Re: ‘Do Teachers Get Paid Enough?’

To the Editor: 
How does one judge if teachers make enough? There is no doubt that teachers have a challenging job.
As I read the piece, “Do Teachers Get Paid Enough,” in the Jan. 25 Herald, the writer was using national and state averages, and she omitted some important facts that should be considered.
For example, teachers work 160 days per year compared to the 260 days those with other careers work. A teacher’s contractual schedule calls for a 6.5-hour workday per union contract. 
If we use an eight-hour day, teachers would work 1,280 hours per year. A first-year teacher earning $42,000 per year equates to an hourly rate of $32.81. If this were to be extrapolated out to the 2,080 hours the rest of us work, the annual salary would equal $62,244.
NJEA would like to see a starting salary of $60,000. The hourly rate would be $46.88 for an eight-hour workday. This would extrapolate to $97,000 working 260 days per year.
Yes, they put in additional hours, but so do workers with other types of careers. Teachers are well compensated for the number of hours they put in. Teachers also have tenure after three years, which protects them from being dismissed under most circumstances.