The BLS report means nothing ... we are still grossly underpaid ... you stupid Freepers!
Posted on 12/15/2011 6:38:51 AM PST by Zakeet
Full Headline: Dept. of Labor: Public School Teachers Are Highest Paid State Workers; Compensation Doubles the Average in Private Industry
Public school teachers receive greater average hourly compensation in wages and benefits than any other group of state and local government workers and receive more than twice as much in average hourly wages and benefits as workers in private industry, according to a new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Public primary, secondary and special education teachers are paid an average of $56.59 per hour in combined wages and benefits, BLS said in the report released last week.
That is slightly more than twice the $28.24 in average hourly wages and benefits paid to workers in private industry.
In fact, according the BLS, the $28.24 in average hourly wages and benefits that private-industry workers now earn in the United States is less than the overall national average for hourly wages and benefits of $30.11.
That is because the overall national average compensation is dragged upwards from the private-industry average by the much higher wages and benefits paid to state and local government workers—who take in an average of $40.76 per hour, according to BLS.
The BLS report only calculated and published the average hourly wages and benefits for workers in nonfarm private industry and state and local governments. It did not include federal government workers.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnsnews.com ...
The BLS report means nothing ... we are still grossly underpaid ... you stupid Freepers!
I have an MBA and the average teacher in this county makes more than I do.
“”Public School Teachers Are Highest Paid State Workers””
Why are teachers considered state workers? Their salaries certainly aren’t paid by the state, are they? Aren’t all school districts the ones who pay the salaries?
A lot of questions, I know but I’m confused!!
Not so in Texas.
Of course teachers will say they do ‘so much!’ work for class at home and after school that they don’t get paid for....
You can talk to them until you are blue in the face that most salaries private sector employees do too - but they just don’t hear you.
They always compare themselves to factory shift-work (punch the clock) employees that get paid over-time if they do anything extra - that’s the wrong comparison. There are millions of people working salaried jobs that take their work home and work before and after ‘hours’ that make half their wage.(If they are lucky)
“”Public school teachers receive greater average hourly compensation in wages and benefits than any other group of state and local government workers””
Missed the “local” government part - SORRY!
This is a blatant lie!!!!!! Every “educator” I have ever known gripes that they are underpaid, overworked and need more time off. Obviously this article is dishonest and hating all teachers.
Nor in Missouri, where my daughter teaches. She has a Master's and 12 years experience and has a salary of $44,000 per year.
‘They always compare themselves to factory shift-work (punch the clock) employees that get paid over-time if they do anything extra’
Agreed.
Many of us hourlies ,especially over the last 3 years have taken not only pay-cuts(20% myself), but work additional hours and have been given extra tasks done by others who quit/laid-off, in order NOT only to keep our jobs but to keep companies we work for,afloat.
I haven’t seen a raise since 2007 and vacation time is a half a day here or half a day there.
I am sure many folks are in the same predicament.
“She has a Master’s and 12 years experience and has a salary of $44,000 per year.”
Granted that’s low compared to a lot of other places.
But divide that by the number of hours worked, then add in the cost of benefits.
And then compare it to private sector Missouri jobs.
I’m a retired teacher with Masters + 65. Made a lot of $$ and am now enjoying it . YOU are totally responsible for choosing your college major and the vocation you want to succeed in.
That is the problem with the Occupy Wall Street crowd. Liberal arts and a basket weaving degree that cost thousands to achieve is not the ticket to a financially sound future.
BTW. I am a registered Republican, lean toward Libertarian , and a member of the NRA to boot.
We have been told for years that we do not pay our public school teachers enough... 
especially from their teachers unions.
I have two cousins, both public school teachers, that just retired this year... 
and they were pulling in better than 100K a year from the Dallas Independent School District.
That's a lot of green for reading... 
'riting and 'rithmetic!
I believe it’s a state retirement system and the state sends money to each district.
Even contracting crowds have gotten really weird and bad in some cases.
The past few months working for a crowd based in Florida (I will never do that again) has found more and more excuses to skimp and cheap out.
Yesterday I called these yo-yos for the first time with a situation where I actually needed their assistance regarding their rental van. The old battleaxe in charge of money gave me different flavors of no, no, it costs too much, we won’t reimburse you, we will dock you, etc, etc. After about 10 minutes of that, I admit I lost it with her.
I called my next to useless supervisor and talked to him. He wasn’t surprised and he said he would try. Eventually it was agreed to express mail me a check.
Apparently they have no contigency plan of any kind and would rather take a chance that nothing happens. Today is my last day for a couple of weeks and I am not going back.
If I can’t find something else, worst case I will liquidate several years of state gov retirement.
Beware the Roelker Group. Beware HP. Beware Bank Of America.
“Nor in Missouri, where my daughter teaches. She has a Master’s and 12 years experience and has a salary of $44,000 per year.”
A Masters in what..Math, Science, or 2nd grade milk-N-cookies?
Not knocking your Daughter, but the vast majority of teaching degrees are ‘phone it in’ classes. Also the total hours in the classroom for most teachers is barely over a part time job.
That is still on the low side. In MI she would be well over 70K.
Guess I’ve been teaching all these years in the wrong School District. My salary is still under 50K.
I don’t know where is Missouri she is, but where I am in Springfield, she would be doing very well.
According to 2009 statistics, the median household income in Springfield was $30,831.
If fact, at $44,000 she wouldn’t be doing too bad in all of Missouri since the State median household income was $45,229.
I find that teachers don’t like to talk about their pay when you point out what others make.
Since teachers aren’t paid hourly, and since most government workers are salaried, it’s hard to compare with manufacturing hourly workers.
Nonetheless, American manufacturing has been seriously injured by cheap labor in China, Thailand, and the serf-ocracies. We allow their anti-free market products into our country so that American goods are non-competitive price-wise.
The only response of companies is to pay the lowest wages possible to compete with overseas workers making slave wages. That drives those wages down.
Are there some teachers not worth their pay? I’m sure there are. I’m sure there are hourly workers not worth their pay.
I know a local high school calculus teacher, though, who is among the best of the best. Former students in college and in engineering firms still call with tough problems.
How many can do what this teacher can do?
Very damn few can compete with brilliant.
What is her benefits package, pension, etc worth?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.