OHIO — Increases in teacher pay don’t appear to be enough, as the latest reports released by the National Education Association show deep gaps in declining trends.
What You Need To Know
- Ohio ranks 38th in the nation when it comes to average teacher pay
- Average starting teacher pay in Ohio is $38,231
- Almost 40% of all full-time, K-12 education support professionals earn less than $25,000 annually nationwide
- To see the full reports, click here
Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, called this latest situation a "five-alarm crisis."
This, as there’s a teacher shortage, a number of them leaving the profession, and fewer are entering the profession.
"As they make choices to begin their families, to try to buy a house and those who are burdened with overwhelming student debt, they are making a decision to leave the profession because they cannot take care of their own families without taking on two and three jobs," Pringle said.
Based on 2019-20 and 2020-21 school year figures, teachers are making anywhere from $2,100 to nearly $5,000 less than they did 10 years ago on average, when adjusted for inflation.
Nationwide, the average public school teacher's salary is $66,745. The average beginning teacher's salary is $42, 845. With inflation, that’s $4,552 below 2008-2009 levels. Almost 40% of all full-time, K-12 education support professionals earn less than $25,000 annually. These professionals include teacher aides, custodians and cafeteria workers.
“That means that our support staff, that support our students, actually don’t have enough money to support a family. And so many of their own children qualify for free and reduced lunch,” Pringle said.
To put things in perspective, starting teacher salaries across the nation took a nosedive from 2011 to 2014. According to NEA reports, salaries started to increase by 1-2% across the country after that, but the pandemic and high inflation following the reopening of the economy shot it all down to the lowest levels in years. But for those states, including Ohio where there are unions who work to bargain with school districts, it appears to be paying off.
“Those places where our educators can bargain for salaries, they are paying on average 25% more than in states where they cannot," Pringle said.
Compared to neighboring states, Wisconsin and Kentucky, here’s where Ohio stands on teacher pay. Ohio is hovering just over $38,000 for the average starting pay for teachers. When it comes to average teacher pay in general, Ohio pays anywhere from three to about $9,000 more than Wisconsin and Kentucky. While there is a call for increased pay, it’s important to note that teachers did see a 2.7% increase in pay from 2019 in Ohio.
Looking at the numbers further, Ohio, Kentucky and Wisconsin rank low when it comes to the average they’re paying teachers. Ohio is ranked 38th, Wisconsin is ranked 34th and Kentucky is ranked 44th; however, Ohio does fare better when it comes to starting pay with the state coming in at number 18 in comparison.
When you put these numbers up against the minimum living wages, Ohio comes in at $48,000 That’s about $10,000 more than the starting pay. Ohio is on the cheaper end compared to Wisconsin, which came in at just over $53,000.
If you look at the whole picture, Pringle said there is also a serious wage penalty gap that will have a trickle-down effect.
“What we look at is those professions where teachers have the same experience and they have the same levels of education. And we have for decades seen a gap, but it rose to an all-time high this year. That wage penalty gap is up to 24%," Pringle said.
As a result, Pringle said they know it will make it tougher to attract and encourage people to go into the profession.
This is just one of the reasons why Pringle said local, state and federal legislators need to work together to address the funding issues so that raises can be implemented and sustained.