Teacher Pay: How New York Ranks

NEW YORK, NY – Following midterm elections that attracted nearly 180 teacher candidates nationally – 42 of which won seats – pay for educators looks set to become a big issue before state legislatures.

Nationally, educators were paid an average annual salary of $60,483 in the 2017- 2018 school year, according to the most recent data available from the National Education Association. In New York it was much higher – the most in the nation, in fact, at $83,585-a-year which is almost double what teachers in Mississippi make.

That number includes New York City, the biggest school district in the country with 1,800 schools and 1.1 million students.

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In general, teachers in K-12 public schools are paid about 30 percent less than comparably educated U.S. workers, according to the Brookings Institute. Globally, U.S. teacher salaries lag far behind.

While more teachers lost their elections than won, they still tout the impact their activism had on voters.

Low pay and school funding cuts aren’t sitting well with America’s teachers.

West Virginia teachers were the first to walk out and strike for higher pay. State lawmakers approved and the governor signed a bill that would boost teacher pay 5 percent. In the 2017-2018 school year, West Virginia teachers earn an average of $45,642, according to data from the National Education Association, well below the national average.

Emboldened by the nearly two-week strike in West Virginia, teachers in Arizona, Oklahoma and Kentucky also swarmed statehouses demanding higher pay and more funding for public schools. Some Arizona teachers staged a sick-out in March to protest their salaries, which averaged $47,746 last year.

In Oklahoma, the average teacher salary was $45,678, just a bit higher than in West Virginia. Teachers went on strike in Oklahoma for nine days. Teachers also walked out to protest their pay in Kentucky, where the average teacher earned $52,952 last school year.

Iowa is one of the states expected to take up education funding and salaries in the upcoming session. Its Legislative Service Bureau put together the teacher salary comparisons, along with teacher pay as a percentage of household income in 2017. The report used data from the National Education Association, as well as the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2017 American Community Survey.

Here’s how the states ranked:

1. New York: $83,585
2. California: $81,126
3. Massachusetts: $79,710
4. District of Columbia: $76,486
5. Connecticut: $73,113
6. New Jersey: $69,917
7. Maryland: $69,761
8. Alaska: $69,474
9. Pennsylvania: $67,398
10. Illinois: $66,778
11. Rhode Island: $66,758
12. Oregon: $63,143
13. Michigan: $62,702
14. Delaware: $60,484
15. Wyoming: $58,578
16. Vermont: $58,572
17. Ohio: $58,000
18. New Hampshire: $57,833
19. Hawaii: $57,866
20. Nevada: $57,812
21. Minnesota: $57,782
22. Iowa: $56,790
23. Georgia: $56,329
24. Wisconsin: $55,895
25. Washington: $55,175
26. North Dakota: $54,421
27. Indiana: $54,846
28. Nebraska: $53,473
29. Texas: $53,167
30. Kentucky: $52,952
31. Montana: $52,776
32. Colorado: $52,389
33. Maine: $51,663
34. Virginia: $51,265
35. South Carolina, $51,027
36. Tennessee: $50,900
37. North Carolina: $50,861
38. Kansas: $50,403
39. Louisiana: $50,256
40. Alabama: $50,239
41. Idaho: $49,225
42. Missouri: $49,208
43. Arkansas: $49,017
44. South Dakota: $47,944
45. New Mexico: $47,839
46. Florida: $47,721
47. Arizona: $47,746
48. Utah: $47,604
49. Oklahoma: $45,678
50. West Virginia: $45,642
51. Mississippi: $43,107

Beth Dalbey of Patch’s national desk contributed to this report.

Photo via Shutterstock