Why do average teachers make more in terms of annual salary than average politicians?

Question

In America, the average politician makes only about $20,000 per year compared to the average salary of $50,000 for teachers.

Considering that politicians have to do so much work including campaigning for elections and making decisions while all teachers do is sit, talk and write, isn't this a bit unfair?

Answer 1

You are right. Teachers do sit, talk, and write. They sit with children who are having a difficult time dealing with death and divorce among many other things. They sit and listen while children talk about these and other problems.

They talk to children about many things some academic some not. How else do they get to know there students and let their students get to know them if they do not talk.

Teachers also write. They write notes home to parents because many times the phone has been disconnected. They also write home to share a students progress or lack of progress with parents. They also love writing so much that many write grants in order to receive funding for materials and programs that would benefit their students. They also write on the dotted line when they use their debit/credit card to buy materials for their class that are often not provided by the school or district.

You are right. Teachers do sit, write, and talk a lot. I don't know about politicians since I don't know any personally and have not observed any in action. I suspect many of them sit, write, and talk a lot as well.

Answer 2

First off you're question is biased towards a group of people; most of which work less than 2 months a year.

Here's another question for you that should seem even more unfair then you're skewed question but it's true. Why are NFL kickers the highest average payed position in the league? It's true. The reason for it is because there is 1 kicker on a team and 2-4 of everything else. They are also arguably one of the most important players on the team. I'm biased because I used to be a kicker through college but how many games change outcomes without a kicker? The answer may supprise you. When I looked 3 years ago, for a speech class I took, an avg of 4.3 games per week were decided by 3 points or less and 2.4 games per week came down to a field goal/extra point in the last 2 minutes of the game.

Getting back to your question take a look at this video before you say teachers don't do anything. The video is very true.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw1MFobWD_o

Answer 3

First, for those that don't read clearly, the original question said America, which most of us (rightly or not) assume to mean the United States.

Second, for those that don't know, there are a lot more politicians in the United States than just the Federal Congress and the President. Every state has some form of congress, a governor, lots of lieutenant governors city council and all other manner of elected officials. That's why the average salary for politicians is so low. There are less than 600 members of Congress (at the federal level) and while their starting salaries are high, they don't offset all the city council people making $10k-$15k a year.

Why are teachers salaries so "high"? I don't think they are. Teachers are almost always underpaid, despite the fact that our system is complete crap these days. Teachers put up with kids whose parents don't give a damn, they put up with kids whose parents want to control everything. They put up with parents whose children are completely psychotic, and they're expected to teach everything we should know on a shoestring budget. They are often asked to pay for their own classroom supplies, and many work 10-12 hours per day. Teachers are treated with disrespect from every level of society and they still keep doing what most of us don't want to do. Prepare our children to be the future leaders of this country, and possibly the world.

The lower paid politicians are usually in it because they want to make a difference, not get paid a lot. The higher paid politicians may also want to make a difference but most of them don't need the money they get paid because they're already wealthy from other jobs/families/what have you.


A comparison of the two (types of) jobs is completely useless. It's like asking why doctors make more than bank tellers. There is no comparison in the skills necessary or the tasks accomplished on the job, so trying to compare salaries means nothing.

Answer 4

The average starting salary of a teacher in the USA is under $30,000. There is no such thing as an average politician. You can have a township trustee who attends one meeting a month for 2 hours, to a president who earns a couple hundred K and works 24 hours a day. A trustee may get $20 a month or work for free. Your question doesn't make sense.

Answer 5

I question your statistics, especially the one that suggests that politicians only make $20,000. Where did you get them from? And how are you defining "politician?" And what country are you in? And did you consider the fact that most politicians have other jobs first, and pretty much don't need the money? And did you consider that most politicians actually DON'T do that much work? They only have to campaign once every couple of years, and their work year only lasts for a few months in many cases (depending at what level you are talking about). Many of them hire other people to do all the real work for them, while they just show up to vote. And don't politicians pretty much just sit, talk, and write, too? Isn't that what campaigning and voting and writing bills consists of... sitting, talking, and writing? And did you know that the average starting salary for a teacher in most places is only around $30,000, while the average starting salary for a Congressman is $165,000? That is a far cry from $20,000.

Get your facts straight before you come on here throwing around bad arguments.

Answer 6

Have you ever actually taught? Spent hours on end lesson planning, prepping, trying to explain concepts to 25-30 students (all with different interest levels, learning levels, and learning styles), grading, record keeping, organizing different events and activities all year long to try to bring the message home to their students...

Have you had to deal with the political crap that teachers have to deal with? Have you had to handle a room full of kids that you're unable to sufficiently discipline for fear that parents will get mad and ask for you to be fired? Have you had to deal with kids who just plain don't want to be there and have nothing more in their view of the future than to be the best PS3 player ever? Or students that need special accomodations that the teacher practically needs to come up with a full separate curriculum in order to meet those accomodations? Or dealt with administration and school board members that really have no idea what needs to go on in a classroom?

And what "average" teacher gets paid $50,000? My parents have been teaching for 25 and 35 years, are national board certified, and don't make that. They've supplemented their income for years by teaching training courses during the summer.

(By the way - I'm not a teacher, but I am a teacher's kid; I homeschool my son and teach at homeschool co ops. However, I know a lot of what ps teachers have to deal with, and I have a lot of respect for what they do and what they put up with.)

The politicians that make less than $20,000 per year do so as an extra income - many of them are not full-time politicians. They have their own careers and work in city and county government as well (councilmembers, etc.). They are not expected to support their families solely off of their political income.

Check the actual facts before you make claims like that!

Answer 7

Your facts are way off! Besides, we dont just "sit, talk, and write". I suggest you talk to a teacher which is a friend of the family or someone elses family before you say such foolish things.

Politicians have other people writing everything for them. They don't do any of the writing at all. I suggest you look up the in's and out's of a political offical running for an office before you state such crap.

Answer 8

Considering we live in a society where it is cute to be ignorant, you can apologize for anything and not mean it, unqualified assumptions are the order of the day, you believe things because NBC News told you so, and all the crap like that, a question of this caliber does not surprise me one damned bit.

It will probably end up killing me, but I try to teach tough kids every day to learn to think for themselves and not make blatant, ignorant, and unqualified assumptions about things they don't know about. I can almost write about what school was like for you, and it probably had a lot to do with being a smart *** in class always getting away with things, but just enough as not to draw suspicion.

Geez. Back up your statement before you come on here stirring up the pot.

Answer 9

It's people like Sir Rene who make me mad. This is why teachers are underpaid and underappreciated--people like you think all our job consists of is "sitting, talking, and writing." You have NO idea what our jobs entail. Try fully understanding the responsibilities, stresses, and work load taken on by teachers across America then I'd like to see you make ridiculous statements like this.

Answer 10

politicians...20,000 What State? Not TExas for Sure!!!!