In Assessing the Compensation of Public-School Teachers, Jason Richwine and Andrew Biggs conclude that “public-school teacher salaries are comparable to those paid to similarly skilled private sector workers, but that more generous fringe benefits for public-school teachers, including greater job security, make total compensation 52 percent greater than fair market levels, equivalent to more than $120 billion overcharged to taxpayers each year.”

Average Benefits as a Percentage of Wages, Adjusted Data (Richwine and Biggs, p. 18)

Public school teachers Private workers
Total benefits 100.8% 43.5%
Paid leave 6.6% 11.4%
Insurance plans 16.1% 13.3%
Retirement and savings 32.0% 6.2%
Retiree health care 9.9% 1.3%
Legally required benefits 7.4% 11.3%
Work-year leave 28.8% 0.0%