[deb]

I haven't added anything to this thread thus far because, like Tiner, I have heard all the arguments before. I have been a teacher for almost 10 years and have worked in a number of different facets of the profession.

I would like to see teaching given the respect other professions are given. Unfortunately, Skytrain, you are right. Society does indeed measure success and professionalism using money as its yardstick. That being said, I'm sure you can appreciate that, given that people know how little teachers are paid in comparison to other professionals, the little respect they have for the job. Society equates earning potential with usefulness.

On a similar note, society wishes to measure output and then pay accordingly. I would like to know how you would go about determining a fair and accurate scale that takes into account intellectual development, maturity levels, social status, parental support, peer influence, puberty, as well as reflecting teacher competence. Personally, I would applaud such a scale. There are far too many teachers and administrators in the field who are incredibly incompetent. Of course, these are the ones who were often attracted to teaching because of the holidays........