Working to teach: Some local teachers must work outside jobs to stay in the classroom
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Paola Ramirez always wanted to be a teacher. She works as a Spanish and Math teacher in the Kansas City Public Schools. But she’s learning that it’s a career that isn’t exactly paying off. Ramirez struggles to make ends meet on her teacher salary and has had to pick up extra jobs to bridge the gap.
In addition to her work in the classroom, Ramirez, a single mother of two, works as an Uber Eats driver, sells essential oils, teaches dance, and tutors.
“It’s like a vicious cycle,” said Ramirez. “I can (teach) Zumba, I can teach salsa, I can tutor to other students but, that’s time away from my two girls. Yes, I am struggling.”
Ramirez knows she’s not alone.
“A lot of teachers, we’re not getting paid as we should,” said Ramirez. “We shouldn’t have to go look for different jobs to make that extra.”
And Ramirez is not alone. Many educators in Missouri are working multiple jobs, just so they can stay in the classroom.
A high school teacher in St. Clair, Missouri, made national headlines after she was fired for baring it all on “OnlyFans”—a subscription website primarily providing risqué photos and videos. She said she did it to supplement her $42,000 salary. She told reporters she knew the risks and does not regret doing it.
Missouri education leaders admit that there is a serious shortage of teachers in Missouri and that pay is a problem.
“Starting pay for the state or Missouri? We have the distinction of being at the bottom,” said Paul Katnik, Assistant Commissioner at the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Katnik wasn’t far off: Missouri is second to last, according to the National Education Association. According to state law, the minimum is $25,000 per year. The average first-year teacher salary in Missouri is $34,052. That’s the lowest of all neighboring states.
When you look at the larger districts in the Kansas City metro area, you see the average pay for districts on the Missouri side is lower than neighboring Kansas.
Sandra Dayse with the Kansas City Chapter of the American Federation of Teachers said she knows all about the pay problems teachers face.
“It’s a fight,” said Dayse. “I hear the struggle all the time. I know how it feels to have your lights cut off. I know how it feels to have your water cut off.”
Dayse illustrates the challenge for teachers.
“The average apartment in Kansas City is $1,200,” said Dayse. “Your first check goes to your rent; your second check goes to your student loans and your utilities, and do not have a car payment — you have no money at the end of the month. You just don’t.”
Katnik said there is legislation proposed to permanently boost pay — to raise base pay to $60,000. But he says, it’s a work in progress.
“There’s going to have to be successive years of continuing to work at it, and trying to make it to where our teachers can do one thing--and that’s teach,” said Katnik.
Until then, teachers like Ramirez must put in extra house at extra jobs. She is literally working to teach.
But she said, she still loves teaching.
“I will tell you this, the minute I enter my school, I forget everything,” said Ramirez. “Because I give it all.”
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