MyNorthwest.com: Kathy Saxon was driving to work when she was startled by what she saw on a Domino’s Pizza billboard. It’s something that clung to the back of the sixth grade teacher’s mind the rest of the day. The billboard announced Domino’s drivers are paid an average of $70,000 (70K Average, as it read). It’s a wage teachers put a lot of time and effort into making. “I’ve worked 17 years and have a graduate degree,” she said. “I couldn’t stop thinking about that the whole day.”
The advertisement is for commercial truck drivers, as opposed to commonly thought of pizza delivery drivers. Still, Saxon ponders what it says about how communities place value on education. Even if the $70,000 was an exaggeration, the company would have to advertise within reason, she said. It’s not a joke billboard, she added.
Teachers receive a base pay from the state and TRI pay (annual pay increases that can be negotiated). The average salary for Washington teachers is $62,377, according the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. But pay varies. A first-year teacher in the Seattle School District makes about $44,000, with a veteran teacher at $79,788, The Seattle Times reported in early May. A first-year teacher in Puyallup made $40,042, with veterans at $69,052. Everett teachers seem to do the best at $45,152 in their first year and $90,757 in their veteran years.
Teachers haven’t received cost of living increases in years, Saxon points out. And that is the reason for the recent teacher walkouts. “We don’t want to hurt the kids, but we want to make it visible to the public,” Saxon said after a late-afternoon meeting.
Saxon works a schedule of about 7 a.m. to 4-4:15 p.m. She could spend much more time at school each day, but needs to pick her son up from daycare. Though she can work well over 40 hours per week, she only gets paid for the hours school is in session.
The amount of work Saxon puts in doesn’t seem to bother her. In fact, she loves her job and the people she works with at Denny International Middle School. But it is frustrating that people don’t understand why teachers are upset. What it comes down to is respect (translation: money), she said.
“When Seattle teachers had a day of walkouts there were people calling us lazy and telling us to get back to work,” Saxon said. The people making themselves heard the most may be outliers, but still, “It’s really hard to not be treated like a professional.”
There are teachers choosing to leave the profession at a younger age, according to Issaquah Education Association President Doug Jones. Meanwhile, the amount of people trying to be certified to become teachers are down as much as 40 percent, he told KIRO Radio’s Jason Rantz.
So what would help teachers feel more respected? For starters, compensation, such as paying them the cost of living increases they haven’t been receiving, Saxon said. Make teacher wages equal to that of other professions that require a similar commitment and educational background, she suggested. “Compensation is an issue of respect, because it’s saying we value the job you do,” she said.
Being unwilling to pay teachers more, is almost like people don’t care about children’s education, Saxon notes. “Not that they don’t really care about the kids, but it’s like: Put your money where your mouth is,” she said. If people want their kids to have a great education, taxpayers should pay for it, she added. Look at it this way: Domino’s needs good drivers, so they pay them well. “I would just love to see teachers treated the same,” she said.
DCG
