Where I was a teacher, $60k was the highest you could earn without a PhD. And it took 10 years to work your way up to that level.
EDIT: This was 5 years ago. I doubt teachers are making thousands of dollars more these days. My point is, the argument "teachers make so much money! What are they complaining about" is at best misinformed.
If you're hurting for money, try substitute teaching for 1 or 2 days and see what the difference is between a teacher's workday and your own. You'll probably take your less than $60k job over their most-likely-also-less-than-$60k-more-like-$30k-job
When I taught, I was working 10-12 hour days (some of this was due to my own inefficiency, and some of it was due to the massive inefficiency of the school in which I taught) and pulled in about $30k/year. Our salary schedule was such that the most I could earn without a doctorate was about $38k (after 20 years of experience).
That said, there are plenty of grant programs within schools. At least two of the districts in the city in which I live now have foundations set aside for things like this.
I am a teacher in private practice. I agree that teaching well is hard work. I also agree with others here that many teaching positions offer good pay (without necessarily requiring good-quality work, I might add). The pay is adequate for paying list price for many useful software products, and it compares well with the pay from many other occupations.
Yes, teachers have an extremely stressful typical workday, particularly if they have a subject that involves grading papers or if they have to deal with parents. I don't think anyone is disputing that they should be making decent money. However, that gives them no right to automatic discounts just because they happen to work for an educational institution. Obviously patio11 would prefer his own job. What does that have to do with it?
EDIT: This was 5 years ago. I doubt teachers are making thousands of dollars more these days. My point is, the argument "teachers make so much money! What are they complaining about" is at best misinformed.
If you're hurting for money, try substitute teaching for 1 or 2 days and see what the difference is between a teacher's workday and your own. You'll probably take your less than $60k job over their most-likely-also-less-than-$60k-more-like-$30k-job