Tavares, FL - Dec. 23, 2011 - A Sunshine State News article describes a new Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics report indicating that nationally, teachers pay, including benefits, is significantly more than the private sector or other government employees. The first half of this article discussed national figures, then they discuss Florida, where we do know teachers are less paid because this is a right to work state, but then so are all employees in Florida. Read and understand - much blame is put on the unions for focusing on rewards for seniority vs competence.
"Two surprising new reports show that hourly pay and benefits for public-school teachers are higher than the compensation received by other government employees or similarly qualified private-sector workers."
Meanshile, in Lake County, the teacher and SEIU unions are already in negotiations to lock in wage or benefit increases before the School District Board finds out how little money they have for next year.
Watch and see the Lake County Board approve either wage or benefit increases in a closed meeting early next year. Then they will cry that they don't have money to pay for teaching the kids and other services.
It is my belief that this insider wage process needs to be transparent, based upon sound & objective data, and fully public.
School Board members need to discuss and make wage and benefit decisions in PUBLIC AND provide full cost estimates (not partial year) on an annual basis for all changes.
They also need to have a sound, objective salary and benefit comparison analysis comparing existing, planned teacher wages and benefits to other government agency employees AND also comparing them to private sector employees similar to the BLS analysis.
I
Some Lake County School District Board members and educators might resent these recommendations, but until objective decision data is developed and shown publicly, AND the Board makes wage and benefit decisions in a public forum with detailed minutes and available audio recordings, I will continue to assume they are overpaid and publicize any study saying so. My mother was a teacher and I like and support them, but the methods for providing wages and benefits needs sound, transparent analysis and Board member decisions need to be made in public. Lack of transparency causes low credibility.
vj
More info on teacher pay vs private sector:
If you want more evidence of how unions distort teacher pay and effectiveness, WATCH this EXCELLENT, eye opening FREE documentary "The Cartel" about teacher's unions in New Jersey (yes, I know, it is not a right to work state, but the issues related to unions are still applicable). You can watch it FREE on Hulu.com HERE.
Or, you can read this Heritage Foundation report "Assessing the Compensation of Public School Teachers", which describes several added factors indicating teachers are overpaid, and concludes:
"We conclude that public-school-teacher salaries are comparable to those paid to similarly skilled private-sector workers, but that more generous fringe benefits for public-school teachers, including greater job security, make total compensation 52 percent greater than fair market levels, equivalent to more than $120 billion overcharged to taxpayers each year."
A Tea party Newsletter from Ohio discussed excessive teacher wages (again, not a right to work state), and provided this bar graph comparing different sector pay levels, including government employee unions vs private sector. OEA is the Ohio Education Association - notice how high they are compared to everyone else.
- More below - scroll down -
And, you can read this recent BLS report citing average total employment costs for the private sector and how much lower it was than for state and government workers:
"Total employer compensation costs for private industry workers averaged
$28.24 per hour worked in September 2011."
"State and local government employers spent an average of $40.76 per hour worked for employee compensation in September 2011. Wages and salaries averaged $26.57 per hour and 65.2 percent of compensation costs, while benefits averaged $14.19 per hour worked and accounted for the remaining 34.8 percent"
PS; Hey, at least I am not citing THIS Michigan Study showing much higher teacher wages compared to average per capital income. (They are a union dominated state and not a right to work state).
