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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Assenpfeffer" data-source="post: 655368" data-attributes="member: 9061">I sense a lot of flamewar potential here, so it's with some hesitation that I post to this thread.It's not so much that individual teachers try to play a "pity card" as the stuff you hear on the news whenever a school levy is up for a vote, not so much the individuals but their representatives and their union.The teacher is the only profession whose pay increases  depend on a popular vote.  There is thus considerable motivation to maintain the commonly-held belief that teachers don't make any money.Don't misunderstand me;  teachers are one of our most important vocations and they should make good money.  In many parts of the US, they do.  In others, they are underpaid.  But any suggestion that teachers are fairly compensated is vigorously shouted down by any teacher or union spokesman who talks to the media.Example:  We recent had a teachers strike in my area (northeast Ohio) about 4 months ago.  It came out that some teachers in the district were making as much as $90K per year, and that new teachers were starting at around $32K.  Representaives of the local teachers union were all over the local press, denying those figures.Well, it's taxpayer money that's being spent and thus a matter of public record.  Yes, these are people who've been teaching for 30 years.  So?  $90K is a very respectable income for anyone.</blockquote>