They get incredible benefits, get to retire at age 55, and get 3 months of vacation every year. They always complain about their salary as if they had no idea teachers dont get high pay. Anyway isn't it about helping students succeed in the future?

They complain because they are expected to work very hard and to accept very low pay, especially considering their level of education. The powers that be do not compensate them for the hours they spend outside the classroom (this applies at all educational levels). Moreover, they are often not respected or supported by parents. Let’s consider the specifics of your question.

They get incredible benefits? Not in most districts I’m familiar with. This varies by state and by school district, but the ones I’m aware of are not as good as, for example, working for an auto company or a defense contractor. I know - I’ve worked for all of these.

They get to retire at age 55? I’m not sure where that came from, as I know many teachers who are much older than that, at all educational brackets, and many of them do so in order to have enough income in their older years. And, besides, anyone can retire at age 55 if they save enough. I know a lot more plumbers who have retired early than teachers who have done so.

They get 3 months of vacation? It’s also vacation without pay unless they lower their salaries during the school year so they can have income over the summer. And is it vacation? The teachers I know spend much of the summer preparing lesson plans and such for the school year. I teach (part time) at the college level and I’m busy much of July and all of August preparing for the Fall (and I don’t get a paycheck until the end of September). During the school year they also spend a lot of time at home all night grading homework and tests. No pay for this either.

They had no idea teachers get don’t get high pay? They knew it. But many of them assumed they would get raises commensurate with inflation and level of experience. They generally have not in recent years because taxpayers love to give them additional responsibilities but don’t want to raise their tax rates to pay them well. As a result, the best and brightest potential teachers are more likely to go into something else these days. Ask any dean of a teachers college. Their SAT scores for enrolling students have dropped steadily for many years. It’s also worth noting that teaching is a labor-intensive occupation, so it does not benefit as much from automation as manufacturing and agriculture. Washing machines go down in price over the years because they make increasing use of automation to gain a lot of productivity. The cost of education keeps going up because it’s mostly labor cost. Do you really want to have your child taught by robots so that your school taxes will go down?

Isn’t it about helping students prepare for the future? Yes, which is why so many of them put up with the ^%$%* they are required to these days. But why does it make sense to say that anyone who goes into a field that helps people should automatically assume they will be poorly paid. They have families to take care of and mortgages to pay and so forth. Doctors, nurses, and many other professions are highly paid although their purpose is to help people. And let’s turn that argument around. Would you accept an argument that a hedge fund manager should be paid well because he went into a field that has no redeeming social value except to make lots of money?

Let’s look at the REAL reason teachers are poorly paid. 50 or more years ago, most teachers at the K-12 level were women - at a time when women were poorly paid and had limited career options if they wanted to work. The schedules of school teachers were built around the model of a mother who needed to stay home all summer to take care of her own children. The school tax rates people became accustomed to were based on this situation as well. But today a highly educated woman has a lot more options, many of which pay much better than teaching. And most tax increases for education have gone to provide significantly fancier school buildings and additional services (such as care for the disabled students), rather than to provide significant increases in teacher salary levels.

They say that a society that disrespects plumbers will have poor plumbing. The same concept applies to a society that disrespects teachers. And from what I can see, parents are increasingly likely these days to disrespect teachers - pay them poorly, work them harder, and blame them for all of your child’s bad behaviors. When I was a child, children were taught to respect teachers. Today, too many parents assume their children can do no wrong and the crafty children know that means they can get away with poor behaviors in school.

Source: https://www.quora.com/Why-do-teachers-complain-about-their-pay-so-much

Perfect Money/Payeer here: www..com.ng

Some people just like posting rubbish on nairaland. So because of those weak points you listed above that is why they should be paying #20/#30000 monthly.

You are talking of the retirement and vacation but you don't look into the stressful days they want through during their service. Been in school as early as 6:30/7 a.m Monday to Friday from one class to another talking, writing and performing other activities in order to make you and I succeed.

And also do you think they are happy about the age of retirement. Most of them are still agile and still strong to work and tell me what you want them to be doing after their early retirement with small pensions the govt are paying them.

Well it's your opinion that shows how much you disgust teacher and teaching professional.

I always pray to god to make me successful so that I can give back to my teachers and other teachers around me. God bless our teachers.

The point is: Private teachers are among the most poorly paid in the country and there are many reasons behind that.