From the Economic Policy Institute (http://www.epi.org/):
Over the last 18 years, EPI has closely tracked trends in teacher pay, and we’ve seen an alarming trend. Teachers are paid less (in weekly wages and total compensation) than their nonteacher college-educated counterparts, and the situation has worsened considerably over the years. By 2021 teachers were earning 23.5% less than comparable college graduates.
Prior to the pandemic, the long-trending erosion in the relative wages and total compensation of teachers was already a serious concern. The financial penalty that teachers face discourages college students from entering the teaching profession and makes it difficult for school districts to keep current teachers in the classroom. Trends in teacher pay coupled with pandemic challenges may exacerbate annual shortages of regular and substitute teachers.
The chart above shows the difference between teacher pay and other comparable college-educated workers by state. This teacher weekly wage penalty is greater than 20% in 28 states. In no state does the relative weekly wage of teachers equal or surpass that of their nonteaching college graduate counterparts.
Low pay makes the teaching profession less appealing. Among those students who would like to dedicate their careers to teaching, many are undoubtedly choosing to forgo a public school teaching career in lieu of a better-paying career choice.
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