In general, the long hours and low pay for public school teachers has been a turn-off for students when they begin making decisions about choosing a career. In North Carolina, rookie teachers coming right out of school can expect to earn $24,000 a year. But for those who have become teachers in spit of that, the satisfaction comes from helping youngsters reach their potential.
In the meantime, the state government in North Carolina realizes it will have to boost the salary structure to attract and keep the best instructors. To ensure that happens, the state has taken steps to implement incremental pay raises. According to most estimates, the North Carolina pay scale for starting teachers should match the national average (roughly $32,000 annually) within the next three years.
"For some people, pay is a big issue," says Mistor William, a graduate of Livingstone College's Center for Teaching Excellence who teaches middle school in Winston-Salem, N.C. "And some guys may feel that being a teacher is not masculine enough because there are so many women teachers. But the way I see it, you're more of a man to say, 'Somebody helped me when I was a kid, now it's time for me to do the same for somebody else."
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