> Before the TSA, didn't airports just have security screeners employed by the airport directly?

Yep. And in many cases, all of those "ineffective" security people were fired when TSA was created after 9/11. Then, in order to fill all of the openings, TSA hired them (with little to no training) and gave them raises. Source: I know a few who went through this process in a regional airport (Toledo Express, in Ohio).