Teacher Moonlighting in North Carolina:  Implications for the Profession

Eleanor Blair Hilty
hilty@email.wcu.edu
Western Carolina University

Over twenty years ago, the Phi Delta Kappan magazine (1984) published an article by Richard Wisniewski and Paul Kleine entitled, Teacher Moonlighting:  An unstudied phenomenon.  Since that time, over fifty articles and several dissertations have examined the moonlighting phenomenon among educators.  Although moonlighting has been frequently studied, it has remained an issue about which many questions remain unanswered.  Previous research suggests that over half of all teachers receive additional compensation for supplemental employment or “moonlighting” activities; however, no such study has ever occurred in North Carolina.  In the spring, 2007, the North Carolina Association of Educators agreed to provide a 5% random sample of its teacher members (approximately 1500 subjects) for the purpose of studying teacher moonlighting in North Carolina.  The mailed surveys were returned by 383 teachers (25% return rate).  Of these respondents, 72% of the teachers were moonlighters.  The findings from this study support assertions that moonlighting is high among North Carolina teachers and reveal in-depth information regarding the characteristics and motivations of North Carolina teachers who moonlight.  In addition to the presentation of data from the North Carolina study, this paper presentation will do three things:  1. Provide a review of the literature on teacher moonlighting, 2.  Discuss the relationship between teacher moonlighting and issues related to salary and working conditions, and 3.  Discuss the importance of removing this issue from a “culture of silence” where it is simply accepted as a necessary evil endemic to the profession, but one that is not worthy of serious consideration.

Introduction:  Over twenty years ago, the Phi Delta Kappan Magazine (1984) published an article by Richard Wisniewski and Paul Kleine entitled, Teacher Moonlighting:  An Unstudied Phenomenon. Since that time, over fifty articles and several dissertations have examined the moonlighting phenomenon.  Although moonlighting has been frequently studied, it has remained a phenomenon about which many questions remain unanswered.  It would seem that teachers represent the foundation of any school’s learning community and that a better understanding of their personal and professional lives is a critical feature of this dialogue and discussion.

Objectives:  Current research suggests that over half of all teachers receive additional compensation for supplemental employment or “moonlighting” activities.  It is reasonable to assume that research on this topic would reveal a similar set of statistics for North Carolina; however, no such study of North Carolina teachers has ever occurred. The findings from this study support assertions that moonlighting is high among North Carolina teachers and reveal in-depth information regarding the characteristics and motivations of North Carolina teachers who moonlight.  In addition to the presentation of data from the North Carolina study, this paper presentation will do three things:  1. Provide a review of the literature on teacher moonlighting, 2.  Discuss the relationship between teacher moonlighting and issues related to salary and working conditions, and 3.  Discuss the importance of removing this issue from a “culture of silence” where it is simply accepted as a necessary evil endemic to the profession, but one that is not worthy of serious consideration.

Perspective or Theoretical Framework:  What do we know at this point in time?  Teachers do moonlight.  Many teachers moonlight on a continual basis throughout their careers.  Others moonlight according to needs, personal and financial.  Regardless of the pattern, moonlighting is an important part of the culture of teaching.  The educational anthropologists, George and Louise Spindler, were the first to verbalize the idea of “making the strange familiar and the familiar strange.”  Attempts to study moonlighting have suffered from failed attempts to make what is commonplace appear worthy of serious consideration by policymakers, researchers, or members of the profession.  Holding a second job is frequently a fundamental part of teaching, a practice embedded in the very sub-culture of the profession.  The high incidence of moonlighting activities by teachers is well-documented.  One study by the National Education Association, Status of the American Teacher 1985 -86, indicated that nearly half (49%) of all teachers report sources of income beyond their basic teaching salaries.  Despite increases in teachers’ salaries, they appear to be moonlighting in ever-increasing numbers.

Methods or Techniques:  In the spring, 2007, the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) agreed to provide a 5% random sample of its teacher members (approximately 1500 subjects) for the purpose of studying teacher moonlighting in North Carolina.  NCAE “pulled” a random sample from their membership of active teachers in May, 2007.  In the interest of confidentiality, NCAE assembled the labels and mailed out the questionnaires from their offices.  Subjects were mailed a cover letter and survey in June, 2007.  A postage paid envelope was included with the materials.  The cover letter described the research and requested participation through the completion of the two page survey.  Participation was entirely voluntary and no identifying data was attached to returned questionnaires.  Returned questionnaires were summarized and analyzed by the principal investigator.

Data Source:  The author of this paper has done both quantitative and qualitative studies of moonlighting in Tennessee and Georgia.   In addition to these studies, a 2007 study of teacher moonlighting in North Carolina provides data from questionnaires and interviews.  The mailed surveys were returned by 383 teachers (25% return rate).  Of these respondents, 72% of the teachers were moonlighters.  The findings from this study support assertions that moonlighting is high among North Carolina teachers and reveal in-depth information regarding the characteristics and motivations of North Carolina teachers who moonlight.

Results and Conclusions:  The findings from this study are similar to those of previous studies of teacher moonlighting.  More importantly, despite recent efforts to “upgrade” and improve the teaching profession in North Carolina, this study documents a particularly high incidence of teacher moonlighting in North Carolina.  A 2006 report by The Center for Learning Quality in North Carolina entitled, Teacher Working Conditions are Student Learning Conditions (Hirsch and Emerick) emphasized the strong correlation between teacher working conditions and student achievement.  The author of this paper contends that teacher moonlighting is a response to issues associated with both salary AND working conditions.  Teacher moonlighting has both positive and negative dimensions; however, its “large” presence among teachers who are often working second jobs that are totally unrelated to the teaching profession is an issue that needs serious consideration.   In summary, there are many variables that affect the quality of our schools.  Teachers are one of those variables.  However, unlike other variables, policymakers and educational leaders can do many things to change the quality and substance of teachers’ lives.  If we accept the notion that how we define the problem determines the solution, a vision for the reform of teaching that focuses on a reconsideration of teachers’ work may ultimately produce outcomes that are preferable to accepting the status quo as an immutable reality.

References
Hirsch, E. & Emerick, S. with Church, K & Fuller, E. (2006).  Teacher working conditions and student learning conditions:  A report on the 2006 North Carolina working conditions survey.  The Center for Learning Quality.

National Education Association (1987). Status of the American public school teacher 1985-86.  Washington, D.C.:  National Education Association.

Wisniewski, R. & Kleine, P. (1984).  Teacher Moonlighting:  an unstudied phenomenon.  Phi Delta Kappan, 65, 553-555.

Wisniewski, R., & Hilty, E. (1987).  Moonlighting:  A disturbing tradition in education.  Unpublished paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Washington, D.C.