Increasing Salaries So Teachers Don't Have To Become Principals
Spencer Campbell spends much of his days walking the halls of Elk Ridge Middle School, checking breezeways for kids playing hooky, redirecting foot traffic in between classes and checking in on substitute teachers.
Campbell is one of two assistant principals at Elk Ridge, a school just south of Salt Lake City, Utah. It's his first year in the role and he looks the part. He's in his late 30s, sharply dressed, walks briskly and carries a walkie-talkie on his belt.
Before coming to education, Campbell owned a small business. He says he felt drawn to schools, though, so he got a master's degree and spent five years in the classroom as a teacher.
Where, after all that, he says he just couldn't make ends meet. "As a teacher I was making $43,000 a year and I had a part-time job where I would work another 20," he says. "That wasn't for the extras. That was just for the basics." Extras like braces for his kids, piano lessons and the occasional vacation.
So, he looked ahead to the next step: administration.
"There's not a step in the ladder between teacher and administrator," Campbell says. "It's just teacher. And administrator."
That's not saying Campbell is upset about his job, he says he likes it and now he makes nearly double what he made in the classroom. Though, the change is bittersweet.
"The effect that a classroom teacher has on a student is second only to a parent," Campbell says. "And as an administrator, I don't know if I'll ever be able to have that same effect and that's kind of heartbreaking."
"The problem is that there is a big disparity between what teachers make and a living wage in lots of places," says Janice Voorhies, the president of the Jordan District Increasing Salaries So Teachers Don't Have To Become Principals : NPR Ed : NPR:
