Steve Lopez: About to become teachers, they're passionate, idealistic and wondering how they'll pay the rent

Ramirez, inspired by her middle-school teacher in Huntington Park, is about to graduate from Cal State Northridge and become a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District, where the starting salary is about $53,000. She's a natural in class, with a big easy smile and lots of encouraging words as she leads 23 students through a drill on triangle dilation.

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