John Wenders, Idahoans for Tax Reform
August 2002
Idahoans for Tax Reform commissioned John Wenders, emeritus professor of economics at the University of Idaho, to examine that state's teacher pay in national context. It certainly makes for lively reading and may be worth your while for its deft unpacking of the non-market (and highly political) means by which public-school teaching salaries are presently set. Wenders also takes a few swats at the certification process. His bottom line: measured in ways that he thinks are most accurate, Idaho is doing a better job of compensating its teachers than one might gather from a simple examination of averages. (So is the nation.) Though one tends to expect such a conclusion from "tax reform" groups, Wenders's analysis is clear, plainspoken and perhaps worth a look. You can find this short (22-page) paper in PDF form at http://www.idtaxreform.com/PDFs/Teacher%20Comp%20Wenders.pdf.
