away from my sister and me.

[barbaraletterly]

My father was a high school teacher for 33 years and during his last year of teaching my sister, who was a first year engineer, made more than he did after 3 decades.