good work if you can get it

Some staggering numbers from Bill Zettler in School Reform News-- about public school teachers in Illinois...

In fiscal year 2008, 11,254 Illinois public school employees had annual salaries exceeding $100,000, up from 9,591 in 2007. When pensions, retirement health insurance, and employee insurance are added, public school employees’ total compensation is about 30 percent more than their salary. That means more than 40,000 Illinois public school employees, or about 25 percent, have total compensation of more than $100,000 per year.

And that $100,000 does not include the value of tenure or a nine-month work year...

The hourly rate calculation shows teaching jobs in Illinois compare favorably to the billing rate for professional services such as lawyers—except a lawyer’s hourly rate would include overhead such as cars, phones, computers, office space, and secretaries. What the lawyer takes home is a fraction of the hourly rate, whereas Illinois teachers are taking all of it home. And of course, no one guarantees a lawyer’s job or pension....

Teachers and their unions frequently argue they need to be paid more, or otherwise fewer qualified people will enter the profession. But substitute teachers are available for about $150 per day. Why not hire one to replace that $1,400 per day art teacher?...