I do agree. They work really hard and have to put up with a lot for no more than they get.

teachers don't get the pay or the recognition they deserve.

Agree. It used to be seen as a noble profession - which it is - but sadly we are living in topsy-turvy "Paris Hilton" times.

True

I think SOME teachers do not get the pay or recognition they deserve. I also think SOME teachers are wildly over paid, when I look at their performance.

They should get better jobs if they truly deserve more.

Pay and recognition dissatisfaction occurs in every industry - individuals, not professions should be rewarded for their performance. Why do teachers wallow so much? If one is dissatisifed they should change professions. Teachers have many benfits the rest of us working folk don't - summers off!

You bet! I wouldn't do it for $100K a year! ;-)

true, teachers have to put up with alot of crap especially form teenagers, but hey they get mini fridges =P

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Totally, I marvel at the workload of most elementary school teachers, we practically live at work anymore.

Yep! As a teacher, the hardest part of the work isn't even dealing with teenagers on hormones, drugs or with no motivation...it's the bureaucracy and the papers to fill in and the meetings that serve no purpose other than making you stay at school until 5 o'clock to say nothing and the lack of budget.... the kids I can deal with, the rest is crap.

Yes, I agree. Especially in the cities, teaching has become a very dangerous profession. Teachers not only are disrespected by the students, they are verbally abused and physically threatened by them. +5

I believe that teachers should be paid on their performance so that those who are truly great can get the pay and recognition they deserve and those who are less capable can move on to another profession. I don't know why teachers should be excluded from the principle that our country runs on: better work means better pay. . In short: Some are overpaid, some are underpaid.

I do agree. I think that we should make state and national representatives and congress people's salaries no higher than than the average public educators (and possibly fire fighters and police) in their states.

I agree for the teachers that are in that profession for the right reasons. I have come across teachers that only care about the 3 months off in the summer and don't help the kids in anyway. Those who are dedicated deserve the compensation and recognition. +5

Teachers actually get better pay than a lot of people think as they don't work for roughly a quarter of the year. They still don't get paid much. . Recognition they get. All they can eat, really. Backbone of America, teaching Future Generations, blah, blah, blah. . I think they'd rather have the cash. . And they'd rather not have to worry about discipline. I am disgusted by lawsuit-shy administrators who won't bounce a kid out of school when he can't behave or can't learn. No teacher should be afraid of students. Students should be afraid of teachers and most especially principals. . And don't get me started on the busy work of 'lesson plans', chaperoning, recess and lunch duties or the ridiculous endless meetings that happen before school ever starts and at random times throughout the year. . A lot of teachers aren't that great. A lot of schools aren't that great. A lot of parents aren't that great. Most admin people just plain suck. . If I was a teacher I think I'd strike for better working conditions and not worry about the pay until later.

There was a time I completely agreed but I think their pay has become more reasonable. In my district they get a tremendous amount of respect and recognition and are paid much higher than average, but we are not the average school district.

where i am teachers are earning seventy five thousand dollars and because it is considered more country town she also gets reduced rent and it is a public school she is teaching in ,and she is very happy at what pay she gets and if you earn that every year you are doing o.k

To me, the purpose of education isn't about the money. As a teenager I wasn't the brightest student but that was just the beginning of my journey. Soon enough I was classified as dysfunctional and sent to the "bad" kid school. Before that transition I began to have revelations, optimism and good. While at this school I began changing these student's lives; I became a leader. Soon enough I motivated the entire student body to become more involved in education, leave their poor manners, and even take better care for themselves. One of the students, I'm proud to say, was encouraged by me in my weights class to shed 60 pounds and take his classes more seriously. Overall I learned that my duty as an educator would be to encourage people to meet their true potentials. In fact my experience there is what encouraged me to become an educator. For myself it's not about the money, it's having an impact on the lives that make up our world. Sure enough we may face financial hardships but to attempt to change a life for the better has more value than money can ever buy. I noticed a comment earlier on not becoming a teacher because of they pay but that disregards the true aspect of why a teacher is a teacher. Sure we can face many criticisms and under appreciation but that is only out of ignorance. Educators build the foundation for their students, this is what was fought for since the earliest of times and until this day. Once in America education wasn't free, people had lived their lives without any basic skills but those passed on by their families. We build the foundation of the future, we do our part to bring knowledge to everyone and even those who criticized us in the first place who should reconsider that without educators there would be a lot of consequences and complications with our modern day society. So spare those who are ignorant, spare those who under appreciate us. Only we know our true movement and function that in my case shouldn't be guided by money but by pride. Knowing the difference you have implicated in so many lives, knowing that this profession has value like no other. I must apologize for the length of my response but please understand where I'm coming from on this issue. If helping others gain knowledge meanwhile enriching good values were not the key principles in this profession that you sought then I suggest you reconsider what you want to do. If you take offense to this that isn't my intention, my intentions are only to express my point of view on what should primarily drive educators because I always hear "I wish I had more money" well, I'm on the same boat but I'm not abandoning the ship just because of financial issues. This is the profession I chose to do, it what I was meant to do. And if sacrificing pay is a consequence, so be it. I wouldn't want to be in an operation room performing surgery just to earn a good sum of money, Doctors do save lives and impact society in a great way. Regardless, I wanted to be an educator because I felt it was what satisfied me most. Overall there are higher satisfying aspects of teaching than the belittlement of the profession through money and judgement.