For what it is worth...lots of variation in state averages on various websites. Regardless....pretty sure I would not want to work as hard as teachers have to for the salaries.

IMO, the 9 or 10 month argument is lame....what kind of job can a person find for 2 months.

Idaho Teacher Average Salary: http://www.teachersalaryinfo.com/average-teacher-salary-idaho.html

Montana Teach Average Salary:
http://www.teachersalaryinfo.com/average-teacher-salary-montana.html

Washington Teacher Average Salary:
http://www.teachersalaryinfo.com/average-teacher-salary-washington.html

I think one thing being lost in the Wisconsin discussion is the savings from the Gov's proposal to increase employee share of pensions and health care is very small...certainly not enough to balance future budgets. Similar to current National budget...you can eliminate ALL of the discretionary funding, but it will not come close to balancing the budget.

However, it is a start. It seems that Wisc. govt. employees could "afford" to pay more for pensions and health care, but this should be negotiated....not achieved through decertication of the union.