Posted by Joe S. on November 18, 1999 at 21:55:14:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Performance Major and Marching Band? posted by Education Degrees =$$$$$$$ on November 18, 1999 at 12:29:43:
Getting quite off the subject, but my observation is that in cities/states with high government employee salaries, the populus (including the government employees themselves) have a large percentage of their high salaries taken away in high taxes, high rent due to high taxes on property, high taxes on vehicles, fuel, personal property, etc, etc.
For example, I would MUCH rather try to live on $20,000/yr. in San Antonio (a nice town) than $50,000/yr. in DC or NYC.
I cannot comment on "quality of life" issues, because we in southwestern Tennessee probably have at least as high a percentage of scum (deadbeats, common criminals, violent criminals, lawyers, politicians, etc., who ruin everything for everyone else) as you do in Chicagoland, and there are far fewer cultural attractions here, unless you are a gambling addict or a dead-rock-n-roll-idol freak. One or two counties away from here, though, is Heaven (if you are into "the outdoors").
Do any MBD's in Chicagoland survive twenty-five years into their teaching careers to collect those decent salaries? I sure hope so. What are their starting salaries? That is what I was referring to.
Oh, we have a couple of mega-salaried pigs here. Our city schools superintendant was just voted (by whom, I don't know) "Superintendant of the Year" (for presiding over one of the very worst school systems in the U.S. - You explain it to me.) and she grosses something around a quarter of a mill' in salary alone, as does "du mayuh" (as he refers to himself) here.
The way my offspring go through money, I'd better limit my educating career to the very part-time status that it now has, regardless of the payscale.