They were more of a leadership role as well. 8th grade english teach probably had more than 20 yrs as a teacher, he was nearing retirement age (~60) and if memory serves me right he was the cluster leader. The high school history teacher was probably doing admin/leadership work, she eventually got her phd and became the vice principal.

The area was pretty cheap too. Looking up citydata (2013), median household income: $50k, Median income per capita: $27k. For comparison in the same year SF was $77k and $52k respectively.