[PhoenixAzul]

Well, since I went through the Pittsburgh Public School system and my uncle works for the PPS (as a custodian at the new CAPA), I feel I can comment on this.

My teachers had to put up with way more shit than they ever needed to. I remember when I weas in 8th grade...a shop teacher at Brashear had his BRAINS bashed in with a sledge hammer. There have been numerous teachers assaulted, harassed, overworked and underpaid in our public schools. They must constantly be up to date on state laws on education, new teaching theorys, test requirements, etc. Most of my teachers were open about how much they made. In PPS, teachers get paid extra if they coach a sport or hold another position in the school. For example, my functions teacher was also the athletic director, activities director, and wrestling coach. It is also very difficult to earn a decent retirement. We rarely had books for everyone, computers that worked, software that was updated, enough teachers for our gym classes to be run properly, or enough counselors to ensure that kids were applying to college or even getting the courses they needed to graduate. There is a lot of pressure to get students to pass the PSSA test and the thousands of other redundant tests that we have to take. I think that the amount of time it takes to make more than the state average is ridiculous. The union is very strong, but that's Pittsburgh. Union and proud. So do I think Pittsburgh teachers are paid enough? Hell no. I don't think they will ever be paid enough to do what they do. I was lucky enough to have excellent teachers, but I grew up in an environment that was not exactly ideal for letting students blossom into Rhodes Scholars. It'd be great to go to a Mt. Lebanon or a Sewickley Academy, but my mom and dad didn't have a silver spoon for me. But that's part of being working class, blue collar, and even *gasp* lower middle class, is that you learn to take nothing for granted. Everything is a result of hard work. Most of these teachers come from that background, so I don't feel bad paying them more than the state average for their hard work.