Teacher Pay Data

 Schools across the nation are having difficulty filling teacher positions, with low wages being a primary cause. In this new report from MyElearningWorld.com, we examine the stagnation of teacher salaries, focusing on new teachers in particular.

After crunching the numbers, we found that new teachers are earning 11% less than they were 30 years ago when accounting for inflation.

Other Interesting Data:

• New teachers make on average $41,780 per year
• If salaries kept up with inflation, new teachers would make an average of $46,762, or $4,982 more annually
• 1st year teachers earn ~25% less per year than the average college graduate, who makes $55,000+ per year)

You can view the methodology, as well as data visualizations here: https://myelearningworld.com/new-teacher-pay/

I had a chance to learn a little more from MyELearningWorld

Why is it important to compare data on teacher pay?

We are experiencing a crisis all across the nation... Not only are teachers leaving their jobs at a record pace, but districts are having trouble filling the positions. This can be attributed to multiple issues - pandemic, cost of college going through the roof (https://myelearningworld.com/cost-of-college-vs-inflation/), etc. However, I'd argue the biggest issue is teacher pay. If students going to college can expect to make 25% more coming out of college if they DON'T become a teacher, well, there's not a whole lot of incentive there. 

What implications does the data have for families?

The more trouble districts have hiring teachers, the larger the classrooms, and potentially the lower the quality of teachers. We also know that homeschool interest is higher than ever (https://myelearningworld.com/homeschooling-interest-usa/). I think teacher shortages could lead even more parents to opt for homeschooling their children, as the shortages could have very real impacts on their children's education.

Data analysis used salary data from National Center for Education Statistics, NEA, and NACE.