No one goes into teaching for the money, the saying goes, and a new report illustrates how that is more true now than in the past.
Not accounting for benefits, teachers across the country earn less than other college graduates, and that’s especially so in Georgia, where the Economic Policy Institute reports that teacher wages are 69 percent of others with a similar amount of schooling.
"The teacher pay penalty is bigger than ever," says the report, which is based on federal data from last year.
Georgia had the eighth widest pay gap in the nation.
Arizona, where teachers earned 63 percent of peers, had the largest pay disparity while Wyoming had the smallest, with teachers there nearly on par at 99 percent of college grad earnings.
Critics contend that pay comparisons are misleading. The Fordham Institute, for instance, says reports about pay fail to take pension contributions into account.
The findings come as Gov. Nathan Deal is said to be preparing legislation for an overhaul of education, including merit-based pay for teachers.
More on the topic here.
About the Author
