Teachers on the Dole

Subsidized housing for teachers? Yes, in Dare County, North Carolina, home of the tourist communities comprising the northern half of the Outer Banks. The second such reduced-rent apartment building in the county opened yesterday. According to Elizabeth Piff, executive director of the Dare County Education Foundation, one classroom can go through 4 teachers in a year because housing is too expensive.

We have a serious problem when we pay teachers so little that they can't afford to live where they work. True, teachers in some parts of the country make good livings. But 31 of our states pay teachers, on average, $40,000 - $49,000 per year, and 5 states pay less than that.

The controversy about public education rages on with new twists about charter schools, testing, teacher incompetence, and the role of unions--all deserving our attention. Until we truly value education, though, and pay people what their work is worth, we will continue our descent into an uneducated society.