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If this was the case, then why do private school teachers get paid less? Private schools are the free-market and are ununionized. In case you're curious, the r

by zevets 10y ago

If this was the case, then why do private school teachers get paid less? Private schools are the free-market and are ununionized. In case you're curious, the reason is that teaching at a private school is easier, so people who love teaching are willing to take the pay cut.

randyrand 10y ago
Your reasoning about why private teachers make less is completely wrong, im afraid. First, realize that if teachers were not unionized, their salaries would without a doubt go down. Unions function very similar to monopolies in that regard. So just intuitively we would expect in a freeer market that teachers salaries would go down. That said, even in the private sector teachers are still unionized --its hardly a free market -- so why haven't private teachers been able to negotiate as high of a pay as public sector teachers? > why do private school teachers get paid less? Because public sector unions have much more negotiating power. It's really that simple. Unions don't have infinite power, the can only negotiate as much as the 'pot' allows. In the public sector, the pot size is all tax revenue. There are almost no limits on how much public sector teachers can ask for. This is exactly why FDR opposed public sector unions. In the private sector, schools have to deal with remaining solvent. Teachers can only ask for at most -- the whole pot of revenue. And that pot is smaller in the private sector. The national average private school tuition is approximately $9,518 in 2015. Way less than the public sector at $12,922 per pupil in 2008. As such, private sector teachers cannot demand as high wages as the public sector teachers can.
- mikekij 10y ago
  I agree with most of this. However, teachers' unions have done their best to prevent schools from paying teachers with less common skill sets (like STEM) more than teachers with more common skill sets (like PE). It's this aspect of lack of free market and supply and demand dynamics that prevented me from staying in the classroom.

by zevets 10y ago

randyrand 10y ago

Your reasoning about why private teachers make less is completely wrong, im afraid. First, realize that if teachers were not unionized, their salaries would without a doubt go down. Unions function very similar to monopolies in that regard. So just intuitively we would expect in a freeer market that teachers salaries would go down. That said, even in the private sector teachers are still unionized --its hardly a free market -- so why haven't private teachers been able to negotiate as high of a pay as public sector teachers? > why do private school teachers get paid less? Because public sector unions have much more negotiating power. It's really that simple. Unions don't have infinite power, the can only negotiate as much as the 'pot' allows. In the public sector, the pot size is all tax revenue. There are almost no limits on how much public sector teachers can ask for. This is exactly why FDR opposed public sector unions. In the private sector, schools have to deal with remaining solvent. Teachers can only ask for at most -- the whole pot of revenue. And that pot is smaller in the private sector. The national average private school tuition is approximately $9,518 in 2015. Way less than the public sector at $12,922 per pupil in 2008. As such, private sector teachers cannot demand as high wages as the public sector teachers can.

mikekij 10y ago
I agree with most of this. However, teachers' unions have done their best to prevent schools from paying teachers with less common skill sets (like STEM) more than teachers with more common skill sets (like PE). It's this aspect of lack of free market and supply and demand dynamics that prevented me from staying in the classroom.