It is a common agreement educators’ in the public school system should be paid more than they currently are. We can see many online discussions conveying low wages given to those instructors’ providing education and knowledge to our youth, in conjunction to larger classes, with little resources.
It begs the question, how much does the average public school teacher make, where does those funds originate from and is there an ability to increase the wages. Also, would it help the education system, if teachers’ wages were more?
A look into the teachers’ salaries is necessary. One of the issues for this determination is the fact within United States, the public school system does not have a standard involving teachers’ wages across the states. Each state has their unique minimum wage, and within that state, each district contains their own wage range.
A comparative analysis was done in 1986 by Stephen M. Baro between United States teacher salaries and Japan’s teacher salaries. [1] In this report, the issue of non-standard wages within the United States is brought up. Additionally, the complexity continues as the wage is distinguished by state, district, and even to which grade the teacher is working in.
In his comparison analysis, Baro points out for the Japan school education system is “a teacher’s total salary is made up of his or her basic salary, as specified in the applicable schedule, plus a large ‘bonus’ (paid semiannually) equal nearly five months bse salary, plus an array of special allowances based on personal need factors and teaching assignments.”
Whereas for United States, there is no set standard structure involving the teacher’s salaries. He goes as far as calling the United States teacher salary structure a “misnomer.” Yet, there is some form of uniformity, allowing him to provide his analysis.
Baro points out for the United States public school teacher, there is a “single salary schedule covering teachers at all levels from elementary through high school.” This typical local salary schedule takes the form of a matrix, in which the columns reflect units of post baccaleureate education completed and/or higher degrees earned corresponding to their years of service.
Where the differences range is based on the states and districts, meaning each location may count teaching experience differently. One crucial point, in my opinion, he makes is overall there are no distinctions of rank among teachers and no ratings of merit or performance are reflected in teacher salary schedules, with exception of a very small percentage of U.S. districts.
This is a problem. What this means is, the salary increase is determined on time wtihin the system, as opposed to a yearly review of quality in education given.
What is the average salary?
According to the article titled ‘Best States for Teacher Pay in 2022, written by Nicolle Okoren at Buisiness.org, the national average teacher salary is based on education level. On average teachers in Elementary School yearly salary is $61, 350, Middle School is $61,320, and High School averages $61,820.
Oklahoma does provide a ‘Minimum Salary Schedule’ on their sde.ok.gov website. Reviewing the salary schedule, it is made up by years of experience, and incrementally if the teacher has the following degrees; bachelor, bachelor and national board certification, masters, master’s and national board certification, and finally doctor’s degree. For a quick comparison, a teacher starting with zero years of experience and a bachelor minimum salary is $36,601 to one having a bachelor with 25 years of experence minimum salary is $50,049. What I personally find odd is that same teacher having 25 years of experiance with a doctor’s degree minimum wage is only $54,395. With only four thousand dollars a year difference, what is the incentive for the public school teacher to expand their personal education?
Arkansas provides a K-12 Teacher Salaries 2022 study, found on their arkleg.state.ar.us site. Within the study, it breaks the average yearly salary down by Arkansas county. The average ranges from high $61,682 in Washington County, Fayetteville School District to the lowest $33,800 in Yell County, Tow Rivers School District. This study also provides the wage gap issue between the highest and lowest County wages.
Where does the funds come from for teacher salaries?