TEACHER SALARIES - ARE THEY COMPETITIVE?

March 1993

NCES 93-450

Recent concern about teacher shortages has raised questions about the attractiveness of the teaching profession. Some argue that increasing teacher salaries would make teaching more attractive and competitive with other professions and would improve recruitment and retention of better qualified teachers. It is of interest, therefore, whether teacher salaries have increased in recent years, how they compare with salaries in other entry level occupations, and how they vary within and across school districts in the Nation.

The Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) provides data from a nationally representative sample of public school districts on scheduled teacher salaries for school years 1987-88 and 1990-91 to answer these questions.

HAVE TEACHER SALARIES INCREASED?

After declining in the 1970's and rising in the 1980's, teacher salaries in 1988, adjusted for inflation, reached the high they had attained in 1972 (Condition of Education, 1992). Between 1988 and 1991, however, salaries leveled off, keeping pace with inflation.

Adjusted teacher salaries at the two entry bachelor and master degree steps remained the same, and increased only slightly at the third reported step (Table 1).

TABLE 1.--Average scheduled teacher salaries by degree and years
of experience for school years 1987-88 and 1990-91 in constant 1991
dollars

          Bachelor's    Master's      Master's      Highest
         and 0 years   and 0 years   and 20 years   Salary

1988_1/     $19,860      $21,740      $32,849           --
1991         19,913       21,698       33,199      $36,065

_1/ 1988 salaries adjusted using the Consumer Price Index of the
Bureau of Labor Statistics.

HOW DO TEACHING SALARIES COMPARE WITH SALARIES OF OTHER PROFESSIONS?

Salary is one consideration in the choice of college major and occupation. In most occupations, salaries differ depending on the supply and demand conditions in the particular field. In teaching, however, salaries are the same regardless of the field of specialization. Thus, the choice of a new college graduate to teach or to work in another occupation may have a cost in terms of the difference in salary. A consideration that may compensate for differences in salary is length of the contract year, typically shorter for teaching than for other occupations. The 1990-91 Survey of Recent College Graduates provides entry level salary data for new bachelor degree recipients in non-teaching occupations one year after graduation.

New bachelor degree recipients in the fields of computer sciences, math and physical sciences, and business and management, who choose to teach, do so at considerable financial cost ($6,000 to $10,000) (Table 2). The same is true for those in letters and fine arts (writers and artists), although to a lesser extent. Graduates in the fields of biology and communications who choose teaching are not penalized financially for their decision; and those in public affairs or social services realize a small financial advantage in teaching. Salary data from the same survey of recent college graduates conducted in 1987, adjusted to constant 1991 dollars, indicate that the relative standing of teaching versus other entry level professions has not changed over those 4 years.

TABLE 2.--Average annual salaries of new bachelor degree
recipients in teaching and other selected occupations, 1990-91

Occupation                      Salary              Difference

Teaching                       $19,913_1/                --
Computer Science                30,419              $10,504
Math, Physical Sciences         26,040                6,125
Business/Management             25,961                6,046
Writers/Artists                 22,353                2,438
Biologists                      21,325                1,410
Communications                  19,584                 -329
Public Affairs/Social Services  19,227                 -686

   All occupations              23,632                3,717

_1/ Scheduled salary based on average contract length of 9.7
months.

HOW DO PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER SALARIES COMPARE ACROSS STEPS IN THE SALARY SCHEDULE AND ACROSS SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN THE NATION?

In addition to salary differences across professions, teacher salaries vary by steps, and across districts, by geographic location and size. The average teacher salary in 1991 at the highest level was 181 percent of that at the entry level, with increases at each reported step (Table 1). In 1988 the Northeast and West shared the highest rank for salaries (Figure 1). By 1991, the Northeast had moved ahead of the West at all reported steps. As in 1988, salaries in the Northeast and West remained ahead of those in the Midwest and South. The Midwest and South pay equivalent salaries at the entry bachelor's step, but the Midwest pays higher salaries than the South at the higher steps.

FIGURE 1.-- Scheduled teacher salaries for 1988 and 1991 by step
and by region

1988
Northeast XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX     
          YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY    
          ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ   

    West  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
          YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
          ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

 Midwest  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX    
          YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
          ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

  South   XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
          YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
          ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
1991
Northeast XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
          YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
          ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

    West  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
          YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
          ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
   
 Midwest  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
          YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
          ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

   South  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
          YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
          ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
           ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____
          |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |
         $0       10,000    20,000    30,000    40,000    50,000 

  
  X = Bachelor's and     Y = Master's and     Z = Master's and
  0 years experience     0 years experience   20 years experience

The larger the district (up to 5,000 students and more) the higher the salary at all reported steps (Table 3); and as the steps increase so too do the differences in salaries. At the entry level bachelor's and master's steps, salaries increase by about 15 percent from the smallest to largest districts. At the more advanced steps, salary increases ranged from 24 to 32 percent from the smallest to the largest districts.

TABLE 3.--Scheduled teacher salaries by step and by district size, 1990-91 Bachelor's Master's Master's Highest and 0 years and 0 years and 20 years Salary District Size 0-999 $19,001 $20,649 $30,557 $32,478 1,000-4,999 20,691 22,570 35,644 39,269 5,000-9,999 21,487 23,601 37,384 41,960 10,000 or more 21,829 23,962 37,728 42,842

CONCLUSION

Teacher salaries are important indicators of the relative economic well-being of teachers and of general teacher supply and demand conditions in the Nation. Over this 3-year period teacher salaries have kept pace with the increase in the cost of living. And while teachers may find higher salaries in certain regions of the country and in the larger school districts, entry level teacher salaries are not competitive with salaries paid in other entry level professions. The real cost in salary to new bachelor degree recipients of choosing teaching as a career, particularly for those in the fields of computer science, math and physical sciences, remains high.

For more information, see the following reports:

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. 1991 Schools and Staffing Survey, Sample Design and Estimation (NCES 93-449), by S. Kaufman. Washington, D.C.: 1993.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Occupational and Educational Outcomes of 1989-90 Bachelor's Degree Recipients 1 Year after Graduation: 1991 (NCES 92-162), Washington, D.C. 1993.

Issue Briefs present information on education topics of current interest. All estimates shown are based on samples and are subject to sampling variability. All differences reported are statistically significant at the .05 level. In the design, conduct, and data processing of NCES surveys, efforts are made to minimize the effects of nonsampling errors, such as item nonresponse, measurement error, data processing error, or other systematic error.

This Issue Brief was prepared by Mary Rollefson, NCES and Carol L. Rohr, Pinkerton Computer Consultants. Standard errors for the Issue Brief and additional information about the Schools and Staffing Survey and Recent College Graduates Survey are available upon request.