Salary Outlook of an Elementary School Teacher

Elementary school teachers perform an important job in public and private educational institutions and work with individual students to guide and direct attitudes and practices aimed at success. They teach and facilitate the learning of children ranging in age from four to 12 years in Kindergarten to Grade 6.These days many elementary school teachers work with school administrators and aid in preparing the study plans appropriate to elementary classes and individuals. In general, elementary school teachers:

• provide a learning environment in which each child can experience growth and develop to potential
• help students become skilled at appropriate knowledge and attitudes
• make use of different assessment tools to estimate and communicate student progress

We can say that elementary school teaching is a physically and emotionally demanding occupation that requires a high level of energy. While the profession constantly demands regular interaction, maintaining discipline in a classroom can be a major challenge especially when the class includes children who have behavioral disorders and need proper attention.

Nevertheless, in recent times, the career field of elementary school education in the United States has become highly rewarding and most preferred occupation. Over the past few years, this career option has gained enormous popularity and has become one of the few professions that offer salary that is usually complemented by solid benefits package.

The average salary of an elementary teacher in the United States is at around USD 47,000 p.a. This scale ranges upwards from USD 30,000 p.a. to USD 70,000 p.a. in the upper range. In fact, as per the recent statistics submitted by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the mean elementary teacher salary in 2008 was $52,240. The positive sign is that it is almost $10,000 more annually than the average full-time worker.

The elementary teacher salaries in the United States vary widely depending on location. The reason is that a teacher salary reflects the cost of living in an area as well as job and school description. Adding to this, the next thing to keep in mind is elementary school teachers even receive over 12 weeks of vacation per year on average. Significantly elementary school teachers who choose to teach at summer school or take up other jobs in the school system during the summer can increase their annual salary.

The future prospects for elementary teachers are good. In next few years many job openings are expected to increase. The ratio of additional jobs has increased for teachers who leave teaching jobs in poor, urban schools after a couple of years. Besides this, the shortage in qualified elementary teachers in subject areas like mathematics, science and bilingual education is also going to increase. Thus, with the increase in job opportunities, more involvement of teachers in school policy, we can expect a big increase in the salary range of elementary school teacher in the United States.