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Teachers aspire for further education
Mr. Tyler, Gilbert's Yearbook adviser and an English teacher is going to attain his Ph. D. Photo by Kelsey Haasch
Written by Varun Bajaj - Staff Writer
A first year high school teacher in Gilbert makes just over $35,000, the price of a bottom-line Ford Expedition with such great amenities as “power-windows” and seats. A college professor with a Ph.D. makes up to $100,000, the price of a Porsche 911 Carrera 4 Cabriolet with standard amenities like leather seats, 18-inch rims, and a top speed of 175 miles-per-hour. With such a great difference in pay, teachers often take the jump from high school’s Ford to a university’s luxury Porsche, but some teachers take the jump back, because sometimes great cars don’t fit the needs of the driver or their kids.
Gilbert High English teacher and Yearbook advisor Cary Tyler, after teaching in Albuquerque, New Mexico and in Gilbert, Arizona, graduated with his Master’s degree and made the decision to continue his education and earn his doctorate at Grand Canyon University. “It’s been a feeling of mine for two or three years to become a professor,” he said. Mr. Tyler plans on working his way out of the public school system and into the university level of teaching.
In Gilbert Schools, teachers with higher education are rewarded by the amount of college credits they have and by how many years they have taught. This “career ladder” has an organized method of how much each teacher will make. A first year teacher with a basic Bachelor’s will make $35,380 per year, where as a teacher with 20 years of experience and a Doctorate would make $66,000. The difference between a teacher with a Master’s and a teacher with a Ph.D. is about six to seven thousand dollars if the two teachers have the same amount of experience. For each extra year of experience a teacher with a Doctorate doesn’t add much more than a teacher with a Masters, but a teacher with a Ph.D. would have his pay increase for seven years more years than if the teacher had a Masters. This means that a teacher with a Master’s would make $46,232 per year after 13 years of experience and a Ph.D. with the same experience would make $53,825. After 20 years of teaching, the Master’s teacher would still be making the $46,232 per year, and the Ph.D. would have finally topped out at $66,000. Over those seven years, the doctor would make over $100,000 dollars more than the topped-out Masters’ teacher. Over the long term, if a teacher plans to stay in-district, the Ph.D. not only pays for itself, but over the long term the teacher’s salary increase overall is drastic.
According to Mr. Tyler, his Ph.D. will cost him between $15,000 and $20,000. If he were to stay in the Gilbert Schools, the cost of the Ph.D. would be paid back in three to four years. After those three years, all extra pay would become extra income. If Mr. Tyler were to move up to a University teaching job, the student loan could be paid off in a year. After that year, the teacher would be making about $30,000 more each year. With such a large pay raise, why would a teacher want to stay at Public Schools?
Dr. Cindy Haworth, a Doctor of Education in Curriculum and Instruction, earned her Ph.D. from Arizona State University after 10 years of teaching. She earned her Ph.D. just because she “loves learning.” Although Dr. Haworth had taught at the university level, she knew her place was at the high school level. “I did not feel that I helped those people as much as I feel like I helped my high-schoolers.” Dr. Haworth also didn’t appreciate that she was forced to publish while teaching. “I didn’t get as much human interaction as I wanted.” Dr. Haworth has been teaching at Gilbert High for 18 years and enjoys every day that she gets to interact with and teach her students.
With such a vast difference in salary and content, the final decision of where to teach often comes down to the teacher’s preferences and what “drives” them teach.
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