Stoopid, Ovurpayed Teechurs

OK, Mr. Biggs and Mr. Richwine - let me get this straight:

Teachers are overpaid (they aren't) because they get vacations (which school boards set due to parental demands) and pensions (leave aside the fact that pensions save taxpayers money). Their salaries are the same as similar workers in the private sector (they aren't), but they get retiree health care benefits (aside from Medicare, which everyone gets, so is it really that big of a deal?).

Everyone agrees that teachers are stoopid (even though the evidence is incredibly thin), and that they're getting stoopider (they aren't). So we really shouldn't be paying them so much (except folks on both sides of the reform debate agree we should be paying them more, and American teachers work more and make less than teachers in the rest of the developed world).

The problem is obviously the unions. They are so powerful (they aren't) that they can completely subvert the labor market (they can't) and exclude the best candidates for these high-paying, vacation-laden, gold-plated-benefits-having jobs in favor of a bunch of dummies. And the unions' incentive for doing so is... well, we're not sure, but it must be there somewhere (maybe stoopid teachers are more prone to paying higher dues or something).

The solution is, of course, merit pay (which has never worked).

That's your argument? Really?

Boys, do they have a drug testing policy at the AEI?