Underpaid State Employees?
State employees and public school teachers earn more than private sector workers

Armed with the new power of collective bargaining, it is likely state employees will request a salary increase. Many state employees complained when the legislature did not extend to them the same cost-of-living wage increases voters approved for teachers in 2000, arguing that their raises have traditionally been tied with those of teachers. This may be true, but a more meaningful determination of fair wages would be a comparison of state employee salaries to those of the private sector.

How do state employee and public school teacher salaries compare with the private sector?

Based on the implicit price deflator (the accurate measurement of inflation), salaries in both the public and private sectors have increased faster than the rate of inflation since 1988. In 2000, the average state employee and public school teacher in Washington earned $3,100 more than his or her private-sector counterpart. Public school teachers earned $41,047, state employees $41,018, while private sector employees earned $37,892.

Teacher salary provided by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. State employee salary provided by the Office of Financial Management. Private sector salary calculated from statistics provided by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

At its closest comparison in the last decade, state employees and teachers still earned eight percent more than private sector workers in 2000. This disparity may grow once again through the combination of Washington's recession, state workers' power of collective bargaining, and the gutting of I-601 (state spending cap) this past legislative session.

The Washington Education Association (state teacher union) is encouraging teachers to strike this fall unless they can secure a cost-of-living increase plus ten percent and full family medical benefits. Recent comments from Mark Lyons, General Counsel for the Washington Public Employees Association (WPEA) indicate that state employees will use their new collective bargaining power to push for pay increases funded by higher taxes. Lyons wrote:

We must acknowledge that the state has a significant revenue problem. We need legislators that [sic] are willing to develop a long-term plan assuring equitable, stable and reliable revenue to fund state programs required by Washington's citizens — we cannot continue to balance the budget on the backs of state employees by not compensating them fairly. (WPEA Sentinel, April/May 2002)

It is important that accurate information about state employee compensation be available to assist employees, policymakers and taxpayers in forming compensation decisions when the bell rings on the first round of collective bargaining. Decisions must also be weighed against the fact that the individuals paying for higher public salaries through higher taxes already — on average — earn less than those who are bargaining for more money.

Prepared by Hans Zeiger, Research Assistant. For more information contact Jason Mercier, Budget Research Analyst
(360) 956-3482 or jmercier@effwa.org

Evergreen Freedom Foundation P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507 Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874 Email: effwa@effwa.org