I agree with your views. The arts were more frequented by the elite, therefore higher pay wasn't too relevant. There is something wrong with a society that doesn't place great value on educating our young and old. We all love to talk about our "broken" education system, but don't want to give up some of our money to improve upon it. A teacher is an extremely valuable position of leadership. The power that a good and qualifiend teacher has can make a great difference in a student's success with choosing what kind of life to have. I have listened to great teachers who revealed all of the amazing things I can do in my life, so I now don't accept settling for less....the results are very pleasing including accepting a job as curator at a university museum. Without having such a strong sense of learning, adventure, and having enough faith to step out and do things seemed impossible, which also was taught to me from my great teachers, both in faith and secular, I wouldn't have gotten to this point in my life....and at the young age of 26. I strongly believe in giving teachers more of my loyalty. Sincerely, Christi Pemberton ----- Original Message ----- From: calinda Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2003 4:30 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: The Real Salary Issue I'll just weigh in to say that, while we all (teachers and museum professionals) have a right to complain (I know, I'm both!), we seem to be stuck in the complaining and are missing the macro-issues. This is not simply a matter of deciding to go out and get a higher paying job, it's about critically evaluating what a society values. The clear implication is that these professions are not highly valued within our society. (Note Carla Cain's comment about "just" being a teacher below.) That has ramifications that extend far beyond anything that will be "fixed" as individuals run out to get new jobs. What does this mean for education when the best and the brightest are discouraged from pursuing teaching? (And we are discouraged because we do live in a capitalist society. The most Zen among us are not totally immune.... And, hey, we all like to eat!) What does it mean when our cultural institutions cannot compete with private industry for well-trained professional administrators? Let's think about this from a sociological and historical perspective before we just pat ourselves on the backs for being so self-sacrificing. Generally speaking, education and arts fields have long been the domain of women and this "pink collar" work has been historically undervalued. The school marm may have subsisted on meager earnings (until she got married and had to resign), but there was no expectation that she would need to raise a family with her wages, nor even to maintain herself in a private household. Administration was the domain of men and they made more money. Don't you think it's about time that we challenged this socially irrelevant philosophy? Similarly, work in the arts (and higher education, too) was traditionally dominated by the upper class. These people hardly needed meager salaries of doctors and lawyers to sustain themselves. They were well-educated, well-traveled gentlemen (most especially in the case of many professors) and their cultured wives, who devoted time to volunteering in museums and such. I hardly want to embrace the lack of diversity upon which such a system is founded. It's all well and good to eschew the importance of earning a competitive salary if one has resources or access thereto. But don't you think teaching and museum work should be appealing to those without that safety net? Don't you think that would make our community more diverse, vibrant, interesting, productive...? Calinda Lee ________ Calinda N. Lee, Ph.D. Historical Consultant Sources ----- Original Message ----- From: "Carla Cain" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2003 6:04 PM Subject: Re: Happy Tuesday! > Good teachers work an average of 60-80 hours a week and most cannot > afford to loaf or go sailing in the Caribbean during the summer--most > work teaching summer school or at summer jobs to make ends meet. > Doctors, lawyers and accountants are paid alot more overall and enjoy > quite a bit more prestige. Young people who want to go into teaching are > often told discouraging things like "What! I'm not paying all that money > for you to go to college just to become a teacher!". I think that > museum professionals should be paid more as well--most of us that work > in the public interest are underpaid--but teachers suffer enough slings > and arrows without being beat up on for the tough job they do! > > Just my 2 cents... > > C.Cain > > >>> [log in to unmask] 04/30/03 08:18AM >>> > Although I know teachers, I'm not impressed with their plight. Most > teachers' salaries exceed that of most museum staff people who have at > least as much education with a far more restricted employment field. > For instance about three years ago in the Denver area (think high rent) > museum directors were being offered starting salaries in the high 30s > low 40s. In the museum field there's not even the pretext of holiday > vacations (those weeks around New Year's, Thanksgiving and "spring") and > often very limited vacation time and even more limited sick time - which > often does not accrue. Only in government museums have I been expected > to work only 40 hours a week. In the private sector, it was anywhere > from 45 to 80 depending upon what was in the fire. > > ========================================================= > Important Subscriber Information: > > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at > http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed > information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail > message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should > read "help" (without the quotes). > > If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message > to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read > "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). > > ========================================================= > Important Subscriber Information: > > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . 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You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).