Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1527898
Bargain This: The Growing Teacher Pay Gap With Other College Grads A S E P T E M B E R R E P O R T from the Economic Policy Institute finds that despite a small improvement of 1.7% in teachers' average weekly wages, the relative pay penalty between public school teachers and college graduates in other professions remains large. The report suggests closing this growing pay gap requires targeted policy action by local and state governments, with support from the federal government. It also says: "Public-sector collective bargaining should be expanded, given the role of unions in advocating for improved job quality and better pay." Key findings include: • The pay penalty for teachers — the regression-adjusted gap between the weekly wages of teachers and college graduates working in other professions — grew to a record 26.6% in 2023, a significant increase from 6.1% in 1996. • On average, teachers earned 73.4 cents for every dollar relative to the earnings of similar professionals in 2023 — much less than the 93.9 cents on the dollar they made in 1996. • Although teachers typically receive better benefits packages than other professionals, they are not sufficiently large to offset the growing wage penalty. • The relative teacher weekly wage penalty exceeded 20% in 36 states — the largest was in Colorado (38.4%); the smallest was in Wyoming (9.0%). California was 17th, with 20.4%. Read the report at epi.org/publication/teacher-pay-in-2023. Educator Strikes Lead to Improved Conditions, No Student Fallout A L A N D M A R K S T U D Y O F 772 teacher strikes in the United States that occurred between 2007 and 2023 resulted in, on average, 8% higher compensation and slightly smaller class sizes. Authors of the study, released in August from the National Bureau of Economic Research, found that strikes led not only to increased pay five years after the strikes but also to increased school funding by states. Researchers found no evidence that the strikes affected reading or math achievement for students in the year of the strike or five years after. More than half of strikes called for improved working conditions, such as lower class sizes or increased spending on facilities and non-instructional staff. The study found that strikes led to pupil-teacher ratios falling by 3.2% and a 7% increase in spending on pay for counselors, nurses and other non-in- structional staff by the third year after a strike. Read a summary of the study at bit.ly/4ewLUjS. Charts courtesy Economic Policy Institute 12 cta.org In the Know N E W S & N O T E S