No Stupid Questions

Let me tell you a story about a man named Ronald Reagan.

That's by design

A dumb population is easier to control, which is why Republicans since Reagan have been slashing education whenever possible, trying to inject theocracy on there as much as possible, because religious dumb fucks are even easier to control

That cutting salaries helps them with their greed is just a cherry on top of the vomit cake

L

The answer is always greed.

Teachers tend to like teaching. It's a rewarding, "feel good" career. You know that you are helping kids, you get to watch them at their best. And, yes, sometimes at their worst, too, but that's part of the deal - like watching your puppy chew up your couch and shit on the floor. Still worth it.

Since teachers tend to be passionate, they put up with a lot of bullshit admin/management. Moreso than you might at a soulless corporate job. This isn't limited to teachers, either. Consider other careers where people put up with bullshit, and you'll see a lot of parallels.

Art is a great parallel example. Everyone loves great art, artists love making art - but many people don't want to pay for art. That's why there's so many passionate actors and musicians, but so few of them manage to eke out a living as a true professional. The passion is there, they are driven by their love of art, not by the material rewards.

The business world loves to take advantage of passion.

Forget what it says on the tin. To truly understand a society, look at its institutions.

Education isn't valued by the sociopaths that run the US.

Supply and demand, along with historic sexism.

• teaching (up to high school) has historically been predominantly women. And yes women used to be paid much less. That gap has narrowed a lot but “women’s work” still tends to pay less
• there are hundreds of thousands of teachers. There are huge numbers. There’s always another
• while it takes a lot to be a good teacher, it’s not so much to “teach”

So I think we have a history of low pay, the vast number militants against that changing, and to appearance anyone can be a “teacher”

Don’t get me wrong my family has significant history in the field and deep respect for the importance and to the huge impact a good teacher can make on someone’s future. But when my kid wanted to teach, after saying I would be so proud as would the vast array of ancestors, I added that you need to be aware of poor pay. To translate to video game, it’s doing life in hard mode

There's a wild spread on both pay and the requirements to work as a teacher. Some places require barely more than a pulse. Some places require years of schooling. Some places pay teachers no better than shelf-stockers. Some pay a decent wage and/or have a decent pension/benefits system. It's definitely not a monoculture.

The US government wants people to be stupid so they can be manipulated more easily

There are two parts. First, they aren't as underpaid as most people think in most cases. The union isn't dumb. When they negotiate they look at the long term. A career teacher (30 to 35 years) can retire at about 55 give or take depending on the district. And they will get something like 80% of thier salary for the rest of thier life. They will also get subsidized health insurance. And in some states, all of that is tax free. That is a ton of money and a ton of security. And for many, they can retire, collect pension, and go get another job at the same time if they want. I make more than double what teachers make best case, and my wife works too for a 6 figure salary. I can't possibly retire at 55, let alone feel secure doing so. I also have been laid off twice over the last 30 years, where as most teacher don't have to worry about that after 10 years. Now, I get to take vacation anytime of the year, I can change jobs or move and not mess up my future benefits. I don't have to deal with parents. Lots of intangible benefits to not being a teacher. But the point is the union ensures those less obvious benefits, which keeps the current salary low. This keeps the optics of drastically underpaid teachers so that the union can still negotiate for more with public sentiment on thier side. So while they are still underpaid, it isn't as drastic as it would appear.

The other reason is simple. There are a lot of teachers. Like a lot a lot. And schools are generally built to a higher standard of saftey, so they are much more expensive than other building types. All of this adds up to a very high cost. Education is typically one of the largest expenditures for a state budget. Poloticians could dump more money into it, but it isn't likely to be enough to make a difference that will get them reelected. So they put money other places that will get them votes.

That's your reasons why.

Not just in the US.

are they not underpaid everywhere else too? I don't think this is a USA only issue, all public teachers where I live with the exception of teachers for universities complain about low salary

To add to the (absolutely accurate) commentary in the rest of the thread, this hits on a something Grabber talks about in Bullshit Jobs. Almost universally, the jobs that are the most important to society actually functioning are the ones that pay the least (with the one notable exception of physicians). There's this idea that you should be "grateful" to have such an important job, and that's in a way almost part of your pay. See also nurses, elderly care providers, daycare employees, anyone who works for a charity. People in charge use this "moral capital" as a way to convince you to take less actual money

School budgets are tied to property taxes for the district the schools serve.

The want us just smart enough to do our taxes and not think too much about anything important.

because education teaches kids how to think and to know right from wrong.

Which is why the cabal of fascist pedophiles have spent the past 50+ years trying to demonize and undermine it.

When I was in 8th grade, my school district furloughed over 100 teachers at the same time the superintendent was getting a heated marble driveway installed at his house.

Agree with most of the other commentary I would say this isn't super universal. The pay gap has gotten less egregious in states like New Jersey where you can make a relatively comfortable living when you factor in the benefits received compared to private sector workers (i.e. real pensions and good healthcare)

The others hit on big ones private school support, want for not too educated workforce and so on.