On Thursday November 10, 2011, the Amarillo Globe news printed an  article about the salaries of teachers in Amarillo. Due to a recent study saying teachers are overpaid, an article stating the opinions of many school officials was written. Included in the article were links to a database showing the name, date hired, and annual salary of teachers from various school districts in Amarillo.

Many people were upset by this and disapproved of such easy access to people’s personal information. Although it is legal, that doesn’t necessarily make it right. Regardless, people have the right to know this information.

You can read the articles and the quotes of teachers and form an opinion based on what they tell you, or you can see the data and information for yourself. It is easier to decide what you think about teacher’s salaries when you actually know the teacher’s salaries. Most people would probably rather have physical evidence of something than just someone telling them it is true.

It’s not like the Amarillo Globe News did something illegal. Anyone can go and find this information. They just made it easier to access. The teacher’s knew that people could access this information when they were hired, so they can’t really get upset that someone did.

Also, the Amarillo Globe News had good reason to post that information. They didn’t put it up for fun. They put it up as evidence. It was used to show the teacher’s salaries for people who were saying they were overpaid. The Amarillo Globe News wanted to show them how much they really were paid, so people could form their own opinions.

There is nothing wrong with posting that information. Maybe they could have done it without posting the names, but otherwise, it’s not that big of a deal. People have a right to know this information.