In an event co-hosted by AEI and the Center for American Progress, Rick Hess and Raegan Miller will discuss their views on what particular changes to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act will allow it to fulfill its aims without causing educators and local officials legal headaches.

The public commonly accepts that public school teachers are "desperately underpaid," in the words of Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and that raising teacher pay should be a priority of education reform. But is this true?

We estimate that public-school teachers receive total compensation roughly 50 percent higher than they would likely receive in the private sector.

The implication of Occupy Wall Street's demand is that teachers are paid far too little given their skills. The opposite is actually true: According to our analysis of salaries, fringe benefits and job security, most public school teachers are paid considerably more than what they could earn in private-sector jobs.

The average teacher working in a public school today receives total compensation roughly 52 percent higher than what he or she would receive in private-sector employment.

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Public school teacher compensation is roughly 50 percent above private sector levels. In addition to merit pay, fundamental reforms to help schools hire, promote and fire teachers according to the best interests of students is needed.

Secretary Arne Duncan, who argues that policymakers should use "data to drive reform," strongly believes that education policy should be "framed by evidence." We agree.