After having spent the last 25+ years living with someone who puts in the 10-12 hour days during the school year I have an opinion:
It is not that school districts are underfunded - that is simply a lie - but it is that school districts allocate adequate resources inappropriately. In my area we are now looking at almost $10 million in cost overruns because the district "experts" could not admit that they were not qualified to oversee a huge multi-site construction project. Translate that into classrooms and what are the kids missing out on for the next few years? We will fire them, but beware: they seem to get recycled around the country with impunity and no accountabilty.

Ahhhh the teachers Union, we don't have that here in North Carolina nor any other Union that I know of, its a right to work state, you have the right to work or you have the right to go home. My wife has a Undergrad from Bloomsburg in PA as well as a Graduate From the UNiv. of Scranton. she's makes about 35-40k less than teachers in PA where we are from. She don't get the "Battle Pay", she is in a school in Durham that is one of two in the entire nation to dropped the DARE program to put a gang program into place. 2nd graders coppin oral sex on the playground, running drugs...taking them too, and lets not forget guns and knives, its frickin crazy! But why is she there? Because she wants to be, not for the pay. its a fact, you're pulling down 75k to read to the 3rd grade class and you're in a union w/ tenure, you don't care if they're listening. You make 40k no union, w/tenure, you better worry about test scores as if your job depends on it, it does.

That's right, and most people making $40K in that profession eventually leave and make a better living with less stress and BS somewhere else. That's primarily why there so few male teachers: can't be a bread winner on a teachers' salary. I wish I had a spouse that made twice my incomce though. Then I'd have the luxury to 'want to be there' too.

Bottom line once again; if the citizens of the U.S. expect the public school system to have the best qualified people for the job, they must pay competitive earnings with other professions. Otherwise, the most qualified people for the job are going elsewhere. This is America: you get what you pay for.

I'd say someone with a graduate degree in another field/profession winds up making significantly more than that of a teacher with the same credentials.

Rocinante,
You are spot on.

>>That's right, and most people making $40K in that profession eventually leave and make a better living with less stress and BS somewhere else. That's primarily why there so few male teachers: can't be a bread winner on a teachers' salary.

It is all about incentives and alternatives. If you place a list of demands in front me that unreasonable given the salary, etc. I will walk if I have a chance.

>>>Bottom line once again; if the citizens of the U.S. expect the public school system to have the best qualified people for the job, they must pay competitive earnings with other professions. Otherwise, the most qualified people for the job are going elsewhere. This is America: you get what you pay for.

Absolute common sense. People think public ed is "free." Hello, taxes???? The freaky thing is that with public ed, there is no market mechanism. I have seen insiders award each other massive contracts between 100K-200K with no external mechanism to keep things honest.