New comparison tool shows state workers are paid more than private sector

Press Release from yesterday:

NEW COMPENSATION TOOL LETS OHIOANS COMPARE THEIR COMPENSATION PACKAGES TO STATE GOVERNMENT WORKERS

June 6, 2011-COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions today launched the new Government Compensation Comparison Tool. This tool gives private sector Ohioans the ability to compare their compensation packages to that of state government workers.

The average hourly rate for state workers in 2010 was $25.28, which equals an average yearly salary of $52,580.

The highest hourly rate for a State of Ohio employee was a physician who was paid $101.79 per hour.

The highest paid state worker earned $325,700, including more than $174,000 in overtime pay.

A comparison of state worker salary averages and private sector worker data from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics for Ohio shows that in many cases state workers are paid much more than their private sector counterparts. Below are a few examples of private vs. public sector compensation:

· Cashiers: (private) $18,830 vs. (public) $35,511

· Laborers: (private) $25,500 vs. (public) $29,752

· Janitors and Cleaners: (private) 24,670 vs. (public) $30,620

· Registered nurses: (private) $60,590 vs. (public) $65,660

· Customer-service representatives (private) $32,500 vs. (public) $41,156.

The Government Compensation Comparison Tool can be found at http://buckeyeinstitute.org/job-comparison

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The Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions is Ohio's premier free market think tank. Based in Columbus, Ohio, the Buckeye Institute has provided the research and solutions to Ohio's toughest public policy challenges in economic freedom and competitiveness, job creation and entrepreneurship, and government transparency and accountability for over 21 years.

How much do TPS employees make?

Press Release from Buckeye Institute:

2010 K-12 Teacher Salary and Estimated Pension Data added to Searchable Database along with Search Counter

COLUMBUS - The Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions today released on its website the 2010 K-12 salary and estimated pension data for all Ohio public school teachers. Unlike the data collected for previous years, the 2010 data includes salary and pension information for many superintendents, principals, and other administrative staff members. The pension data includes each teacher's salary based on a 2,080-hour year (40 hour work-week, 52 week year) so users can properly evaluate teacher pay, as most teachers are contractually limited to working 1,350 hours per year.

In 2010, approximately 1,800 school employees earned over $100,000 per year. Due to increasing staffing costs, Ohio's 613 public school districts are expected to face a $7.6 billion funding deficit by 2015, with personnel expenses consuming 96 percent of tax revenues.

In the last election, citizens used the Teacher Salary Database to hold their school districts accountable for spending choices, citing that average teacher salaries had grown at rates that, in many cases, far outpaced inflation.

In addition to the new data, the website now contains a search counter which records the number of searches performed in the eight database tools (State Salary, Federal Salary, Higher Ed Salary, Teacher Salary, Local Salary, School Data, County Data, and State Lobbyists). Since the website's launch on April 30, 2010, visitors from 473 Ohio cities, the 49 other states, and 119 foreign countries have spent over 20,000 hours conducting almost 1.5 million data searches.

Buckeye Institute President Matt A. Mayer stated: "With so many school districts under financial duress, it is now even more important than ever that taxpayers know how school districts are spending their money. Instead of cutting staff positions, sports, bussing, and other programs, most school districts could balance their budgets without raising taxes through cutting staff compensation packages by a small percentage."

The Teacher Salary data tool is available at www.buckeyeinstitute.org.

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Click HERE to go directly to the teacher salary search page. If you want a particular school system, just fill in that box, the year and how you'd like the data sorted (by last name or salary). The database also lists the days worked.

Here are top five wage earners in the Toledo Public School system:

Foley, John, toledo city, $165,050.92, 260 hours worked
Romano, Daniel M Iii, toledo city, $133,570.00, 260 hours worked
Kilbride, Janice I, toledo city, $122,557.00, 260 hours worked
Gilliland, Earl John Jr, toledo city, $118,676.00, 260 hours worked
Rivera, Lonny J, toledo city, $110,974.00, 260 hours worked

Interestingly, in the top 20 wage earners (#17) is Susan Koester, who earned $83,493.00 as the principal at Pickett Elementary School, though she is no longer the principal there. According to the Ohio Department of Education Report Card for the 2009-10 school year, Pickett met only 1 of 8 state indicators and did not meet Adequate Yearly Progress. The school is also significantly below other schools in the district in terms of their achievement. And, if I remember correctly, Pickett has been in 'academic emergency' for about 10 years now.

I'm sure you'll find things of interest in this searchable database.