Among Democratic lawmakers’ criticisms during debate of a Detroit Public School’s $617 million bailout that doesn’t restrict new charter schools in the city, Sen. Curtis Hertel of Meridian Township compared the salaries of Detroit teachers to those of legislators.
"Teachers are not the problem. They work in deplorable conditions for much less than we make in this body," Hertel said in a story published in MLive.
ForTheRecord says: Politicians’ references to teacher pay almost always warrant a closer look, because so much of the information reported in the media about teacher salaries is inaccurate or misleading.
State legislators earn $71,685 a year, an amount that was cut from $79,000 in 2011 and has been frozen since.
There were 353 DPS teachers who made more than $71,685 in 2014-15, according to a salary database maintained by the state of Michigan. The highest paid DPS teacher earned $95,341. The state database includes all forms of salary for teachers and not just the base salary. DPS teachers on average received salaries of $63,716 in 2014-15, the most recent year for which data is available.
Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.
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