On 2008-01-07 01:01:32 -0500, Bob said:

I finaly got a fulltime job teaching 2nd grade.My first day was August 2001.

My take home after taxes, healthcare ( i paid $500/mo for a ****ty
family of 3 plan , retirement (they paid 1/2), union dues $25
was...............

$1745/mo take home

And I started at $9 an hour --gross, with no benefits-- as a
programmer, admittedly a few years earlier. In any new career, you
often start at the bottom and pay your dues....

Main problem I see at the level you're talking about is that there has
historically been a glut of teachers who are willing to start work for
those low wages. Of late, there have been fewer so the legislatures
loosened the requirements to keep the labor force cheap.

Oh, and my current wife taught for 20+ years at the university level
before moving down. We eventually decided that the price of re-entry
here just wasn't worth it, as the most she could make as an adjunct was
20k.

Teachers have to beg a repubican for money. Nurses dont. they just go
to a better paying hospital. teachers cant do that when the republicans
have created a state wide controlled industry.

Must be different out there, as teachers regularly transfer to make
more around here. The state has very little control over individual
districts unless the legislature passes a bill specific to a district,
and then it's time-limited.

Those willing and able to put up with the first years have a pretty sweet deal.

--
Jere Lull
Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/