re: Teachers are under paid...babysitters make more...

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Gotta move to New York or Cali for that my man

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Or Texas. Lower cost of living and many districts start at 50K.

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Teachers will get paid what the market will bear.

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That's not true when the profession is governed by the state. It's not a free market enterprise that will ebb and flow with supply and demand. It's a public service that relies on elected officials voting on whether or not salaries should be raised.

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Is it possible that there is a surplus of labor in that labor market, which means more competition among applicants for jobs, that keeps compensation fairly low?

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This is true for most professions though. I don't think competition very often dictates salaries. Often it's what kind of revenue is generated. Engineers for example are usually part of markets that deal with high amounts of dollars. Education is a public good that is supposed to benefit society as a whole. What we invest monetarily in it is how much we believe education affects - positively or negatively - the communities in which we live.

And that's the biggest issue. Many people either do not see the value or disagree with the claimed value of education. If they don't see children's education as something that needs the best resources, then they won't vote to provide the funds to secure those resources. As an Arizona politician said recently, "teachers get all kinds of time off. Can't they get a second job if they want a boat?" Or like in Alabama a few years ago when they gave teachers a small raise while simultaneously increasing how much each teacher pays into the retirement system without raising retirement benefits. Teachers are not seen as a necessary resource for the best society possible.

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Is it fair to say that the barrier to entry for a teaching position, obviously depending on the level at which one teaches, is fairly low compared to other professions?

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Of course! Because top applicants have little incentive to go into teaching. So the barrier has been lowered to fill in necessary gaps.

right...because all salaries are based on importance to society.

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gotta move to New York or Cali for that my man

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Or Zachary, LA....

If only is was $50,000 a year.

Exactly and if u plug in a baby sitter and what they get paid into a teaching slot the pay is doubled....state is getting away with murder when they say yes teachers have a competitive salary....

Teachers are under paid....if any doesn't think so then basically one can argue that a Dr for example who makes 400k per year and I know some are grossly over paid when a teacher/Dr influences on society are equally important....

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If no one agreed to work for the salary that was offered, do you not think that salaries would increase?

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Of course, which is why I think teacher unions are crucial in theory. They can organize teachers to strike until appropriate salaries are offered. Of course, like most unions, they got bastardized and corrupted, so who trusts them anymore?

And actually, now that I think about it, I think I might say no, salaries wouldn't increase. Because the concept of "no one agreed to work" is historically inaccurate. People in need of feeding their families, feeding themselves, providing a life for themselves, or simply being ordered will do a job. There are always people there willing to do the work no matter the conditions. The key is to incentivize the best workers to do the important jobs.

Hence why doctors are paid $100k+.

It takes a special person to be a teacher. I would say 90% of all people couldnt be a teacher for one of two reasons. One, they would be eaten alive by the kids, or two they would be wearing orange because they couldnt keep their cool because they couldnt handle them. Its one thing to handle your own kids, but it is another when you are responsible for 25 other kids. The days of corporal punishment are long gone and the kids have nothing to be scared of. In elementary school, the most a teacher can do to a student is pull their tag down to a frowny face and call their parents who dont give a shite. At my wife's school they are not allowed to suspend them. Oh and dont forget, your rating as a teacher is based off of how well your students do on a test that they dont give a shite about.

For everyone that says they can be a teacher or that anyone can do it, go and try it and report back. You will have a different view I promise!

Who taught the doctor?

Teachers are more imp than a babysitter ...

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Teachers are paid what the market demands.

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There are two things that really determine what someone is worth and will get paid:

1) How unique or rare is the skill/ability that you have to offer?

2) How much money can the application of that skill/ability make someone else?

It's that simple. Seriously. Teaching, unfortunately, rates pretty low on both of those measures. Being a world class basketball player, again unfortunately, rates high on both of them.