Heritage Foundation, AEI: Teachers overpaid by $120 billion per year

by David Safier

I had no idea I was overpaid during my 30+ years of teaching, but the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute have schooled me.

Apparently, public school teachers make more than they should. If you do a simple comparison . . . well, no, if you do a simple comparison, teachers are underpaid relative to people with similar educations. But if you do a complex, convoluted comparison, you find out teachers aren't very smart, so they shouldn't get paid as much as people with similar educations, and they get such ridiculously opulent health care and retirement benefits, they live practically like kings.

Therefore, according to the study, we could actually pay our teachers less and not have any averse effects. Really, that's what it says:

Teacher compensation could therefore be reduced with only minor effects on recruitment and retention. Alternatively, teachers who are more effective at raising student achievement might be hired at comparable cost.

Thank you, Drs. Richwine and Biggs, for setting me straight. Now if you'll just tell me where I should send the refund for the excess salary I received over the years, I'll happily write a check.