Education is defined as the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university, and is considered an enlightening experience. Education is an   occupation that dictates insight to help better shape the future of America.  In regards to this, I pose the question, “Would increasing an educator’s salary throughout the United States lead to benefits in the education system, eventually leading to an increase in student’s academic performance?” Unfortunately, the teacher profession is overlooked due to their low salary. However, if the potential supply of teachers rises due to the higher pay on offer, entry into teaching as a profession will become more competitive. This in turn will mean that the average ability of those entering the job will rise. Once recruited, higher relative pay and/or more performance-related pay may provide teachers with stronger incentives to improve their pupils’ educational outcomes. Becoming a first grade teacher has always been a profession I have desired to pursue since I was in elementary school. This has allowed me to be more insightful of the many benefits teacher’s attribute. In high school I took the course, “Teacher Cadet”, during class my teacher viewed a news broadcast of a young African American teacher in North Carolia, Miss Shavane. Shavane truly inspired and influenced my thinking on this argumentative topic. Shavane expressed, whom had won many teaching awards, her love for teaching and her students. However, Shavane admitted that most teachers feel very unappreciated by society and that a teacher’s value through society’s eyes is not where is should be. Shavane expressed factors that will change society’s viewpoint, her main point being that a teacher’s salary should be increased in the United States. Watching this broadcast cued me into the reality that a teacher’s value does not meet the full worth it should entail. Too many highly certified educators have been denied competitive, professional pay for too long. Teacher’s low paying salary comes at a high cost for schools and kids, essentially resulting in a decline to society. North American teachers determine the future for generations to come, therefore, increasing a teacher’s salary leads to numerous benefits.

This is going to be my background paragraph. I am going to define the geography, grades being introduced, my goals of writing this paper, and make clear my statistics/percentiles introduced are equivalent/standardized. (Include: The sources included provide statistical evidence that there is a positive correlation between teacher’s salary and student performance// The author’s audience is the school department administration (people that determine the salaries) school’s administration. To further tailor this essay to this audience, specify why you think the administrations make the salaries for teachers that they do. Discuss private vs. public schools and the differences in these administrations and teacher salaries.

Although, you may agree with my argumentative question, get this. Imagine going through four years of undergraduate school at the University of South Carolina gaining your Education degree. Being in school for four years with in-state tuition is a total of $11,854 yearly, with other expenses included (living, books, and supplies, other expenses) that yearly total quickly increases to $26,633. After four years, the total cost of you attending a in-state school, gaining your four-year degree in education comes to a total of $106,532. Yes, I typed that correctly. One hundred thousand dollars. Now, that’s act as if you are attending the University of South Carolina from out-of-state, that total, with living, books/supplies, and other expenses included comes down to $184,244 after gaining a four-year degree in Education. After school you get a job in teaching in the state of South Carolina. Keep in mind, you have student loans you need to pay off, as they are increasing through interest rates. The average annual salary for South Caroline teachers is $48,375, the national average being $56,103. With a teacher’s salary, it could easily take at minimum four years and maximum ten years to pay off their student loans. Depending on how much their student loans are. Most teachers pay their own graduate school and ongoing professional training, and over 92 percent buy supplies for their students (Calegari). Over the past years, we have seen teacher’s working endless days and nights to be able to major achievement in their students. Sixty percent of teacher work second jobs, taking up any free time they could potentially have, just to be able to pay their bills and to be the best teacher they can aspire to be. In result, we are starting to see quality teachers walk away from their profession to pursue a profession that pays enough to support their families. An increase in a teacher’s salary will lead to teacher’s that are fully certified and an increase of their average ability of teaching. It will also allow teacher’s to focus more time on their student’s, since teacher’s will no longer need to work overtime or take an extra two or three jobs. Resulting in an increase of student’s academic performance. 

“International Study Links Higher Teacher Pay and Teacher Quality”, published by neaToday, two economic professors at the University of London and University of Malga collect data to determine if there is positive correlation between a teacher’s salary and their student’s achievement. The data concludes that better teacher pay leads to teacher quality and that leads to improved student performance. For example, a teacher’s (Elementary through High school) annual salary (converted in US dollars) in Israel and Turkey ranges from around $15,000-$18,000, leading to the student’s percentiles ranging from 20-30. Whereas, in the Netherlands and Switzerland teachers annual pay ranges from $50,000-$60,000 with their student’s percentiles ranging from 80-90 (Figure 1, Walker).  Both percentiles are standardized results. Although, the sources included are not based in the United States, the statistics lead to my argumentative question, would increasing an educator’s salary lead to national benefits? The statistics from Israel, Turkey, the Netherlands, and Switzerland goes to show that an increase in teacher’s salary will lead to higher student performance. Essentially, this will lead to many benefits throughout America. 

“Effect of Teachers Pay on Student Performance”, published by RAND education, addresses the concerns about the performance of students and the quality of the teachers in our nation’s schools. The paper cites data from a research done in 1995-1998 in the state of Illinois to analyze the correlation in teacher’s pay and their student’s performance. The hypothesis, higher pay should attract higher-quality teachers, leading to higher student performance, is examined by all three groups of teacher’s- elementary, middle, and high school.  However, the data concluded primarily focuses on 3rd and 8th grade test scores for both reading and mathematics on the state assessment system. The data includes student characteristics; race, English proficiency, percentage of students classified as low income, and average class size. It also includes teacher-related characteristics; race/ethnicity, salary, degree, and teaching experience. Half of the 3rd and 8th grade teachers during the experiment only got paid half of what the other half 3rd and 8th grade students got paid. When comparing the test scores of the 3rd and 8th grade students based off of what their teachers got paid, there was an average of a 27% increase in the test scores from the kids being taught by the students that got paid more. Based on the results, there is a clear relationship between teacher salaries and student performance. At the 3rd and 8th grade level, the hypothesis worked as expected- the higher the pay, the higher the student’s achievement. It is important to note that this data concluded several different factors, resulting in unbiased statistics. Thus, regardless of district type, the data concluded that higher salaries appeared to be associated with better average student outcomes. Again, supporting the hypothesis that higher pay should attract higher-quality teachers, leading to higher student performance.

The correlation between low-income schools and low-performing students can be traced back to teacher recruitment. The less qualified a teacher is, the less income a teacher will receive. In an effort to improve teacher recruitment, educational leaders have suggested to higher teacher’s pay from grades K-1 (Loeb, Grisso, and Strunk,2006). Heather J. Hough concludes her research on how a compensation increase can affect teacher recruitment in an urban school district in San Francisco by the publication of “The Effect of a District Level Salary Increase on Teacher Recruitment”. The San Francisco Unified School District passed the Quality Teacher and Education Act in 2008. This increased teacher salary (k-12) anywhere from $500-$6,300 and a $1,000 bonus for reaching a hard to-fill subject. The data reviews the effects the Quality Teacher and Education Act, teacher salary increase, has on teacher recruitment. Hough’s hypothesis, whether salary matters to teachers and whether changes in salary can be effective in recruiting more or better teachers, shows to be a positive correlation between a higher salary leading to a more improved workforce. Hough’s research concludes that increased pay, resulted by the Quality Teacher and Education Act lead to a more precise pool of potential teacher candidates, which eventually leads to higher student success. 

My counterargument source, “Higher Salaries Won’t Improve Teacher Performance”, Marcus Winters argue that a teacher’s salary and a student’s performance show no correlation. Winters debates that improving teacher quality and motivating teachers to improve their efforts in the classroom by increasing teacher salary will not address either of those issues. Winters states that, “Unfortunately, research consistently finds that teacher’s pay is unrelated to a teacher's effectiveness.”  However, Winter’s shows no evidence of the statistics he found that “consistently find teacher pay being unrelated to a teacher’s effectiveness”. However, research conducted in my previous sources state otherwise, the sources included provide statistical evidence that there is a positive correlation between teacher’s salary and student performance. For example, the research published in “Effect of Teachers Pay on Student Performance” identifies that there is a clear relationship between teacher’s salaries and student performance when comparing 3rd and 8th grade students test scores for both reading and mathematics on the state assessment system. The source, “The Effect of a District Level Salary Increase on Teacher Recruitment” shows that after San Francisco teachers received a bonus, their student’s school performance quickly increased, this shows that a student’s performance only seems to increase with the increase of their salary. Winters also claims, “Simply increasing the amount of money that a teacher is paid will not motivate her to improve her effectiveness in the classroom.” However, “Higher Education; How Professors See Their Future”, published by The New York Times, Ernest Boyer interviewed college professors. 60% describe their own salaries as “fair” or “poor”. Those that reported their salary as “fair” or “poor” also admitted to their dissatisfaction in their income to be associated with the belief that their academic standards have declined (Boyer). Therefore, there is a good chance that there is a correlation between the amount a teacher is paid and the motivation that is put forth by the teacher to help better a teacher’s and student’s effectiveness. 

Ninive Calegari, a former classroom teacher who founded The Teacher Salary Project, an organization aimed at improving the salaries of America’s teachers, published an article in 2014 titled, “Why Teachers’ Salaries should be double- now.” In this article, Calegari writes about why she thinks it is imperative for teachers’ salaires to be raised. Calegari quotes her friend, Erik Benner, who is a history teacher at a school in Texas, “Honestly, I am invested and I love what I do, but I am run down and exhausted. The amount of pay just does not equal to the amount of time and effort I put forth teaching.” Another example of teacher’s expressing their unfair pay are teachers in Fairfax County, Virginia. Teachers protested their low pay by wearing jeans to work, when their school dress code says otherwise. They claimed, “they don’t want to be poor to do this important work and they do far more than an honest day’s job.” 

“As the founder of the Teacher Salary Project, a nonpartisan organization devoted to elevating teachers’ pay, I’ve heard countless stories of professionals who have awards and recognition for their work, yet who feel forced for financial reasons to rethink their career. I interviewed a National Board Certified teacher who also won Teacher of the Year named Karina Colon. She recently left North Carolina for a job in Maryland to earn $12,000 more to support her family.” 

This quote, from Ninive Calegari, shows the concern in losing teachers who are fully certified and benefit their students well, due to the reasoning that teacher salary is too low. Not only does a teacher’s low salary affect a teacher, most importantly it affects their students. A teacher whose pay is low, alters the amount of time and effort a teacher puts forth toward their students. Resulting in student’s that are not trying and succeeding to their full potential. Even worse, talented college students who are fully passionate about teaching reframe from pursing an Education career to the concern of not being financially stable after graduating. “According to a McKinsey study called “Closing the Talent Gap,’ teachers’ salaries have declined for the past forty years. In the past decade alone, salaries have decreased further in thirty states. Had salaries grown proportionally to our classroom spending, the average salary would now be $120,000. Instead, a teacher’s starting salary is, on average, $39,000. Consider this- after 25 years of teaching, 25 years of professional experience, the average salary of a teacher is $67,000.” What kind of message do you think this sends to society on the way one should view education? Unfortunately, it could only allow one to belittle the value of education. Now, let’s imagine a world where a teaching salary is doubled- yes, doubled. This could only lead to more prestige’s and certified teachers. It would also lead to a more valued perspective on education. Due to the fact that about a million current teachers retiring in the next six years The Teacher Salary Project launched “the Governors’ Challenge” in order to see the changes that could occur by doubling a teacher’s salary. This simply asked state governors to take action and make a long-term investment in their students’ futures. Luckily as a result, Helena, Montana passed an early retirement plan and enver passed a $25 million bond. Iowa governor is proposing to raise a teacher’s minimum pay from $28,000 to $35,000. Governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina is prosing to get the average salary of teachers at $40,000. Governor Earl Tomblin of West Virginia, who states “teachers are the backbone of everything that makes our gardens grow”, awarded all teachers with a two percent rise with no strings attached. Tomblin wrote in a later press release that some West Virginia schools are already starting to see an increase in student’s performance after the teacher salary increase. 

Now you might ask, how can we find a solution to such a broad topic- a topic that includes so many factors, such as state, school district, and the school the teacher is teaching. 

The answer is equal pay, no matter the district or state. The US Bureau Labor Statistics reported the median annual salary for teachers was $57,200 in the year 2015. I believe a respected amount of pay for teachers would be $85,600 annually. However, I do realize that could cause major controversy throughout America, with those who do not agree and it may be difficult to get the funds to support the increase in teacher’s salary. With that being said I believe each school district should give their teacher’s the average annual pay of $57,200. The government can start by increasing a teachers pay by 5% each year, if they do not see a result in a student’s school performance the state can decide on its own if they would like to take away the 5% increase in pay, increase the percentage, or decrease the percentage. If the 5% yearly increase is not of interest teacher’s can get an increase of compensation based on the result of their student’s test scores. An alternative of increasing teacher’s pay could also be teacher’s benefits, such as health care. Teacher’s shape the outcome of today’s society, therefore we need to value the frame of reference toward educators, 

Note: I realize my conclusion is iffy and that my in-cite sources are not included. I am having trouble with my conclusion and am planning to schedule an appointment with you to get advice on how to write my conclusion. My background of my conclusion (2nd body paragraph) is also not complete. :
