What this report finds: The teacher pay penalty is bigger than ever. In 2015, public school teachers’ weekly wages were 17.0 percent lower than those of comparable workers—compared with just 1.8 percent lower in 1994. This erosion of relative teacher wages has fallen more heavily on experienced teachers than on entry-level teachers. Importantly, collective bargaining can help to abate this teacher wage penalty. Some of the increase in the teacher wage penalty may be attributed to a trade-off between wages and benefits. Even so, teachers’ compensation (wages plus benefits) was 11.1 percent lower than that of comparable workers in 2015.
Why this matters: An effective teacher is the most important school-based determinant of education outcomes. It is therefore crucial that school districts recruit and retain high-quality teachers. This is particularly difficult at a time when the supply of teachers is constrained by high turnover rates, annual retirements of longtime teachers, and a decline in students opting for a teaching career—and when demand for teachers is rising due to rigorous national student performance standards and many locales’ mandates to shrink class sizes. In light of these challenges, providing adequate wages and benefits is a crucial tool for attracting and keeping the teachers America’s children need.
Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at The teacher pay gap is wider than ever: Teachers’ pay continues to fall further behind pay of comparable workers | Economic Policy Institute
Discussion
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
Pingback: Teacher Shortage in US – Little evidence for a national case | Job Market Monitor - May 10, 2017
Pingback: Teacher in UK – What happens to teachers who leave the profession after they leave? | Job Market Monitor - February 16, 2018
Pingback: Teachers in US – 30 percent more likely to work a second job | Job Market Monitor - March 25, 2018
Pingback: Global Teacher Status Index, 2018 – The world’s children need to be taught by people in an occupation that engenders high respect and status | Job Market Monitor - December 20, 2018
Pingback: Stereotypes and Biases – Do teachers change when they become aware of them ? | Job Market Monitor - January 19, 2019
Pingback: Teacher Labour Market in England 2021 – An increase in subjective distress | Job Market Monitor - April 22, 2021
Pingback: Teacher in US – Low job satisfaction and few are optimistic about the future | Job Market Monitor - April 15, 2024