The National Education Association unveiled findings from four national reports on educator pay and school funding. The reports cover multiple topics including school staff wages and college faculty pay, as well as state spending on students. The reports paint a concerning picture about the state of public education in America and across Virginia.
“These rankings reinforce what we have been saying all along: Virginia’s teachers deserve a raise,” said Dr. James J. Fedderman, President of the Virginia Education Association. “Virginia’s average teacher pay fell further behind the national average last year and came in far below projections for 2020-2021. And while our support staff wages in Virginia are in line with the national average, in a high cost of living state like Virginia that means it is harder for our support professionals to make ends meet.”
Throughout the ongoing pandemic, educators have gone above and beyond to make sure students receive the public education they deserve. In every community across the country, they are partnering with parents and families to ensure their students thrive. However, the looming teacher shortage crisis, fueled by low teacher pay and declining morale, as well as chronically underfunded public schools, is pushing educators to the brink. The crisis is preventing educators from giving their students their best and the one-on-one attention they need. It’s forcing them to give up their class planning and lunch time to fill in for colleagues who are absent due to COVID. This trajectory is not sustainable.
“This report only underscores the need for the Virginia General Assembly to appropriate funds to increase all educator salaries,” said Fedderman. “And this funding must come without a budgetary sleight of hand or gimmicks that require educators to jump through unnecessary hoops.”
Local school districts and colleges and universities must prioritize improving educators’ salaries, through spending down bulging cash reserves and using federal pandemic-relief monies, such as ARP funds, to provide the level of pay necessary to attract and retain educators.
The good news is that collective bargaining helps educators earn higher wages across the board. The NEA data shows that starting salaries for teachers rose by an average of 1.6 percent in states with a collective bargaining law.
The four NEA reports are:
Rankings and Estimates, which provides a wide array of school funding statistics and includes the average teacher salary by state and nationally.
Teacher Salary Benchmark Report, which provides information from nearly 12,000 school districts on average pay for new teachers, as well as additional career points.
ESP Earnings Report, which offers a breakdown of educational support professional (ESP) pay in K-12 and higher education.
Higher Education Faculty Salary Analysis, which looks at full-time faculty and graduate assistant salaries at the national, state, and institutional level.