On Uniformity of Teacher’s Pay and Their Position Relative to Other Salaried Workers

The current research examines the relationship between the uniform national pay scale for teachers, where the range is relatively limited between the starting salary and the maximum salary, and between the quality (as expressed by salary and results of various tests) of those training to be teachers on the one hand, and the teacher’s salaries compared to other professions, on the other hand. The central finding of the research is that the relative standing of teachers, as expressed through their salaries, is closely linked to their place of residence – in residential areas where the socio-demographic level is low their salaries are the same and even higher than that of other professionals and in areas where the socio-demographic level is high, the opposite is true. Due to the well known relation which is accepted in the research literature between level of salary and level of skills in professions and between their social status, the research findings lead to the conclusion that the social status of teachers is high in relatively low socio-demographic areas; the reverse is also the case.