Pay tops the list of reasons that schools struggle to recruit and retain qualified teachers. Teachers earn, on average, about 20 percent less than similarly educated professionals. And, when adjusted for inflation, teachers actually make about $3,500 less annually than they did a decade ago. Salary concerns can directly affect teacher recruitment and retention, especially for less experienced educators on the low end of a district’s salary schedule.
Teachers in the Baker School District 5J, a school system of about 1,700 students in Baker City, a small city in eastern Oregon, could relate. During the 2022-23 school year, starting teachers there made $38,349 a year. The pay didn’t just affect how teachers felt about their jobs; it forced some of them to make tough lifestyle choices, like whether or not to buy a house or start a family, according to Erin Lair, Baker’s superintendent.
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Article URL : https://www.edweek.org/leadership/a-district-raised-all-teacher-salaries-some-by-almost-22k-how-its-working/2023/10