American teachers spend the most hours in classroom
American teachers spend more hours in the classroom than their peer across the globe, according to an education report from the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). The report outlines the state of education in the world’s most developed countries.
The report shows that American elementary school teachers spend more hours teaching students than any other country surveyed. American middle and high school teachers spend more time educating students than peers in every OECD country except Chile. In addition to classroom time, US teachers are also required to be at school more hours than their international peers.
Despite the long hours, teachers in American aren’t compensated well, explains OECD director of education and skills Andreas Schleicher. The pay, compared to other countries, is competitive in the US; however, it lags behind that of other American workers with college educations.
The OECD report shows American teachers see smaller salary increases than their foreign counterparts; in the most recent year surveyed, the average teacher with 15 years of experience saw a salary increase of 32.6 percent. The US average was just 26.6 percent.
A study from the Center for American Progress in July found that slow salary growth is a contributing factor to the high turnover rate. Research shows that 13 percent of teachers leave the profession or take a position at a new school every year.
I think that the time teachers spend in the classroom, both with students present and without, is appropriate to get the job done in many cases. However, I do hope we can find a way to improve salaries so teachers earn what they deserve. Teachers should have at least a middle-class existence. Our nation needs to quickly learn how to attract and retain top teachers in order to best educate our children.
American teachers work really hard and unfortunately, their compensation doesn’t match that. However, many teachers didn’t go into the profession to make big money; they sought out the career to help students. I’m very thankful for all of the selfless and hardworking educators out there!
Thank you,
Retired teacher
Unless you are a teacher yourself, you have no idea how much prep work and behind the scenes things are needed to run a successful classroom. This means spending time in the classroom after the kids are gone, your evenings at home and weekends getting ready/grading, etc. American teachers are worth every penny they earn — and then some.
I’ve been told by a lot of teachers already to expect to spend more time than just school hours doing my job, and I”m okay with that. I think that most up and coming teachers realize that just comes with the job.
Teachers also get the most time off. We talk about these long hours that they work but we forget that it basically evens out the rest of the year. I’m sick of hearing teachers complain about their jobs.
Just in case you don’t know…we do not get paid when we don’t work. People mistakenly believe we are paid during summer vacations. We are not, or winter break or… Anyway, if you read the article you will see that they are comparing salaries vs time spent on the job. Furthermore, teachers don’t complain much at all. Others realize and are pointing out that their pay is not equal to other salaries of equal education experience.
American teachers are heroes — plain and simple. I’m not sure why anyone would even question that. They give of their time year after year, often their money too. They earn every minute of time off and then some.
Thank you from a retired teacher!