Of the estimated 16,330 public school districts in operation, 48 percent (7,770)
were located in rural communities, 21 percent (3,480) in suburban areas, 18
percent (2,900) in towns, and 13 percent (2,190) in cities (table 1).
In districts' salary schedules, the average yearly base salary for teachers with a
bachelor's degree and no teaching experience was $33,600, while teachers with
the same degree but 10 years of teaching experience had a yearly base salary of
$43,000
(table 2).
The average lowest yearly base salary paid to full-time teachers was $34,000 and
the highest was $60,400 in 2007–08 among all districts
(table 3).
About 98 percent of school districts offered general medical insurance benefits to
teachers, 85 percent offered dental insurance, and 80 percent offered group life
insurance
(table 4).
Overall, 24 percent of public school districts offered pay incentives to teachers if
they attained certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching
Standards, 15 percent offered pay incentives to recruit or retain teachers to teach
in fields of shortage, 10 percent to reward excellence in teaching, and 6 percent to
recruit or retain teachers to teach in a less desirable location
(table 5).
On average, there were 22.4 newly hired teachers per district in the 2007–08
school year, ranging from an average of 2.1 new hires in districts with less than
250 students to an average of 206.2 new hires in districts with 10,000 or more
students (table 6).
While 54 percent of school districts had a collective bargaining agreement with
teachers' associations or unions, 11 percent of districts had meet-and-confer
agreements with these groups (table 7).
Overall, 4.4 teachers out of an average 211.4 teachers per district did not have
their contracts renewed or were dismissed as a result of poor performance
(table 8).
Among the districts that granted high school diplomas, students were required to
take on average 3.9 years of instruction in English or language arts, 3.0 years in
mathematics, 1.0 years in computer science, 3.3 years in social sciences and social
studies, 2.7 years in physical or biological sciences, and 1.6 years in foreign
languages
(table 9).
Among public school districts with more than one school, the average lowest
yearly base salary paid to full-time principals was $73,300 in 2007–08, while the
highest was $88,600
(table 10).
Collective bargaining agreements with principals' associations or unions were
reported by 16 percent of public school districts with more than one school, and
meet-and-confer agreements were reported by 10 percent
(table 11).
Among districts with more than one school, 24 percent of the districts had a
training program for aspiring school administrators and 9 percent of principals
were newly hired by a district in the 2007–08 school year
(table 12).
