Clawing away at the middle class
"For generations of Americans, working for a state or local government — as a teacher, firefighter, bus driver or nurse — provided a comfortable nook in the middle class. No less than automobile assembly lines and steel plants, the public sector ensured that even workers without a college education could afford a home, a minivan, movie nights and a family vacation.
“I was surprised to realize along the way I was no longer middle class,” said Teresa Moore, who has spent 30 years investigating complaints of abused or neglected children, veterans and seniors in Oklahoma.
She raised two daughters in Alex, a rural dot southwest of the capital, on her salary. But when she applied for a mortgage nine years ago, the loan officer casually described her as “low income.”
At 57, Ms. Moore now earns just over $43,000, which she supplements with a part-time job as a computer technician.
Read more:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/22/business/economy/public-employees.html?emc=edit_th_180423&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=748382090423
**********My two cents: We need both federal and state lawmakers who value the hard and unappreciated work these public servants perform and who will support them monetarily with funding so they can adequately support themselves and perform their duties. I am sick and tired of lawmakers, (overwhelmingly Republican) who look upon these folks as overpaid leeches with cake jobs. And I'll bet these folks, teachers, especially, are sick and tired of hearing that they must do "more with less".
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