Milwaukee Teachers total compensation = $100K

They are underpaid in many places, but apparently not in Wisconsin.

Teacher salaries vary a lot by state and entry level salary is a lot lower than the salaries that experienced teachers receive. But it doesn't appear that Wisconsin teachers are being underpaid. Maybe they are being overpaid, as standardized testing reveals that only 40% of 8th graders are proficient in math.

I always said that teachers, firemen and policemen were underpaid but I'll have to change that after I read Rollo's figures! Heck, I could live like a millionaire, or at least feel like one, on that salary!!

Both union jobs and public sector jobs have come to mean the same thing: even the least qualified and unproductive workers will be paid as handsomely as any other worker and no one can be fired, ever. Plus, great benefits for life. And if you are paying for it all with taxpayer funds, it doesn't impact those granting these benefits.

Yeah, they're scum-of-the-earth extortion artists in some cases. They've gone from fighting for workers' rights to outright milking the system. I have zero beef with it in a private union. Supply and demand drives business, so let them work it out. We see what happens when unions overstep and demand too much. They drive businesses out completely and leave entire cities in shambles. And we see that the NFLPA is demanding more money and, unless they reach an agreement, fans won't have the NFL as they know it next season. So they've completely jumped off the "workers' rights" wagon and onto the "let's get as much as we possibly can" bus. Hey, that's on them when it's private. But when it's taxpayers' money funding it all, and politicians are SO QUICK to give them a pass in most cases because union power gets them elected, public unions, when sunlight is able to touch their dirty face, stand out as groups of hostage-holding extortionists under political protections. And they have the nerve to put all the blame on Wall Street and "capitalism," citing that there's where you'll find greed. Where's Michael Moore on this issue?

90% of all political donations from unions in 2008 went to Obama. He owes the unions some fealty and so he supports them, even in something like this Wisconsin fiasco. In my opinion, these teachers are being told to do this by their union and the union has them convinced that any concessions are dangerous and will lead to pay cuts and loss of benefits. But all teachers and lawmakers who don't show up for work ought to be docked pay, and those calling in sick ought to be fired if they don't have a doctor's note.

I disagree, they should be canned for fraud http://www.mylot.com/w/discussions/2491840.aspx?p=0 This has gotten beyond ridiculous!

Right, the real average working parent is having to take (maybe unpaid) time off from work or pay extra for day care while their kids are not in school.

One thing about being a public employee - your benefits are better than anyone else's and they go on for life. It's easy for the government to give them raises, they just raise taxes.

I agree with both of you. I could use 56K a year and be feeling pretty good about it, too. When I was a kid, I didn't know how much money my father made. They didn't tell kids that sort of thing back then. But I did know that we didn't have as much as other families in my neighborhood. My father built our house in a very nice neighborhood in a fairly affluent town, so we were never keeping up with the Joneses. Still, I learned a lot about real values and how to make do or do yourself. I think there are a few people who could learn a lot from a little poverty and maybe develop some character. I think these teachers have a sense of entitlement that is unwarranted. Considering only 40% of Wisconsin 8th grade students tested proficient in Math, I think they should take a pay cut until they can prove they've earned their salaries.

I read your comment about someone making $30K a year doing pretty damned well. I was raised that way, too, and I still think that's good money for a single person. No, they don't see the average Jane and Joe. To them, governments are a bottomless pit of money and they think they get that money from somewhere but not from the citizens like themselves. Government is a big sugar daddy with endless resources, to them. It's got to stop. People have to realize that they ARE funding everything they enjoy--roads, teachers, firemen, libraries, food stamps, welfare, we foot the bill for all of that. Until people realize exactly what they are funding out of their own pockets we'll continue our downward spiral. Did you see O'Reilly last night, his guest that used to run the Texas Planned Parenthood? That was eye opening.

I also seen O'Reilly, and the Congressman deciding to blame "Wall Street" for the union mess somehow really confused the heck out of me. Do people in unions and siding wholly with unions feel justified in being so greedy because they feel as if they're only taking money from the Wall Street machine? Don't they realize that the average Jane and Joe are on the hook for their uberdemands? Workers' rights are a great thing. Like they were talking about, unions have helped a lot. But allowing them to do whatever they want while falling back on the good is kinda like forgiving ACORN because they've too helped people before, or ignoring Planned Parenthood because they've provided good care for some people. (This seems to be a pattern with Democrats: cite one or two good things to ignore the gross overreach.)