I was right with you all the way up to "...yet all the schools still poormouth...."
You really think so? Honest question. I mean, schools have no control over where lottery money goes. Heck, they cut programs and all kinds of other stuff every year just so they can cover the cost of their core curriculums. I really don't understand the sentiment. Teachers are the people to whom we entrust our children every day, the people responsible for molding the future of our country. As with anything, there are good and bad teachers. Most are underpaid and a few maybe way over for what they offer, but by and large teachers are dedicated professionals who choose to teach because they love educating kids, and often end up paying for stuff out of their own pockets because schools can't. The national average yearly salary for primary school teachers is around $54k and in some states more than $12k less than that. In some states teachers average around $77,000, Alaska, NY, California, so you have to consider cost of living in all cases, but teaching is a thankless job that nobody goes into to get rich. And folks choose to be teachers so you can't completely blame the system, but in a world swimming in lawyers who make millions chasing ambulances and athletes who become some of the most affluent people in the country by playing games, If I'm complaining about anyone wanting more money it's not going to be teachers.
