Pay and Incentives

In “'Barely breaking even': Incentives, rewards, and the high costs of choosing to teach" by E. Liu, S. M. Kardos, D. Kauffman, H. G. Peske, & S. M. Johnson, we consider the role of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards in teachers’ career decisions. Although the new teachers we interviewed entered teaching in search of intrinsic rewards, they were by no means unconcerned about money and financial rewards. Many were very dissatisfied with their pay, especially given the importance and difficulty of their work. While they stressed that they did not enter teaching “for the money,” they worried about whether they could “afford to teach” over the long term. Respondents also talked about the high costs of choosing to teach. These included the opportunity costs of choosing teaching over higher-paying occupations, and the costs—both opportunity and out-of-pocket—of teacher preparation and master’s degree programs that were required for certification. While some respondents reported that they could afford to teach and live comfortably, the majority described tight financial circumstances. They suggested that pay would significantly affect whether they would stay in teaching. It is important to note that these individuals had already chosen teaching despite the low pay, and might thus be expected to be less concerned with financial rewards than the average individual. Our study suggests that if public education is to attract, support, and retain quality teachers, it must increase the financial rewards of teaching, reduce the costs of entry, or implement a combination of both strategies.