Why teachers are WAY overpaid

(The Teachers of Promise Institute)

This past Friday I did something I had solemnly sworn forevermore to do as little as possible - I dressed up in a suit and tie.

The impetus for this momentary lapse in sanity was due to my attending the annual Teachers of Promise Institute gathering near Richmond VA. Established in 2004 by my friend and fellow Bristol native, Wade Whitehead, the Institute seeks to identify and recognize the very best prospective teachers from college and university schools of education across Virginia. To date, the Institute has honored and mentored more than 3,900 Teachers of Promise from three dozen institutions of higher education.

Wade invites me each year to serve as one of the mentors for these very bright and enthusiastic soon-to-be teachers. Visit online to find out more: teachersofpromiseinstitute.com

Over the years, I’ve found that several of the bright young people I’ve mentored at the Institute have expressed at least some worry regarding “teacher pay”, or the lack thereof.

However, I have developed a time-tested, verified, real-life answer to fully assuage any such worries.

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“So, little boy or little girl, tell me … what would you like to be when you grow up? A fire fighter? A law enforcement officer? A doctor? A lawyer? A sports star? A millionaire? A singer? A scientist?”

“What if you could become every one of those?”

“What if you could also have a job where you could go on living in the lives of countless people - even long after you are dead and gone?”

“Well, there is such a job. It’s called teacher.”

There is no calling in life more valuable to civilization than that of being a teacher. There is no career more integral to the perpetuation of a true democracy. There is no job more universally respected, in any culture throughout the world.

Yes, it’s true that our numerical paychecks could be bigger. But realize this; if good teachers were paid monetarily by the actual time and effort we put in (including all those countless hours after the school doors close - a good teacher’s job is 24/7) no school board could afford to write us a check for what we’re actually “worth” to our community.

(By the way, if think you’re too old to become a teacher, age is not a big factor. I didn’t begin teaching until I was 32, as I had other careers prior. Career changes can be wonderful. In fact, some of the best teachers I’ve ever known often had other careers first.)

Because I was a teacher; at this very moment … I am a firefighter and a law enforcement officer right here in my hometown of Bristol. I am a surgeon in Johnson City, a defense attorney in Knoxville, a former pitcher for the world champion Chicago Cubs, a real estate tycoon in Charlotte, a singer on a cruise ship in the Caribbean, and I’m a scientist working at NASA on a future mission to Mars. Oh, and although I’ve supposedly been retired for five years now, I am still teaching in countless other different classrooms across several different states - as many of my former students have themselves become teachers.

I should also mention that I am a high school dropout single mom with four children, constantly struggling to fight addiction. But I make sure my children do their best in school. Life is hard for me, but I refuse to give up. (There are many ways to define wealth and success.)