It's not a joke; these are real blues musicians, some of them (Joe Louis Walker, Donald Kinsey, David Honeyboy Edwards, Otis Clay, Pinetop Perkins) quite well known. And yes, the blues has often had to struggle and compromise to reach a wider audience.
At its peak, the program offered up to 99 weeks of coverage. It's been scaled down gradually ever since. Two states with high unemployment, Illinois and Nevada, had offered 73 weeks of benefits. California had offered 63 weeks, and most others offered 43 to 63 weeks.
Because they have a defined benefit pension package, they actually make significantly more. The average pension per year for an Illinois teacher is $43,164. Most Illinois teachers work for 12 years. That 43k is a 2010 figure.Every year after, there is a 3% cost of living raise, compounded annually, included in the defined benefit.n Illinois, the average teacher makes $61,402. By the way, the average administrator makes $106,217.00! Illinois teachers work around 176 days, 300 minutes, or 5 hours, per day.