Report: Indiana's teacher pay efforts fall short
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Indiana's efforts to boost teacher pay haven't improved its standing nationally, according to a new report.
Why it matters: The state has wrestled with a teacher shortage for years, resulting in larger class sizes and threatening academic progress as schools struggle to attract new educators and veteran teachers leave the profession.
Driving the news: Indiana's 38th-place ranking among states for average teacher pay was unchanged from the previous year, according to a report released this week by the National Education Association.
- The report shows Indiana's average teacher salary is $61,661 — that has risen in recent years but still lags behind neighboring states, according to NEA's data.
Zoom out: Average teacher pay was higher in Illinois ($78,495), Michigan ($71,023), Ohio ($70,586), and Wisconsin ($67,794).
State of play: Lawmakers raised the starting salary for teachers to $45,000 last year, a major increase from 2020's average starting pay of roughly $37,500.
- Yes, but: Less progress has been made for middle- and late-career teachers.
What they're saying: "We're seeing a lot of compression," Stacy Kurdelak, vice president of the Indiana State Teachers Association, told Axios. "Base pay is up. But when you average that out, we're still not making any progress."
- It creates instability, Kurdelak says, as teachers move from one district to another with better pay.
- She's spent the last 27 years of her 31-year career with Rensselaer and watched as younger colleagues have taken on second jobs and had their families qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
"If we want to be a state that makes progress … that people want to move to, we need to make sure we're investing in education," she said. "And an education is only as good as its teachers."