Here’s Just How Little Colorado Teachers Earn

COLORADO – Colorado teachers earned the third-lowest starting salaries in the country, according to a nationwide analysis published this week by one of the country’s largest education unions. The National Education Association, based in Washington, D.C., on Monday released its annual “Rankings and Estimates” report.

Overall, the national average for teacher salary increased from $59,539 in 2016-17 to $60,477 in 2017-18. Average salaries ranged from as low as $44,926 in Mississippi to as high as $84,227 in New York.

Colorado teachers earned on average $52,701 a year in 2017-18, and teachers who were just starting out earned $33,483, ranking only 47th highest in the country.

Those averages may creep upwards after teachers walked out of Denver schools in February during a three-day strike. A new salary schedule was included in a contract with DPS with starting salaries rising to $45,800. In Jefferson County, voters passed a mill-levy increase of $33 million for operating expenses, including teachers salaries for Jefferson County School Districts. But some of Colorado's rural districts still have very low salaries.

Here are the 10 states where teacher salaries were highest:

1. New York, $84,227
2. California, $80,680
3. Massachusetts, $80,357
4. Washington, D.C., $76,486
5. Connecticut, $74,517
6. New Jersey, $69,917
7. Alaska, $69,682
8. Maryland, $69,627
9. Pennsylvania, $67,535
10. Rhode Island, $66,758

Nationwide, the union’s analysis found that salaries have increased 11.2 percent since 2008-09.

But that doesn’t tell the whole story. When adjusted for inflation, the teachers actually make on average 4.5 percent less than they did 10 years ago. The report did not provide inflation-adjusted salary changes by state.

NEA President Lily Eskelsen García said educator pay “continues to erode.” This means the large gap in pay between what educators earn and what similarly educated professionals earn in other jobs continues to expand.

“Educators don’t do this work to get rich, they do this work because they believe in students,” García said in a news release. “But their pay is not commensurate with the dedication and expertise they bring to the profession.”

Starting salaries for teachers also remain below pre-recession levels, the group added. The typical beginning teacher salary, when adjusted for inflation, fell nearly 3 percent over the last decade. The squeeze has been felt in some states more than others, particularly in Wisconsin and Michigan.

The reality for many teachers is that the base salary simply isn’t enough. About one in five have to work a second job to make ends meet, the union said.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report