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without a doubt.)

With this understanding, schools make their hiring decisions. Hiring a teacher with a Master's degree usually carries a higher price tag. (Most districts have a schedule that uses education and experience to assign salary. A Master's degree can add a thousand dollars or more per year.) A Master's degree also conveys credibility upon the district. One common benchmark when comparing school districts is the percentage of teachers who hold Master's degrees. The idea here (true or not) is that districts with a higher percentage of teachers with Master's degrees will have more effective schools. When competing for funding, there is an advantage to having the prestige of having Master's (or even Ph. D's) on the roster.

At the end of the day though, the most important area of impact is on the students. A teacher with a Master's degree has the potential to possess greater abilities, either in subject knowledge, teaching ability, or both. The degree itself bears no guarantee, but when the teacher makes the most of their education for the purpose of benefiting their students, the rewards are clear. Students have the opportunity to learn more, explore more, and develop a real passion for learning as they see the same passion in their highly specialized teacher.

When the budget allows for it, it is unsurprising that schools prefer to hire experienced teachers with master's degrees. It benefits the schools' reputations and offers a higher quality of education. There are downsides to this hiring practice as well. The number of experienced, Master's degreed teachers is finite, but not insignificant. This makes it difficult for newer teachers to compete in a fairly saturated market. They are frequently forced then to work for poorer districts which cannot afford the higher ticket price of a Master's degree. Poorer districts, unfortunately, are often those which could most benefit from a highly experienced teacher, and often tend to be more stressful, leading to a quick "burn-out" on the part of the inexperienced teacher, who then must be replaced - with another inexperienced teacher. In the end, this pattern contributes to social inequality, as the better education tends to go to students in districts which can better afford it.

Learn more about this author, Ernest Capraro.
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