Low pay of teachers ‘frequently dismissed’

Your editorial in the February 11 issue of The Volante on K-12 teacher pay in South Dakota toward raising awareness of the low pay of S.D. K-12 teachers was appreciated.

Too frequently, the low pay of teachers is dismissed with claims that it is only a nine-month-a-year job. Too frequently, the low pay of S.D. teachers is dismissed with the argument that the cost of living in S.D. is low. Is the cost of living really that much lower than N.D. to warrant the $8,000 difference? Is it really that much lower than M.N. — a state where property tax is typically lower for similarly-priced homes in comparable communities and a state that doesn’t tax food — to warrant the $17,000 difference?

It is obvious that students who pursue a teaching career are not going into the field for simply the money as was noted by Interim Dean of our Education School, Dr. Hee-sook Choi in the article entitled “Education students weigh career options.” But when the pay is so much lower as compared to surrounding states, we have a problem.

There is also a perception that teachers are at work only when they are physically in the school. The one year I taught high school math and science with five different preps per day, my work continued at home with grading papers, planning lessons, etc. Teachers, who receive extra compensation for coaching sports or directing other extracurricular activities, have much longer days and the pay on a per hour basis for these extras is pitiful.

Teachers are required to continue their education for recertification in the “summer months they have off” which is ignored in saying it is only a nine-month job. Finally, how many organizations/employers require their employees to pursue continuing education at the employee’s expense, yet fail to pay them a competitive salary?

— Miles Koppang, USD professor of chemistry