‘No way’: Teacher sparks heated debate after revealing salary

A teacher who candidly revealed his salary has sparked a heated debate about how much the profession should get paid.

A teacher revealing his salary in a candid street interview has sparked a heated debate about how much they should be getting paid.

Speaking to Getahead, an app that matches workers with employers, the Melbourne man was asked by the interviewer what he does and how much he makes in a year.

“I’m a teacher and I make just north of $160,000,” he revealed.

He further divulged that he was a high school teacher who taught drama.

Many were shocked at this teacher's $160k salary. Picture: TikTok / @getahead.app

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“I’ve been teaching for 27 years,” he added.

“Started as an actor and then moved into teaching. The workload is alright, I’m on holidays at the moment.

“School holidays are always good. But when you are working, you’re doing a lot of after hours and things like that.

“It’s definitely worth it though. I’d encourage anyone to get into it.

“For any actors out there, drama teaching is the next best thing.

“You get to do your craft every day and you get to teach the future of actors.

“Do what you want to do, until you can’t do it anymore and then find something else that will be good to do.

“But you gotta follow your passion first.”

The video racked up hundreds of comments, with many stunned at the man’s salary.

“There’s no way,” one said.

“I am in the wrong profession,” another said.

One simply wrote: “HOW?”

MORE: Salary and pay calculator for Australians

He has been in the job for 27 years. Picture: TikTok / @getahead.app

The video was recorded as part of the app’s marketing campaign, where Getahead representative’s hit the streets in different parts of Australia asking people about how much they are making in their jobs.

In another clip, a different woman is quizzed about her salary and it is revealed she is also a teacher.

She claims to be raking in $110,000 a year working at a high school, but said the idea teachers get “loads of holidays” is a “total myth”.

“The workload is huge, yeah,” she said.

“That’s one of those myths that's out there, that you get heaps of holidays. It’s an emotional job too.

“Because you make lots of connections and relationships. So there is always going to be that side to it.

“There is the marking load and the prep load, and then you’ve got feedback all the time.”

She added that “time management” was one of the biggest challenges when it came to teaching.

One teacher said having enough time for everything was the most difficult time. Picture: TikTok / @getahead.app

“You’ve got a lot of classes and a lot of students,” she said.

“And for each of those, you’re trying to provide an individual with feedback and education, so it is an organisation challenge.”

While many commenters were stunned by the significant salaries, there were some that even went as far as to claim teachers were being “overpaid”.

“Teachers are extremely overpaid,” one claimed.

“The most they should be paid is $30k – $40k.”

“$110k for a schoolteacher, at this point we are handing out money,” another said.

“If they are earning that much money why are they all saying they need more?” another asked.

“That’s an excellent wage.”

She revealed she was getting $110,000 a year as a high school teacher. Picture: TikTok / @getahead.app

Other teachers sounded shocked at these figures, with many saying they were not making anywhere near that amount.

“That’s not close to average, I’m a maths and science teacher at a high school and I earn $84k,” one shared.

“I’ve been teaching for 43 years, I’m head of a subject area and have several post grade qualifications, and I don’t make anywhere near that,” another said.

“Wow, I’m nowhere near close to that and I’ve been a teacher for 24 years in Queensland!” one shared.

According to job search platform SEEK the average wage for a teacher in Australia ranges from $95,000 to $105,000.