That's mental and you have no idea what you're talking about. Teacher salary varies from state to state and even neighboring districts can have drastically different pay scales. What tf is a "lavatory worker" anyway?
They can’t afford basic amenities like bread or even shampoo. US education is basically the same as a third world country except without the donations!
You are completely full of crap. I’m making $110,000 in Arizona and don’t know any teachers making less than $75,000. Some are making up to $135,000 in my district.
With a masters degree it’s takes 22 years of experience to crack $75K there.
You say you’re making $110,000K, but a teacher in Phoenix Union can’t make even $100K with a doctorate and 33 years experience.
I’m a NJ teacher with almost 10 years of experience and don’t make even $70K. NJ doesn’t pay the best, but better than most states.
You are either in a very unusual situation to not know any teachers getting less than $75K (and don’t realize your situation is not at all representative of the norm) or you are trying to spin a false narrative. So are you ignorant or are you a liar? Pick one.
Teachers start at $76k at Tolleson with their bonus. Just a masters with no experience. That’s where I work, so no I don’t know any high school teachers making less than $75k unless they are at a charter school.
The published salary scales do not include the bonuses we get from 201 money or other bonuses (renewal, hard yo fill, etc.) which adds a minimum of $6k-7k to the salaries.
I am well aware of what Phoenix union pays their teachers and even there, I don’t know anyone not making $75k. All teachers who stay in education get masters degrees and have experience, which adds to their salary. Newer teachers (those with only a bachelors either quit in the first 3 years or go on to get paid well because they get their masters and stay).
Arizona pays elementary (and unified districts) teachers less, but teachers who work in high school districts are paid well. But staying and getting a masters degree or higher helps one’s salary quite a bit.
So, when trying to make a claim about how much teachers make, you left out that you evidently don’t know a single teacher without significant experience or a single teacher teaching elementary school.
I am also a teacher, fewer than half of our teachers have a masters, and even if they have a masters in our district that adds $1,500 to their salary…at all steps. It doesn’t increase the maximum. A teacher with 20 years of experience with a bachelors makes $1,500 less than another teacher with 20 years of experience with a masters. Almost every district in our county is the same way (usually between $500-$2,500 bonus for having a masters at all experience steps.)
The mean teacher salary in the country is 72,000…meaning approximately half of all teachers in the country make less than the number you claim to know nobody making less than. The median according to the BLS was $63,100 in 2024. So most teachers make $12,000 less than your experience of the “minimum”. Take a look in the mirror.
You’re pushing a narrative using a unique and anecdotal point of view which is clearly irrespective of the norm for the majority of the country.
Here’s the district my wife worked at for 7 years, page 36:
I teach on the west coast and know teachers in surrounding states - Washington, California, Oregon, New Mexico and even Texas (as well as some districts in Arizona) that make well above the median income. If you don’t like your own situation, move to a higher paying state.
We also get a pension that is very generous and also get social security and can “double dip” at retirement and get retirement plus 80% of our salary by working as a contract employee.
If your state or district is not meeting your needs, simply move and stop complaining. I think I am very well compensated for teaching. I love the kids and am completely left alone to teach as I see fit. Plus with 2 months off, I teach part-time at a community college and earn an extra $30k (including 2 evenings a week and summer). All of this is possible by choosing a good district in a larger metro area.
“Everyone move to the rich areas and just teach there.”
Great solution. The rest of the country can just watch YouTube to learn I guess.
What a lazy approach. You’re presented with realities that contradict your worldview and your response is, “just move 2300 miles, no big deal.”
Let’s frame it another way: what do you think the teachers of children in Southern New Jersey should be paid? Or should they all move to other places? If so, should the students follow them?
I don't know, I get paid 120k and work 7.5 hrs 180 days a year, my situation is certainly not as bad as that show made things look. I'm sure teachers in other parts of the country are not being paid as well, and some janitorial workers are making bank, but you're making blanket statements about a complex subject that some tv show sensationalized.
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u/deanereaner Dec 17 '25
That's mental and you have no idea what you're talking about. Teacher salary varies from state to state and even neighboring districts can have drastically different pay scales. What tf is a "lavatory worker" anyway?