Raising Average Salaries

Anytime I see a group call to "raise salaries to the national average" I have to chuckle. This from the Virginia teachers union president, in opposition to performance based pay:

President Princess Moss said the teachers union favors boosting pay to the national average in a way that would benefit all educators.

Princess apparently doesn't have the hubris to ask for above average pay, and for good reason: if Virginia's 91,000 teachers were given raises to meet the current national average, that would by definition raise the national average, leaving Virginia still below average and President Princess still grousing.

Do I think Princess is bright enough to comprehend this paradox? Nah. She probably just thinks she is advocating for a couple hundred bucks for her constituents. But by calling for salary increases that merely meet the average, the Virginia teachers union guarantees that they will never attain it!