The To Be Honest in Issue 960 about teachers leaving the classroom because of the low pay generated a buzz. Here’s some more of it

Across the Board Problem — Bracha Poliakoff

I’m so appreciative of Leah Klein’s recent article about teachers leaving the field because of the low pay. As we all know, high-quality Jewish education is essential to the strength of our community. Yet we’re currently facing a serious pipeline problem in education. Very few strong candidates are entering the field to replace those who retire or leave.

Recent research by Prizmah and the Mayberg Foundation confirms this reality: Teacher recruitment and retention are significant challenges across much, if not all, of the Jewish community.

While various solutions have been proposed by Prizmah and others, change is slow and requires substantial resources. In the meantime, the situation is worsening. Many schools are still recruiting teachers well into the school year. I recently heard of a Modern Orthodox school that received a $1million donation dedicated solely to teacher recruitment and retention initiatives — because the problem is that urgent.

If we don’t act, our children will be left without qualified teachers — some already are. How will it impact their education and development if their teachers lack the skills, training, and discipline strategies needed to teach effectively? When schools, desperate to fill positions, are forced to put any “warm body” in the classroom, with fewer opportunities to be selective in hiring?

As parents, we should find this deeply concerning. As a community, we must dedicate time and resources to finding and implementing solutions. Our children’s futures depend on it.

Not Just a Little Lower — Sarah Rivkah Kohn

I read the article on keeping the stars in the classroom and the subsequent letters.

I don’t know if people know the numbers, but they aren’t “a little” lower, they’re incredibly low.

Just to put in perspective: I began as an English teacher 23 years ago earning… $600 a month. The next year I switched schools and got $880 a month. And the next year they asked me to take on an extra project so they could “justify” paying me $1080 a month.

The next year I was offered a job at an office for similar hours for $550 a week…$2200 a month. I finally could pay my rent and groceries….

I know things have gotten better in many mosdos but a school in Brooklyn recently offered an excellent teacher with four years’ experience… $400 a week to work five days a week. About $20 an hour… when basic office jobs are paying $30-$35 an hour to high school graduates.

Something else: When my husband began as a rebbi about the time I was entering my third year of teaching, he, too, was a starter with zero experience. I’ll never forget the punch in the gut I felt when his salary was about double mine in the same community for similar hours. And it still remains a thing….

And to this day, in many schools, teachers of limudei kodesh are paid more. I have heard a lot about this, but I’ll say this: As someone who taught both, it takes real skill to try and begin the day with kids who are already all wound up from an entire morning of learning. Don’t let the afternoons become wasted time with little talent there.

I don’t usually kvetch when I don’t have a solution, and I very much don’t, but I do not think most of the world is being transparent enough about the numbers, and some are making it seem like the other jobs pay “better” when it’s not about better… it’s about livable.

Intellectually Dishonest — A Reader

In the Inbox letter, “Do the Math,” a reader asserted that, “comparative studies show that while the hourly rate for a non-teaching job may be considerably higher than for a teaching job, this often doesn’t include holiday pay. When you factor in holiday pay, per annum salaries for teachers are often higher than non-teaching jobs. Do the math.”

Which comparative studies show this? Presenting a broad statement like this, that flies in the face of the literally below-poverty-level lifestyles that teachers in our communities often live, is intellectually dishonest. If you do a serious poll of teaching salaries in our community, you’ll find that 30–40k per year (with obviously no insurance or other benefits) total for full-time work (not including tens of additional hours per week at home) for teachers with decades of experience isn’t the exception, but the norm... and that’s on the high end in many of our communities. That’s not higher than non-teaching jobs! Do the math.

On a practical note, while teachers have off with their children and have summer vacations, a huge number of them can’t afford to do any substantive activities or trips with their children during those vacations, and many also keep their children home for a good part of the summer due to prohibitive camp prices.

Publishing letters like this one is simply misleading. There are definitely possible solutions out there, but covering up the truth is simply not one of them.

Financial Literacy for Teachers — Name Withheld

I was so excited to see the letter titled “Do the Math” in a recent Inbox. Before I even read the letter, I was like, “Yes! Exactly — please DO THE MATH!” It has always seemed that teachers, for all their amazing mailehs, just can’t do some simple math.

However, the letter got a small point wrong. In fact, while their annual salaries are almost guaranteed to be lower than non-teaching jobs, teachers are one of the highest paid hourly employees. And that is because they work many less hours than any other job! Come with me for a minute, and let’s do the math.

Take a teacher who is in the classroom for four hours a day, five days a week. She is working 20 hours a week; most teachers are working less than that. She has 12 weeks off in the summer and about four weeks off throughout the year — Yom Tov, Erev Yom Tov, midwinter, Chanukah vacation, etc. So out of a 52-week year, she works at the very most 36 weeks at this job. 20 hours a week x 36 weeks a year = 720 classroom hours per year, maximum.

Now let’s look at the average office employee. 40 hours per week is standard, and she only gets off for days that are actually Yom Tov, approximately two work weeks per year. 40 hours per week x 50 weeks per year = 2,000 hours per year.

Follow the numbers. Teachers are working less than 36% of the hours that office employees are!

So now let’s crunch the real numbers. You say that you’re a teacher making 35k a year, and that’s not sustainable. Well, in real numbers you are making about $50/hour. If you made that much in a full-time job, you’d be making 97k annually. Suddenly sounds a bit more reasonable for a first-year employee, no?

For the record, most teachers are making more annually, and have less classroom hours, which translates into a much higher hourly rate. My friend, 20 years old and with two years of experience, was asked to teach a class for 45 minutes, four days a week, for just ten thousand dollars. Sounds pitiful? She was making almost $90/hour, or the equivalent of $175,000/year in a full-time position. Generous? Maybe not. Underpaid? Definitely not.

Now, I know what you’re saying, nay screaming, at me: What about all the after-hours or out-of-classroom work? The prep, the calls with parents, the marking, etc., etc.? So I hear you. But let’s just say we propose a solution. All teachers would be paid for a 40-hour work week — and would have to be present in the actual school building for all that time. They would use the hours (and hours and hours) they’re not in the classroom for any out-of-classroom work.

“Wait,” you say now. “I can’t give up my mornings, I can’t give up my Fridays, my Erev Yom Tov. That’s why I’m a teacher! I want this schedule!”

Yes, actual teachers have said this to me.

In that case, we can all agree that you’re not actually working 40 hours a week outside or inside the classroom. So what if we propose that you get paid by the actual hours you work. No problem. By that logic, your annual salary is going to decrease year over year, as your experience increases and your preparation decreases. Yes, that’s even factoring an annual hourly raise. Ah, now we really see all the teachers getting behind this idea.

Teachers, still not sure if you’re making a fair salary? Take your salary and double it, triple it, maybe quadruple it. Happy with any of those numbers? That’s how much you’re making for the hours you’re working.

Just one more thought. I’m an accountant (you can tell, no?), and yes, maybe I am making more than a teacher my age, even per hour. But guess what. I put about 40k into my education. I spent hours — hours! — on my schoolwork, about four years’ worth of FULL evenings and nights to get my degree and CPA. I wasn’t reimbursed for any expenses or for my time. Rather, the money and time I put in was an investment. And just like any worthwhile investment, it’s paying dividends now, a few years down the line.

I’m yet young and can’t speak for the experiences of older, more experienced teachers. But I’ve spoken to many teachers up until the age of 30, and the vast majority have no idea what their actual annual salary is, what their hourly rate is using just worked hours, or even how to read a paycheck.

Find another side income, try to bargain for a raise, start a fundraising campaign. Switch jobs, if that’s what you feel is best for you. But don’t blame your missing financial skills as Klal Yisrael’s failure.

(Originally featured in Family First, Issue 964)