The average salary for teachers across the country has increased by 3.3 percent, to $45,771 a year, according to the latest state-by-state survey conducted by the American Federation of Teachers.
And beginning salaries have inched up 3.2 percent鈥攆rom $28,661 during the 2001-02 school year to $29,564 in the 2002-03 school year.
But any extra money that teachers see in their paychecks is being swallowed up by rising out-of-pocket costs for health benefits, the survey suggests. Over that same time, the amount teachers paid for health-insurance coverage increased by 13 percent, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
鈥淓ven as teachers are being asked to do more, compensation packages are nothing short of insulting,鈥� Edward J. McElroy, the secretary-treasurer of the Washington-based teachers鈥� union, said in a press release about the annual survey.
The results were released July 15 during the AFT鈥檚 biennial convention, held in Washington.
Citing recent figures from a survey of more than 500 school districts by the non-profit Educational Research Service鈥攚hich show average increases of more than 12 percent in the salaries of the districts鈥� superintendents and 4 percent for their principals in inflation-adjusted dollars over the past decade, while their average teacher salary declined by almost 2 percent鈥擬r. McElroy suggested that districts and state policymakers don鈥檛 have their priorities in the right place.
鈥淪tates and school districts are crying poverty when it comes to teachers鈥� pay, yet somehow find money for extravagant administrator salaries,鈥� the press release said. 鈥淪trong leadership without a quality teaching force won鈥檛 improve education.鈥�
The state-by-state results of the AFT鈥檚 salary survey show that teachers in California earn the highest average pay, $55,693. Other states in the top 10 include Michigan, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.
Teachers in South Dakota earn the lowest average pay, $32,414, with Oklahoma, Mississippi, and North Dakota also in that range.
