School District IT Database Manager Makes $70k, 30 Year Math Teacher Makes $66k

Why isn't our children learning?

http://data.tennessean.com/DB/dbc/schoolsalaries.php

:shrug:

Renew Deal has it right. It's called "supply and demand." Simple, huh?

The math teacher could probably do the DBA's job, on ludes, with < 3 month's training.

DBA might not even have a degree, and not necessarily any education-related training.

subject. But, in any case other than computer science courses, the DBA wouldn't be prepared on either subject matter or pedagogical technique.

(I was a teacher for 30 years and a DBA for 15. These fields are totally unrelated.)

or the business version which requires algebra and trig. Assuming the DBA has a four-year degree, and at this point I think the DBA probably does.

A high school math teacher only needs to know up to calculus, while a DBA requires constant study to keep abreast of new technology.

Including Multi-Variable Calculus and Linear Algebra.

No offense to anyone here, but I aced those classes (along with quite a few of my Comp Sci peers). I saw math majors struggling. But....well, you know, those classes aren't even required to teach math (which is the job of an education major)?

There are many fewer DBAs than math teachers. Im not sure how many math teachers could walk into a DBA job without additional schooling, although a good many DBAs could walk in a classroom and teach math they know.

Its no question to me why the pay is higher.

and learned his trade in the Navy.

Just because you have more knowledge doesn't mean you can teach. I had professors in college who were experts in their fields, but had no idea how to teach. Maybe as an education and French major I was more critical that students of other majors.

I could name with one hand the high school teachers and college profs who were genuine educators in my personal experience.

I know I could never do the job of an IT tech in our district, & I doubt that any of them could teach French.

Apples and oranges, as another poster said.

The DBA's job changes monthly, whereas the math teacher's job doesn't change.

It changes daily. The math may not change but those you have to teach often change by the minute. And don't get me started on how much teachers have to keep with the current research on best practices for education.

Three of us math teachers also did double duty as database administrators (although it was for peanuts above our base salary). The same three who taught programming, none of whom had a computer science degree. So - I'd say the math teacher could do the DBA job, but less likely the opposite - particularly if the math teacher is teaching precalculus or above.

being good at something does not necessarily translate into being able to teach it to others ...

I have no issue with the DBA person being properly compensated.

Its much higher than the median wage in the US and Tenn is mostly a low cost area for housing

the job should be paid something commensurate with its responsibility.

We (the taxpayers) should not pay more than is reasonably required to fill jobs in the public sector. A DBA job has quite a lot of responsibility, but its of a different kind that a teachers.

and the degree that the average teacher has (many have masters degrees) is higher than the median education level, too. Or doesn't that count for anything?

Because, that's the benchmark for deciding if he or she is underpaid. Comparing someone at the tail-end of their career when their earning power is maximized to the median amount of all earners is a bit of a skewed comparison.

This discrepancy is simply reflecting the market rates. It doesn't mean that the DBA is smarter or more worthy. If money had been the main object, teachers could have chosen DBA training instead of teacher education and made more money.

As a side note, I was a teacher for 30 years and then went into DBA work for financial reason. As a DBA I made up to four times the amount that I was making as a teacher. But, making the career change was the worse move I ever made. Teaching is a very personally rewarding profession in ways other than wages. Yet, 66K per year is not too shabby for a teacher.

lots more stress too

Two very different job descriptions, two different salary's.

they're getting a deal.

Ya know, its entirely possible many DBAs are more educated in math than high school math teachers. Just saying, you know.

I know the DBA, as well as the systems software eng ($81k) and an IT project manager ($75k). Two of the three were self-taught, going in. At the school district level, they don't hire people to code and create, they hire people to manage programs the district has bought into.

And what I am wondering, is that perhaps formally trained tech workers are more attracted to the private sector (where pay is higher anyway).

But hell, ya know, if anyone thinks they can do it, go ahead. :) Give up your teaching job.

I was trained in Ohio, and secondary ed teachers (grades 7-12) major in their fields. I had the same credit requirements as a straight English major with two classes different--they had to take two more lit classes than I did, but I had to take a grammar class they didn't and a teaching reading class they didn't. I went way over my English credit load, as did most English Secondary Ed track people. Math Secondary Ed track people had the same class requirements with the added education classes as the straight math majors.

...written into teaching contracts (and salaries) so that the teachers can't even collect unemployment. But they make, overall, less than other similarly-educated professions because of "getting the summer off."

:grr:

I am the child of two educators, and a certified teacher myself

You have not mentioned the education level ofr the DM, the years of in the district for the teacher, and if that is all the teacher is getting paid for. Recent stories IIRC from LI had a teacher making about $200K. The details are important.

Also if we were to dispense with the industrial model for education and educators, then maybe there would be higher salaries for educators. Right now the entire system is floundering and unless radical change is made, it will continue to get worse.

Some of the changes that need to be considered:
- Flexible enrollments across schools as districts
- Part time instructors with real world experience
- Market based salary differentials
- Separation between the educational and care taking functions
- Parents being required to participate in the child's education

The current education system was designed to provide workers for the industrial economy. It is based on the industrial model as well. Both are well due for an overhaul

"-Market based salary differentials"

Which fields of study in the public schools, precisely, do you think are antiquated and in need of an "overhaul"? Which teachers, in general, should be getting a higher salary than other teachers?

gets the same pay is part of the problem. Its neither realistic nor a stimulant for excellence. It equates an MA in History with a MS in Physics or Math. It assumes all teachers are interchangeable automatons. We are not.

All teachers at that level are paid the same, regardless of area, but there's a huge shortage of math and science teachers everywhere and foreign language teachers in most areas.

There is also a serious shortage of good data base admins as well

We English teachers are a dime a dozen, as I've been told repeatedly, and yet we have just as much a burden to get the kids to pass the required state tests as the math teachers--more, since we have to cover both the writing and the reading sections. So, should we get paid less because there are more of us out there or more because we cover more that's required for NCLB?

Teaching is a great job, and in some cases the only realistic job for some majors, mostly liberal arts. That is far from the case in most if not all of the technology heavy majors. If we want knowledgeable teachers in the tech field or other specialties, then pay differentials should be used.

The current model is based on a factory mentality. I hope for better from our schools

In your model, art teachers would get paid the least, since they would get paid little if they were full-time artists and the market, therefore, says they aren't worth much. Same with band and choir teachers, Latin teachers, and the history teachers you referred to upthread. Just because the free market says they are a dime a dozen, easily replaceable, and not worth much to the business world, does that mean we have to agree with it?

I think that says it all

As well as the probable necessity to be on-call for those database issues for multiple schools. I am in no way demeaning teachers or their skills or the hours they spend grading outside of school, as well as spending their own money on their classroom and students. I work in IT and come from a family of teachers. Teachers deserve to be paid substantially more, while 70 grand for a db admin seems on the lower end of the scale compared to similar private and government positions. In fact, most positions in school districts from the cafeteria workers, teachers aides and maintenance staff to teachers, office staff and IT staff all seem to be receive sub-par salaries in many public school systems. I hear the district administrators get paid rather well, though.

the DB manager would be administration and their salary is not limited to the bargained salary schedule and they can get raises beyond what teachers get.

IT Database manager for the school district is a bit different than a teacher. Situation is not comparable nor, considering the variance in training and skill set, should it be.