Catherine Swift of C-FIB doesn't like teachers

Maybe Catharine Swift of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) likes teachers. She just doesn't like teachers from the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO). She doesn't like the framework agreement reached among ETFO, the Ontario Public School Boards Association, and the provincial government.

Mme. Swift writes, "CFIB's latest Wage Watch study shows that public sector education workers in Ontario receive on average nine percent more in annual salary and benefits than their counterparts in matching positions in the private sector. In fact, this is a very conservative estimate based on 2006 Census data and the difference is much higher in the larger cities in the province."

Translation: private school teachers make nine percent less in salaries and benefits than public school teachers.

My translation: private school teachers are worth nine percent more than they actually make in salaries and benefits. They're being ripped off. If public school teachers made nine percent less, Swift and company would still be complaining that teachers make too much money.

Some advocates of private education believe that teachers should be paid based on their merit. An excellent teacher should be paid more than a poorly performing teacher. I do believe that teachers in private schools perform as best as they can. Unfortunately by Mme. Swift's logic, private school teachers don't measure up compared to teachers in the public schools. They merit nine percent less pay than public school teachers. If some parents send their children to private schools because they believe that private schools are better than public schools, then private school teachers deserve to be paid nine percent more than public school teachers.