The page shows unadjusted salaries for the states. No where in there are you looking at local cost of living, nor how many teachers are in each state. The average they gave, $39,347, is most likely way off, since I'm pretty sure that there are unequal numbers of teachers in the respective states.
Also, speaking from local experience (CA, SF Bay Area), I can honestly say that our teachers (at least in this area) are GROSSLY underpaid. It's a sad state of affairs, when a teacher can not afford to live in the community in which he/she teaches, and instead has to commute 30-40 miles, each way to get to work, to enlighten our country's future. My first part-time job in the networking industry, I was paid 42k, and back in '98, I was making more than ANY teacher at my high school. Even those that had been teaching for over 30 years. My school was by no means in a low-income area, either. It is one of the more affluent (not by dot-coms) areas of the Bay Area. Those of you that know the Lamorinda area, know what I'm talking about. That, IMO, is a very shitty arrangement.
As of now, I make over twice as much as most of them, and have only worked for 2.5 years. Yes, they only work 9 months a year, and yes, their contracts only say they must work from 7a-3p (this may be different elsewhere), but do they only work that? No, they end up working (grading papers, preparing lesson plans, staying after school to help students) stressful 10-12 hour days.
As for your "overpaid, incompetent, and should be fired" comment, I believe that it is a very debasing comment, and reflects heavily on your wisdom. If you would wake up for a moment, and think about the situation, instead of just relying on a site's quick survey, you may be able to grasp the unfortunate situation our society has plummeted our schools into.
Slashdot Mirror
Keep something in mind about this, though:
The page shows unadjusted salaries for the states. No where in there are you looking at local cost of living, nor how many teachers are in each state. The average they gave, $39,347, is most likely way off, since I'm pretty sure that there are unequal numbers of teachers in the respective states.
Also, speaking from local experience (CA, SF Bay Area), I can honestly say that our teachers (at least in this area) are GROSSLY underpaid. It's a sad state of affairs, when a teacher can not afford to live in the community in which he/she teaches, and instead has to commute 30-40 miles, each way to get to work, to enlighten our country's future. My first part-time job in the networking industry, I was paid 42k, and back in '98, I was making more than ANY teacher at my high school. Even those that had been teaching for over 30 years. My school was by no means in a low-income area, either. It is one of the more affluent (not by dot-coms) areas of the Bay Area. Those of you that know the Lamorinda area, know what I'm talking about. That, IMO, is a very shitty arrangement.
As of now, I make over twice as much as most of them, and have only worked for 2.5 years. Yes, they only work 9 months a year, and yes, their contracts only say they must work from 7a-3p (this may be different elsewhere), but do they only work that? No, they end up working (grading papers, preparing lesson plans, staying after school to help students) stressful 10-12 hour days.
As for your "overpaid, incompetent, and should be fired" comment, I believe that it is a very debasing comment, and reflects heavily on your wisdom. If you would wake up for a moment, and think about the situation, instead of just relying on a site's quick survey, you may be able to grasp the unfortunate situation our society has plummeted our schools into.
Jason