Report: Public employees make less, including benefits, than private workers

[babsbunny]

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_d4093848-3c92-11e0-ac18-001cc4c03286.html

STEVEN VERBURG | [e-mail]

Gov. Scott Walker argues that public employees can sacrifice more of their paychecks for health insurance and retirement because they pay so little for those benefits compared to workers at private companies.

Walker is correct about the disparity, but a new report by the liberal Economic Policy Institute suggests that looking at benefits alone is misleading.

The study looks at total compensation - pay and benefits together - and found that public workers earn 4.8 percent less than private sector employees with the same qualifications and traits doing similar jobs.

Average compensation for public workers is higher because the jobs they do - such as teaching - require a relatively high level of education, and a higher education is one of the main factors that drives wages up, said Ethan Pollack, a senior policy analyst at the institute.

[spedtr90]

1. thus the alternative paths to teaching

The mindset is teaching is not a difficult job. So far a proposed alternative license in MN involves a bachelor's degree, but apparently it does not have the area one would teach. But the plan wouldn't require nonprofit groups that could start teacher licensing programs to partner with colleges and universities. I have no idea what the actual educational requirements will be for permanent licensing. From the comments of the republican who sponsored the bill (below)one doesn't need to know content to teach. Just believe.

"Most teachers licensed through the alternate route would work in some of the state's toughest schools, where content knowledge is less important than attitude and persistence."

"They are going into schools where the kids are barely ready for remedial. More important is the notion of high expectations. Really believing that all kids can learn."