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.