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Teachers Have It Easy: The Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of America's Teachers Hardcover – June 29, 2005

by Dave Eggers (Author), Daniel Moulthrop (Author), Ninive Clements Calegari (Author)

4.3 37 ratings

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A passionate call to action for improving the working lives of public school teachers cites the typically low wages of today's educators and the consequences of current policies on the quality of education, sharing the personal stories of teachers from across the country, an analysis of typical public school working conditions, and misconceptions a

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. This book provides a punchy, thoughtful look at the issues surrounding teacher salaries in the public school system. And while it is openly biased on the subject-the authors see salary reform as the best way to ameliorate many of the problems facing America's public schools-this bias never compromises its even-handed consideration of the current debate. In part, this is because the authors wisely ground the book in the words and experiences of teachers themselves. The stories of high ideals and hard work compromised by the brutal conditions facing teachers speak for themselves, allowing the authors to make their points by interspersing short passages that highlight the key issues raised by the vignettes. Whether or not one agrees with their solutions, their characterization of the problem is spot-on. Perhaps more valuable, however, is their detailed discussion of actual school reform initiatives. Unlike most of the problems treated here-low pay and little respect for teachers or resource shortages in public schools-these incentives will not be familiar to most readers. Each of them take different approaches to the problems facing public schools and have had varying degrees of success, but all of them illustrate the gains that can be made when committed educators and policymakers work together with shared goals and community support. It's no accident that the book winds up with this informative consideration of solutions (nor that it provides a rich bibliography for further reading as well as contact lists of reform-minded school districts, teacher recruitment agencies and a variety of educational organizations) because in the end it is less a complaint than a call to action, one that will appeal to a wide body of readers.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

An argument for righting such appalling wrongs. -- Sarah Vowell, This American Life commentator and author of The Partly Cloudy Patriot

Should be required reading on Air Force One. -- Michael Chabon

About the Author

Pulitzer Prize finalist and McSweeney's editor Dave Eggers is the founder of 826 Valencia, a nonprofit tutoring and writing lab in San Francisco with a new center in Brooklyn. Teacher Nínive Clements Calegari is the founding executive director of 826 Valencia. Daniel Moulthrop is completing a master's in journalism at the University of California-Berkeley. All live in the San Francisco Bay area.

Print length

355 pages
Language

English
Publisher

The New Press
Publication date

June 29, 2005
Dimensions

6.32 x 1.38 x 8.66 inches
ISBN-10

9781565849556
ISBN-13

978-1565849556
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1565849558
Publisher ‏ : ‎ The New Press; First Edition (June 29, 2005)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 355 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781565849556
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1565849556
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.23 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.32 x 1.38 x 8.66 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,214,094 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,960 in Labor & Industrial Relations (Books)
- #2,253 in Labor & Industrial Economic Relations (Books)
- #3,120 in Statistics (Books)

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4.3 37 ratings

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4.3 out of 5

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When Will We Change This Insane System?

Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2007

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I am involved as a volunteer at my local high school and I sit on a number of parent/citizen committees, so I have a pretty good look inside the education system. I have always known that teachers were underpaid, as well as underappreciated, but never knew just how bad the situation was until I began to work with the school. I was truly appalled at how poorly teachers were compensated for the work that they do.

This book is a very good look at the system and what it is doing to teachers. It is written in a Studs Terkel fashion, with interviews from teachers around the country on pay issues, as well as other problems teachers face. While much of it is compensation oriented, it also deals with the lack of funding for continuing education, lack of respect, long work days, and the pressures teachers face.

One particularly telling chapter was when they lined up the day of a pharmaceutical salesman with that of a high school math teacher. Both were real, and it amazing to see the differences. It outlines not only the length of the work day, but the responsibilities in proportion to the pay.

I find it amazing that here in California, as we face a prison crisis, guards in the prisons, without college educations are making $73,000 a year without applying overtime, yet teachers who are at the top end of the salary scale, with a masters or doctorate degree are lucky to come anywhere near close to that. In addition, teachers do not collect overtime. If we paid good teachers what they are worth, and improved educational opportunities for children, we could possibly cut the number of inmates. The cycle is vicious, but we need to take paying teachers seriously, and work to change the system so good teachers are willing to stay.

The book is well written and the interviews are fascinating. Sadly, although I think everyone in America needs to read this book, it will probably only be read by those who know about the problem, or those who are contemplating a future in education. The majority of people who think teachers actually do have it easy will pass it by without a second look. To that degree, the book is preaching to the choir, but is still a wonderful read.

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H. Laack

This Really Should Be Read by Most Americans

Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2007

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If you are--or expect someday to be--a parent of school aged children, if you are a taxpayer, or if you are a civic or political leader in your community, this book is one you really MUST read. It is especially important for those who do not personally know a teacher to read this, to understand just a little more what life is really like for these people who are such an important part of our children's lives and who ultimately have such an impact on how our country will function in the years to come. After all, as the authors state:

"Schools are called on to help raise children and assist them in understanding themselves in relation to their world. Schools and teachers are asked to provide basic moral instruction, to teach children right from wrong and how to function as part of a community...In short, we want our schools to help children learn to be valuable to society."

The subtitle of the book emphasizes a major problem in American education today: the "big sacrifices" that teachers make for our children, for the future of this country. "Small salaries" are definitely part of the sacrifice, but looming just as large is the loss of prestige and intense on-the-job pressures teachers face on a daily basis. They are expected to be fully in charge of 20, 25, even more than 30 children every classroom moment, and many have no more than a couple of 5 minute breaks throughout the entire day. Yet the image of teachers seems to fall farther and farther down the scale. "You can do better than THAT," a bright student is told when he or she expresses an interest in teaching--and they can, IF salary and perks are the standard for success.

This book presents, in the words of teachers themselves, what a typical school day, week, year, is like, and the stories of dedicated professionals who have had to leave the jobs they love because they could not support their families are tragic. This is where the real value of this book is found.

However--and this however is one reason for only three stars: in trying to sell the need for higher salaries and new approaches to salary scales and tables (all of which I fully support), the authors inadvertently contribute to the "prestige" problem. Yes, many good teachers have left the profession and other solid candidates have not gone into education because of the poor compensation, BUT there continue to be hundreds of thousands of dedicated, sacrificing professionals who ARE staying in their classrooms and ARE making a difference in kids' lives. By so emphasizing the "brain drain" out of the profession, there is an impression left that only "losers" are entering and/or staying in teaching. This attitude that "we just can't any good teachers anymore" only contributes to the diminished reputation of those willing to do everything they can to continue working with our children, the future of our nation.

The other weakness in the book is that there is no mention of the inequity of school financing in our country because of the heavy reliance on property taxes for funding. As a result, efforts to improve teacher salaries are most possible in more affluent districts, or in isolated charter schools such as the Vaughan Next Century Learning Center, where much of the success of the small program has come from an aggressive fund-raising principal. The authors did provide some excellent examples in the Helena MT and Denver experiments, but I think a little more attention to the realities of having to make changes via votes on bonds, etc., would have been helpful.

Weaknesses aside, try to get this book in the hands of everyone you know who might be able to start to make a difference in how we recognize (and compensate) those who are so involved with our children's lives.

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