One for the Teachers

Janary 4th, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Opinion Column

Teachers' benefits-to-pay ratio is misleading

I'm a teacher in the Milwaukee Public Schools. I'm not one of those teachers who constantly complains about compensation. In fact, I've got a public track record for opening my mouth and lashing out at those who do.
However, I'm also not one to take abuse. And so I take issue with a statistic that is constantly cited with regard to MPS teacher compensation, which was repeated in Alan Borsuk's Jan. 3 article, "Just the facts, please, as we discuss MPS."
In his ninth of 10 points, Borsuk writes, "For every dollar MPS pays in salary this year, it is paying 69 cents for employee benefits. For next year, MPS budget makers expect the rate will be 71 cents."
First off, I'll tell you exactly why those budget makers foresee a rate increase for next year. It's because we're working under the old contract, and they're not expecting it to be settled before the next school year - i.e., nobody will be getting a raise.
The rate increases because they still must provide health insurance under the old contract, and that will increase in price. So, yes, my benefits-to-pay ratio will go up. However, this is only because my pay won't.
Therein lies the problem of using the benefits-to-pay ratio to try to make it appear as though teachers have lavish benefits. I'm not going to say that we don't have some very nice perks. We do. They're as nice as anyone's. However, the point I'm trying to make is that this statistic is wildly misleading as an indicator of our total compensation. Case in point: If teacher salaries were to be cut in half in the next contract, our benefits would be approximately $1.42 cents for every dollar of salary. Does this mean teachers would be getting a good deal?
Those who have cited this statistic would do far better to compare our benefits packages to that of other government entities, comparable urban districts or our private-school counterparts.
Though I don't think a comparison of benefits to pay between private and public school teachers would be completely fair due to the significant differences in work environment, at least you'd be comparing apples to apples. This is far more accurate reporting than throwing out arbitrary numbers that can be manipulated to make whatever argument you're trying to make look stronger.
As an MPS teacher in a tough economy, I'm thankful for the job I have and the compensation I receive. I appreciate the willingness of the taxpayers to fund our schools at a level that gives us a chance to educate our students effectively.
However, I don't appreciate it when people in the media attempt to manipulate numbers to serve their own agenda. One area where I will agree with the union I so often spar with is that teachers have given up salary increases in the past in order to maintain their benefits.
So keep this in mind the next time somebody tries to use the benefits-to-pay ratio to argue that teacher benefits are too good. If our salaries were doubled, the ratio would fall to 35 cents for every dollar we make in salary. No doubt if that were the case, the taxpayers would be jumping for joy.