Elementary School Teacher Wages
What Does A School Teacher Earn?
For those that are interested in working with children and educating their young, eager minds, the horror stories that you might have heard about elementary school teacher wages may be enough to make you consider taking a different career path. If you truly have a passion for education or for working with youth, however, you shouldn’t let what you have heard about elementary school teacher wages make you turn your back on this profession.
While elementary school teacher wages may not be as much as you might receive for other careers that involve a comparable amount of education, you can still earn a very nice living as an elementary school teacher and you can feel great about yourself while doing it. In addition, elementary school teacher wages may actually be a bit better than what you might have thought.
According to the American Federation of Teachers, the average starting salary for teachers during the 2003-2004 school year was $31,704. In addition, elementary school teacher wages averaged $46,597 during the 2003-2004 school year. When considering that elementary school teachers generally work less than 40 hours per week and receive summers and many other days off throughout the year, these elementary school teacher wages are actually quite attractive. In fact, when broken down into an hourly wage, elementary school teacher wages can easily be $30 or more per hour.
In addition to these base elementary school teacher wages, a teacher can take on additional duties in order to earn more money. For example, many schools have paid extracurricular activities that a teacher can take on in order to bring in more cash. These may include sponsoring a club or coaching a sport. Of course, elementary school teacher wages can also be coupled with the wages a teacher earns through a summer job if he or she wishes to take on more work at this time. Or, the teacher may choose to simply take the time off and relax after putting in a rewarding year at school.
