[Quiller]

I asked a guy once; What does it say about priorities when people are willing to pay a mechanic two to three times per hour to work on a car, what they are willing to pay a teacher to teach a classroom full of children?

The response was that the mechanic is a professional who has to study and work to stay current with new automotive technology.

[ontap]

Makes one wonder why auto mechanics are alway near the top of the least trusted profesions....just barely above auto salesmen!!!

[al_c]

The response was that the mechanic is a professional who has to study and work to stay current with new automotive technology.

What a stupid comment. My wife is a teacher. A very dedicated one. She's certainly not in it for the money (it's not much) ... it's more of a calling. She is very educated and they do indeed have to stay on top of current methods AND technologies. She took 10 years off to stay home with our kids before going back to work. There was a LOT of prep she had to do and many things to learn that had changed over that 10 years.

And regarding this article ... it's spot on what she has had to deal with in her career. In the district she teaches in now, it's become a parents-in-control situation. Unfortunately, the school board and administrators have allowed this to happen.

[Mr Rogers]

“I asked a guy once; What does it say about priorities when people are willing to pay a mechanic two to three times per hour to work on a car, what they are willing to pay a teacher to teach a classroom full of children?”

Hmmm...if the mechanic told me it would take him 12 years to fix my car, and that there was a good chance it still wouldn’t run right, I wouldn’t pay HIM much either!

[Joe 6-pack]

Most auto mechanics will provide some kind of warranty if they don’t do the job right the first time.

[EDINVA]

That’s a particularly dumb response. On the other hand, that mechanic isn’t going to retire at a relatively young age with anywhere near the benes public school teachers do unless he stashes away a good portion of his current hourly rate.

And, assuming we’re talking about the mechanic who owns his own shop, he has to pay for all his costs of being in business, from rent to equipment, licenses, insurance, yada yada yada. If it’s not the owner, the actual mechanic gets half; the owner gets the other half for his costs of doing business. I.e., risk.

By the end of their careers, the teachers are far better off than most mechanics.