Discrimination in Schools — Math and Science Teachers Underpaid
The Seattle Post in Washington reports that science and math teachers are paid less than teachers of other subjects. Nineteen out of thirty Washington school districts pay math and science teachers less than high school instructors of other subjects. When we are taught throughout elementary and high school that math is a subject we must take seriously as it is used in every job that you get in life, why are its teachers paid less? Especially with the subject of science, this subject its extensive as it involves labs, dissecting and a lot of hands on lessons, it seems odd that science teachers also get paid less than other teachers.
Schools that discriminate against its teachers are wrong. Since teachers are unionized why isn’t the union protecting the math and science teachers as equal teachers like the history and English instructors? They say that because Math and Science teachers leave schools before they receive promotions since they are recruited out of their jobs to higher tech companies that pay higher than teaching jobs. How are schools going to be able to hire and keep effective math and science teachers if they are easily swayed to other companies because of the low pay they are receiving from the schools?
Its important for schools to keep and maintain good relationships with its math and science teachers as these subjects are important for students to do well in college. The better-prepared students get with their math and science classes in high school, the easier the transition will be when going from high school to college. Since math is such a fundamental subject why aren’t schools paying the math teachers more to keep them at the schools and help the students do better in the math subjects.
If math teachers are constantly being recruited out of schools to higher paying tech jobs, then schools are also constantly hiring new math and science teachers to fill their places. This results in inexperienced math and science teachers coming into the schools and teaching students a subject that is so fundamental for a student’s success in their educational career. Students deserve to have well educated and well-experienced teachers teaching them these subjects as they are subjects that you either get or don’t get. Teachers need to have experience in teaching a diverse group of students with different learning abilities and learning speeds. Some students learn different than others and students need that individualized attention that only comes from teachers that have had years of experience in actual classrooms working with a group of students with different learning abilities.
Its so important for students to learn from effective and experienced teachers. If such important subjects in schools are being taught year by year by new teachers since the pay is son low that they are getting recruited faster than the school can promote them or give them raises, it seems that the schools should start the pay higher. In turn this will get students getter grades, better test score and in turn, better school ratings.
Author Bio: Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. For more information please visit Seattle School Rankings and Public School Rankings
Category: Education
Keywords: seattle schools, seattle school rankings, seattle school report, public school rankings