When Dairrai Doliber comes to class at 7:40 am to teach high school social studies, there is a good chance that she slept only five hours. This is because it was probably worked as a cashier until 9:30 or 10 at night.
32-year-old teacher in suburban Detroit is running up to 20 hours a week in a clothing store, earning minimum wage to help Supplement her 38,000 $full time teacher’s salary. She also takes evening classes to get a master’s degree, which is hoping to increase her salary when she graduates in a few years.
“I can’t remember the last time I had a day off,” Doliber said VOKS during one of her breaks. “I have always had this understanding that I will never be rich as a teacher, but I never thought it would be so hard to live on a teacher’s salary.”
Public school teachers worked part time for the summer, but they are more likely than ever to also combine several jobs during the school year. During the 2015-’16 school year, 17.9 percent of public school teachers worked in other jobs, according to the latest data of the National center of statistics in the field of education (nces). (After school coaching and other extracurricular activities are not considered as part time jobs in the survey.) This is the largest percentage was more than 10 years and is slightly higher than it was in the midst of the great recession.
Public school teachers now about five times more likely than the average us full-time worker part-time. Only about 3.3% of all workers in the United States part time in 2016, based on average calculated with figures from the Bureau of labor statistics of the United States.
Also another dataset, based on another national study, conducted by the Bureau of labor statistics shows that the teachers be more active in working a part time job on the side, although the gap between the two groups is smaller.
In recent weeks, with dozens of teachers across the country sent in their stories for VOX about how difficult it is to earn a living as a teacher in America. Many expressed their disappointment, as they had to take one or two additional jobs just to make ends meet. This is because they have not received a raise in years or up not enough to keep pace with the cost of living. As noted by Alvin VOX Chan, public school teachers earn less than they did 10 years ago after adjusting for inflation.
Before the first class bell rings, many teachers Newspapers, drive buses or work in places of deprivation of liberty. After school and on weekends, they can work as cashiers in supermarkets, lyft drivers, or servers of the restaurant. It’s tiring.
“I didn’t know it would be so difficult to make a living,” said Victor Gonzalez, a school teacher ESL in Oklahoma, who works two jobs during the week — one as custodian, and how digital video operator. “We’re still trying to figure out how to make ends meet”.
The growing financial stress has become the Central focus in the battle for pay-teachers play across the country, from West Virginia to Oklahoma to Arizona. Teachers say the strike is the only way legislators will listen. He worked in West Virginia.
States spend less on education than before
One of the reasons why teachers are making less money and juggling more jobs, because U.S. public school is experiencing a funding crisis. The crisis began during the great recession, as tax revenues dried up and lawmakers to cut state budgets. Then it became much worse in red States like Oklahoma and Arizona after lawmakers cut income and business taxes.
The us economy is recovering and wages for workers in the private sector begin to grow. But teachers do not see their situation improve. Most States still spend less on education than they were before the crisis, according to analysis from the Center on budget and policy priorities. The legislators of West Virginia, Oklahoma and Arizona resisted the pressure to raise taxes to pay teachers more and increase funding for public schools.
That’s why teachers in Oklahoma have shared pictures like these in recent weeks:
Teachers say that they have to work additional jobs to pay the bills
Teachers have traditionally ranked at the top of the list of workers most likely to have a second job, along with social workers and firefighters.
This is likely a combination of several factors, says dick Starts, a Professor of Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Teachers have skills that make it easy to get a job after school Tutors, they have set schedules that allow them to pick up evening shifts, and, of course, they are notoriously underpaid.
“The low level of remuneration of teachers is an incredibly issues,” said a Starts. “When You pay more, there are two possible consequences: You give people an incentive to work harder or you are attracted to a different set of people in the workplace.”
Teachers who responded to the VOX said that they have to work a second job to pay your bills.
Nancy Munoz, special education teachers in suburban Phoenix, said she took the Elevator a few years ago and is engaged in online tutoring to pay her loans and student loans.
Her salary approximately 50 000 $doesn’t stretch as far as it used to be. Muñoz and her husband, who works as a programmer, I had to refinance their house four times to help ease their financial burden. They couldn’t even help her daughter pay for College.
“I don’t think that [society is] the work that we do, because they think that anybody can teach,” said muñoz.
Teachers Arizona asked the state legislators by 20 percent raise. But it seems like a huge allowance, the salary of teachers in the state has not kept pace with cost of living. The average salary of teachers in Arizona, adjusted for inflation, decreased by 12.9% compared to 2003.
The majority of the 20 percent raise to offset the rising cost of living. The Republican Governor, Doug Ducey, rejected the request and said that teachers must adhere to the 1 percent bump they passed last year.
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Is it possible that the rise of the gig economy made it more for people who would otherwise not have a second job, to go out and have a perk? The gig economy has certainly made it easier for us workers, in the moonlight, but the teachers told me who drive for uber or lyft said that they should find another job if that’s not an option. All the teachers I said, and all those who mentioned working part time in the poll box, said that they had to take a second job to pay your bills. No one said they did it for unnecessary spending of money, although it is possible that many teachers do.
Economists from Harvard and Princeton held one of the largest studies on this topic, which showed significant growth in the United States the proportion of workers in the gig economy from 2005 to 2015. However, they said that the sample did not give them to determine the direction of the trend made it more likely for employees to work part-time.
Teachers say they are exhausted during the school day
There is little research on teachers who work several jobs, so it is difficult to assess the impact on their life or career.
In 2011, the study, researchers from northwestern University and the University of California found that additional hours for part-time work was associated with higher levels of teacher burnout and lower commitment to training.
The study surveyed a small sample of 461 high school teachers who also coached sports and debate teams in 46 States and the district of Columbia. He was not looking specifically for teachers who work off campus.
But the impact on the morale of teachers reflects the experience of teachers that spoke in the VOX. All four who spoke at Vaux said they thought about leaving at some point because of financial stress. So did many teachers, who wrote to the VOKS.
“I love kids, but this is tedious,” wrote Michelle dunaway, a middle school teacher in Missouri. “There is a reason for teachers to leave the profession and why young teachers are going to this or that areas as I can’t find qualified people. If you want great teachers, you will have to pay them. Or they will go somewhere else and make more money. No one should have to work three jobs to make ends meet”.
Worked several jobs, also affects their learning.
Annie Johnson, an ESL teacher in Pinellas County, Florida, said that teaching private lessons GED four hours every evening, often makes her feel “mentally numb”.
“I don’t feel that I’m on the mark,” said Johnson, who has a master’s degree and 24 years of teaching experience, and earns $52,000 per year. “I have so many plates spinning. I always wonder if I’m giving 110 percent like I wanted.”
Dairrai Doliber, social studies teacher in Michigan, echoes her thoughts.
“I always wanted to create lessons that I know are not interesting for my students, and improve on these lessons, but be sure there will come a day when I came in and my energy level is not quite there,” Doliber said VOX. “I can’t help but think, if I had a little more time, I could make it a better lesson.”
Public school teachers in Oklahoma, announced a strike Monday, demanding state lawmakers to raise wages. They have not received a raise in 10 years, and Oklahoma is 49th in average teacher salaries.
Teachers in private Facebook groups, Teacher in Oklahoma a strike, an algebra teacher in the Yukon, published this message.
“I coach 2 Sports, uber, lyft, drive a school bus route, bus ride to Oklahoma city, and judge in little League … anything to help pay the bills (and skip a lot of time at home with my 2 little girls to do it). I know I’m not the only one who has to do this. What are your side gigs? To go.”
He got 1,300 responses.
Help our reporting on the salaries of teachers
You are a teacher who has seen your pay stagnate or go down for years? To complete this form.
Sourse: vox.com
