Lt. Gov. Brian Calley in his political ad.

Lt. Gov. Brian Calley in his political ad.

Featured_screen_shot_2017-06-04_at_12.35.47_am_26422
Lt. Gov. Brian Calley in his political ad.

Update, 3:45 p.m. Sunday: Lt. Gov. Brian Calley responds to a column today in Deadline Detroit (see below) to clarify what he meant when he said that part-time lawmakers should be paid "about the same we do our teachers." 

He wrote to say that he didn't mean that part-time lawmakers should earn the same gross salary as full-time teachers.

He said he meant that they should get paid at the same rate based on time spent on the job. In other words, if teachers only worked part time, they should make the same as part time legislators.

Here's the email on Sunday from Calley, a prospect for next year's Republican nomination to run for governor:

I saw your article, and I think there was a misunderstanding about how the pay would be determined in the future.

The proposal requires that each year the state officers compensation commission determines the average teacher pay in the state of Michigan and then prorates the number of days in session compared to the number of days required to be in class.

So in this case the average teacher salary is about $62,000 per year and the requirement is to be in the class 180 days. Legislators would be in session 90 days per year and therefore will draw a salary of about 31,000. So there's a proration, not a gross salary equivalent.

Original column, Sunday morning

Lt. Gov. Brian Calley hasn't yet formally announced his bid for governor in 2018, though he's clearly running. As part of his preparations, this week he launched a crusade against a full-time state legislature, which plenty of folks may see as a good idea.

But in a one-minute commercial promoting a part-time legislature, Calley foolishly insults teachers, who have historically been under-appreciated and underpaid.  

Here's what he says in the video below: 

I have an idea that just might  surprise you. Michigan is one of only nine states with a full time, year round legislature. Why? We sure don’t need any more laws or regulations than other states.  I propose we cut legislators’ hours and pay in half. 

Pay them about the same we do our teachers. We’ll save on their health and retirement benefits, too.

They’ll still have plenty of time to do the state’s business. Add in some new conflict of interest rules and restrictions on lobbyists and we’ll clean up our government while saving millions of dollars.

Come to think of it, if our legislators didn’t spend so much time in Lansing they could be back home trying to live under the laws that they make.

What do you think?

Well, what I think is: He makes some good points about cleaning up government and saving money, but screws up royally by essentially condoning the fact too many public teachers are underpaid. Some even get what amounts to part-time pay for full-time work.

Granted, his math may be a bit off.  Full-time Michigan state lawmakers currently make $71,685 per year and the average salary of a teacher was $61,875 in 2015-16, according to MLive.  Calley likely refers to first year teachers' salaries.

Still, it's an insult to think that anyone should earn the equivalent of part time pay for full-time work as important as teaching.

In fact, in a tweet promoting the ad, he asks followers to share the video "if you agree that state legislators should be paid no more than our school teachers."

The late, legendary University of North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith put it best:  "Our teachers at the public school level are the most underpaid for the importance of their job in America."

Calley should be advocating for teachers, on average, to make at least as much as full time state legislators.

If Calley has any hope of getting support of teachers, and parents who care about teachers, he better wise up and stop perpetuating the myth that teachers deserve less.  

It's a lesson worth learning.