Are teachers overpaid or underpaid?

Whether public employees are overpaid or underpaid relative to their private sector counterparts is a source of lively debate. 

Much of the research on the relative compensation of public and private workers has focused on teachers, the largest segment of the public workforce. Moreover, the issue of teacher compensation has gained currency since the Great Recession, as states and school districts have frequently faced tough budget decisions to cut benefits or halt pay raises. And teacher compensation has important implications for hiring and retaining high-quality teachers and, consequently, for student academic performance.  READ MORE