Hey, teachers: The Heritage Foundation thinks you’re overpaid

          A new policy paper from the Heritage Foundation, argues that teachers aren’t underpaid. Instead, the paper says, teachers are actually overpaid by at least 50 percent, which is costing American taxpayers more than $120 billion each year. American Enterprise Institute compares the combined average wages and benefits of public school teachers with those of private-sector professionals who have similar skills. It concludes that wages for the two groups are about the same, while benefits and job security are significantly higher for teachers. Jason Richwine, a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis and Andrew G. Biggs, a resident scholar at AEI, used data from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, finding that public school teachers earn about 19 percent less in wages, on aver­age, than non-teachers with the same level of education. But then, in a surprising twist, the researchers argue that advanced degrees for teachers aren’t as rigorous as those earned by private-sector employees. Richwine and Biggs claim that “the wage gap between teachers and non-teachers disappear” when public school teachers are matched with private-sector employees who have similar AFQT scores. The researchers also argue that (1) average wages for public school teachers exceed those of private school teachers; (2) people who leave private-sector jobs to become teachers see an 8.8-percent wage increase, on average; and (3) teachers who leave the profession to work in the private sector experience a 3.1-percent wage reduction, on average. An analysis of data from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation, compared the average benefits of teachers and private-sector employees is more problematic, Richwine and Biggs acknowledge in part because of differences in their respective retirement plans. They concluded that public school teachers earn, on average, about 40 percent more in benefits than private-sector employees with comparable skills. The average unemployment rate for public school teachers was just 2.1 percent from 2005-10, compared to 3.8 percent for other professions, they sought to quantify this higher relative job security enjoyed by teachers. They concluded that it’s worth an additional 8.6 percent of a teacher’s compensation package bringing the total average value of teacher compensation to “52 percent above market rates.” “Because of the large compensation premium that public school teachers enjoy, teachers are unlikely to receive better offers elsewhere,” the researchers wrote. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), noted in a statement that most teachers spend “hundreds of dollars per year” on classroom supplies out of their own pockets, and they work longer hours “than their peers in other nations”—including grading papers, preparing lesson plans, communicating with students and their parents, and attending school-related functions during evenings and on weekends. Weingarten also criticized the report’s claim of an 8.6-percent “job security premium” for teachers, calling it an “arbitrary” figure that is “pure fiction, given the 278,000 public education jobs that have been lost during this recession.” The report comes as school stakeholders nationwide debate a number of education reforms, including measures designed to improve teacher quality and retention. On one side of these debates are conservatives, influenced by groups like the Heritage Foundation, who want to limit the power of teachers’ unions, which they see as impediments to reform—not to mention political opponents. Led by conservative governors, for instance, Wisconsin and Ohio are among states that have abolished or curtailed teachers’ rights to collectively bargain this year, in the name of balancing budgets. On the other side are unions such as the AFT and their supporters, who argue that the teaching profession is under attack from those who don’t understand the challenges educators face every day.