Dear Dave,
I think you're right. Those of us in public education knew from the
beginning (or should have known) that we were never going to be monetarily
compensated proportional to the hours we put into the job. Nevertheless,
the majority of educators I know are passionate about what they do and
most have to think a while if you ask them what their annual salary is. It
really is a secondary consideration. They love their discipline, they
love the interaction with students, and what keeps them going is the
culture and the stimulation they receive. When people are invested in an
idea, when it feeds their intellect, they pursue it, with or without
adequate compensation. In fact, sometimes those of us who do have to
manage budgets are caught riding the tiger as a great idea suddenly
becomes an expensive one, precisely because the people who thought it up
were blissfully unfettered by reality -- and I don't have a problem with
that because that's how we get great stuff and then it becomes another
stimulating exercise to find the funding! In my arena, the most valuable
commodity is time, so if somebody can be given a little time from their
normal duties, they are usually happy and feel valued. If they can be
given some support (e.g., clerical), that's even better. Add to that some
recognition, and money drops way down on the list. I think it's up to
managers to be very sensitive to what people in the organization are
trying to do and to find ways to support their ideas. Looking forward to
coming to work every day is eventually more meaningful to most folks than
a $.30/hour (gross) raise.
That said, I have to say that this is not necessarily the case for people
who are contemplating teaching, who are not yet in the field. We have
seen our applicant pools plummet in high-demand, high-paying areas such as
computer information systems and computer applications. We are both
blessed and cursed by being located in Silicon Valley. We have access to
a lot of highly qualified people but they are not going to work for us at
what we can afford to pay. Our last full-time CIS search had to be shut
down. We got two applicants. So, for people who are at the crossroads in
terms of making career choices, I would say money is valued much more
highly than those other things I mentioned. Harriett.
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