We love teachers. But we are not fans of the Michigan Education Association.
Politicians love to talk about quality education for our kids. But what does that mean? Is it enough to just throw more money at the schools and hope test scores go up? That doesn’t make sense. In fact, we already spend over 30% of our entire State budget on education! Here are some other myths that need busting:
Myth: Michigan teachers are not paid a fair wage.
Fact: Michigan pays teachers $5,713 more than the national average – the nation’s seventh highest – even though Michigan has fallen to 27th place in per capita personal income. (U.S. Census Bureau figures)
Myth: Michigan public sector employees have benefits that are in line with private sector benefits, including health care.
Fact: Michigan’s state and local governments to provide employee benefits whose annual cost exceeds private sector averages by $5.7 billion. (Mackinac Center) The average Michigan state employee receives a salary and benefits package worth nearly $75,000. The comparable figure for private sector workers is approximately $58,000. (2006 figures from the Mackinac Center,
Myth: Teachers are overworked and underpaid.
Fact: Teachers work 2/3 of the year. They are required to be in school about 7 hours a day, including a prep time and lunch. They are paid more than many other professions who work all year long, including accountants, nurses and chemists. They also make more per hour than police officers, computer programmers, and office managers. (salary.com)
Myth: If the schools don’t receive more money, children will suffer.
Fact: They only way children will suffer is if teachers stop doing their job in protestduring contract negotiations. The MEA is demanding raises for their members, even as many of you are taking pay cuts just to keep your job. If teachers illegally strike, or take out their frustration on students, then students will suffer. Districts are going to have to make some tough choices and look at things like privatization, consolidation of services and cutting services outside the scope of the mission of public education.
