Are Rural Teachers Worth Less Than Urban?
Should teachers in rural areas be paid less then those in say, Seattle, Portland or Boise. I’m Susan Allen you’ve tuned into Open Range the voice of the west. Stay tuned. The Washington State Legislature has commissioned a study called the Compensation Technical Working Group that will be looking at the way teachers in the state are paid and the results could have implications for other states. Neal Kirby a rural elementary principal and former legislator offered an insightful take on why teachers in Snohomish and King counties shouldn’t receive an 8 percent added salary funding to compensate for a higher cost of living currently part of the draft the working group team is proposing. The team believes that certain geographic regions, like inner cities have more difficulty retaining teachers. Yet Kirby contends that cost of living is not the main reason teachers leave , and cites studies that show they leave to have a better chance at professional success. Two recent reports found the largest urban schools had the lowest teacher turnover and that the rural agricultural region I live in, Central Washington had the highes,t with lower achievement scores, lowest levies and highest percentage of low-income and minority students. The team should also consider the commuting and transportation costs . In rural regions teachers fuel costs are considerably higher without the option of mass transit to commute. Neal Kirby makes a good case for not paying teachers in cities more than rural communities. If you don’t agree feel free to comment on aginfo.net