What Illinois Teachers Earn: Pay Stub Photo Sparks Discussion

PHOENIX, AZ — From West Virginia to Arizona, the topic of teacher pay has become the most discussed educational topic other than school safety. The teachers in West Virginia went on strike for nine days.

According to the National Education Association, Illinois ranks 12th in average salary for teachers in the country. State educators actually saw an increase of 0.4 percent in 2016 from the year before. In Illinois, teachers' average pay was $61,342 in 2016.

The NEA's research shows that the average teacher salary around the country is $58,353. That was up 1.3 percent from 2015.

New York had the highest average salary in 2016 at $79,152 and South Dakota had the lowest at $42,025.

Arizona was ranked 43rd in 2016. And teachers in that state are moving in the same direction as those in West Virginia.

One of those teachers went on Facebook last week to draw attention to low pay and working conditions that she said are in desperate need of improvement.

"Something must be done," wrote Elisabeth Milich, a second-grade teacher in Paradise Valley outside of Phoenix. "Otherwise our poor children will be taught by unqualified, burned out, and just plain bad teachers!"

Milich's post included her recent pay stub to show just how much she makes. The stub highlights what he annual salary was and what it will be now that she has taken some professional development classes.

Her salary went to $35,621.25 from $35,490.00.

"I actually laughed when I saw the old salary vs. the new one," she wrote on Facebook. I mean, really, I need a college degree for this? I paid 80,000 for a college degree, I then paid several hundred more to transfer my certification to Az.

"I buy every roll of tape I use, every paper clip I use, every sharpie I grade with, every snack I feed kids who don't have them."

Milich wrote that without her husband's income, she could never afford to be a teacher in Arizona.

Patch researched how Milich's salary compares to the average in Arizona and the rest of the country.

The NEA — the largest national teacher's organization — says that her salary is well below the state's average of $47,218.

"No one goes into teaching for the money," Milich wrote. "But we do need to eat and have a home!

"I'm sad for my single mom teacher friends working three jobs to make ends meet!"

Story by Colin Miner | Patch Editor

Photo via ShutterStock