Sorry, LE, I am absolutely sick and tired of this argument.
Because Chinese teachers get HORRIBLE salaries, of course, that makes our salaries APPEAR to be handsome. It's a ridiculous comparison in my opinion. and does not address our special situation.
We are making different sacrifices than those made by our Chinese colleagues. I have also seen numerous Chinese teachers get their revenge (regarding salary and working conditions) by being robotic, disengaged (and disengaging), and apathethic in their classroom performance -- offering little or no assistance to students outside of class, as many foreign teachers do (or are expected to do).
I make 20% of my previous American salary. I came to China and accepted the salary because I wanted to do something useful with my time, training, and energy -- certainly NOT for the money -- we all understand that -- but I an HUGELY offended when people (Chinese or foreign) imply that I should somehow be GRATEFUL for the salary I accept here.
As I detailed in the thread "Foundation Programs," earlier this year I was hired by a supposedly "established and resputable" public university in Nanjing. I BELIEVED I was joining a legitimate foreign language department -- and accepted standard public university (foreign) teachers salary under that completely fraudulent pretense (6000RMB per month -- 3000RMB a month less than my previous position, by the way). What I quickly discovered was that my students (491 of them!) were NOT the true the students of the university -- they had failed the gaokao -- and each of them (their parents) had paid 30,000RMB each per year to be in my classroom!
OK, you do the math... Was that "top dollar"? Of course not! The great majority of those tuition fees were going directly into the pockets of these corrupt administrators -- who cared nothing about me, my qualifications, and certainly nothing about the students. NONE of that money went toward any teaching materials (I provided 100% pf my teaching materials), equipment, etc. When I refused to alter the failing grades assigned to about 30% of the students by the previous foreign teacher (who bolted in disgust no doubt), I was evicted from the campus apartment with three day's notice.
We are used to help THEM make "top dollar," help buy condos and limos for THEM. I've lived it, seen it, experienced it time and time again. What we are participating in has nothing to do with financial equity or academic integrity.
When they (school "leaders" and "owners") can get away with paying us 3000-5000RMB per month, that's EXACTLY what they will do. It has nothing to do with paying "top dollar." It has everything to do with: How cheap can I get this teacher, and what is the most marketable color I can get for the lowest price?
Whatever level of integrity, dedication, etc., exist is what WE foreign teachers bring to the situation. In my four-plus years in China I've not had ONE SINGLE employer who gave a hoot about what I was actually providing as a qualified and dedicated teacher. Their single-minded, short-sighted dedication was to themselves and how much THEY could earn from my efforts and the desperation of many parents.
"Top dollar"? You bet! For them!
After that debacle, I returned to training school employment. Salaries are a bit higher and there's far less hypocracy regarding the fact that it is largely money-driven. But again, let's not forget the fact that what they are selling/marketing, etc., is still English language education -- taught by foreigners. I do (well, did) this teaching with the same level of preparation and dedication as I brought to my university work (here and back home). I was always keenly aware of the high fees my students were paying for my services.
One day, about one month after I began the job, I met with the "education manager" to discuss concerns about obsolete teaching materials, broken equipment, etc. The purpose of the meeting was how to improve services for the students. Ten minutes into the discussion, the "education manager" (who had no previous experience as an actual educator herself) cut me off by saying; "Frankly speaking, we don't care about education here." OK, great! I'm glad to know we're equally dedicated to meeting the needs of our customers!
I am absolutely CERTAIN that self-serving idiot's salary was much higher than mine, as she was the owner's "best friend."
To return to our mutually-agreed upon point... Yes, I think if we accept these salaries we owe it to our students to give our best energy and focus to the job. They should not be caught in the crossfire between teachers and owner/leaders. Just don't ask me to be grateful for any of these paltry wages, for which I have personally given far more than I received (financially-speaking).
I came to China to play a small role in helping students possibly gain a slightly brighter future for themselves -- definitely NOT to help unscruptulous and deceitful owner/administrators get wealthier at my sweat (truly) and expense.