Siegel: Teaching and an inequality in salaries

By Murray Siegel

You would be surprised to learn that an airline pilot responsible for the safety of 150 or more passengers earned an annual salary of $40,936. You would be shocked to learn that a family doctor is receiving an annual salary of $40,936.

Yet you would neither be surprised nor shocked to learn that a teacher in the Maricopa School District with five years of teaching experience, and responsible for the learning foundation of 25 to 200 students (depending on grade level and subject area), has an annual salary of $40,936.

Yes, but teachers get three months off in the summer so the difference in pay is understandable. A pilot’s hours are limited by the FAA. Most pilots have time for a second source of income. Some own a travel agency or dabble in real estate or fly for the Reserves or the Guard. Many physicians take time off, perhaps every other Wednesday or they leave early on Friday. Certainly patient hours in the evening or on weekends can be left to associates.

What is the reason for the significant difference between a pilot, a physician and a school teacher? All three professions demand knowledge, have a certification process, and impose serious responsibilities upon the professional.

If one flashes back to the mid-20th century, one will find almost all airline pilots and most physicians were men, while the vast majority of teachers were women. There is no question that the disparity in earnings between teachers and other professionals is based on the gender inequality that existed 60 years ago, and that inequity has persisted.

Another interesting difference between teachers and the other two professions is how the individual is evaluated. A doctor whose patients fail to follow health advice is not castigated if those patients become severely ill or die. An airline pilot is evaluated on flying skills. If passengers fail to heed the pilot’s warning to fasten seat belts and are then injured due to violent turbulence, the pilot does not suffer a poor rating.

A teacher, however, is evaluated based on the performance of his/her students. If many of the students have uncaring parents, subsist on a poor diet, live in a dysfunctional family or are abused, these factors are not considered when viewing the students’ scores on standardized tests.

If our schools are to provide students with the education needed for success in the future, should we not demand the very best teachers, provide salaries that are commensurate with a teacher’s abilities and evaluate those abilities in an equitable manner?

Murray Siegel is a Maricopa resident. He has a PhD in Math Ed and 42 years of teaching experience. He and his wife Sharon are volunteer teachers of advanced math classes at Butterfield Elementary School.

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This column appears in the October issue of InMaricopa.