By Ben Velderman
EAGnews.org

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new report finds that many of the best-paid members of Ohio’s public education system never set foot in a classroom.

According to Jason Hart of MediaTrackers.org, the average employee of the Ohio’s largest teachers union earns 77 percent more than the average classroom teacher.

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“The average Ohio Education Association (OEA) employee was paid $43,838 more than Ohio’s average teacher in 2012,” Hart writes.

The average OEA staff member earned $100,553 last year, while the average classroom teacher earned $56,715.

All told, the Ohio teachers union has 25 employees who make at least $150,000 annually.

Ohio teachers will doubtlessly be interested in this revelation, considering that they pay OEA employees’ salary through their $400-a-year dues payment.

Hart offers another little nugget: “From 2003-2012, the average OEA employee’s annual pay increased by $20,398. The average Ohio teacher’s pay increased by $11,070 during the same period.”

When compared to the average Ohio worker, union officials do even better. According to Hart, the average OEA employee earns 127 percent – or $56,300 – more than the average laborer in the Buckeye State.

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No doubt about it, life is good for teacher union leaders.

It’s no wonder why the OEA is so strongly opposed to any effort to make Ohio a “right to work” state. If teachers were no longer forced into joining a labor union, the OEA’s gravy train just might get derailed.

It’s worth noting that all the figures Hart cites are taken from the Ohio Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Labor, where the OEA files an annual financial report about how it spends its money.

The union certainly won’t like this information being made public, and will probably attack those who report it. But the numbers come directly from the government. And that makes the OEA’s greed a matter of public record.