college you don't always know how much money you will need to provide for your family. When you are in college 30-40k a year to start doesn't sound too bad. Add on a few kids and other expenses and it doesn't take long before your scraping by. I had planned on becoming a teacher when i was in college until the end of my senior year when I went to student teach and I met the teacher across the hall. He was married, had 2 or 3 kids and had been living in a 2 bedroom apt and saving for a modest house for 7 years. Oh yeah, and he wasn't saving any money from his teaching salary he was working a part-time job at nights. I made the decision right then and there that I wasn't going to college to work two jobs the rest of my life.

One solution would be to hire the teacher on a 12 month contract, pay them more, and do professional development during the summer months.