Hello,
Let me say overtly and without question, teachers everywhere deserve raises. They are underpaid and overworked. The pay gap is not just an opinion. It's a statistical fact.
So as you read this post, I want you to know I unequivocally support pay raises for teachers. That said, I do not believe pay raises will fix issues of being overworked or teacher well-being. Let me explain...
Last week, in the post “The Results Are In,” I wrote about the results from the 2024 Merrimack College third annual teacher survey, The Teachers Are Not All Right. While I, of course, would encourage you to read the post, here’s the gist in two paragraphs.
The Merrimack College 2024 teacher survey highlights a worsening mental health crisis among teachers and students. There are four areas of concern identified from the data: (1) educator mental health challenges, (2) the connection between educator mental health and job satisfaction, (3) student mental health challenges, and (4) the link between teacher and student mental health. Interestingly, when asked what would help, teachers called for pay raises and improved student discipline.
While I have no doubt that teachers deserve to be paid more, and improved support for discipline would feel good temporarily, a more holistic approach addressing both teacher and student well-being is needed to break the cycle of stress and create positive learning environments. It’s important to state here, as I did in that post, that despite the challenges, education remains a deeply rewarding profession that deserves recognition and celebration.
I want to circle back to this statement from that post: “While financial stress is undeniably a factor—especially for early-career teachers who earn significantly less—it’s worth questioning whether pay raises alone can solve the deeper issues.” So why would I question if pay raises would improve teacher well-being, and what does this have to do with engagement? The short answer is that money is an extrinsic motivator.
Here’s the long answer.
In a highly competitive job market, it’s no surprise that increased pay has become a primary factor for job seekers, jumping from the fourth to the number one concern since 2015, according to an article by Ryan Pendell posted on Gallup.com, “Your Employees Want Higher Pay, but Money Won’t Fix Your Problems.” However, when employees ask for higher pay, they often mean something deeper. What they are really saying is, if you expect me to meet all of these demands, I need to be compensated for it. Higher pay becomes a way to manage around a poor employee experience, one that might involve long hours, lack of recognition, or unreasonable expectations. “Pay is the ‘easy button’ when problems with
communication, culture or coaching seem too daunting to solve.” But what happens when money alone doesn’t solve the problem? As Gallup's research shows, increasing base pay has a negligible effect on long-term performance. The real drivers of retention and engagement are factors like overall job satisfaction, work environment, and stress levels—not just the paycheck.
In the case of teachers, pay may help, but it’s unlikely to address the deeper issues contributing to their mental health challenges. These challenges often stem from factors beyond pay, such as:
Organizational Culture: A toxic or negative work culture can significantly impact teacher morale and well-being.
Workload and Expectations: Excessive workload, unrealistic expectations, and lack of autonomy can lead to burnout and job dissatisfaction.
Support and Resources: Inadequate support, resources, and lack of professional development opportunities exacerbate stress and turnover.
If we want to see real, long-term improvements in teacher well-being, we need to focus on these underlying issues. Pay raises might move a disengaged teacher to compliance, but true engagement comes from addressing the full spectrum of their experience. As Gallup’s analysis reinforces, “engaged employees require a 31% pay increase to consider taking a job with a different organization; whereas not engaged actively disengaged employees, on average, want a 22% pay increase to change jobs.”
This brings us to the heart of engagement. Engagement is a continuum.
On one end, you have non-compliance—active disengagement. On the other, you have absorption, the highest level of engagement. In between is compliance, where someone is doing the job but not invested, and interest, where people do the job because of external motivators like pay or consequences. While pay might temporarily motivate a compliant teacher, it won’t address their core dissatisfaction with the profession.
To truly address these issues, organizations must create a positive and supportive work environment. This includes:
Fostering a Positive Organizational Culture: Promoting respect, collaboration, and recognition within the workplace.
Providing Adequate Support and Resources: Ensuring teachers have the tools, training, and support they need to succeed.
Setting Realistic Expectations: Establishing clear, achievable goals and providing autonomy in how they are met.
Encouraging Work-Life Balance: Promoting healthy boundaries and offering opportunities for rest and rejuvenation.
Now, let’s apply this to the question of whether increasing teacher pay can improve well-being. If a teacher doesn’t fundamentally enjoy teaching, no amount of pay will make them engaged—it will only buy compliance. However, if a teacher is already engaged in their work, they are more likely to see a pay increase as a recognition of their efforts rather than "hazard pay" compensating for stress.
In other words, pay raises alone won’t fix the deeper issues. To break the cycle of stress and improve teacher well-being, we must go beyond financial incentives and focus on creating a work environment where teachers feel supported, valued, and engaged in their roles.
When we prioritize the employee experience, engagement follows—and that’s what will ultimately not just retain teachers, but actually improve their well-being.
~Heather
P.S. Concerns about wellness are not limited to teachers. My Catch of the Week is twofold and catches two reports that showcase concerns relative to school administrators.
Restoring Teacher and Principal Well-Being Is an Essential Step for Rebuilding Schools from the Rand Foundation and School Leadership and Mental Health from Hanover Research. Both address the need to support educational administrators. After all, just like we need to care about families in addition to students, we also need to care about educational administrators in addition to teachers.
P.P.S. Please remember to...
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