[x0x0]

The gender balances of teachers vary wildly by level [1], and is over 40% male in high school.

I got a math undergrad at a good school. Once you got past calc/linear algebra/maybe diffeq 1 into classes that were mostly math/physics/eng students, future teachers were almost entirely in the bottom quartile of the classes. But maybe that's not so bad -- do you really need to understand real analysis to teach anything before calculus? Of course not. And to teach calc 1 or 2? Probably not.

My hypothesis is that's almost entirely because the career doesn't pay well. Consider working as a teacher on the peninsula in sfbay. It's basically a cute hobby that will have to be supported by a spouse if you'd ever like to own a house. You can see some of the numbers here [2], and they're horrible. Average salaries below, 2012 data, from [2]

   Belmont-Redwood Shores Elementary SD  $71,502
   Burlingame School District            $65,336
   Hillsbourgh City School District      $86,994
   Las Lomitas Elementary SD             $92,494
   Menlo Park City SD                    $90,271
   Millbrae Elementary School District   $64,168
   Redwood City Elementary SD            $70,965
   San Bruno Park Elementary SD          $65,713
   San Carlos Elementary SD              $68,379
   San Mateo-Foster City Elementary SD   $65,720
   San Mateo Union High School District  $83,384
   Sequoia Union High School District    $81,674
   South San Francisco Unified District  $61,639
   Woodside Elementary SD                $88,406

Those are hobby wages, not live an adult life in the city you work in wages. And there's something sick about cities once teachers can no longer afford to live, purchase homes, and raise families in the cities in which they work. And much of the problem is due to the wildly out of control housing costs.

Anecdotally, a teacher 10 years in at a local school on the peninsula works another 20 hours/week at my gym to be able to afford a one bedroom apartment by himself and to have at least some spending money. When he gets to school at 7, leaves at 4, then works another 4-5 hours at a gym, how is he supposed to get up and be rested and ready to teach the next day?

[1] https://www.aaeteachers.org/index.php/blog/757-the-teacher-g...

[2] http://patch.com/california/redwoodcity-woodside/comparing-t...

[aurizon]

The established home owners have placed a thicket of restrictions on building houses and apartments and condos that maintains prices at a very high level. There is a land shortage, but densification is battled = only those that have houses can afford them at the proper cost ratio. New buy couples have to pool income and pay 60% or more of their income to get into a place. Even rents = huge. There are many houses run as tekki bunkhouses with 2 people per room in a 6 room house and the city wants them all out.