"People enter the profession of teaching for reasons other than altruism". In a given metro, you can simply look up the median income, then look up the median

"People enter the profession of teaching for reasons other than altruism". In a given metro, you can simply look up the median income, then look up the median teacher's income --- it'll be higher, and that's before benefits. I think it's good we compensate teachers well. I think it's bad that people don't understand how valuable defined-benefit pensions are, because they are an enormous component of state income taxes and, especially, property taxes --- property taxes are regressive, and promote a cycle of housing exclusion in areas of opportunity. If you think a defined-benefit pension is akin to a 401K, or that a private sector employee could reasonably expect to get one, I'd suggest you maybe read up a bit.