Today’s Washington Examiner reports that the annual salary of American Federation of Teachers (AFT) president Rhonda “Randi” Weingarten was $428,284 in salary and benefits during fiscal year 2010.  Normally, there would be no reason to be concerned what anyone’s annual salary or benefits are, but when you look at some of the statements Ms. Weingarten is making, it changes the picture.

According to the article, Ms. Weingarten’s comment on the report by the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform was:

“While we’re grateful the commission’s chairmen understood the need to hold education investment sacrosanct count on a vigorous fight fight from us over proposed cuts to Social Security and Medicare that would hurt an already-ailing middle class. Shared sacrifice means holding millionaires responsible for their fair share of taxes and ending truly wasteful spending, not sawing off essential lifelines for the middle class, who desperately are trying to keep their heads above water in these precarious economic times. We can help solve the financial future of Social Security and Medicare by investing in putting our people back to work, so they can pay into these programs.  Nothing is more important to the future solvency of the country.”

The article further reports:

“When The Examiner called the AFT to ask whether Weingarten was planning on taking a paycut to demonstrate her belief in shared sacrifice, the spokesman said no.  “No, absolutely not.  She works 24/7 on behalf of union members and the people we serve.  Making sure that people get a great education in public schools in America.  She works to the bottom of her soul.  You can’t put a price tag on that.””

I guess my real first question is, “Where is the $428,284 coming from–union dues?”  The thing to remember here is that we are not dealing with the head of a company that is manufacturing a product or actually providing a service to the public.  This lady is being paid a very large sum of money to make sure teachers (who are generally public employees) receive generous salaries and benefits.  In some states, those generous salaries and benefits are causing major financial difficulties for the states.  I don’t ever want to see the government dictating salaries or benefits for employers or employees, but in this case, the numbers do seem rather high.