When the “People Gap” Supersedes the “Pay Gap”

By: Etienne R. LeGrand, CEO, Vivify Performance

Like many people, I have vivid memories of how different teachers influenced me and shaped my trajectory. My kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Brown, made me feel special every day, and her bright smile and concern for me inspired me to try harder than I thought I could.

Why do we expect teachers alone to do the heavy lifting of promoting and enabling learning? 

But I wonder how much more encouragement I could have received and how much more I could have learned if every employee—not just the teachers—in the schools smiled as brightly and encouraged me as much as Mrs. Brown did.

It’s a fact that teachers have a larger effect on learning than, say, a principal, but this doesn’t mean they alone can get the job done for America’s kids. We shouldn’t continue to ignore the contributions that non-teaching employees outside of the classroom have on learning, and we shouldn’t render them unaccountable for their district’s performance, simply because they’re not physically in the classroom.

Teachers know, even if others aren’t yet convinced, that it is much more difficult to enable children to learn and to be their best without the full engagement of their teammates. Full engagement of all school employees creates the alignment, trust, cohesion and teamwork that are necessary in order for learning to occur. 

Motivating Educators Outside of Money

Persistent under-investment in public education and teacher compensation, and the spate of strikes by teachers in Oklahoma, West Virginia, Los Angeles and Oakland, Calif., and Denver have produced a tipping point that spotlights what we have long known – the “pay gap” for America’s teachers is a barrier to attracting and retaining top talent and to growing the profession more generally.

But money alone is often an insufficient motivator to keep employees from leaving unfulfilling employment experiences and it may not be enough to increase school enrollment, because as too many teachers know, what also matters is the experience they have when they show up to work each day. In addition to better pay, teachers on strike across the country cited a desire for better working conditions, more librarians, counselors and mental health resources.

Recent experiments to raise teacher pay as an inducement for teachers to teach in their district’s lowest performance schools didn’t have the desired effect of enticing them to leave their schools. Research by the DC-based Education Trust found teachers often leave teaching not necessarily because of the student demographic, but because they want to be encouraged by their principals and to work in more collegial environments. 

The problem is not just a pay gap, it’s a people gap.

Teachers represent fifty percent of our education workforce, and according to research by ACEReSearch, their work in the classroom is responsible for roughly thirty percent of student learning. Principals, says the research firm, contribute twenty-five percent to student learning. Almost fifty percent of workers are in non-teaching roles, and they account for roughly forty five percent of in-school effect on learning.

Learning happens best in emotionally-engaged, positive environments. The “people gap” widens when bus drivers, public safety professionals, food service workers and office personnel don’t believe they have anything to do with whether kids learn and thrive. It widens when they are unresponsive to teachers’ requests and needs, when they treat kids and each other disrespectfully and without dignity, when they behave in uncaring ways – think screaming and ridiculing kids, starving them of the concern, trust and emotional engagement kids could benefit from every employee. 

What if we begin to think of school buses as a civics class on wheels with the driver educating students about the rules of the road? Or public safety officials who help students realize that a culture founded on kindness and concern for one another is what makes a community safe? Or a food service worker who talks to kids about nutrition as they cue up at lunch time? 

Many years have passed since I was in Mrs. Brown’s kindergarten class. But I remember her smile and caring. She taught not just by the book but also by her personal example. A teacher as a powerful role model for life. We need to recognize, reward and pay the Mrs. Browns in our classrooms. But we also need to acknowledge that there are Mrs. Browns driving our buses, managing our front desks, serving food to our kids, cleaning our schools. They have much to teach as well.

Are you ready to learn how to close the gap between them and our students? If so, let’s connect and create a customized culture-shaping plan.