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Teachers
Number of Teachers
The number of elementary and secondary school teachers has risen in recent years, up about 20 percent since 1985. The number of public school teachers has grown at a slightly slower rate than the number of students in recent years, and the pupil-teacher ratio, after falling for many years, has remained relatively steady since 1988. In the fall of 1996, the ratio of pupils per public school teacher was 17.0 compared with 17.6 pupils per teacher in 1985. During the same time period, the pupil-teacher ratio in private schools fell from 16.2 to 15.0 pupils per teacher.
Between 1988 and 1991, the supply sources of newly hired teachers shifted as both public and private schools hired a larger proportion of first-time teachers and a smaller proportion of former teachers reentered the field.
Table 12.--Teachers and pupil-teacher ratios in public and private[1] Preliminary.
elementary and secondary schools: Fall 1980 to fall 1997 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Public Private school school Year Total teachers teachers --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Number in thousands -------------------------------------------- 1980 2,485 2,184 301 1985 2,549 2,206 343 1988 2,668 2,323 345 1990 2,753 2,398 355 1991 2,787 2,432 355 1992 2,822 2,459 363 1993 2,870 2,504 366 1994 2,926 2,552 373 1995 2,978 2,598 380 1996 \1\ 3,023 2,638 385 1997 \2\ 3,071 2,682 390 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pupil-teacher ratios ------------------------------------------- 1980 18.6 18.7 17.7 1985 17.6 17.9 16.2 1988 17.0 17.3 15.2 1990 16.9 17.2 14.7 1991 17.0 17.3 14.6 1992 17.1 17.4 14.8 1993 17.1 17.4 14.9 1994 17.1 17.4 15.0 1995 17.0 17.3 15.0 1996 \1\ 16.9 17.1 15.0 1997 \2\ 17.0 17.3 15.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[2] Estimated.
Teachers' Salaries
The average salary for public school teachers has grown rapidly over the past decade, reaching $38,509 in 1996-97. After adjustment for inflation, teachers' salaries rose 19 percent between 1980-81 and 1996-97. Virtually all of this increase occurred during the mid-1980s. Since 1990-91, the average salary for teachers actually fell slightly, after adjusting for inflation.
Figure 6.--Average annual salary for public elementary and secondary school teachers: 1970-71 to 1996-97
Teacher Characteristics
Teachers in public elementary and secondary schools in 1993-94 were made up of 73 percent women and 87 percent white non-Hispanics. Some 65 percent of teachers had at least 10 years of full-time teaching experience and almost all teachers held at least a bachelor's degree.
Table 13.--Characteristics of teachers in public schools: 1993-94
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Selected Number, in
characteristics thousands Percent
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Total 2,561 100.0
Men 694 27.1
Women 1,867 72.9
Race/ethnicity
White, non-Hispanic 2,217 86.5
Black, non-Hispanic 188 7.4
Hispanic 109 4.2
Other minorities 48 1.9
Experience
Less than 3 years 249 9.7
3 to 9 years 653 25.5
10 to 20 years 897 35.0
More than 20 years 762 29.8
Highest degree
Less than bachelor's 18 0.8
Bachelor's 1,331 52.0
Master's or above 1,212 47.3
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Note: Excludes prekindergarten teachers.
