A recent article in The Philadelphia Inquirer was headlined, “700 new Philly teachers show up to day 1 of work in ‘the most critical profession on the planet.’” The quote in the headline is from Debora Carrera, the city’s chief education officer. She later in the article says at greater length, “Teaching is the most noble profession on the planet. It is the most critical profession on the planet.”

I spent a good portion of my life teaching high school. And I constantly heard, over and over again, how “noble” the profession of teaching is, how critical teachers are to our children, to the nation’s future, to the future of the world itself. I heard how important teaching was when I began in the 1970s. I heard it when I taught in the 1980s and 1990s. And I heard it in this millennium, teaching between 2001 and 2019, when I finally retired.

And all I can say is: these expressions I heard constantly about how important and valuable teachers are are nothing but hot air. Talk’s cheap. The reality never matched, and still doesn’t match, the rhetoric. Talk really is cheap. And so are the people responsible for teachers’ pay and working conditions—penny-pinching skinflints, from the politicians and elected school board members down to everyday parents and ordinary taxpayers.

While teachers’ pay and working conditions vary widely from state to state and even from school district to school district, some representative figures are indicative of general trends. The average national starting salary for teachers is around $44,500, while the average salary for experienced teachers is $66,400.

The starting salary for a teacher in Montana is around $32,000, while in California—where the cost of living is extremely high—the average runs around $58,000. An experienced teacher in Mississippi can earn perhaps $60,000 or even $65,000, while the same teacher in New York might expect $62,000 to $72,000 annually.

All of these are ballpark figures and subject to huge differences depending on multiple factors such as the state, a teacher’s education level, and the cost of living. But suffice it to say that an elementary, middle, or high school teacher earning over $100,000 annually is a rare person indeed—very rare.

Now consider that the average college graduate with a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) can expect to start out at an average salary of $115,000. That’s the average starting salary. One starts at $115,000 and goes up from there—often astronomically up.

Or how about the noble and vital career of professional football player? The minimum starting salary for a National Football League rookie is $840,000. That’s the minimum starting salary. If you happen to be a high draft pick, you might sign for, say, $10 million, as did Mason Graham with the Cleveland Browns. Penn State alumnus Tyler Warren signed with the Colts for $5 million.

Okay, so maybe the average NFL player only lasts—let’s guess—three to five years. That run-of-the-mill, not-a-big-star football player, even if he never gets a raise, will earn between $2.6 million and $4.2 million during his playing life.

The average experienced teacher in the U.S. would have to work nearly 13 years to earn what a rookie football player earns in one year. No teacher could ever possibly live long enough to earn in a lifetime what the lowest-paid player in the NFL earns during even a brief and undistinguished career on the gridiron.

But get this: the average annual salary of a National Football League waterboy—the waterboy, for goodness’ sake—is $33,400. That’s better pay than a starting teacher earns in Montana.

Meanwhile, the average train engineer earns $106,000 annually. For an accountant, it’s $68,000. A hairdresser can earn between $34,000 and $61,000, with the average being about $44,000. The median wage for plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters is $63,000.

I have nothing against engineers, accountants, hairdressers, or plumbers. But how is it that these professions pay as well or better than “the most noble profession”?

Indeed, even a raw recruit who has just enlisted in the U.S. Army and is still just a “slick-sleeve” private starts out earning $28,000 a year, and usually within less than a year will reach private first class at $33,000. Base pay, not counting any bonuses and add-ons. Never mind what sergeants earn, let alone lieutenants and captains, majors, and colonels.

We do get reminded at just about every sporting event—from, yes, NFL football games to Little League baseball games to NASCAR races—that anyone and everyone who wears a military uniform is a hero.

Still, if there is no more noble a profession, none more essential or vital to the future of our children and thus to our nation’s future than teaching, shouldn’t those engaged in this most critical profession on the planet be receiving payment commensurate with their importance?

Oh, who am I trying to kid? Nobody’s going to raise teachers’ salaries or demand that school boards, school districts, and taxpayers actually put their money where their mouths are.

How about if we just stop insisting that teaching is a noble and critical profession and admit that as a culture and a people, we value professional athletes, popular entertainers—think Taylor Swift or Bruce Springsteen—MBAs, train engineers, and even hairdressers and plumbers far more highly than we value teachers. At least we could dispense with the hypocrisy, and it wouldn’t cost so much as a nickel.