Conservative Think Tanks Release Report Saying Teachers Are Not Underpaid

Ben Smith writes at his blog for Politico (11/2) that though teachers unions and "their enemies in the 'education reform' movement" -including Education Secretary Arne Duncan-often refer to teachers as underpaid, "the two core Washington conservative think tanks, the American Enterprise Institute and Heritage Foundation, are putting down a marker on the topic with a study today making the case that teachers are 'overpaid.'" Smith describes the think tanks' evidence and the likely furor that their assertion will cause.

 

Valerie Strauss writes at the Washington Post (11/2) "Answer Sheet" blog that the report, "called 'Assessing the Compensation of Public-School Teachers,' makes the argument that teachers are overpaid." She relates their main points as such: "Public school teachers earn more money than people with the same skills in the private sector and therefore are overpaid," and "the education teachers receive isn't good for anything and that advanced degrees aren't worth additional compensation like, say, a physician or architect would get. 'The field of education is less challenging than other academic concentrations,' it says."

 

Allen McDuffee also writes about this report at the Washington Post (11/2) "Think Tanked" blog, noting that Education Secretary Arne Duncan recently "told a group in Ann Arbor, MI that teacher salaries should be doubled--that teachers were 'desperately underpaid.'" However, the report "says that couldn't be further from the truth. 'The totality of the evidence suggests that public-school teachers are not underpaid in wages by private-sector standards,' says Andrew G. Biggs, one of the report's authors 'And they may even be overpaid.'" Maureen Downey also writes about this report at the Atlanta (GA) Journal-Constitution (11/2) "Get Schooled" blog.

 

Rhee Refutes Report.In a subsequent posting on his Politico (11/2) blog, Ben Smith notes that former DC Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, "a prominent figure in the reform movement whom labor often casts as a crypto-conservative," took issue with the report, saying in a statement, "No, we do not agree that teachers are overpaid. Under the status quo in most school districts, good classroom teachers are not only undervalued in pay, but as professionals generally. At the same time teachers who aren't effective in the classroom are not getting the feedback or help they need."