On Monday’s edition of the outstanding NPR podcast Planet Money, the hosts looked at the issue of teacher pay.
During the program they reviewed the many factors that might go into differentiating salaries and spoke with an economist about how the system under which most K12 teachers in the US are paid compares to employee compensation in the real world.
This short discussion is one of the best overviews of the subject I’ve ever heard, possibly because it’s coming from people who are not teachers (although the mother of one of the hosts is), politicians, or education “experts”.
It’s well worth spending 20-minutes of your time to listen.
And if you’re at all interested in an approach to understanding the economy and personal finance that’s very different from what is produced by the talking heads channels, subscribe to this podcast.
Jessica
I am a 3rd grade teacher and I worry what will happen to our school environments when teachers are paid for test scores!