How about if we restrict it to math and science teachers, particularly at the junior high and high school level?
Someone with a masters degree in math or the sciences can often find a better-paying job than teaching at that level in the public schools, and the better-paying job will probably not require them to go to school for two extra years to get an additional degree in education so they can qualify for a teaching certificate, which is what a person with a masters or even a Ph. D. in math or science would have to do in order to meet the requirements for teaching K-12 in most, if not all, states.
Also, there are a couple of other things to consider. Most districts have a pay grid where each column is your years as a K-12 teacher, and each row is a certain number of college credit hours beyond bachelor degree. For example, a first year teacher who took no masters level classes over the summer will start off getting the pay rate in column 1, row 1. The next year, they automatically go to column 2, row 1. Let's say their district allows you to progress one row for every 10 credit hours towards a masters degree, If you manage to take 10 hours before your second year as a teacher, you will start your second year in column 2, row 2.
This column and row system does not take into account any experience gained outside of the education field. If you have a Ph.D. in Physics but no experience in teaching K-12, in most districts in MO you would start in column 1, row 8 or 9, making between $36,000 and $40,000 per year. By the same token, I have a friend who started working at QuikTrip right out of high school. He eventually became a manager, and after working at QuikTrip for about 8 years total (about equivalent of 4 years for an undergrad degree, 2 for a masters, and 2 for a Ph.D.), he was making $42,000 per year. Lets say a person from his same high school graduating class became a music teacher. Around here, it takes most people 5 years to get an undergrad music education degree. Add 3 years of teaching experience to that, and this music teacher will be making about $30,000 or $31,000, assuming they've progressed a row or two toward their masters degree, which I might add is money that they had to spend from that $30,000 per year.
Also, Missouri has a 3-tiered certification program. The first tier is a 3 year non-renewable certification, and during that 3 years, you have to be mentored by another teacher in your school and participate in a beginning-teacher assistance program (among other requirements), even if your previous job was 15 years as a college professor. Missouri is certainly not alone in this type of system. Tier 2 certification is 7 years non-renewable and Tier 3 is 10 years, renewable as often as necessary. During Tier 2, if you are required to complete at least 12 hours of graduate level classes (more money you have to spend) in order to be eligible for Tier 3.
The last I heard, more that 70% of teachers with *current* certifications (i.e., received a certification within the past 10 years at most) in Missouri were working in professions other than teaching. Also, last I heard the average amount of time that someone spends as a public school teacher in Missouri before moving on to another career is 5 years.
That's 5 years, *average*. There are some career teachers who spend 30 or 40 years working for a district before retiring. How many teachers have to quit after 1 or 2 or 3 years to pull the average all the way down to 5?
Pay for teachers doesn't start very high and doesn't progress very quickly, and from that meager pay you are required to spend money in order to continue to work in the field. I believe strongly that standards for teachers should be high, but the pay should be commensurate. The pay should certainly be higher that what you can make at QuikTrip.
Reggie Bautista
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