Teacher Salaries
What Do Teachers Earn?
Teacher salaries continually receive a great deal of attention as many people throughout the country comment on how teachers deserve to earn much more than they do. While it is true that teacher salaries are not among the highest salaries in the nation, they do still earn a very attractive amount of money each year. This is particularly true when considering the fact that teachers receive a substantial amount of time off each year, including summer vacation, spring break, and winter vacation.
According to the American Federation of Teachers, starting teacher salaries during the 2003-2004 school year averaged $31,704. The average teacher salaries during that school year, however, were $46,597. When it came to teacher salaries for those working in private schools, however, the averages were generally much less.
The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics also offers information in regard to teacher salaries. According to the Bureau, the median teacher salaries for those working as kindergarten, elementary, middle, and secondary teachers in May 2004 was anywhere fro $41,400. The Bureau reports that the lowest 10% of earners received teacher salaries of $26,703 to $31,180 while the top 10% earned teacher salaries of $66,240 o $71,370. When it came to preschool teacher salaries, however, the earnings were far less. During the same time period, their teacher salaries were a median of $20,980.
There are also many different ways that teacher salaries can receive a little boost. For example, in many school corporations, teachers can take on coaching positions or they can be the sponsor for different clubs and organizations that receive additional pay. Tutoring opportunities or working with special education students that have been removed from the regular school setting are also methods that teachers can use to increase the amount of their salaries each year. Of course, they may also look into summer employment opportunities in order to increase their teacher salaries, such as teaching summer school courses if offered by the school.
