Tiger teachers not deterred by low pay

For people who pose that question, the teaching profession’s low salary and prestige may seem incongruous with the high cost of a Princeton education. According to the National Education Association, a starting teacher’s salary in New Jersey averages only $40,307 — more than $10,000 below the estimated cost of attendance at Princeton for the 2009-10 school year. Despite the financial pressure, though, many Princeton students and alumni pursuing careers in teaching said they consider the fulfillment of helping students learn worth the sacrifice.

Jean-Pierre, a student in the Program in Teacher Preparation, said that people are often taken aback by her decision to pursue a teaching career after graduating from Princeton. “A lot of them are surprised because teachers don’t make a lot of money,” she said. “It’s a noble profession, but it’s not a prestigious profession.”

Charlie Ashton ’86, who went through Teacher Prep and is now in his 24th year of teaching, said he has similar experiences. When people ask him, “Why would you go to Princeton and then just teach?” his standard response, he explained, is, “Why would you go to Princeton and not do something meaningful like teaching?”

The Program in Teacher Preparation allows an average of 18 students a year to graduate with a University certificate that certifies them to teach in New Jersey public schools. The program requires a ninth semester to fulfill student teaching requirements, but it condenses the typical timeline for teacher certification.

Despite having the convenience of graduating qualified to enter a career, however, Teacher Prep students and professors often have to justify their decision to go into teaching, students and administrators said.

“Students in teacher preparation are barraged with the question: ‘Why are you wasting your Princeton education on becoming a teacher?’ They get asked that question from all quarters,” explained John Webb, who has directed Teacher Prep since 2000.

Kate Heavers ’96, a teacher who didn’t earn a Teacher Prep certificate but has lectured in the program, explained that placing undue emphasis on financial success is a broader cultural issue in the United States. “I don’t think it’s singular and unique to Princeton. I think it’s our society.”

When Ashton graduated, he said there were “just a handful of us” in Teacher Prep. Ashton attributed the small size of the program to financial concerns. “[It’s] just the money,” he explained. “[Teaching] doesn’t pay as well.” Ashton added that most people choose their occupations based on finding a job that will pay well and give them the chance to succeed.

Qin Zhi Lau ’11 noted, though, that a decision to go into education is not determined solely by financial factors. “[Money] may be a factor in some people’s decisions,” he said, “but it’s more of a personal choice. Some people just won’t find teaching that interesting.”

Webb said that the academic requirements may also deter students from getting a Teacher Prep certificate: The extra semester required by Teacher Prep is difficult for many students to fit into their schedules, he said.

Yet Webb added that the program consistently attracts participants.

“These days there are more college-age students who are paying attention to education,” Webb said. He explained that the program averages 60 students total, with an average of 18 graduating with the certificate each year.

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Webb noted the importance of having Ivy League graduates as teachers. “We need in our classrooms the nation’s brightest and best, and if we don’t get teachers from Princeton, then education … is diminished,” he said.

He recalled one alumnus who said, “Who else would you want to have teaching your children?”

Heavers explained that being a Princetonian has helped her in the classroom. Students “look up to me just because I got into Princeton,” she said. “That’s a really big advantage for me because they automatically listen. They think, ‘Whatever she did worked.’ ” The students themselves, she said, may be unaware of Princeton’s influence on their lives. “They don’t actually realize the impact that my having been a successful student and scholar has had.”

Heavers added, “I do wish more Princetonians, more Ivy Leaguers, would make it into the classroom.”

A Princeton education also provides a foundation in the liberal arts instead of just the practicalities of teaching techniques, Ashton said.

“Princeton really opened my mind up to be more aware of the whole world and different disciplines,” he explained. “Though I didn’t get the nuts and bolts that I would have at a teaching college, it has made me a more well-rounded person, more interested in the world around me … That makes me a better teacher.”

The personal fulfillment that comes from becoming a teacher may be the fundamental motivating factor behind Princetonians’ decision to go into education.

“What other job could be more fulfilling and amazing?” Jean-Pierre noted. “I remember all of my teachers … and I don’t remember my doctor.”

Ashton expressed a similar sentiment, calling it a “privilege” to work with his students. “I’ve had a part to play in thousands of kids’ lives,” he said. “It can make a big difference, and that’s a good feeling at the end of the day.”

“For students who choose to go into the program, it boils down their convictions that what they are doing is right,” Webb explained.

The students of Teacher Prep graduates may provide the best support for those convictions. “I and many of your students have learned more about learning and ourselves in a month of your class than we do an entire high school education,” one of Heaver’s students wrote to her. “You are doing what you love and affecting people positively in one of the most crucial points in their lives.”

Correction

An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified Qin Zhi Lau '11 as a female.