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Dog,
With all due respect, that illustration has reached the level of hyperbole. It is not illustrative of a lack of money in the school system, but of a misplacement of priorities. If you eliminated one of the sex ed instructors, or "guidance" counselors you'd have pencils coming out your butt.
I work with hand tools all day, and if I lose one, I must replace it with my own money. Would you like to compare the cost of a Rigid 14" pipe wrench to classroom supplies? And according to the Bureau of labor I make less than the average teacher. "On Paper", what other way is there to compare things? I have not even brought up the benefit plan they enjoy, and it is not included in the Labor Dept stats. That dentist is funding his own benefit plan.
I have taught, admittedly at the collegiate level, and I do not mean to demean teachers but one must admit that it is not exactly heavy lifting, and if they are well qualified, not exactly taxing their mental capabilities, especially at the elementary school level. Their unions have done an admirable job of escalating their salary and benefits. The days of pity for the poor under-paid teacher are a memory. If we continue to fall for this claptrap, we are going to be in the same situation the Detroit automakers are in, with a benefit plan that makes it impossible to price a car competetively. In fact, in Michigan, our number one educational crisis is how we are going to pay for the next thirty years of the life expectancy of teachers who are no longer teaching. Under paid teachers? That horse has left the barn.
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