Cass, you are wrong on so many levels. First, tenure does not protect a teacher from getting fired. It only gives a teacher more due process. Second, teachers have gotten sued and have had to pay out of pocket. It does happen so don't spout off about things you obviously know nothing about. Next, people care what teachers do outside of the school day. No one cares what a software engineer does outside of their work day. Teachers must have criminal and child abuse clearances, no one cares what record software engineers have as long as they do their job. How many other jobs out there require so many clearances? Lastly, software engineers are rated as having the best job in the country. So, for someone who has the best job in the nation and the average salary being over $80K, you seem to complain a lot about other people's professions.