Thursday, we’re talking about the money teachers make, and what that tells us about how the profession is valued. We’ll also ask how Utah stacks up and what the state is doing about it.
American teachers are underpaid. Economist Dick Startz comes right out and says it. They’re underpaid compared to what teachers make in other countries, and to other college grads here at home. Money’s not everything, but it does tell us something about how the profession is valued. Thursday, Startz joins us to talk about what has happened with teacher pay in the last decades. We’ll also ask scholar Andrea Rorrer and KUER reporter Lee Hale how Utah stacks up and what the state is doing about it.
If you are a teacher - why do you do it? What keeps you coming back year after year? Do you feel valued for your work? If you have left teaching - why? What are you doing now? Was it the right decision?
We want to hear from you! Send your comments to radiowest@kuer.org
Guests:
- Dick Startz is a Professor of Economics at UC Santa Barbara and an education contributor to Brookings Institution Chalkboard blog. Startz is also the author of the book Profit of Education [Indie bookstores|Amazon]
- Andrea Rorrer is a Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Director of the Utah Education Policy Center at the University of Utah, and Associate Dean in the College of Education
- Lee Hale is KUER's education reporter and a former Middle School teacher. Read his stories Will There Be a Teacher Walkout in Utah? and Keeping Teachers on the Navajo Reservation
See what San Juan School district is doing to recruit and keep teachers in a remote Navajo school. Lee Hale and Kelsie Moore produced this piece about what teacher consistency means for students' success:
