Illinois teachers paid much less than college educated peers

CPS welcomes students back to classes today, the earliest start date in recent memory.

Why it matters: The district, like much of the country, is struggling to find teachers.

• One reason might be salaries.

Driving the news: A new study by the Economic Policy Institute looks at how much teachers make compared with other careers that require a college degree.

• Illinois teachers are paid 23.4% less than their college-educated peers on average, worse than Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana.
• Illinois also fares worse than other states with big districts like California (17.6%) and New York (13.2%).

What's more: The study looks at wage growth for public school teachers since 1979.

• While other college-educated career salaries have skyrocketed, school teachers have remained flat.