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In light of the Pennsylvania's most recent pension cuts and the challenges the state faces in attracting and retaining qualified teachers, this report asks two primary questions in this study: (1) How does teacher pay compare with the pay of other comparable workers in Pennsylvania--that is, are Pennsylvania public school teachers underpaid (which could help explain the teacher shortage) or overpaid (which might justify the pension cuts); and (2) How will teacher compensation change under Act 5 beginning in 2019? The report further breaks down the compensation data to answer these two questions as well: (1) How does the teacher pay penalty vary by gender; and (2) how does gender and racial/ethnic pay equity among teachers compare with pay equity among other workers? The report also examines whether union membership and collective bargaining has any effect on teacher compensation. This study follows standard practice by focusing on full-time, full-year employees who work at least 35 hours per week and at least 39 weeks per year, a group that represents 80 percent of Pennsylvania's wage earners, according to the American Community Survey. This study makes it clear that Pennsylvania public school teachers face a significant pay penalty. These results are consistent with other research on teacher pay. When researchers looked at overall compensation among Pennsylvania public school teachers, it is apparent that better health and pension benefits only partly compensate for lower salaries. This increase in the teacher compensation penalty is likely to accelerate shortages that are currently being experienced in certain communities and subject areas, disproportionately affecting certain demographic groups. School districts need to address these compensation penalties as they confront shortages of qualified and motivated personnel.

This report describes the results of research into New Jersey public school teacher compensation. The research was initiated in response to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's attacks on New Jersey teachers' unions and his allegations that New Jersey public school teachers are overpaid. This analysis seeks to answer three questions about teacher compensation in New Jersey: (1) Are New Jersey public school teachers overcompensated? (2) How do public school teachers compare with other New Jersey employees in terms of pay equity across gender, racial, and ethnic categories? and (3) Does participation in unions increase public school teacher compensation? The report findings detailed in the report include: (1) New Jersey public school teachers are in fact undercompensated, not overcompensated; (2) Female, black, and Hispanic public school teachers enjoy greater pay equity compared with the rest of the labor market in New Jersey, in part because of the transparency afforded by collective bargaining agreements; and (3) Teachers' union membership in the United States produces measurable earnings improvements for union members, acting as an important counterbalance to the teacher pay penalty.

This report compares the pay, pension costs and retiree health benefits of teachers with those of similarly qualified private-sector workers. The study concludes that teachers receive total compensation 52% greater than fair market levels, which translates into a $120 billion annual "overcharge" to taxpayers. Built on a series of faulty analyses, this study misrepresents total teacher compensation in fundamental ways. First, teachers' 12% lower pay is dismissed as being appropriate for their lesser intelligence, although there is no foundation for such a claim. Total benefits are calculated as having a monetary value of 100.8% of pay, while the Department of Labor disagrees, giving a figure of 32.8%--a figure almost identical to that of people employed in the private sector. Pension costs are valued at 32%, but the real number is closer to 8.4%. The shorter work year is said to represent 28.8% additional compensation but the real work year is only 12% shorter. Teachers' job stability is said to be worth 8.6%, although the case for such a claim is not sustained. In sum, this report is based on an aggregation of such spurious claims. The actual salary and benefits for teachers show they are in fact undercompensated by 19%. (Contains 1 table and 22 notes.) [This report reviews "Assessing the Compensation of Public-School Teachers. A Report of the Heritage Center for Data Analysis" (ED525685).]