Fair Teacher Pay Association :: Argumentative Persuasive Education Papers

Fair Teacher Pay Association Factà ³There is a shortage of qualified graduates of professional teacher preparation programs entering the teaching profession in the United States. Factà ³More than 80% of the employing jurisdictions in the United States have been forced to hire unlicensed, untrained, unprepared teachers because there are not enough licensed graduates of teacher preparation programs to fill the need. Factà ³The overwhelming response from college students to the question of why they wonà ­t enter the teaching profession is that "teacher pay is too low". Factà ³The average national salary for a beginning teacher for the 1998-1999 academic year was $25,735 , far less than the salary for other college graduates. Would you want to be a teacher?? Dear Mr. & Mrs. Doe: Do you care about the quality of your childrenà ­s education? Weà ­re sure you do, just like most hard working Americans. Think about it. Our childrenà ­s education is their future, and their future is our nationà ­s future. This future is determined by our childrenà ­s teachers. A lack of teachers and, more importantly, a lack of GOOD teachers is a big problem in our schools today. We, the members of the Fair Teacher Pay Association (FTPA), believe this injustice must be brought to the attention of all. In addition to informing the public, we want to do things to change the current system. This letter and informaional packet will briefly inform you of the facts you need to know on this subject. We often hear people say things such as: Teachers work form 9 to 3, less than bankers. Teachers work 9 months, and then get the summers off. Teachers themselves say: Teaching is the only job where you work three times per day. First you teach a full day, then you work at school in the afternoon, and then you take work home to do at night. The average teacher works a minimum of 8 hours and 37 minutes each day. 8:37 multiplied by an average school year of 180 days is 1551 hours a year. That is the minimum required for their daily tasks. Teachers also have supplementary tasks that they must complete on an irregular basis. These tasks such as pre and post school year activities, meetings, and continuing education add up to an average minimum of 318 hours per year. This adds up to a grand total of 1869 hours per year! Check out these statistics: - A teacher works a minimum of 1,869 hours per year to perform his/her