Replies

According to Labor Department's most recent study (5 years old), the average editor makes 39K, a HS teachers makes 40K

Here is the link to the survey. It lists averages for hundreds of occupations. http://stats.bls.gov/oes/1998/oesnat98.htm#n20000

As another datapoint, I am an editor. I probably make more than I would as a teacher in my state with the same years of experience, and I have a much less stressful job. I'm in my mid-20s and I make 50% more than a starting teacher would in the city where I live, and this is not a pleasant district in which to teach.

I'm not saying this to brag. I'm in an area of publishing that pays better than trade publishing because it's considered a lot less interesting and desirable. The whole idea of the comparison in the subject of this thread is pointless. Teachers make less than plumbers. They make more than supermarket baggers. They make more than nuns and less than college professors. Who cares? We entrust our children to them; more importantly, we entrust to them the children of parents who don't or won't take care of their kids. Teachers are not above criticism, but in my opinion, they are way above the contempt they routinely receive in our country. Thank God that no one ever lumps me in with the bad editors who can't be fired because they have friends in high places.

Many of the people I work with tried teaching for a year and gave up. They're happier in publishing. Many others were teachers for 15 or 20 years. Several of them try publishing for a few years and get drawn back into the classroom. It's not because of the pay or the conditions in publishing. It's because they have a calling as teachers. I respect them for it, even as it is not a calling I share.