How Florida Ranks Nationwide Among 'Best States For Teachers'

With International World Teacher's Day coming up on Oct. 5, and as the nation prepares for the new Every Student Succeeds Act to go into effect soon, the site WalletHub.com ranked the 50 United States and Washington, D.C. in order of which they believe are "best" for teachers in the year 2016.

The ranking reportedly measures the states against 16 criteria that the WalletHub staff feels makes a state a good place for a teacher to be employed in a public elementary or secondary-school classroom.

"In order to help educators find the best teaching opportunities in the country and draw attention to the states needing improvement in this regard, WalletHub analyzed the 50 states and the District of Columbia
across 16 key metrics, ranging from the average starting salary, to pupil-to-teacher ratio, to school safety," WalletHub wrote in its report.

At the top of the list, with an overall rank of number one, is New Jersey. New Jersey ranked number 17 for job opportunities and competition, but number two for "academic and work environment."

Florida came in at number 28 overall. The state ranked 31 for job opportunities and competition, and number 22 for academic and work environment.

At the very bottom of the list was Hawaii, at number 51 overall. It ranked number 51 for job opportunities and competition, and number 47 for academic and work environment.

Louisiana ranked the worst (51st) as far as "academic and work environment." Vermont ranked the best in that category.

While Hawaii ranked the worst as far as job opportunities and competition, Texas ranked number one in that category.

Interestingly, despite highly-publicized problems in areas like Detroit recently, Michigan had the highest annual salary for teachers when adjusted for local cost of living. The top five in that category were rounded out by Illinois, Pennsylvania, Wyoming and Ohio.

The five states with the lowest annual salaries measured against cost of living were Arizona, West Virginia, Maine, South Dakota and Hawaii.

When it comes to spending, the five states with the highest public spending amounts per student were Vermont, New York, New Jersey, Alaska and Rhode Island. The five lowest in spending per student were North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, Arizona and Indiana.

Attrition appears to be a major area of concern as far as the metrics WalletHub's study examined.

According to the National Education Association (NEA), as quoted by WalletHub, due to job pressures and a salary that fails to keep up with inflation, nearly one-fifth of all brand-new public school teachers leave their position before the end of their first year, either to transfer to a different area to teach, or even to abandon the professional altogether. Nearly half of them don't last five years.

Read more about WalletHub's study and see the full list of rankings on WalletHub.com.

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