teach1st
08-16-2005, 05:08 AM
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/orl-teacherpay1505aug15,0,4408415.story?coll=sfla-news-florida
When she started teaching, Susan Hemings got by on scrambled eggs or rice and beans -- the best meals her $13,000 salary could buy.
Almost 20 years later, thanks partly to a second degree and extra certification, the middle-school reading teacher's salary has almost tripled. Yet she still needs a second job selling homes in New Smyrna Beach to pay the bills.
Laura Gill gets up at 2 a.m. every day to toss newspapers into people's yards, and that's before the teacher heads to Woodward Avenue Elementary in DeLand.
There are thousands of teachers like Hemings and Gill in Central Florida. They clean houses, wait tables, teach night school, tutor, baby-sit or coach -- whatever it takes to supplement the salaries that don't always keep up with the increased demands of a job that has gone beyond imparting knowledge. Today, society's toughest challenges can end up at the classroom door.
Just how much should teachers be worth?
At least $40,000 to start, the National Education Association argues. Last month, the nation's largest teachers union urged school districts to boost the average national starting salary by 34 percent, up from $29,733 -- a call that has sparked new debate about the value of teaching.
Read more (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/orl-teacherpay1505aug15,0,4408415.story?coll=sfla-news-florida)
When she started teaching, Susan Hemings got by on scrambled eggs or rice and beans -- the best meals her $13,000 salary could buy.
Almost 20 years later, thanks partly to a second degree and extra certification, the middle-school reading teacher's salary has almost tripled. Yet she still needs a second job selling homes in New Smyrna Beach to pay the bills.
Laura Gill gets up at 2 a.m. every day to toss newspapers into people's yards, and that's before the teacher heads to Woodward Avenue Elementary in DeLand.
There are thousands of teachers like Hemings and Gill in Central Florida. They clean houses, wait tables, teach night school, tutor, baby-sit or coach -- whatever it takes to supplement the salaries that don't always keep up with the increased demands of a job that has gone beyond imparting knowledge. Today, society's toughest challenges can end up at the classroom door.
Just how much should teachers be worth?
At least $40,000 to start, the National Education Association argues. Last month, the nation's largest teachers union urged school districts to boost the average national starting salary by 34 percent, up from $29,733 -- a call that has sparked new debate about the value of teaching.
Read more (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/orl-teacherpay1505aug15,0,4408415.story?coll=sfla-news-florida)