How much money do teachers make and are teachers over-paid and under-worked (or vice versa?) That is the age-old question, and depending upon who is answering, the opinion can be pro or con for the teacher. The answer to this question is almost as inscrutable as trying to understand one’s politics or their religion. The opinion is so strong that it becomes ingrained into our psyche. Inherently this becomes a part of our way of thinking about the subject, regardless of personal or shared experiences that might be to the contrary.

The first part of the question is fairly easy to answer. Teacher salaries are typically public knowledge and can be found by perusing your State’s website. There are also other sites on the internet that would answer questions such as how much do teachers make a year; or how much do elementary school teachers make? If you want to get very specific, you might want to know how much do high school teachers make. However, even if you find information in regard to starting salaries, this will still not give you the full pictures as to how much money do teachers make? Teacher salaries have many built-in perks and benefits that sometimes the dollar amount of take home pay may look paltry in comparison. For instance, where else could anyone be employed and get ten weeks of vacation their first year on the job and for every year thereafter?

Teachers starting salaries vary by State and can range from as low as $24,872 in North Dakota to as high as $39,259 in Connecticut. However, these numbers can be misleading, as they do not consider the average salary for teachers throughout each State, which is $37,764 and $59,304 respectively. You might be curious about a particular State and how its teacher salaries compare. For instance, how much do teachers make in California? To answer that question, California does not have the highest starting salary for teachers (coming in at only $35,760). However, California should be applauded for being the State with the highest paid average salary, coming in at $59,825. This is just a few hundred dollars more than Connecticut.

You may agree that teachers are paid well enough or not paid very well at all. You may think that teachers do not do enough to prepare our children for the future responsibilities that they will hold. Or, you may think that teachers do a wonderful job, and all of the issues that we have with our young students of today should be blamed on the parents. Regardless of which side you are on with this issue, you will have to admit to the value of the vital public service they perform. These mostly unsung heroes perform the duty of educating our future (our Country’s future) while the battle for higher wages goes on around them. So the next time someone wants to engage you into a conversation based upon how much money do teachers make, shake your head and simply say; not enough!

When new teachers scout for jobs, some wonder how much do teachers make in California?

According to the Sacramento Bee, California teachers’ salaries go as high as $99K per year at Montecito Union Elementary in Santa Barbara. That is the high point, however.

As of 2011, average salaries came closer to $67,932 throughout the state. This is because of layoffs of newer or lower-paid instructors due to the decrease in state funding for the schools.

While large urban areas, such as Los Angeles and the Bay Area, can pay their teachers anywhere from $60K to $99K a year, rural counties and smaller districts hover in the low $50Ks to $70Ks.

How much a teacher makes, however, may not cover living expenses. Teacherportal.com rates California as the 44th friendliest state toward teachers based on cost of living ratios. While $99K a year may seem like a hefty salary, a teacher may not be able to find housing in Santa Barbara that falls within a prudent price range. Despite the recession, California’s housing prices still outpace most salary packages.

In Nevada County northeast of Sacramento, teachers make from $55K to $71K a year. House prices can range from a few thousand dollars for a manufactured home to over a million in Truckee, CA. This, of course, is an extreme range, but it shows what teachers in this county must pay to live near their jobs.

In fact, most government workers in Truckee, CA are paid a salary differential based on increased cost of living levels.

Because Truckee is a resort community with influxes of second-home owners swelling the population, the cost of living is higher. The tax base is also higher, but the number of children served by the school district doesn’t include the second-home population.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the County in Nevada City, the population is more stable, making the tax base and the student numbers more stable as well.

When new teachers consider how much they will make in California schools, they need to consider benefits packages. California offers very generous options for retirement, medical and life insurance, and tax shelters. In fact, these benefits have come under fire during the recession as school districts struggle to cover them with diminishing tax revenues.

Another factor in measuring how much teachers make in California is the classroom size and ethnic makeup. Teacherportal.com claims that there are only 21 students for every teacher. Since the recession, this ratio has increased to as many as ten more students per teacher.

California schools also host a wide variety of ethnic and language groups in each classroom. One teacher revealed that she had nineteen different languages represented in her elementary class in the L.A. basin. Further north, Spanish and English are the primary languages spoken by students and their parents.

New teachers are often expected to do extra duties, such as serving on committees or doing projects outside their regular classroom work. One first grade teacher found herself overwhelmed by special projects that veteran teachers no longer wanted to do. These tasks were then passed down to newer teachers.

While California teachers’ average salaries may be higher than in other states, the challenges of teaching and living in the state may take some of the shine off the Golden State’s job offerings.

The salaries of teachers in Texas can vary depending upon years of experience, the level of their degree, and whether or not they are special education teachers. Obviously teachers just starting out of college can not expect to receive the same salaries as those that have been teaching for a few years. Teachers that continue beyond their Bachelor’s Degree and pursue Master’s degrees will earn a higher salary as well. Special Education is typically a hard field to staff, and across the nation this field lends itself to higher salaries. In Texas, as in most states, teachers are paid on a 10-month pay scale. This means that they are paid 10 out of 12 months a year with summer months usually being excluded.

A teacher in Texas straight out of school with zero years experience can expect to make approximately $27,320 a year according to the Texas Education Agency. This equals $2732 a month within a 10 month contract. A 10 year teacher in Texas can expect to earn approximately $37,040. This equals $3704 a month within the same 10 month contract. This pay scale reflects only what a teacher in Texas makes per school year with no special pay.

Teachers can make more money if they have a higher degree of education. By simply earning a Master’s Degree a teacher can increase their average earning potential in Texas to $49,074 per year. One might ask why anyone would teach in Texas without a Master’s degree given the vast difference in salary. The truth is, the more specialized the degree, the less available positions become. If someone is coming out of college with a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education then they are more marketable than someone coming out with a Master’s degree in English. There are more jobs to go around and thus more opportunity to find a job quickly with a Bachelor’s degree.

Special Education teaching jobs are typically the hardest education positions to fill. In Texas, Special Education teachers make an average of $56,000 per school year. Special Education teaching requires both a specialized degree and physical ability. The Special Education field includes children with educational, social, and physical demands. The demands of the teacher are greater in this field than in most others. There are individual education plans to form, meet with parents about, and implement with the coordination of necessary therapists. Students in Special Education can have physical demands, such as those with cerebral palsy. Special Education is a field where teachers are in high demand, mostly because of how demanding the actual job is as well.

Texas ranks 17th in average teacher salaries. The money for teachers is there, but it is the more specialized jobs which require higher levels of education that pay the best. For a teacher starting out, a salary of less than $30,000 a year may not be enough to attract them into the realm of teaching in Texas. Teacher salaries in Texas are not by far the worst in the nation, although they could certainly be better not just in Texas but in the United States in general.