Coaches Paid More than Teachers in Texas

[Guest JoesBros]

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4143852.html

[bronco1]

I would like to see the diference in hours worked for the year.:?:

[Dawg_Pride]

I know for a fact that football coaches put in nearly double the hours! They are at school all year wether it be watching film or drawing up plays.

[Tiger90]

The state or federal government could care less the state championships,district titles, or hours a coach puts into a year. The schools are not there for sports, they are there for education. Whereas I do agree athletics are an important part of helping kids to become better citizens I do not agree that they are worth more than teachers. We predominantly talk about high school sports. Prior to a kid coming to high school they have 8-9 years in a classroom without organized sports. Are those formative teachers worth less than an individual who coaches a few months of the year? I'm talking head coach such as football. Assistant coaches usually do not make the "big" bucks. Look at Port Arthur....do more folks complain because they do not go far athletically or do they complain due to the school not performing academically? Whereas I understand a coach feeling pressure to win, the entire school feels pressure to succeed with TAKS. Whether standardized testing is beneficial is debatable, but it is the reality faced.

[bronco1]

Teachers are definitely more important! I was only trying to say that when you divide the pay by the actual hours worked it probably is not that different (on average). Just like anything else there are always gonna be overpayed people.

[Champion]

In the same breath most coaches sign two contracts one for teaching and one for coaching. These contracts state that if you get fired from your coaching job you lose your teaching spot also. It is easier to fire a coach than a teacher. So not only do coaches work longer hours they also have less job security. So maybe thats why they get paid more also!

[Guest Wildcat 08]

Most Coaches work from Daylight until after dark. They deserve the pay.

[RETIREDFAN1]

from the article:

" It's common for football coaches to log 70 to 100 per week during the season, including time on Saturdays and Sundays, compared to 40 to 70 per week for teachers. "

Something that they didn't say in the article (or I may have missed it) , is that the ones whose salaries were named are AD's as well. That is an administrative position and NOT a teaching position. Take the AD's out and make a comparison and you will see that there is not as great a gap.

[tvc184]

Teachers are definitely more important!..........

In the scope of life, teachers are more important than coaches. It is very hard to make a living if you cannot read and write but know how to play football (unless you are about 1 out of 5,000 that can make it in the NFL-I guess the other 4,999 are out of luck). I would bet that Bill Gates never played high school football and look where he is.

The problem is the free enterprise system, supply and demand. How many teachers get offering bids from other school districts after the school year ends? Does the best math teacher in your school get an offer for twice the money from a neighboring district due to her teaching skills?

I see the new Port Arthur ISD superintendent just signed a salary package that amounts to more than $200,000 a year. Compare that to the teacher's salaries in that financially strapped district. How does the new superintendent's salary compare to others in the area, especially considering that we have several high performing districts and Port Arthur ISD is usually near the bottom.

The bottom line is that you cannot compare one position to another by "importance". I would say that to a parent, a great teacher is much more important to their child's education and future rather than a good superintendent. Why then does the superintendent make up to 500% more than the teacher?

It is the apples and oranges argument. You cannot compare positions by saying which is more important.

[bronco1]

Well said.

In the scope of life football doesn't rank real high when it comes to things like education, world peace and the price of gasoline. But, when you live in East Texas, work for ExxonMobil (the more they sell...), have a son playing HS Football it ranks pretty high.

[KJB324]

When it comes to teaching and football, teaching SHOULD rank higher. However you can whine all you want about the salaries but right or wrong your fighting a losing battle. Because here in Texas we are High School Football. Besides how many people visit a forum year round to talk about teaching.

[tvc184]

When it comes to teaching and football' date=' teaching SHOULD rank higher.....[/quote']

Teaching does rank higher, they just don't get paid more. I don't think many people would say that a coach is more important in life than a teacher.

I don't think it applies to this forum or this area of Texas exclusively. That is the nature of the beast everywhere.

Should a person that has a high school education and working in a chemical plant be making more than a person that has gotten a college degree, joined the military to be an officer and be over in Iraq putting their life on the line and sometimes dying?

When this life gets fair by they way it "should be", please let me know so I can sign up for the new fairness.

[3amagic]

Not some coaches, but all coaches who aren't AD's, teach and are under a teaching contract. If you were to compare the coaches teaching salary/coaching stipend to that of a teacher who got off work at 4:00pm every day and never went up on weekends (which is most of them and that is fine) and spent the same amount of time as a Wal Mart greater as the coach spends working with kids the Wal Mart greater would make considerably more money.

[swampdude]

The Houston Chronicle article is VERY misleading with it's quote "The latest numbers show coaches making an average of $73,804, compared to $42,400 for teachers." First it implies that all coaches make this kind of money. I wish! (being a coach!) :wink: Most of the salaries they compare are Athletic Director/Coaches or Head Coaches at very large schools. I have been coaching for over 25 years and I assure you, the only way I make $73,000 is to add my last two years together! Most coaching stipends ( the amount coaches make above their teaching salary), are between $2500-$5000 a year. Head Football coaches cannot make more money than the Principal of the school. If the media wants to expose what they see as unfair salaries, so be it. Just make fair comparisons. Always remember that statistics are like a woman in a bikini, what you see is real but what you don't see is vital. :oops:

[RETIREDFAN1]

I just noticed that they got their information from the Austin American-Statesman, one of the most liberal/socialist newspapers in Texas. No wonder the article was blatantly misleading by comparing AD salaries to those of teachers. As has been stated before, compare the salaries of the teachers and coaches who are NOT AD's and you will see that they are much closer. You have to consider the source of any information in this day and age......The Austin American-Statesman is WAY down the list of reliable sources as far as I'm concerned.

[JohnnyT60]

They were comparing Head Coaches(most of who are also teachers or AD's) to average teaching salaries. Not very fair to compare the top guy , who is usually performing two duties to the average teaching salary. We can all get off of the soap box now. One more point, I can remember having many conversations with my coaches about life, I don't remember having the same conversations with anyone else at school.

[sticky]

Did I miss something. Coaches are teachers. Why didn't they say that teachers who coach make more than teachers who don't coach. Most AD's are administrators. Don't administrators make more that teachers?

[swampdude]

Uh-huh........quite a bit more :?

[eastex]

coaches are teachers first. We get paid the exact same as teachers. The only difference being our stipend for our coaching duties.

This is ridiculous. If I drove a bus as an extra duty I would expect to get paid for it. What sets coaches apart from a teacher that drives a bus is that if that teacher is a bad bus driver he doesn't get fired, he just gets removed from driving a bus. We can get canned for both our teaching and coaching.

[Champion]

Also the more you win the less you get paid. The longer your season is the less money you make! You make the same amount if you go 0-10 or 13-0. There is no bonus pay for making the playoffs...

[sticky]

Also the more you win the less you get paid. The longer your season is the less money you make! You make the same amount if you go 0-10 or 13-0. There is no bonus pay for making the playoffs...

That sucks.

[bronco1]

No, playoff bonus! Thats crazy!

Texas, Vote Yes in November for Playoff Bonus for Coaches :!: