I think from earlier posts that Liberal was laid off in ESL as part of budget cuts. Teaching is a career of choice. If you really love it for what it is, you'll do it for the pay. That being said, twenty years ago teachers in Granite were not paid all that well. Now though, if you factor in it's a nine month job it pays pretty well. You're off in the summer, home every night and you earn a great retirement.
The major difference between then and now though has nothing to do with money. If you talk with most teachers they'll complain about the following: 1.) Lack of parental support. These days parents think their child does no wrong. They don't push their kids to succeed, they make excuses why their kids don't. This is a generalization of course but I think it's valid.
2.) Standardized testing doesn't relfect the true cuccess of a teacher. It's a generic road map that might have some factor in evaluating but it is not a good judge of an idividual student.
3.) A seeming lack of appreciation for the profession. Once a career looked up to, now given no more respect than the guy who picks up your trash.