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Gage Skidmore for Arizona Education Association
Education Dive
Report: Teacher pay still lags peers in other professions by 19.2%
Shawna De La Rosa
Sept. 18, 2020
Dive Brief:
The disparity between teachers’ salaries and those of other industries
remains high despite some slight improvement last year. In 2019,
teachers made 19.2% less than their nonteaching peers who had similar
experience and education, an improvement of 2.8% from the year before
when teachers made 22% less, according to research from the Economic
Policy Institute.
For teachers, this "wage penalty" has grown substantially from a
regression-adjusted 6% in 1996, and while recent improvement has come
in the wake of teacher strikes, it is too soon to tell how much of an
impact the strikes will have in the long term.
For female teachers, the wage penalty is 13.2%, while male teachers
make 30.2% less than college graduates in other professions. However,
while teacher pay is lower, the industry offers slightly better
benefits than other industries, with benefits making up 29.3% of the
compensation for teachers compared to 21.4% of compensation in other
industries, the report said.
Dive Insight:
Lower wages make it difficult to attract new teachers to the
profession, especially males, who make up only 25% of the educator
workforce. And the pay discrepancies can vary drastically by state. In
Colorado, for example, teachers only made about 65% of what their
college-educated peers earned, according to a Learning Policy Institute
report issued in 2018.
In that report, the Learning Policy Institute suggested loan
forgiveness, service scholarships, teacher residency programs and
induction programs could help end teacher shortages. Additional
research by the organization found 100,000 classes began in fall 2017
either with teachers who weren't adequately certified or lacked
adequate experience.
Over the last few years, teachers have gone on strike in several states
for more pay, improved classroom conditions and increased education
spending. In some districts, these efforts have made a positive impact
on teachers’ salaries. For example, teacher strikes are credited with
increasing salaries by an average of 18% in 14 districts in Washington
state in 2018.
The threat of acquiring coronavirus and the stress of teaching
remotely, however, could further compound teacher shortages. A third of
teachers who responded to a survey conducted by Hart Research
Associates say they are likely to leave the profession or take early
retirement. Of those who say they may leave the industry, 45% are over
the age of 50, 44% have more than 20 years of experience and 42% live
in the South.
The survey also found around 60% of teachers reported being
uncomfortable starting the school year with in-person classes. A Kaiser
Family Foundation study found 24% of teachers are at greater risk of
serious illness if infected with coronavirus.
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