Man, I’m loving these few days off I have (the spousal unit’s on another recall to ACDU and I’m back on the road myself late tonight, but still…life is grand right now :-). Anyway, a recent study appears to show that the average teacher out there (you know, like the beloved Mr. Chips types in Wisco that became so hot-under-the-collar over Adolf Walker’s teacher reforms?) isn’t actually underpaid at all. In fact, if said teachers had to take their skills to the non-government-affiliated market (AKA “the private sector”) they would be paid less than if they were being paid by government. It’s true; I swear it. 
dailycaller.com/2011/11/01/study-public-school-teachers-arent-underpaid/?t=1320235298
Despite Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s consistent calls for increased teacher salaries, a new study says that most public school teachers aren’t actually being underpaid.
The new research from The Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute suggests a majority of public school teachers are making more than they likely would in the private sector.
The co-authors of the study said they hope their work reverses the widespread perception that teachers aren’t earning high enough wages.
“The idea that teachers are constantly tempted by the promised pay in the private sector and that its very difficult for them to remain as teachers,” said Jason Richwine, co-author from The Heritage Foundation, “that is true for some teachers, but for average teacher it’s not true.”
Predictably, the national union arm for the public employee/teacher types, is casting aspersions on the study:
The study is already facing criticism from education groups. Kim Anderson, advocacy director for the National Education Association, a labor union representing over three million public school employees, said she questions the reliability of the research.
“Talented individuals turn away from this rewarding profession because they are forced to choose between making a difference in the lives of students and providing for their families,” Anderson said. “Does AEI honestly purport that paying teachers even less will help raise the quality of teaching in American’s schools?”
Heh. This is why libbie types always lose in the end. My man Ace, of AoSHQ, shoots that bit of fluff down pretty easily:
That’s not the study’s claim. The study merely debunks the Teachers Unions claim that paying teachers more will suddenly make them better at their job (or else attract sterling new talent to the field, and, once again, why not then restrict that sterling new pay scale specifically for the sterling new talent it’s designed to attract?).
All I know is that I went to Catholic schools from K through 12, being taught by a mix of nuns (though not very many) and lay teachers, and my sister went to the Detroit Public Schools. This was back in the 70s, and she endured several beginning-of-the-school-year teacher strikes, and at one point had to attend school until the following July to make up for the days the teachers stayed out. I can say without hesitation that I received a far more comprehensive and academically rigorous education experience than she did (and no, she didn’t want to attend Catholic school so my parents didn’t make her, to their everlasting regret). Money’s not the determinant many so-called “educators” think it is when it comes to attracting bright, capable teachers into the classroom setting.