[wintertime]

The following should read:

Also, admission to teaching programs are NOT competitive either and teachers are among the lowest with SAT scoreS.

[frankensnake]

Well, if the profession pays less than other, comparable disciplines, you're not going to attract the brightest. Simple enough isn't it?

[gakrak]

" Also, admission to teaching programs are NOT competitive either and teachers are among the lowest with SAT scoreS."

I know every time I talk to a teacher I get the feeling that I am talking to a wall. They remain clueless outside of their little club. The profession is filled with some of the dumbest of the dumb. Amen.

[HitmanLV]

Teaching does not require a degree from a highly ranked university. Degrees from a community college and state schools are more than adequate to get a job.

Life doesn't require a degree from a highly ranked university. I have attended some of the finest schools, and can tell you it's not a big deal, nor a gage of intelligence, nor a strong indicator of success.

Also, admission to teaching programs are NOT competitive either and teachers are among the lowest with SAT scores.

That would be important is any of that mattered much. In fact, it doesn't.

Everything else you say is right on the money. Teachers, when you factor everything in, do very well, get lots of vacation time, and their union is best at whining, complaining, and demanding more money, for the sake of 'our children,' of course. :-)

[Spunky]

My husband started out teaching in 1956. His first contract was for $2,400. He never had summer vacations as he was always teaching summer school to make ends meet. He spent evenings correcting papers and going to school to get a Masters Degree. With a Masters Degree and 35 years of teaching he retired in 1994 earning $40,000.

So don't tell me they have it made.

Moose as far as your sister making $70,000 in Southern California she should get double that for risking her life to teach there.