Generally speaking, an effective teacher determines the outcomes of education. Thus, school districts need to hire and retain high-quality teachers who can produce the best possible results in education. Over time, this has become challenging since teacher supply has been impacted by high rates of turnover, increase in retirements, as well as deterioration in students going for a career in teaching. It is vital to note that the teacher pay gap has been increasing over the years, and this has led to a shortage of teacher problem. Many teachers around the globe are underpaid. Their wages are lower than other workers in other professions. Some of the rises in teacher wage gap may be as a result of a trade-off between benefits and wages. Underpaying teachers may generally result in the shortage of teachers, and this can best be explained using the supply and demand model.
The supply and demand model is a familiar concept used in economics. In supply, the ability and willingness to supply products mostly rely on the actions of the seller. Herein, if the prices are high, then more goods will be available to the buyers since suppliers will have the ability to make profits, in spite of the higher production costs that may come from the short-term growth of their capacity. Demand, on the other hand, is the rate at which consumers desire or want to purchase a given product. The theory of economics contends that demand comprises two factors namely taste as well as the ability to buy . Taste, (the desire for a good) dictates the willingness to purchase the product at a particular price. The ability to purchase implies that to buy a product at a specific cost, a person must have enough income or wealth. It is imperative to note that both demand factors rely on the market price .
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On the one hand , the demand is low if the market price of a good is high. This is because consumers may want to purchase a product, but their buying ability restricts them . On the other hand, there is a high demand if the price is low. This is because numerous consumers will be able to buy a commodity.
The supply and demand model can explicitly explain how underpaying teachers may result in the teacher shortage problem. Ordinarily, the way to raise the supply of something is to escalate the price being paid for it. Teacher’s wages impact the supply of teachers; therefore, if we desire many quality teachers, the best strategy to take is to increase their salaries as an increase in wages will consequently lead to an increase in supply. Underpaying teachers, in contrast, results in a decrease in supply as the price being paid for teaching service is low. Hence, the demand for teachers increases. However, the supply is low mainly due to high turnover rates, high annual retirements, and students not opting to choose to teach as a career. All these factors are brought about by lower wages as compared to other professions. For this reason, a teacher shortage problem may emanate.
To sum up, effective teachers generally determine the outcomes of education; thus, retaining high-quality teachers is fundamental. Over the years, teachers have been receiving lower wages than other individuals in other professions. Underpaying teachers, in general, may result in teacher shortage problem as the supply of teachers will be low since the price being paid for the service will be low. Low wages may lead to high turnover and retirement rates, as well as students declining to be teachers.
