Investigating the “black hole” of local public teacher salaries

Educational commentator Larry Sand breaks down how U.S. education is better funded than our military, yet over 80% feeds into teacher/admin salaries. While many believe public teachers are underpaid, says Sand, the data demonstrates the opposite phenomenon. For instance, by the most recent data, SJUSD teachers earn, on average, over $122,000/year including benefits — a far cry from poverty. To receive daily updates of new Opp Now stories, click here.

To put things into perspective, the U.S. spends about $800 billion on national defense, more than China, Russia, India, the U.K., France, Saudi Arabia, Germany and Japan combined, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. America now spends even more on k-12 education, with an outlay of about $900 billion dollars a year, which includes an additional $122 billion from the Covid-related American Rescue Plan…

So where does all this money go?

Not much for the kids. In fact, Over 80% of it goes to salaries and benefits for teachers and other employees…

But shouldn’t teachers be paid more?

One other lie that has been told so many times that it is believed by many is that teachers are underpaid. Most recently, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers came out with one of her typical statements that has no bearing in reality. In an interview, she asserted, “You have a hot labor market where teachers can get 20% more for the skills and knowledge they have teaching in non-teaching jobs.”

But according to Just Facts, in the 2020–21 school year, the average school teacher made $65,090 in salary, and received another $33,048 in benefits (such as health insurance, paid leave, and pensions) for $98,138 in total compensation.

Also, importantly, full-time public school teachers work an average of 1,490 hours per year, including time spent for lesson preparation, test construction and grading, providing extra help to students, coaching, and other activities, while their counterparts in private industry workers work an average of 2,045 hours per year, or about 37% more than public school teachers.

All in all, with various perks included, a teacher makes on average $68.85 an hour, whereas a private sector worker makes about $36 per hour.

This article originally appeared in Front Page Magazine. Read the whole thing here.

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