Teachers Get Paid Less to Teach in Poor Schools

Teachers Get Paid Less to Teach in Poor Schools


I don't actually think this is true in New Mexico, but I'm not happy to see a study confirm that teachers get paid less anywhere in the nation to teach in poor schools.  It isn't surprising.  Jobs meant to provide services to poor people, in general, probably don't pay well.

I believe that there are a number of people out there who seek to do something meaningful with their lives - and teaching in a "poor" school certainly fills that need.  But it's certainly not enough for state and federal governments to trust the good-will of humankind to fix our nation's worst schools.  It won't happen.  There need to be monetary incentives or at least more respect and prestige attached to the most difficult teaching jobs.

Despite all of the talk about improving education, I suspect that the people at the top, or the people who fund the people at the top don't really care very much about improving rural or low-performing schools.  Definitely not at the expense of the resources and salaries enjoyed by the nation's highest-performing schools.