The San Francisco Chronicle reports:
Public workers in California earn 7 percent less on average than private sector employees, but make about the same amount after benefits and other compensation are factored in, according to a study released Monday.
The study by economists at UC Berkeley and Rutgers University found that the similar wages and benefits exist despite the fact that 55 percent of public employees in the state have a college degree, compared with just 35 percent of California's private sector workers. Education levels are usually the most important factor in determining wages, but public employees do not get the same return for their education level as private sector employees, said co-author Sylvia Allegretto.
There's more:
The study did not compare workers with similar jobs in the private and public sector because its authors felt there were too many differences to draw accurate conclusions. For example, the study notes that there are no private sector police officers or firefighters; and that teachers at a public school face far different challenges than those at a private school.
Got that? These government subsidized economists can't compare public school teachers and private school teachers!
