Ķvlog

Teaching Profession

Should Teachers Get Overtime Pay? EdWeek Readers Have Some Thoughts

By Edér Del Prado — April 15, 2026 1 min read
Teacher Time
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

One of the worst-kept secrets of the teaching profession: The amount of time many Ķvlog dedicate to their jobs outside of their contract hours. Additional duties such as lesson planning, grading, and monitoring after-school activities are among the many forces that can extend a teacher’s workday.

For many, the most frustrating part of this phenomenon is that these extra to-do’s often don’t include more pay. asking users whether they believed teachers should qualify for overtime pay (teachers don’t currently qualify, but other school staff do), and respondents had a lot to say in the comments,

Below is a summary of the main themes from those conversations. The comments have been lightly edited for clarity.

Fair compensation may break the system

If they would agree, I would agree, but that means cities’ taxes would increase by like 1,000%, or else they’d go bankrupt.
School systems survive on the unlimited unpaid overtime of teachers!
Hahaha the system would go broke!

Is salary status enough?

This is a salaried position, but we should be paid a fairer rate based on the level of education required.
Any answer other than "yes" is simply ridiculous. Either stop expecting more, stop demeaning teachers who clock out 'on time,' or start paying. There's nothing about any job, anywhere, that means anyone should do more than what they’re paid for ... it defeats the entire definition of any employment.

Lesson planning and grading often require overtime

I work at least 20-30 additional hours a week just planning and creating lessons.
As a teacher, it would be impossible to track the amount of “overtime” we put in during the day. Also, different subjects require more additional time, such as the amount of extra time required by English teachers for marking.

After-school events should be factored into pay

Between PTO meetings, sporting events, etc., overtime pay is definitely needed!
If time beyond contractual hours had to be paid, they’d be pushing us out the door at the contractual end of day, instead of adding after-school tutoring, detention, and planning.

Other ideas beyond overtime pay

Just give us a salary commensurate with our workload and the fact that we need an advanced degree to do this.
Give real time to plan for the job within the school day. Planning time is the issue, especially for K-5.

Related Tags:

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
Unlocking Success for Struggling Adolescent Readers
The Science of Reading transformed K-3 literacy. Now it's time to extend that focus to students in grades 6 through 12.
Content provided by 
Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and K-12 education jubs at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
College & Workforce Readiness Webinar
Portrait of a Learner: From Vision to Districtwide Practice
Learn how one district turned Portrait of a Learner into an aligned, systemwide practice that sticks.
Content provided by Otus

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Teaching Profession A State-by-State Breakdown of Teacher Job Satisfaction in 2026
See which states have the highest and lowest morale, and access data that can help explain the patterns.
2 min read
SOT States data Illustration promo
Vanessa Solis/Education Week via Canva
Teaching Profession Interactive What Was Happening in Education the Year You Began Teaching?
Teachers, what was the big education story when you started teaching? Find out in our interactive timeline.
Teaching Profession Gen Z Teachers Grew Up With Tech. Now They're Seeking Better Boundaries for Students
Gen Z teachers grew up in an era of unbridled tech. It shapes how they approach classroom technology.
4 min read
Katrina tk
Katrina Sacurom, a 5th grade teacher, huddles with the Shawnee Trail Elementary School journalism crew to go over how their projects are progressing on Feb. 3, 2026 in Frisco, Texas. She says she wants her students to learn to use technology thoughtfully and has looked for ways to tailor it to be meaningful, not mindless.
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week
Teaching Profession Generation Z Is Transforming Teaching. Are Districts Ready for Them?
The youngest cohort of teachers have been shaped by technological and educational disruption.
16 min read
tk
Gen Z teachers like Katrina Sacurom, a 5th grade teacher in Frisco, Texas, are bringing passion and fresh ideas to the profession—but also want supports and a reasonable work-life balance. Districts leaders, experts say, need to think about how to meet those needs in order to retain them. Sacurom chats with students during recess at Shawnee Trail Elementary School on Feb. 3, 2026.
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week