Greedy, Overpaid NJ Teachers
And it's pretty damn ugly right now.
Remember when Chris Christie used to run up and down New Jersey complaining about "... the teachers union demanding raises at 4 to 5 times the rate of inflation..."? Remember when I was one of the few places you couldgo to regularly find out this was absolutely ridiculous? Remember when I repeatedly wrote that the notion of "overpaid teachers" with "gold-plated benefits" was transparently idiotic?
Good times...
So, how is the allegedly greedy, overpaid teacher in New Jersey faring these days? Well, the National Education Association has put out its annual report on state-level school finances, including information about teacher salaries. Go to page 20 to the "PERCENTAGE CHANGE IN AVERAGE SALARIES OF PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS 2001–02 TO 2011–12 (CONSTANT $)," which is the inflation-adjusted change in each state's average teacher salary. New Jersey ranks #22 in this change:
New Jersey's average teacher salary is less in inflation-adjusted dollars22. NEW JERSEY –0.5 *
Intimidating Public Employees on Pensions
Let's understand what pensions really are: deferred compensation.
Out of every dollar that funds Wisconsin' s pension and health insurance plans for state workers, 100 cents comes from the state workers.So when you read a story like this one, bemoaning public employee pensions, understand that what you are
How can that be? Because the "contributions" consist of money that employees chose to take as deferred wages – as pensions when they retire – rather than take immediately in cash. The same is true with the health care plan. If this were not so a serious crime would be taking place, the gift of public funds rather than payment for services. [emphasis mine]