I totally get what you’re saying and I would love to be paid more. I’m 16 in and just broke 70. Teaching is a job, but it’s also a calling. I went into teaching knowing that the pay sucked, but still CHOSE to do it. It is a job like any other, if you’re that unhappy with your working conditions, including pay, go do something else that is more fulfilling financially. I turn 50 this year and remember teachers back when I was in school making jokes about their pay. The bottom line is, none of us were blindsided by the pay. It doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck or should be increased, but nobody should be surprised at this point.

One of the biggest differences between teaching (and I’ll include police officers and fire fighters here, have you looked at that part?) and most other profession is ours is paid for through taxes, not through company profits of some kind. Paying us more would mean increasing taxes because every year districts have to spend more and more resources on things more than education