If teachers have to start bulletproofing their classrooms they should be paid 2 salaries
Summary
A straphanger floats a stark proposal: if teachers need to bulletproof their classrooms, pay them two salaries. Kareem agrees, though the conversation quickly turns darker as both speakers acknowledge the horror of the situation itself. The rider describes teachers like "Miss K" holding bulletproof clipboards to shield children, calling the whole scenario "awful." Teachers are soldiers now, she says. They're expected to protect and serve. The discussion escalates from there: maybe redirect police department budgets to teachers, start salaries at $200,000, no wait, make it $300,000. It's fierce. It's bleak. And nobody thinks doubled pay actually solves the real problem.
Full Transcript
So what's your take? If teachers have to start bulletproofing their rooms, they should be paid two salaries—that of a teacher and a police officer. I agree, but I hate the fact that it's even happening. I hate it. But you know what, put some F under that, cuz like, all right, Miss K is supposed to hold up a bulletproof clipboard and protect my kid right now? Like, are you kidding me? It's not a solution to the problem. It's not a solution to the problem. But you know what, then pay them double. I think pay them way more than double.
Exactly. I think pay them ten times what they're getting paid. They're soldiers, 100%. All of a sudden the teacher is a soldier. Have you seen the—they have to protect and serve. There are these like walls that you like, all of a—like these like little like slide things that they pull out and cover the kids. Oh, this is an awful place. This is awful. This is an awful place right now. Maybe we should start taking some of the money in the police departments and relocate them to the teacher department. That makes a lot of sense to me. $200,000 starting salary? That's not enough. 300.