Starting pay in Kansas is 31K for new teachers (before taxes). I know because I am finally retiring and going back to teach those little ****heads.
Well, $31K isn't a huge salary, but it's entry level, and in most districts, it also includes an outstanding benefits package.
Until fairly recently, teaching school was always considered to be a second income for traditional families. In my memory, elementary and high school teachers were almost without exception either married women, or very young women just out of college.
Women's groups and unions have worked hard to change all that, and the huge success of modern public education is evidence of their efforts.
