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Many Germans were horrified to discover that the EU rescue package for Greece last year helped to bail out public-sector workers who could retire in their mid-50s on almost full pay. One scam in American cities has been to link pensions to employees’ earnings in their final year, rather than average earnings over a longer period. Naturally the subway drivers or policemen concerned put in heroic overtime in that final year.
Reform has been vigorously opposed, perhaps most egregiously in education, where charter schools, vouchers, academies and merit pay all faced drawn-out battles. Even though there is plenty of evidence that the quality of the teachers is the most important variable, teachers’ unions have fought against getting rid of bad ones and promoting good ones.
As the cost to everyone else (in terms of higher taxes and sloppier services) has become clearer, politicians have begun to clamp down. In Wisconsin the unions have rallied thousands of supporters against Scott Walker, the hardline Republican governor. But many within the public sector suffer under the current system too.
John Donahue at Harvard’s Kennedy School points out that the egalitarian culture in Western civil services suits those who want to stay put but is bad for high achievers. Heads of departments often get only two or three times the average pay. As Mr Donahue observes, the only American public-sector workers who earn well above $250,000 a year are university sports coaches and the president of the United States. Hank Paulson took a 99.5% pay cut when he left Goldman Sachs to become America’s treasury secretary. Bankers’ fat pay packets have attracted much criticism, but a public-sector system that does not reward high achievers may be a much bigger problem for America.

A. 어휘
were horrified 깜짝 놀라다. rescue 救助(구조).
package 一括妥結(일괄타결). bail out 救濟(구제)하다.
scam 신용사기. policemen concerned 관련경찰관. vigorously 활기차게.
egregiously 지독하게. charter schools 교장이 책임을 지고 경영하는 자율학교.
vouchers 引換權(인환권), 수령증. academies 학교.
merit pay 成果給(성과급). drawn-out 오래 끄는. variable 變數(변수).
sloppy 조잡한, 진흙투성이의. clamp down 단속하다, 외쳐대다.
rally 집결하다. Republican governor 공화당 주지사.
the public sector 공공부문. egalitarian 평등주의의.
civil services 공무원사회, 공무원, 공무원근무. suit 적합하다.
stay put 자리를 지키고 유지하다. Heads of departments 部署(부서)의 長(장).
treasury secretary 재무부장관.