It is accepted as gospel among all teachers in Michigan that the reason why teachers are paid so low in Michigan is because of Republicans. Right now, the reason why teachers salaries are low is because of Michigan Governor Rick Sydner, who is a Republican. Before that, the reason why teacher salaries were low was because of US President George Bush, who was a Republican. Before that, the reason why teacher salaries were low was because of Michigan Governor John Engler, who is a Republican. Get into any conversation at all with any Michigan teacher, and they will at some point voice the opinion that it is because of Republicans that they are paid so low and that is why all Republicans must be opposed with all the power and strength and campaign donations that teachers can muster.
The only problem with this narrative is that it is flat wrong.
After confronting yet another liberal teacher espousing such views, I went to the Michigan Department of Education's Bulletin 1014, which tracks teachers salaries, and wrote them down for all years they had (2009-2010 to 1997-1998). Then I went to an online inflation calculator and recalculated those salaries based on 2011 inflation numbers. After that I created a column on my spreadsheet and recorded what political party the President of the United States was, and then did another column for the Governor of Michigan. Here is the data:
The single worst year for average teacher salary in Michigan was under a Republican President and a Democrat Governor (2006). The second worst year was under a Republican President and a Democrat Governor (2005). The third worst year was under a Republican President and a Democrat Governor (2004).
The average salary for Michigan teachers from 1997 to 2009 under a Democrat US President was 65555. Under a Republican President it was 64354. The average salary for a Michigan teacher from 1997 to 2009 under a Democrat Michigan Governor was 64077. Under a Republican Governor it was 65678. My analysis of this is that it appears better for teachers to have a Democratic President, but it is even more of an advantage for teachers salary to have a Republican Governor.
Clearly, having a Democrat as Governor seems to be the single worst thing for teacher salaries in Michigan.
These numbers by themselves are instructive, but again, what prompted me to perform this data analysis was the fact that almost all Michigan teachers would bet quite a bit of money that the evidence is overwhelming that the single best thing for teacher salaries in Michigan is for there to be a Democrat Governor, and that it is absolutely vital that there also be a Democrat President. This narrative has been proven wrong, utterly and completely wrong, by this little data analysis that I performed today, and any teacher that espouses that 'it was Engler's fault that Michigan teachers were paid so little' or that 'it is Snyder's fault that Michigan teachers are paid so little' is ignoring the reality that under Engler teachers were paid well and that under Granholm they were not, and that the data proves this beyond a shadow of a doubt.
When the numbers come up for the 2010-2011 year, it will be interesting, because I imagine we'll see some cuts that can be attributed to a Democratic President and Governor. I'll wait for that data though rather than being a typical liberal and just speculating without any logic, numbers, reason, or information.
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