Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Teachers Deserve More Pay, Respect: Zakaria
GV-Wire-1
By gvwire
Published 7 years ago on
May 23, 2018

Share

Teachers in states across the country have walked out of classrooms in recent months to draw attention to low wages and a lack of support from lawmakers — and by extension, the voting public.
In his May 18 commentary, Washington Post columnist Fareed Zakaria says the teaching profession has become a thankless job, swept up as part of a 30-year assault on “government, bureaucrats and the public sector in general.”

Fewer Choosing to Teach

“We have all heard about stagnant middle-class wages,” Zakaria says.  “But the average pay for a teacher in the United States, adjusted for inflation, has actually declined over the past 15 years, while their health-care costs have risen substantially.”


In the United States, when we encounter a member of the armed services, many of us make a point to thank them for their service. When was the last time you did the same for a public school teacher?” — Fareed Zakaria 

One result of this trend, he reports, is a steep drop in the number of Americans who are choosing to pursue careers in education.  “In fact, the New York Times reports it is so hard for public schools to find qualified Americans that many districts are starting to recruit instructors from low-wage countries such as the Philippines,” Zakaria writes.
California school districts have been recruited teachers from Mexico for several years.
In 2016, a Fresno Unified administrator told The Fresno Bee that “We’ve recruited from the dog park, from The Cheesecake Factory and Starbucks. Wherever we go, we recruit constantly.”
It’s not only wages, he says, but also declining respect for the profession. “In the United States, when we encounter a member of the armed services, many of us make a point to thank them for their service,” says Zakaria.  “When was the last time you did the same for a public school teacher?”

DON'T MISS

What to Know About Pam Bondi, Trump’s New Pick for Attorney General

DON'T MISS

North Korean Leader Says Past Diplomacy Only Confirmed US Hostility

DON'T MISS

Democrats Strike Deal to Get More Biden Judges Confirmed Before Congress Adjourns

DON'T MISS

Newsom Gaslights on Potential Gas Price Hikes in Fresno Visit

DON'T MISS

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

DON'T MISS

President Biden Welcomes 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics to White House

DON'T MISS

Ohtani Makes History With 3rd MVP, Judge Claims 2nd AL Honor

DON'T MISS

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

DON'T MISS

Average Rate on a 30-Year Mortgage in the US Rises to Highest Level Since July

DON'T MISS

Cutting in Line? American Airlines’ New Boarding Tech Might Stop You at Now Over 100 Airports

UP NEXT

How About an Honest Conversation About the Range of Light Monument Proposal?

UP NEXT

These Fresno Schools Are Unsafe and in Bad Condition. And No One Is Complaining

UP NEXT

Republicans Target Social Sciences to Curb Ideas They Don’t Like

UP NEXT

Conservative Professors and Students Are Beating CA Community Colleges in Court

UP NEXT

How Trump Can Earn a Place in History That He Did Not Expect

UP NEXT

Classes for Cannabis? UC Merced Extension Launching Weed Workforce Training

UP NEXT

‘Woke’ Terminology Not Commonly Used by Americans: YouGov Survey

UP NEXT

Demography Drives Destiny and Right Now California Is Losing

UP NEXT

Defining Deviancy Down. And Down. And Down.

UP NEXT

Who Are Fresno State’s ‘Heroes’ in Health and Human Services Services?

Newsom Gaslights on Potential Gas Price Hikes in Fresno Visit

5 hours ago

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

5 hours ago

President Biden Welcomes 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics to White House

5 hours ago

Ohtani Makes History With 3rd MVP, Judge Claims 2nd AL Honor

6 hours ago

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

6 hours ago

Average Rate on a 30-Year Mortgage in the US Rises to Highest Level Since July

7 hours ago

Cutting in Line? American Airlines’ New Boarding Tech Might Stop You at Now Over 100 Airports

7 hours ago

MLB Will Test Robot Umpires at 13 Spring Training Ballparks Hosting 19 Teams

7 hours ago

Death Toll in Gaza From Israel-Hamas War Passes 44,000, Palestinian Officials Say

7 hours ago

Jussie Smollett’s Conviction in 2019 Attack on Himself Is Overturned

7 hours ago

What to Know About Pam Bondi, Trump’s New Pick for Attorney General

NEW YORK — Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general, was chosen Thursday by Donald Trump to serve as U.S. attorney general hours after...

3 hours ago

3 hours ago

What to Know About Pam Bondi, Trump’s New Pick for Attorney General

4 hours ago

North Korean Leader Says Past Diplomacy Only Confirmed US Hostility

4 hours ago

Democrats Strike Deal to Get More Biden Judges Confirmed Before Congress Adjourns

5 hours ago

Newsom Gaslights on Potential Gas Price Hikes in Fresno Visit

President Joe Biden with Mary Barra, the chief executive of General Motors, at the Detroit Auto Show, Sept. 14, 2022. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to erase the Biden administration’s tailpipe rules designed to get carmakers to produce electric vehicles, but most U.S. automakers want to keep them. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)
5 hours ago

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

5 hours ago

President Biden Welcomes 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics to White House

6 hours ago

Ohtani Makes History With 3rd MVP, Judge Claims 2nd AL Honor

Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at First Horizon Coliseum, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in Greensboro, NC. (AP/Alex Brandon)
6 hours ago

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend