English teacher Stephanie Bonneau grabs her purse and begins to leave her classroom. She turns off the lights on her way out and locks the door behind her. The school has emptied. The students have left to enjoy their weekend, but Mrs. Bonneau has more work yet to come. She makes her way to her car, ready to start her second job.
Mrs. Bonneau maintains a job at the Gap in addition to her current job as a teacher. According to a recent survey conducted by researchers at Sam Houston University, four out of every ten teachers work a second job, also known as moonlighting.
“I get bored really easily, and so I wanted something to do,” Mrs. Bonneau said. ”I also buy a lot of clothes for my kids, and it helps to get a discount. The little bit of extra money is nice, but it’s not very much.”
The survey also reported two-thirds of teachers who moonlight, 38 percent of whom taught high school, felt their performance as a teacher would improve if they didn’t have to work two jobs.
“I think that as long as the student’s grades are up to par then it’s not a problem. I don’t think that their performance would be noticeably different if they worked a second job, as long as they focused on being a teacher,” sophomore Zach McCartney said.
The Texas State Teachers Association, who has sponsored the biennial survey since its beginnings in 1980, reported the average salary of Texas teachers last school year as $47,157, over $7,000 below the national average. FALS aide Jon Ramon, who had a second job prior to March, feels teachers’ salaries are in need of change.
“I believe that teachers should receive a salary close to that of other professionals because of our vital role to society,” Mr. Ramon said. “I believe it’s appalling that any time you hear the words ‘teacher’ and ‘pay’ in the same sentence, it is usually the punch line of a joke. That just goes to show you how people view our jobs.”
The average salary of the teachers surveyed in July came in at $50,019, almost $3,000 more than the 2008 study had found. However, many teachers feel as though their salaries cannot sustain them in the current economy.
“All I can say is that it just goes to show you where our government puts their financial priorities,” Ramon said. “We are the ones preparing our nation’s future. Without teachers, everything everyone else does would be for nothing. You’d think those in charge would be concerned.”
With school districts throughout the state bracing for next year by making serious financial cuts, teachers’ second jobs will become more important to them.
“I think it’s their choice,” sophomore Trent Ritchey said. “If they want to be a teacher, then they can work a second job if they need to. That, or they can just switch jobs.”
