Surprise! Coaches in Texas earn about $30k MORE a year than teachers

[Horse with no Name]

It's nice to have "priorities".

http://blogs.payscale.com/ask_dr_salary/2007/06/salary-for-teac.html

>>>snip
In the post on differences in pay for men and women, the relatively low pay of teachers came up. It may surprise readers to learn that the average salary for teachers in Texas public schools is significantly less than the average pay for high school coaches, according to an article in the Austin-Statesman.

The paper reported that Texas high school football coaches in Class 5A and 4A schools (that's 950 students or more) earn an average salary of $73,804, while the average salary for teachers in those same schools is about $42,400 (as mentioned on ESPN.com).

In its report, the Austin American-Statesman "asked every 5A and 4A school district in the state for the total compensation paid to Texas football coaches and for salaries of their highest-paid teachers, high school principals and superintendents for the 2005-06 school year." The results? Texas high school football coaches in 27 schools earn a higher salary than even their principals. The report also says five Texas high school football coaches earn more than $100K. Ennis High School's Sam Harrell tops the list with an annual salary of $106,004; the lowest-paid is Houston Furr's Cornell Gray, who scores $42,300.

While the reasons given for this pay difference are varied, there is one fundamental. The school boards and, indirectly, the taxpayers in Texas value the high school football coaches more highly than even their best paid teachers. Sounds like another case like surgeon vs. pro football player pay, and, like that, it is about revenue...

[LisaM]

1. Do the coaches in Texas only coach, and not teach?

My father coached football at my high school, but it was essentially a second job, since he was a fulltime teacher.

[Horse with no Name]

4. They usually teach a class or two.

But their JOB is coaching football and pretty much babysitting another class.

[Drale]

32. NO they are teachers first and coaches after school.

In fact my two favorite history teachers where both basketball coaches.

[Horse with no Name]

37. Not usually in Texas

And in the case of the athletic directors--they are rarely teachers.

[Drale]

2. The high school coaches are not also teachers?

Cause at my high school all the coaches where also teachers and they just got payed extra for their time coaching.

[Buzz Clik]

14. I will grant you that a lot of coaches put in a lot of hours.

But do we value them that highly?

I really do not know, but do the other coaches/sponsors get extra pay: cheerleaders, chess club, debate team, robotics, music, etc? If so, do they get an 80% pay raise for their efforts?

Those of us who don't already know should be told: Texas does, indeed, value athletics more than academics. It is commonplace for Texas coaches to talk to the parents of outstanding football players and suggest that the parents hold their son back for one grade to allow them to play high school football when their bodies are more mature. I have yet to hear of ONE case where an academic counselor suggested to parents of an honor roll student that their child should repeat a grade to allow the child to get another couple hundred points on the college entrance exams.

[Horse with no Name]

19. Exactly.

Most teachers that I know put in extra hours that are unpaid...especially the ones that do the UIL events. There is a lot of time and travel put into UIL competitions and the teachers are not reimbursed.

Or what about the teachers who have to do their lesson plans, paper grading, etc at home on their own time?

Athletics in Texas is out of control. Absolutely. I don't know about other states, but I do know about this one.

[pstokely]

28. A lot of parents of kids that have summer birthdays delay kindergarten for a year

nt

[Buzz Clik]

33. True. And why do you suppose that is?

[pstokely]

41. They think they will do better if they are more mature

Red shirting kindergarteners

[Drale]

30. In my area?

Yes teachers get payed extra for anything extra they do. I don't know how much but if they chair a club, coach a team or what ever they are compensated for their time.

[Buzz Clik]

34. I'll bet it's less than $30,000 annually.

[Drale]

35. Well I'm not in Texas

but I did go to one of the best public high schools in Illinois.

[eleny]

20. Don't teachers often oversee various clubs and other school activities, too?

[ileus]

3. Coaches make schools money, teachers cost money.

Basically it's management math at it's finest...

[Horse with no Name]

7. How do they make schools money?

I don't understand.

[Shiver]

15. Winning teams attract alumni donations.

I suppose ticket sales or concession sales also bring in funds, but really, it's the alumni.

[Horse with no Name]

17. But it goes right back into football (stadiums, equipment, etc)

So, the only ones benefiting are the football players and not the student body as a whole.

[Shiver]

21. Some people see it as the school not having to pay for that stuff.

Opening up more room in the budget for the other students. And some alumni do donate to other causes than sports - sometimes the money is just given to the school, with no strings on how it's supposed to be spent.

[Horse with no Name]

23. The budget for athletics doesn't change

it devours the majority of the budget and takes away from necessary things.

IF they get contributions--it goes directly back into athletics and almost NEVER goes back into education.

[Bozita]

18. I thought my university held the patent on alumni donations.

[Buzz Clik]

16. Our athletic teams cost our school system a fortune.

Stadiums, trips, equipment, etc.

We're not talking about colleges with multi-million dollar shoe contracts, media deals, and bowl games. A season ticket for a high football team costs less than a single game ticket in college.

[former9thward]

5. Every coach I ever had was a full-time teacher. They were doing two jobs.

[bluestateguy]

11. Most of the coaches at my high school were the same

The coaching was supplementary income and it was not a lot. The lone exception to this was the varsity boys basketball coach, who was a local businessman, and he won several championships even though the stipend was only a few thousand.

[Lars39]

43. The coaches that I had as teachers did a half-assed job teaching.

Literally doing as little as possible in class teaching and very rarely assigning homework, especially in season, since that would take time away from their coaching.

[bluestateguy]

6. Is all that salary from the school district?

I ask because on Friday Night Lights it is implied that much of the football coach's salary comes from the booster club, which is made up of parents and prominent local people. As such, the booster club has the de facto power to sack the coach. But that's just a TV show, so if that's not true please say so.

[Horse with no Name]

9. Now they "might" be supplemented additionally from the Booster Club

but that is salary paid by taxpayers.

[sinkingfeeling]

8. Highest paid state employee in Arkansas is the UofA's football coach.

[VoteProgressive]

10. That makes sense. Because sports is so much more important!

This country is a joke.

[Bozita]

12. Bread and Circuses

Incredible!

[tularetom]

13. Not to defend asshole football coaches

but aren't most of them teachers as well? Admittedly most are probably PE teachers but they are still subject to the same educational and experience qualifications as any other teacher.

So if this is true what is really at issue is what extra pay are they due for taking on the coaching job? I'd say they deserve some extra compensation but certainly not $30k per year (the difference between the average teacher salary and the average coach's salary).

Other than that my only comment is "Forget it Jake it's Chinatown" Or Texas in this case. WTF would we expect?

[AngryAmish]

22. Being a surgeon is much more renumerative than being a football player.

In the long run.

[ScreamingMeemie]

24. I'm sorry but my son's football coach (and math teacher) is the hardest working

guy in the school. He teaches, then coaches after school. He is at the school typically 10-12 hour days and then spends time fielding phone calls from jerkwad parents who want to know why Johnny isn't starting even though his average is a "D". He also runs the summer football camp, an 8 to 5 job because football is serious business here. He has also made himself available to the kids as a mentor and friend 24/7.

Yes, we live in Texas.

What am I supposed to be outraged about again?

[Horse with no Name]

26. They don't work harder than the other teachers

We'll have to disagree.

[ScreamingMeemie]

31. He does. And I'll support him time and again over my son's Spanish teacher.

Sorry. No one works harder than him at my son's school.

[teenagebambam]

38. I'll bet the choir or band teacher does

For a fraction of the pay.

[ScreamingMeemie]

40. I'll have to ask the choir teacher (she's my friend and part time) but I

bet she'll agree with me. :) Sorry, this coach is amazing.

The part time is due to her own wish to be, before you jump all over football taking precedence or something.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

25. It's pretty typical for athletic coaches in high school to get a little extra merit pay to coach.

Coaching takes an extroardinay amount of free time... on top of teaching (if they teach a real subject). Couple of hours of practice/games after school or on weekends just about every day before and during the season. Not to mention it's a pretty atypical skillset to be able to effectively lead a team.

I think teachers who spend alot of time organizing extracirricular groups deserve extra merit pay. According to the article, the very largest schools have average merit increases of about $30,000. I'd imagine smaller typical high schools offer less merit increase. Considering that during the training and playing season those coaches will be at school an extra 20-25 hours/week... that's fine by me.

Also, don't forget that, typically, assistant coach pay come OUT OF the head coache's personal pay. In my high school, the head coach probably made an extra $10k after giving $2000-$4000 to a few assistent coaches. My guess is the total merit increase was probably about $20k at my high school.

[tammywammy]

27. Aren't coaches paid more because they're coaching in addition to teaching?

If I was working two jobs, I'd expect to be paid more too. BTW, my high school biology teach was also the varsity volleyball coach, she was excellent at teaching biology and we had one of the top 5A volleyball programs in the state when I was there.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

29. My father probably made an extra $18k being the head baseball coach.

It was a typical division I (largest) city public high school.
Keep in mind... out of that extra merit pay he had to also pay the junior varsity and assistant coaches.

So it's typically not the case that these football coaches are just taking an extra $30k home. I'd guess about half the merit increases get distributed among other coaches and to cover other supplies/expenses.

It's really not a situation worthy of any outrage at all.

[LanternWaste]

39. I do not believe that is the case in TX education...

"ut of that extra merit pay he had to also pay the junior varsity and assistant coaches..."

I do not believe that is the case in TX education contracts as per the UIL.

[damntexdem]

36. But in Texas, coaches are our priesthood.

At least football coaches.

;-)

[reformist2]

42. Repugs may regret making people's salaries into political issues...

They've opened the door to questioning *all* salaries, public and private.