Nearly one-third of Texas teachers have to get second job to make ends meet, study says - Entrepreneur Generations

Thirty-one percent of Texas teachers have to work a second job to make ends meet, says a survey by the Texas State Teachers Association. The survey of 837 teachers—10 percent were from rural schools—found that teachers with extra jobs averaged working 13 hours per week outside of the classroom, in addition to the 17 hours per week outside the classroom spent on school-related work.

The phenomenon could affect other states, especially in rural areas. National Education Association data from 2015-16 show that Texas ranks 26th in teacher pay, Julie Chang reports for the Austin American-Statesman. "Texas teachers receive an average salary of $51,758—$6,306 below the national average. State education funding is $2,700 per student below the national average."

Survey respondents also blamed the state legislature's failure to adequately fund public schools. The $75 monthly contribution made to educator insurance premiums hasn't been raised in almost 15 years, and teachers spend an average of $656 per year on classroom supplies and $326 per month on health-insurance premiums, the report says.

Of those forced to work a second job, 72 percent said "they believe the time spent on extra jobs affects their teaching and 86 percent of them said they wanted to quit their extra jobs but would need a pay raise of about $9,000 to do so," the report states.  "Only 8 percent believed that legislators and state elected officials have a positive opinion about teachers, and only 30 percent believed that the public does, although public opinion polls typically find an overwhelming majority of voters hold teachers in very high regard."

from The Rural Blog http://ift.tt/2c0cfZH Nearly one-third of Texas teachers have to get second job to make ends meet, study says - Entrepreneur Generations

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