Chicago Teachers Stupidly Exposed How Well Off They Are

In just the last two weeks, we've come to understand much about the pay and benefits of unionized Chicago teachers.

First of all, they're paid well with an average annual salary of just under $76,000.  Of course, this is before any benefits. At the same time, the average full-time male worker in Chicago is only paid $39,449;  $35,867 for full-time females.  Then, too, the teachers only have to pay 3% of their income towards their health care insurance while,  most other workers pay an average of 27% towards their employer-based health insurance.  So, after the insurance deduction, the average teacher is left with $73,720.  At the same time, the average male's salary is dropped down to $28,798. For the ladies, it's down to $26,183.   In effect, the average teacher makes 2-1/2 times what the average Chicago male makes in a year and almost 3 times what women make after health care insurance costs are deducted.

Then, there's the days worked per year issue.  According to statistics, the average teacher only works 154 days per year, while the average other worker puts in 228 days of work.  This mean that the  Chicago teacher, after health insurance is deducted, gets paid $479 per day.  One the other hand, the full-time male worker only gets $126 for his day's work, and, the working woman only sees $115 a day.  When looked at this way, the average teacher makes nearly 4 times the daily pay of the average taxpayer in Chicago.

Something is really out of balance here when teachers are getting 4 times the pay of  the people who pay their salaries. I personally don't want to hear another word that teachers are underpaid in America, and, we can all thank the Chicago Teachers strike for stupidly exposing this disparity in salaries.

One last thing.  The Chicago teachers are fighting teacher performance evaluations through student tests under "No Child Left Behind".  This seems strange from a group that is constantly grading their students through testing.

References:

Chicago Worker Pay Statistics: http://www.simplyhired.com/a/local-jobs/city/l-Chicago,+IL

Percent of Income Toward Health Insurance (paragraph 7): http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/12/business/la-fi-employer-health-costs-20120912

Days worked: Teachers vs. Average Worker: http://www.sodahead.com/united-states/how-many-days-per-year-does-a-teacher-work/question-1552159/

Chicago Teacher Contract Demands and Current Average Salary: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/contract-issues-chicago-teachers-strike-17259268#.UFiNNVFT8uc