Overpaid

The GOP has been very persistent in saying that public employees, such as teachers, prison guards, and trash collectors are overpaid. They make those claims when teachers average $57,000 a year. So what about these salaries?

Nathaniel Davis, CEO of K12Inc, makes $9.5 million.

David Steiner, CEO of Waste Management, makes $7.7 million and has $59 million in stock of his company.

George Zoley, CEO of GEO, a company that operates jails and prisons, makes $6 million. He brags to shareholders that prison beds will stay at 96% full.

Yes, these are companies that the GOP tout as saving money for various levels of government. So the reason why privatization doesn't actually save taxpayers money is that taxpayer money must (1) pay a profit to shareholders and (2) pay gigantic salaries to the executives. No doubt there is a bit of savings when teacher salaries are slashed.

So, dear lawmaker, which is more important -- the salary of Nathaniel Davis or another 166 teachers in classrooms?