Elementary school teacher (and other government jobs) are some of the worst in inflationary periods, though. You have a monopsony employer; usually some emotio

Elementary school teacher (and other government jobs) are some of the worst in inflationary periods, though. You have a monopsony employer; usually some emotional attachment to the job; a school calendar that provides convenient quitting/rehiring times only once a year; and a seniority-based pay system that oftentimes makes you start at the bottom if you switch school districts. This prevents many teachers from job-hopping the way other professions would, which locks them out of the biggest sources of raises. When my mom started teaching in the late 60s, doctors/lawyers/engineers made only about 20-30% more than elementary school teachers. By the time she retired in the mid-00s, it was about 3x more, and my starting salary as a software engineer was basically equal to her retirement salary. 15 years into my career I was making 10x what she ever did.