[badpun]

The problem is that the value that teachers create is hard to compute and hard to capture, so in the end, no one is willing to pay for it.

[specialist]

David Graeber, of Bullshit Jobs fame, makes the distinction between service work and caring work. Doing things vs taking care of other humans.

Part of his thesis is that society undervalues the labor of caring workers, because they get so much "job satisfaction". Teachers and nurses are examples of caring work.

I lean towards Graeber's thesis, mostly because I haven't read any other explanation for this pathology, so Graeber wins by default.

[baud147258]

> no one is willing to pay for it

parents paying for private schools seem to be willing to pay that for their children

[JadeNB]

> parents paying for private schools seem to be willing to pay that for their children

Exactly—people aren't willing to pay for someone else's education, but everyone needs an education, so teachers who care enough that they are willing to teach for minuscule pay wind up squeezed between societal apathy and societal need.

[quesera]

Private school teachers are often paid less than public school teachers, and do not have a union or a pension.