Will Flanders and Corrinne Hess:
It is true that total teacher compensation has declined since 2010, but more nuance is needed.
1) A significant portion of that decline is in fringe benefits, which Act 10 mandated teachers contribute to as most all private sector employees must. (1/2)
This is true, but here are my 4 quick analyses.
- Teacher supply has gone up, which pushes pay down. We have 1,805 more teachers than 2010 but 48,458 fewer students. The same ratio as “the good, old days” would free up funds to give every teacher a $5,368 raise.