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- From: Nigel.Allen@lambada.oit.unc.edu
- Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
- Subject: Survey Finds Teachers' Average Pay Increase Smallest in 27 Years
- Message-ID: <1992Aug28.001937.17191@mont.cs.missouri.edu>
- Date: 28 Aug 92 00:19:37 GMT
- Sender: news@mont.cs.missouri.edu
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- Here is a press release from the American Federation of Teachers.
-
- Survey Finds Teachers' Average Pay Increase Smallest in 27 Years
- To: National Desk, Education Writer
- Contact: Janet Bass of the American Federation of Teachers,
- 202-879-4554
-
- WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The average 1991-92 salary
- for teachers was $34,213 annually, which represented a $1,900 drop
- from the 1972 wage after adjusting for the experience level of the
- average teacher, the American Federation of Teachers said today in
- its annual Survey and Analysis of Salary Trends, 1992.
- The average teacher had 15.4 years of classroom experience in
- 1991-92, compared to 10.7 years in 1972. After adjusting for the
- experience differential, the average teacher now earns $1,900 (in
- 1992 dollars) less than 20 years ago, according to the survey.
- The 1991-92 average salary of $34,213 was a 3.6 percent increase
- over the previous year's average of $33,033. This was the smallest
- percentage increase in 27 years.
- "Teachers may be doing a bit better than in past years, but the
- increase is insignificant considering the amount of experience the
- average teacher is bringing to students," said AFT President Albert
- Shanker. "If we don't pay teachers what they're really worth, we
- won't be successful in recruiting quality teachers and all the
- education reforms in the world won't make a difference."
- Connecticut had the highest average annual salary at $47,510,
- taking over the top spot from Alaska, which had long been the
- nation's leader. Alaska dropped to second, with an average salary of
- $43,000.
- South Dakota had the dubious distinction of being in last place
- for two consecutive years. It paid its teachers $23,291 in the
- 1991-92 school year.
- Arkansas was the only state in the 1992 survey to experience
- double-digit salary growth. It had the highest salary increase
- 13.8 percent -- enabling the state to move up the national salary
- ladder from 49th place in 1990-91 to 42nd place in the most recent
- survey. Arkansas' average teacher salary was $27,168 in the 1991-92
- school year.
- Under Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton's education trust program, a
- one-half cent sales tax is dedicated solely for classroom teacher
- salaries. The trust fund provided teachers with nearly $3,500 more
- in 1991-92.
- The national average teacher salary of $34,213 fell short of
- earnings in other white-collar professions, the survey found. The
- average salary for an attorney was $61,568; full professor, $60,450;
- engineer, $51,315; chemist, $50,962; accountant, $36,919; and
- assistant professor, $34,460.
- The average 1991-92 salary for beginning teachers was $22,171, up
- 3.2 percent from the previous year. Thirty-five states and
- Washington, D.C., paid its teachers below the average starting wage.
- Alaska paid beginning teachers the most, at $30,429; Idaho the least,
- at $16,721.
- Despite the average 3.6 percent increase in salaries nationally,
- teachers in many areas around the country are facing the prospect of
- drastic pay cuts or no increases because of state and local
- government budget crises.
- For example, Los Angeles teachers are being asked to take a
- 17.5 percent pay cut plus the equivalent of a 4 percent reduction in
- health benefits.
- New York City teachers agreed to defer $40 million of a negotiated
- increase over one year ago. They have yet to receive the raise and
- are entering the second year of working without a contract.
- In Chicago, the city wants to give teachers a 2.6 percent raise,
- which would break the current contract language allowing for a
- 7 percent hike.
- "Most teachers did surprisingly well this year because they had
- long-term contracts that expire this year," said F. Howard Nelson,
- associate director of the AFT Research Department. "It's unlikely
- teachers will do as well next year, given the recession."
- Other major survey findings include:
- -- Teachers' average increase of 3.6 percent exceeded the
- inflation rate of 3.2 percent in 1992.
- -- Public spending on education in the United States ranked in
- the bottom third of all industrialized nations in 1987, the
- year of the most recent data. Even U.S. public spending on
- higher education fell below average.
- The AFT represents 796,000 teachers and professors,
- paraprofessionals and school-related personnel, nurses and health
- care workers, state and municipal employees.
- -30-
-