Liberal progressives like Ezra Klein and the staff of Vox will always try to come off as caring and humble. Yet this article shows their true colors: a condescending attitude towards certain segments of the population and types of people, as well as their true ignorance or disregard of economics.

Why is it that in this article by Libby Nelson starts off making the point that teachers in South Dakota earn less than auto repair workers? They also earn less than small business owners, company executives, college professors, doctors, lawyers, etc. Of course, the point is that teachers—almighty paragons of knowledge and therefore just recipients of more pay—receive less for their labors than measly auto mechanics, whose work consists only of making incredibly complex machines with thousands of mechanical and electrical components function in tandem at speeds up to 100 mph.

So why is it that auto mechanics, on average, earn more than teachers in many states, including South Dakota? Look no further than to the incontrovertible laws of supply and demand: when supply is low and demand high, prices (wages) rise. Furthermore, consider the fact that auto mechanics participate in a free market where skill, efficiency, cost-cutting, and merit sort out in the fairest way possible the successful high-wage earners from the less successful, who either earn less, are fired, or go out of business.

On the other hand public school teachers, no matter what degrees they possess or how many years they have taught, are not subject to free market forces. They are without profit incentives and are heavily protected from job loss.

Ms. Nelson and Mr. Klein ought to take Econ 101 again, and it would be great if they refrained from looking down upon auto mechanics.

After 10 years at work, teachers in some states make less than $40,000

The average teacher in South Dakota with a bachelor’s degree and 10 years of experience earns $33,600 per year — less than the average South Dakotan auto-repair worker. And relatively low salaries for experienced teachers with bachelor’s degrees are the norm, not the exception, in the US, according to a new report from the Center for American Progress.

It’s rare for those teachers to be earning more than $50,000, even after 10 years on the job, in most states. In some states, after 10 years, teachers with bachelor’s degrees haven’t even hit $40,000 per year: [graph]

Nationally, average salary for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree and 10 years’ experience is $44,900. That might be why 16 percent of teachers have a second job outside of school during the academic year.

What doesn’t show up on this map: Many teachers have more education than just a bachelor’s degree, and those teachers earn a higher salary. More than half of all teachers have at least a master’s degree, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Teachers with 10 years of experience and a master’s earn about $5,000 more per year on average.

But that doesn’t mean they’ve caught up to other college graduates. In 18 states, teachers with a graduate degree and 10 years in the classroom still make less than $45,000 per year.