Best Districts To Teach: Long Valley Schools Among Top In NJ

LONG VALLEY, NJ — The West Morris Regional High School District consistently ranks among the best school districts in the state. And teachers deserve a lot of the credit.

Niche recently released rankings on the "best places to teach" in the United States and in New Jersey. And the West Morris Regional High School District has claimed a spot in the top 100.

The school district was ranked 89th in the state for best places to teach. The platform's methodology incorporates several factors, including a school district's overall Niche grade, resources and facilities, and student-teacher ratio.

The Washington Township School District was ranked 142nd in the state for best places to teach.

But 30 percent of the calculations include each district's average teacher salary and teacher salary index — the average teacher salary normalized by median household income by county.

A teacher's annual salary in the West Morris Regional High School District is $82,710. According to the state Department of Education, this is more than the median public school teacher salary in the state for the previous year, which came to $74,186.

In comparison, the Washington Township School District paid its teachers a median salary of $76,635.

Numerous variables, including district contracts, seniority and local cost of living, affect teacher salaries.

Teachers in New Jersey have the highest average starting salaries in the country at $54,053 in the 2020-21 school year, according to the National Education Association.

For the academic year 2020–21, the national average starting salary for teachers was $41,770. New Jersey, however, has some of the highest cost of living rates nationwide.

And with inflation hitting the country, teacher salaries reached their lowest inflation-adjusted levels since the Great Recession, the National Education Association said.

(With reporting from Josh Bakan, Patch Staff)