Across our nation, teacher strikes have repeatedly occurred as a result of teachers’ demands for increased pay.
One instructor revealed her salary online by posting her pay stub after deciding to participate in the debate. And it created a lot of commotion.
Elisabeth Coate Milich took a step that most people would never take. In an effort to raise awareness about teacher salary in a nation where people rarely discuss money matters in public, an Arizona school teacher decided to share her pay stub on social media for everyone to see.
Milich aimed to demonstrate that, even with the extensive education needed to become an educator, she and her peers are unable to earn a livable salary. According to TODAY, Milich’s Facebook post revealed that, despite being taken down due to the overwhelming negative comments she received, she only saw a $131 increase in pay in a year, going from $35,490 to $35,621.
In her article, Milich said, “I actually laughed when I saw the old salary versus the new one.”
“To make this, do I need a college degree? I am aware that I don’t have a large income, but then when
It’s in black and white for me. I’m in awe! Even if I genuinely enjoy teaching, the pay is so low that it is unsustainable.”
As reported by CBS News, Milich, a longtime educator who teaches second grade at Phoenix’s Whispering Wind Academy, says she contemplated whether or not to share her salary online. Ultimately, she made the decision that she wanted to depict the true cost of teaching in her state, even if Milich’s situation is more dire than others.
While it is true that Arizona employs some of the lowest-paid public school teachers in the country, Milich’s check stub does not accurately reflect the average wage of these instructors.
Instead, the average income is $47,218; nevertheless, it’s still low when you consider that the national average is $58,353 per year, according to National Education Association Research.
She made sure to highlight the fact that teachers are frequently forced to foot the bill for student supplies like tape and markers without receiving payment, even if those figures sound far better than the impression Milich’s photo conveyed. Even now, twenty years after her college graduation, she is still making loan payments on her student debt.
Milich claims she would be in dire straits if it weren’t for her husband’s income, and she is aware of this since some of her fellow educators aren’t as fortunate to have a second source of income. Milich clarified, “My teacher friends that I work with, they work three and four jobs to make ends meet.” She went on, “I know kindergarten teachers who work all day and then go wait tables at Applebee’s.”
She asserted, “If you are a single person trying to make it on what we make, you couldn’t do it,” and research seems to support her argument that teaching is becoming an unsustainable career. Indeed, a 2017 investigation conducted by Arizona State University’s
According to the Morrison Institute for Public Policy, Arizona’s teacher retention and recruitment rates are at “crisis” levels. According to the survey, Arizona is the lowest paid elementary school teachers in the nation, and 42% of teachers hired in 2013 quit their jobs within three years.
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