Teachers’ wage gap between other professions widens
6th September 2016 · 0 Comments
By Kari Dequine Harden
Contributing Writer
The gap between teachers salaries and that of other professions is growing, according to a recent study by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
In 2015, public school teachers’ weekly wages were 17 percent lower than those of comparable workers, according to the study, compared with a rate of just 1.8 percent lower in 1994.
“This is an important and disturbing study,” said Larry Carter, interim president of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers (LFT), in a news release. “Most experts agree that placing an experienced, highly qualified teacher in every classroom is the single best way to give our children the education they deserve. If we are going to attract the highest quality graduates into our profession, we have to pay competitive salaries.”
In New Orleans, with its nearly all-charter privatized public school system and dozens of independent “mini-districts,” the wages can vary considerably, and are set at the discretion of each individual charter boards. Many of the schools also rely heavily on programs like Teach for America, which bring in uncertified teachers for a commitment of two years.
Thus—a precise list of wages and salaries varies more and is less transparent than a traditional district. Given that, about what do teachers make?
In 2013-2014, the average New Orleans public school teacher in New Orleans made between $40,000 to $53,000.
The website “glassdoor” listed the average as of 2016 at $44,661, with a national average at $45,263.
The Orleans Parish School Board’s salary schedule for 2013-2014, dependent on the level of education, listed a starting salary between $39,813 and $43,013. At the highest “step” on the schedule (years on the job), the salaries ranged from $57,213 to $60,413.
For a statewide average, the salary is around $47,000 — $48,000 annually (for 2012-2013), with the lowest around $34,000 and the highest about $59,000.
Examining the trends over the past 30 years, the EPI study incorporates and examines a number of factors, including gender, age and experience, benefits, and unions and collective bargaining agreements.
With benefits factored in, teacher pay still lags behind other professions by 11.1 percent.
Male teachers experience an even greater “wage penalty,” the study found, and “the erosion of relative teacher wages has fallen more heavily on experienced teachers than on entry-level teachers.”
Teachers represented by a union have a six percent smaller wage-gap than those without union representation.
“Teachers and school employees who negotiate contracts through their unions are in better shape,” Carter said. “not just with higher salaries, but better benefits and greater professional respect.”
The study does acknowledge the point that teachers only work nine months of the year, also acknowledging that teachers often spend significant time over the summer and outside classroom hours in professional development, giving students additional help, and class preparation.
The study focuses on weekly wages, comparing that directly with the amount earned in a week in a comparable profession.
The EPI study also paints a broader picture of the current state of the profession, a “particularly difficult” time for teacher recruitment and retention “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 mandates to shrink class sizes.”
The number of college students who choose teaching has been declining for decades, according to the study, attributed to expanded career opportunities for women, and the changing nature of the profession: “teachers are less satisfied and more stressed as standardized testing has been elevated as a tool for student, school, and teacher evaluations.”
Carter attributed the “low morale” of teachers in Louisiana to a number of reasons, including salaries.
As with another even lower-paying career like newspaper reporting, teachers typically pursue the profession because of a desire to make a positive contribution to society.
Pay for pre-school teachers – some of the most crucial and malleable years of a child’s development – is chronically abysmally low (about $28,000 nationwide on average for 2014).
“Obviously, teachers love children and see their work as a vocation more than a job,” Carter said. “But that doesn’t mean they should take a vow of poverty.”
“Why does it matter?” the EPI report asks “The teacher pay gap is wider than ever.”
Because, it states, “an effective teacher is the most important school-based determinant of education outcomes.”
Raising wages is key to improving the quality of the entire teaching workforce, and recruiting and retaining the best teachers, the report argues.
“We need to take another look at school reform,” Carter said. “And see how it can be structured to support teachers instead of blaming them for all the problems of society. And we have to make funding for our schools a priority once again.”
This article originally published in the September 5, 2016 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
