I have only recently returned to the List after an 18 month absence, and note that this subject was a constant topic back then, too.   To get beyond beating a dead horse further, perhaps we could all agree that:

1.  museum jobs generally speaking don't pay high salaries
2.  museum jobs often pay poor salaries
3.  we all knew this coming in if we paid any attention at all
4.  we have some obligation to point out the low salary problem to aspiring museum workers
5.  we have some obligation to work toward making the situation better

and then we could talk about what to do to change this.  Since this matter has been a recurrent topic for several years on Museum-L, it must be important to most of us.  As an administrator I spend a fair amount of time and energy every year-month-week-day trying to convince the bean counters, HR staffers, elected officials, and public that museums contribute to the economic well-being of the city-county-region etc.  And that museum staffers are well-educated hard working people who deserve a reasonable wage.  It is a constant effort to keep the pressure on and to use what ever statistics I can dredge out to justify the concept.  Seems to me it would be more effective to talk about what we can do to make museum pay better than to quibble about the cost of living or whether museum educators get paid enough to live beyond the "share."

So....got any suggestions, or is this just a gripe session?

Chris Dill
City of Greeley Museums

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