A friend of a friend was a school admin and she bought a very high end BMW with all the bells and whistles for cash ... over a $100K I heard.
The teachers around here have a steady income which is more than you can say for a whole lot of working people here in rural Oklahoma. That is about all you can say for them though save for some kind of retirement and health care.
The administrators on the other hand are cutting a fat hog compared to most people in the area. A couple who are both administrators can get in to the next rung of six figures. They retire much better and sooner than just about anyone else around. Oklahoma has never gone to consolidated screwl districts so each little rural public screwl has its very own little fiefdom with the full gamut of jobs besides teachers. I think they do have an area dietician (why I can’t imagine, how much can possibly change?) and librarian some places.
However, check out the parking lot in big city schools in Texas where we moved from. You’ll find a few BMWs and more. A cousin by marriage was business manager of a school system south of Houston. They lived on food supplied by the food service contractor and bragged about it. He also was into six figures like two or three decades ago. He has assumed room temperature now so he did not live very long to enjoy his retirement. Too bad. On the coasts it gets much better.
The other ploy in areas along the Arkansas state line is to work in Oklahoma, retire early, go to Arkansas and work to collect a second pension after I think 10 years.
Then there is my Mom who went back to school when she was 46 to get a secondary education certificate. She taught for 25 years until she was 71. She taught them all from K to 8 and sometimes three grades at a time. Whatever the children needed. A whole lot of what she made went for shoes, glasses, coats and clothes because she grew up dirt poor and always stood up for the underdog. Dad supported and helped her every step of the way even as she continued to teach after he retired. She is 91 now and doesn’t know much about what is going on around her and requires nearly constant care but she remembers she was a teacher and remembers many of her children and comes alive when we talk about that. Children in need of learning, love and compassion and encouragement were her life.