Pay in Ohio above U.S. average, study says

The Plain Dealer

3/7/2008

Edith Starzyk

Plain Dealer Reporter

If you want to get a debate going, just bring up the subject of whether teachers are paid enough.

A report released today by the Washington, D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute suggests they aren’t when compared with other professionals with similar education and experience.

Teachers in U.S. public schools are paid about 15 percent less a week than people like accountants, registered nurses and computer programmers, according to the study titled “The Teaching Penalty: Teacher Pay Losing Ground.”

The growing salary disparity is “the elephant in the room” as discussion heats up over the wisdom of performance bonuses and other ways to recruit and retain the best teachers, said Lawrence Mishel, the institute’s president.

Ohio teachers came out relatively well, earning more than the U.S. average. There’s still a paycheck gap, but teachers here are closer to comparable pay than in 38 other states. In 2006, Ohio teachers averaged $1,015 for each week they worked, compared with $1,225 a week for the other jobs.

A January study by Education Week magazine came up with different numbers, finding Ohio teachers were paid about the same as similar professionals. But Mishel said the institute used a better method of calculating that accounts for, among other things, the fact that teachers generally are not on the job during the summer.

The researchers also addressed the argument that teachers’ generous health insurance and pensions make up for their lower pay. When that compensation is added in, teachers still make 12 percent less, the study found.

The gap between teachers and their counterparts is worse for more experienced teachers than those just starting out, the report says. And it has widened over time, particularly in the late 1990s, when the other workers got big raises and teachers didn’t, Mishel said.

Another factor: Women — who make up about 80 percent of the teaching force — are gravitating to better-paying jobs in fields that weren’t open to them years ago. Back in 1960, female teachers made substantially more than similarly educated women in other professions, but the opposite is true now, the report said.

“There are more opportunities for women, especially the highest-skilled females,” said Sean Corcoran, one of the authors. “Over the long run, an increasing pay gap results in a decline in teacher quality.”

Antonia Cortese, executive vice president of the American Federation of Teachers, said the report is just the latest evidence that teachers are “vastly underpaid.”

“We can’t discuss recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers until we are ready to take a serious look at the very real financial penalty assessed to those who choose a career in the classroom,” she said in a statement.

For more information, go to

epi.org.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

estarzyk@plaind.com, 216-999-4881

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