Sunday, August 30, 2009

Rant Fall Out

So. I googled teacher salaries by state and found this interesting website. OK. If you are not a teacher it might not be all that interesting. But it is to me and it is my blog so I'm going with it.

Anywhos, the first salary listed is starting salary. The second one listed is average salary. But the really interesting number is the third one, where the salaries are indexed by calculating the salaries along with the cost of living in the state. Go on and look where Hawaii is...

If you go to the site where this list comes from, make sure you read the first comment. The commenter sums up the situation for Hawaii teachers really well.

Illinois
$37,500
$58,686
1
Delaware
$35,854
$54,264
2
Georgia
$34,442
$48,300
3
Michigan
$35,557
$54,739
4
Pennsylvania
$34,976
$54,027
5
Ohio
$33,671
$50,314
6
Texas
$33,775
$41,744
7
Indiana
$30,844
$47,255
8
Tennessee
$32,369
$42,537
9
Minnesota
$31,532
$48,489
10
Arkansas
$28,784
$42,768
11
Colorado
$35,086
$44,439
12
Alabama
$31,368
$40,347
13
Oregon
$33,699
$50,044
14
Kentucky
$30,619
$42,592
15
Missouri
$29,281
$40,462
16
Nebraska
$29,303
$40,382
17
Oklahoma
$29,174
$38,772
18
Mississippi
$28,200
$40,576
19
Louisiana
$31,298
$40,029
20
Kansas
$27,840
$41,467
21
Connecticut
$39,259
$59,304
22
North Carolina
$27,944
$43,922
23
South Carolina
$28,568
$43,011
24
Virginia
$33,200
$43,823
25
Florida
$33,427
$43,302
26
Wyoming
$31,481
$43,255
27
Wisconsin
$25,222
$46,390
28
New Mexico
$33,730
$41,637
29
Alaska
$38,657
$53,553
30
Iowa
$27,284
$41,083
31
Washington
$30,974
$46,326
32
Idaho
$27,500
$41,150
33
Massachusetts
$35,421
$56,369
34
Arizona
$30,404
$44,672
35
New Jersey
$38,408
$58,156
36
Maryland
$37,125
$54,333
37
New York
$37,321
$57,354
38
Utah
$26,521
$40,007
39
West Virginia
$26,704
$38,284
40
South Dakota
$26,111
$34,709
41
Rhode Island
$33,815
$54,730
42
North Dakota
$24,872
$37,764
43
California
$35,760
$59,825
44
Nevada
$27,957
$44,426
45
Montana
$25,318
$39,832
46
Maine
$26,643
$40,737
47
New Hampshire
$28,279
$45,263
48
Vermont
$26,461
$46,622
49
Hawaii
$35,816
$49,292
50

Although underappreciated by my governor, I still spent most of the weekend holed up inside my house grading and prepping. Mid-term progress reports go out this week.

40 comments:

Mike said...

Time to move!!!!! :)

Beth said...

I meant what I said when I said you can come stay with me and check out Georgia. I'm in good with both of the high school principals in my town.

Michele said...

I can totally relate. Have you seen what librarians make?

You live in a lovely state, to visit but I wouldn't want to live there. Too expensive.

creative kerfuffle said...

i have never, ever understood why teachers don't make more money across the board.

Anonymous said...

Our school system is in an affulent community (not us, mind you, just the school), and the teachers make 20% less than the industry standard.

And when dealing with those parents, you need the $$ to buy sedatives and alcohol.

Anonymous said...

Woohoo! New Hampshire ranks 48th!!!

Oh, wait....


Thanks. Now I'm depressed.

Unknown said...

On your link, I was shocked to see that Alaska has had only a 7% increase over the years. Unbelievable!

Mango Girl said...

How's your pitching arm? Can you trade being a teacher for being a major sports star? Or how about a celebrity? I will start the voting now!

cheatymoon said...

Oh, and Maine is 47th. Nice. I'm in a good district, so we are on the high end of average, BUT STILL.

Ack.

Lori said...

I already knew you teachers don't make enough when you are worth so much more. I went over to that site and read some of those comments. Wow! Read the one from the person that claimed to have taught and now is a lawyer. I can only imagine how many teachers would love to strangle the person that wrote that comment...me included. So, are you and your husband thinking seriously about moving? I'm sure that would be hard with kids in college there.

Liz Wilkey (a.k.a. A Mom on Spin) said...

So Vodka Mom's like a millionaire???

mo.stoneskin said...

So what you're really saying is you're moving to New Jersey?

That hurt my head. I had to divide each figure listed by the current exchange rate to fully appreciate the salary. And now my brain has shorted.

rubbish said...

So, you earn roughly £30k and the average house price is £400k? Jeez, that's tough. You would struggle to get a mortgage in Britain.

Linda said...

It simply amazes me that we entrust our childrens education, life lessons, and in some cases near raising, to people we pay so little. Teachers have the biggest hearts. They need salaries to match.

Unknown said...

craptastic.

Christy said...

Yikes is right. I still can't believe you're nearing mid-terms already!

darsden said...

OMGosh YOU mean Mississippi, didn't come in last finally for something!

That is sad ... sad I tell you. I guess they penalize you for living in a beautiful tropical state!

All teachers salaries are sad!

Amy said...

Teachers need to get paid a lot. I mean if it wasn't for them the we would not have doctors, lawyers and so on.

Sprite's Keeper said...

When I see Florida's standings, I get depressed too!
Ugh.

Darren said...

I'm glad you liked our site/list. We're trying to shed some more light on the under-appreciation of teachers, it is a an uphill battle. Both my parents, my wife, and my brother are all teachers - so I can sympathize with you.

Thanks for stopping by.
Darren

Jan said...

Ohio is NUMBER SIX, girl!

SIX.

Dig on it.

Of course, the winters suck, but we can't have everything. Or so I keep telling myself.

Erin@TheLocalsLoveIt said...

That.Sucks.Bigtime.

Ash said...

Come to Texas!! I'll even swap houses with you :-)

Don't some states allow teacher unions? I imagine that effects the salaries as well.

Joanna Jenkins said...

That is so not cool. I wonder how much garbage collectors make in comparison. Not that there is anything wrong with garbage collecting but a Masters Degree is not required.
Shameful.
xo

Michel said...

Shit! remind me not to move to montana and become a teacher. Oh wait! I moved from there and can't add.

I'm good.

That is AMAZING! I never even realized!

S3XinthePantry said...

I'm not a teacher, but I was amazed. So sorry about your state...Grrrr....

Maureen@IslandRoar said...

Wow, that so sucks.

Anonymous said...

Just wanted to let you know that your post inspired mine today.

I can't even imagine how a teacher can survive in Hawaii, given the cost of living out there. And your governor seriously wants to cut your salaries?? Clearly this man is not educated enough to understand the value of education.

Aleta said...

Louisiana is about midway. Interesting indeed! Mom told me that there aren't many young teachers this year at the school and they have three openings at her school. What with the pay, the parents, the students, the red tape and the kids with guns.. it's amazing we still have an education system!

duchess said...

You live in an expensive state! Not that I think teachers should be underpaid in any state, but I guess you make a choice to live where you do. I also guess it has its compensations, or you would go somewhere else. Your governor might be banking on that.

Anonymous said...

That is awful. And all the things we have to do. :(

It's really awful here in Mexico too.

Liz Mays said...

I knew your state was expensive, but crap! That's awful! My state is actually 4th on the list. Interesting considering our economy is crapped out at the bottom of the crapped out economies list.

Sharon Rose said...

My comment is actually a thank you note.

TO YOU and all the teachers who raise our children for at least 40 hours a week.

Your job is to teach our children to become educated, to make their way in life after graduation, to learn who they are and love who they are becoming. Your job is to mold them into respectable young adults. Your job is to do this when you can barely discipline due to strengant laws.
TO YOU AND ALL OTHER DEDICATED TEACHERS - YOU DESERVE TO BE IN THE TOP 5 HIGHEST PAID JOBS IN THE USA! You deserve the highest respect given to leaders. You earn your salary and many other parents salaries. You MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE AND I AM SO GRATEFUL YOU WERE IN MY CHILD'S LIFE! I just wish I could give you a raise!

Christy said...

ok....you are about to have midterms and we haven't even started school yet. Holy Moley.

I am about to go check out the site.

Smart Mouth Broad said...

As I said on Movie's blog, I can really get up on a soapbox for this. It makes me crazy that teachers aren't paid more. And I felt this way long before my daughter became a teacher. (a profession that she has given up because she couldn't make a living)

ds said...

Columbia Lily says it well: kids here don't start school until tomorrow, and you are already dealing with midterms. YIKES!
That is one fascinating collection of scary numbers: the longer you teach, the less you earn. Not fair. And they wonder why it is so hard to attract--and keep--good people (like you) in some areas.
I cannot tell you how grateful I am to the folks who taught the now-college student. It takes a lot of long hours prepping in and out of school, taking courses, putting up with parents, grading, and most important, handling ever more crowded classrooms of not always perfectly behaving kids to make a teacher. Dedication and love. Who can put a price on that?
Thank you for what you do. Not everyone can.

Casey said...

You, my dear, deserve a raise. Jeez. And progress reports already?

midlife slices said...

Just goes to prove....you should move to TX. but wait.....you'd be giving up paradise. What was I thinking?????

Lifeofkaylen said...

Wow, you're #50??? Sad (but really, someone had to be.....). I can't believe the average pay for teachers can be that low!!! This is really outrageous.
My state is at #14--and it's still too low!!!

msprimadonna67 said...

Dang. A little sad to see where we California teachers fall--not terribly impressive. There's also a lot of talk of the possibility of pay cuts and furlough days in a lot of districts around the state-can't wait to see where we fall the next time they update the list.