Editorial: Teachers deserve much more

As of Dec. 6, 2022, teachers in the United States are making on average $55,745 a year, according to Salary.com. On paper that does not seem like a bad salary, but when looking into it deeper, it is.

Teachers are not included in the Fair Labor Standards Act. This act establishes protections and regulations for minimum wage, as well as overtime for anyone working over 40 hours. Instead, teachers fall under the same category as doctors and lawyers, who get paid a dramatically higher amount. 

Because teachers are excluded from this regulation, the starting salary for educators is lowered. Some first-year teachers in the United States are just barely making over $24,000 per year. This has a huge impact on teacher recruitment, causing more people to become uninterested in pursuing a teaching career. 

Here at The Lookout, we feel that teachers are being underpaid and overlooked. In addition, schools in low-income communities are not being given enough money to offer students fair resources. 

According to the Congressional Budget Office, $142 billion is projected to go into nuclear weapons from 2021-2030. It feels as if the system can pay for the destruction of the world, but not for the education of the future generation to save it. 

The system is backwards and there are many issues – many outdated issues – that need to be adjusted. It can start by including teachers in the Fair Labor Standards Act and/or increasing the starting salary for educators.