on a road trip today a "friend" told me that teachers make what they are worth based on the fact

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that there are more teachers applying for jobs than jobs available. His reasoning is that they can be paid what ever as long as there are more available than jobs available. I said you could say the same thing about Walmart and then asked if he thought they were paid enough even though our tax dollars are subsidizing them so that they can eat and buy necessities. He said yes and then he informed me that there are no people who can't find jobs and his reasoning is that he doesn't know anyone who can find a job.

I couldn't wait to get out of the car. Ignorance is so infuriating.

[mike_c]

1. sounds like someone who is the center of his own universe....

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2. That is exactly what I wanted to ask him "what the hell planet are you living on?"

He is a self righteous judgmental person that must be in my life due to the fact that my husband and he are in business together. So many times I have to not take the bait because he tries very hard to push my buttons and then he tries to make fun of me for not thinking like he does. I keep my distance but today I was along for the ride to help a mutual friend look at a home he plans to buy.

[lumberjack_jeff]

3. what are sanitation workers worth?

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4. According to my "friend" whatever

they get as long as there is no one left to do the job for less.

[knitter4democracy]

5. Tell him to re-read Adam Smith.

Even Smith said that society has to take care of the least of these and that there need to be safeguards against greed.

There are 2 reasons there are more teachers than jobs these days: 1) schools downsizing and putting more students in each class and 2) universities and colleges graduating more students every year for when the baby boomer retirement wave hits. More and more boomers aren't retiring, more and more new teachers aren't making it (only 50% make it past five years), and more and more public schools are getting downsized and closed every day.

Those two reasons aren't controlled by the market in that they aren't about keeping teachers in the classroom as much as universities making money and districts trying to keep balanced budgets. Market forces like that don't have anything to do with our pay.