Title: Teacher Pay Starts Low, Grows Slowly, Is Generally Awful, Report Says
Headings: Teacher Pay Starts Low, Grows Slowly, Is Generally Awful, Report Says
Teacher Pay Starts Low, Grows Slowly, Is Generally Awful, Report Says
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Ross Brenneman

Content: Teacher Pay Starts Low, Grows Slowly, Is Generally Awful, Report Says
Teaching Profession
Teacher Pay Starts Low, Grows Slowly, Is Generally Awful, Report Says
By Ross Brenneman —  July 23, 2014 3 min read
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Which states pay their experienced teachers the worst? A new report by the Center for American Progress argues that teachers not only have bad starting pay in many states, but also that teachers are unlikely to see major salary gains even after several years of teaching. The study by the Washington-based liberal think tank collected information from every state except Hawaii (not enough data) to look at the average teacher’s salary in each state 10 years after commencing teaching, what the highest possible salary was, and how many teachers had second jobs. South Dakota pays its mid-career teachers the worst of any state, the authors found, with an average 10-year salary of just $33,100, and the salary schedule maxes out at the lowest of any state, too, at $43,600. The state’s median household income? $49,000. Even adjusting for cost of living, it’s low. Growth in teacher salaries is especially bad when comparing the U.S. to other developed countries: In only four states—Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York—can teachers max out on the salary schedule above $80,000. New York offers the highest such rate in the country, at $90,700.