I just checked and in my school district the lowest paid (full time) teacher made ~$100k in 2022 (the highest paid made $180k). I would hardly call that "starvation wages".
That is so outside the norm. Average in the US is about $71k and varies WILDLY from state to state, school to school, district to district, and importantly, that variation is one of the huge problems in the first place.
You get that $70k in the big city school where those dollars do not go very far, while out in the boonies where a shitload of teaching is done, you make far, far, far less.
Is 70k considered a starvation wage nowadays? I think I need to look up the definition because this seems far above minimum wage. Most people I know make under 40k per year and they aren't starving...
The problem is housing and costs that are rising as if everyone is making $300k in many places. It doesn’t keep up with costs at all. But if you live in an LCOL, it could be very respectable.
oh I see, thanks for clarifying. Comparable to e.g. downtown baristas who can't afford rent in the city they work in. Still mind boggling that even 70k is insufficient to afford housing.
LCOL = low cost of living for anyone else who may need to look it up.
$70k isn't a lot of money when everyone else is making $200k.
You would have this problem in any area where there is a lot money sloshing around, e.g. most cities in Switzerland. Unless you have some sort of rent control/social housing, or a lot of surplus market to satisfy a wide variety of demand, those people with money are going to simply outbid you.
