Yes, Public School Teachers Do Get Paid More Than Private School Teachers

Great post from Mark Perry at CARPE DIEM.

"In a recent CD post, I featured the public sector premium for full-time elementary and secondary school teachers, which ranges from 14% to 102%, depending on experience and education. The chart above is based on Department of Education data for the salaries of private and public school principals in 2007-2008 based on age. Compared to public school principals in the age groups above, private school principals have slightly more experience as principals, slightly less experience as teachers, and are less likely to have advanced degrees (Master's or Doctor's degrees). So the age group categories above don't control perfectly for education and experience, but still show huge premiums for public school principals of 43% or higher, with an overall average premium of 49%.

Here's one comparison:

Private school principals in the oldest age group "55 or over" have 18.6 years teaching experience on average, 15.4 years experience as principal, and 9.4% have Doctor's degrees. Public school principals in the youngest age group of "under 40" have 2.9 years experience as principal on average, 7.6 years teaching experience, and 6% have Doctor's degrees.

And yet the public school principals in the youngest age group with the least experience make $80,600 on average, compared to the private school principals in the oldest age group with the most experience who make $63,700 on average, which represents a 26.5% public sector premium."