Eileen Coate Milich, an Arizona teacher, did something brave when she posted her salary online. This started a heated argument about how much teachers should be paid. Milich, a second-grade teacher at Phoenix’s Whispering Wind Academy, shared her pay stub on social media to show that teachers aren’t getting paid enough.
The fact that Milich’s pay went up by only $131 in a year is a stark reminder of how hard it is for teachers to make ends meet. Milich’s pay is just about enough to cover her living costs, even though she has a college degree. Twenty years after she graduated from college, she is still paying off her bills.
A public school teacher in Arizona makes an average of $47,218, which is less than the national average of $58,353. Milich said that teachers often have to pay for their kids’ supplies without getting paid. A lot of her coworkers have more than one job to make ends meet. Some even work as waitresses to make extra money.
About 42% of Arizona teachers hired in 2013 quit after three years, according to the study.
For Milich to post her salary online has started a talk that needs to happen about teacher pay and the problems teachers face. Her story shows how important it is to pay teachers fairly and give them better working conditions. There is one thing that is clear about the debate: teachers like Milich deserve our praise and support for all the hard work they do.