Teachers Union Says Report on Educators' Pay Used Bad Math
POSTED BY GEORGE PRENTICE ON THU, NOV 3, 2011 AT 9:11 AM
When the conservative groups the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundationunveiled a paper Wednesday, claiming teachers in America were overpaid, an expected controversy erupted, because for years, experts argued that one of the best ways to attract highly qualified people with advanced skills into the teaching profession is to pay higher wages.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said the paper "uses misleading statistics and questionable research to make its case."
According to a 2003 study from the Education Policy Analysis Archives, only 4.7 percent of college juniors would consider teaching at the current starting salary (about $39,000, on average,