9 Reasons You Should<br />Appreciate Your Teachers May 5 is National Teacher Day and marks<br />the beginning of Teacher Appreciation Week. Here are nine reasons you should<br />be more appreciative of teachers. 1. Teachers make 14% less than other<br />professions that require similar levels of education. 2. 90% of teachers spend their own<br />money on their students and classrooms. 3. The average salary for public school<br />teachers in 2011-2012 was $56,643. 4. Low salary is the most common reason<br />people leave their teaching occupation. 5. At least 20% of public school teachers<br />have a second job outside of education. 6. Teachers work an average of 10 hours<br />per day and a total of 52 hours per week. 7. Their contracts don’t include work outside<br />of school, which can include up to 16 hours<br />grading assignments on the weekends. 8. Retirement only makes up 14% of teachers leaving<br />schools, with 59 being the average age of retirement. 9. Researchers have found that teacher’s jobs<br />are just as stressful as firefighters and pilots.
