{"id":32941,"date":"2023-02-16T05:38:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-16T05:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=32941"},"modified":"2023-02-20T15:03:41","modified_gmt":"2023-02-20T15:03:41","slug":"is-it-time-for-teachers-to-get-a-raise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/is-it-time-for-teachers-to-get-a-raise\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it time for teachers to get a\u00a0raise?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Michael Addonizio<\/a>, Wayne State University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his 2023 State of the Union address<\/a>, President Joe Biden called for public school teachers to get a raise<\/a> but offered no specifics on how that could be done. Here, Michael Addonizio<\/a>, an education policy expert at Wayne State University, provides insight on the current state of teacher salaries, whether a collective raise is in order and how one might be achieved.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Do teachers really need a raise?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In many school districts, the answer is: Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a 2022 study from the Economic Policy Institute \u2013 a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that addresses low- and middle-income workers\u2019 needs \u2013 the teacher \u201cwage penalty\u201d – that is, how much less teachers make than comparable workers – grew from 6.1% in 1996 to 23.5% in 2021<\/a>. Put another way, the average weekly wages of public school teachers \u2013 adjusted for inflation \u2013 increased just US$29 from 1996 to 2021, from $1,319 to $1,348 in 2021 dollars. Meanwhile, inflation-adjusted weekly wages of other college graduates rose $445, from $1,564 to $2,009, over the same period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teacher wage gaps vary widely<\/a> from state to state, but in no state does teacher pay equal or exceed pay for other college graduates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adding benefits to the analysis does not change the picture. Although teachers generally receive a higher share of their compensation as benefits than other professionals do \u2013 usually health insurance and retirement plans \u2013 this difference does not offset the teachers\u2019 growing wage penalty. Teachers\u2019 \u201ctotal compensation\u201d penalty reached 14.2% in 2021. This is a 23.5% wage penalty offset by a 9.3% benefits advantage. This total compensation penalty for teachers grew by 11.5 percentage points from 1993 to 2021, according to the Economic Policy Institute analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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