If an Alabama teacher isn't happy with their pay they should talk to a Florida teacher. My ex wife went from 42k a year in Alabama to 31k a year in Florida doing the exact same job in one of the wealthiest areas in Florida. That said, she wasn't happy with her pay so she started looking into teaching jobs that paid more. She finally got on with the department of defense teaching at an elementary school on an Army base. Double the salary of Alabama to start and she is now over 6 figures in her 7th year.

Why the hell would anybody move to Florida??
My God, you would have to tie me up and drag me to Florida.

What did she teach? My aunt was making $55,000/year teaching 4th grade in the panhandle.

Most teachers are overpaid babysitters. AP calc teachers making the same $ as kindergarten teachers is insane. A kindergarten teacher needing the same education as an AP calc teacher is equally insane.

kindergarten - 5th grade = HS education + 1yr paid internship
6th-8th grade = Some teachers would need secondary education.
9-12th grade = Most teachers should require a secondary education

$/hr Pay should reflect the level of education:
K-5th - could be year round school to help parents with work. $/yr for salaries would be nearly the same, because $/hr would be less. Those employees would also have no college loans to repay.

4th grade . Starting pay is now 34k and tops out at 77k after so many years in the system. She was there about 7 years ago.