Teacher Pay, Here and There.

• Position: TRENDS

It's pretty obvious teachers don't go into the profession because they hope to get rich. That's good news if you want to ensure that our classrooms are led by people who love kids and the art of teaching--but not if you want to attract the best and brightest candidates to careers in education.

Do other countries face this dilemma?

"Education at a Glance," an annual report by the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, compares more than 45 countries across all kinds of educational indicators, including teacher pay.

As in the United States, teachers' salaries worldwide are low compared with those of other similarly educated full-time workers, according to the report, making it difficult to attract young people to the career. Teachers start with a higher average salary in the U.S., about $42,500 at the primary level, compared with less than $31,000 on average for new teachers in the other countries. But American teachers don't reach the high salaries enjoyed by some of their global peers...