Problem and Need for the Study
Despite the recent efforts to improve education, there are still numerous issues and concerns in this field. For instance, notwithstanding the value and significance of teaching profession to the nation’s education, many of them do not get paid as much as they deserve (Granger et al., 2022). According to Strauss (2016), the problem is not new: “in 2015, the weekly wages of public school teachers in the United States were 17 percent lower than comparable college-educated professionals” (para. 2). This challenge is not being properly addressed, and after the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the situation, numerous educators continued living below the poverty line (Hanushek, 2020). Consequently, the main adverse consequence is that decreased motivation of teachers leads to the worse and lower academic performance of students across the nation (Hanushek, 2020). Another undesirable outcome is the increasing teacher turnover, which again significantly reduces students’ good academic achievements (Qin, 2021). Therefore, the need to solve the issue becomes more apparent, and in order to do that, it is vital to conduct a study and gather all essential information about this problem.
Significance of the Study
It is possible to say that the study about the causes of the identified concern, its negative influences, and possible prevention measures would be extremely significant. Its results would be of great value to teachers, whose salaries would eventually become higher, making their motivation to work better grow. Consequently, local school districts need to see the data and credible research, admit the existence of the concern and its adverse consequences, and consider it when allocating the received funding (Bracic et al., 2020). If they become aware of the causes and possible measures offered in the study, they can adopt appropriate steps to make teacher salaries higher and close this gap in the sphere of education.
References
Bracic, A., Israel-Trummel, M., Rhinehart, S., & Shortle, A. F. (2020). Gender attitudes, support for teachers’ strikes, and legislative elections. Political Science & Politics, 53(3), 447-452. Web.
Granger, A., Woolfolk, F., & Griffin-Brown, J. (2022). Teacher salary and how it relates to job satisfaction. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 11(4), 8-13. Web.
Hanushek, E. (2020). It’s Not” for the Children”: Striking for more money serves the needs of teachers, not students. To put pupils’ needs first, boost the salaries of effective teachers. Hoover Digest, (1), 71-75. Web.
Qin, L. (2021). Country effects on teacher turnover intention: A multilevel, cross-national analysis. Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 20(1), 79-105. Web.
Strauss, V. (2016). Think teachers aren’t paid enough? It’s worse than you think. The Washington Post. Web.