WASHINGTON (May 17) - Teacher salaries have risen slightly in the past
several years, but have failed to keep up with inflation, according to
surveys released Thursday by teachers' unions.
The American Federation of Teachers said the average teacher salary in the
1999-2000 school year was $41,820, up 3.2 percent from the previous year but
just short of the 3.4 percent inflation rate. The AFT said the rise in salary
was among the smallest in 40 years.
``The teacher shortage plaguing school districts nationwide will not abate
unless salaries improve,'' AFT President Sandra Feldman said. ``Better wages
aren't the only way to retain and recruit teachers, but they sure make a
difference.''
The National Education Association's survey found that, adjusting for
inflation, teacher salaries in half of the states dropped in the last decade.
The NEA said teachers in West Virginia, Arkansas and Alabama saw the largest
drops in real earnings, from 12 to 16 percent, since 1989.
The surveys used data from state departments of education. The unions had
slightly different calculations on state-by-state salaries, but both said
Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania paid teachers
the most, between $48,300 and $52,400 on average.
Montana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, North Dakota and South Dakota were at the
bottom of both lists, paying teachers, on average, about $30,000. South
Dakota, at $29,072, paid the lowest average teacher salary in both lists.
AFT said the average salary increase for new teachers was actually lower in
1999 than in 1998. New teachers last year earned, on average, $27,989, up 4.2
percent from the previous year. In 1998, their salaries jumped 4.4 percent,
AFT said.
The NEA report said that, between 1989 and 2000, average salaries rose by
less than 1 percent, adjusted for inflation. It also said spending on K-12
education increased but didn't keep pace with the nation's economic growth.
While education revenue per student increased 3.6 percent from 1998 to 1999,
NEA said, total personal income in the United States grew 5.9 percent.
``It's inexcusable that during a decade of unprecedented economic growth in
this country, students were left behind. What does that say about the real
value we place on education?'' said NEA President Bob Chase.
New teachers' salaries also lost ground to starting wages in other
white-collar professions, the NEA said.
While a new teacher could expect to earn about $27,989, college graduates
could expect an average starting salary of $47,112 for engineering jobs,
$46,495 for computer science jobs and $40,242 for jobs in business.
``I don't think there's anybody who doesn't wish teachers could be paid more,
said Bruce Hunter, director of public policy for the American Association of
School Administrators. ``It really gets down to, 'Can you?'''
Hunter said many states are watching good teachers leave for states that pay
higher salaries.
``In some places the taxpayers have been very generous, and in some places
they haven't,'' he said.
