And I make a quarter of that now, and my salary (after 30 years of service) will be capped at less than half of that. This with a MA.
Not that I'm complaining, because I turned down jobs offering a lot more in order to teach (I could have had several jobs in IT). But what you are seeing here is the influence of the unions on teaching. The jerk-off who has molded at his desk for 25 years makes lots of cash, while those of us who give a damn make far less simply because we haven't been a teacher as long. If you want to reform teacher salaries, make every state a Right-to-Work state and get rid of seniority-based pay scales.
Teaching is either the hardest or easiest job in the world... depending on whether or not you care...
I agree with this. I have several relatives who teach. Those who care put in long days, make sure they know each child well and go beyond the classroom to help, spend their own money and time when needed.
My sister-in-law, however, is a principal's worst nightmare. She is a union loudmouth, demanding this and that. She can't spell at all. She does very little.
She uses sick leave constantly. They can't fire her because she's got tenure and they are afraid of her. Her school sees new principals every couple of years, I'm sure because she makes their lives miserable.
They keep trying to move her to jobs she hates to get rid of her, but since she's "sick" all the time and doesn't really care, it doesn't do any good. I'm sure she pulls in a good salary, too.