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I completely agree with you. But let me offer a personal anecdote that suggests pay isn't the only problem. If pay were to remain exactly as it were today, but

I completely agree with you. But let me offer a personal anecdote that suggests pay isn't the only problem. If pay were to remain exactly as it were today, but the bureaucratic bullshit went away, I would very seriously consider looking for a teaching position in a high school after I graduate. (I am currently a 4th year Ph.D. student.) But all of the bureaucracy that goes on just makes it an absolute non-starter. It almost completely destroys the perks of teaching for me, namely, the freedom and flexibility to mold a curriculum. (The perk of having summers off just doesn't make up for it for me.) Even if you doubled the pay, I'm still not sure I would go for it. But that's me.

BadCookie 13y ago
Every time I reach a crossroads in my career, I find myself considering going into teaching. Then I recall the cost of becoming credentialed (somewhere in the $20k-$90k range) and the fact that I would make less than half of what I make now, and I can't bring myself to take the option seriously. It makes me angry that, if you finish your PhD (and maybe even if you don't), you would be perfectly qualified to teach college students, but teaching seniors in high school is out of the question without you going through still more schooling and hoop-jumping. Myself, I have bachelor's and master's degrees in mathematics and applied mathematics, but it doesn't matter. The public schools don't want me. Maybe I wouldn't be a good teacher, but maybe I would be. We'll probably never find out.