State is 32nd in teacher salaries
Posted on Monday, December 17, 2007
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/210935/
Arkansas ranks 32 nd among the 50 states and Washington, D. C., in the average salary paid its public school teachers, according to a newly published National Education Association report on 2005-06 education data.
Once known as a cellar dweller that typically vied with Mississippi to avoid absolute last place in average salaries, Arkansas’ 2005-06 ranking climbed four spots from 36 th place in 2004-05.
The average Arkansas teacher salary of $ 42, 768 remained below the national average of $ 49, 026, according to the education association’s “Rankings & Estimates: Rankings of the States 2006 and Estimates of School Statistics 2007.”
Regionally, the state shines.
The Natural State not only outranked Mississippi in 41 st place, it also outranked Texas at 35 th place and Tennessee at 34 th place, and every other border state: Missouri, 42 nd; Alabama, 44 th; Louisiana, 45 th; and Oklahoma, 48 th.
“This is very positive,” Arkansas Education Commissioner Ken James said Friday. “It’s a direct reflection of good, solid work over many years. We are seeing the fruits of that work in the accolades the state is receiving in a variety of areas.”
The jump in the state’s ranking comes in the wake of increases in state education funding approved in an April 2006 special session of the Arkansas Legislature.
Operating under the watch of the Arkansas Supreme Court that had reopened the long-running Lake View school funding lawsuit, lawmakers at the time increased public school aid by $ 57 million for fiscal 2006 and $ 87 million for the 2006-07 school year, which ended June 30. The total Public School Fund for 2005-06, which incorporated the legislative increase, was $ 2. 34 billion. For fiscal 2007, the Public School Fund was nearly $ 2. 5 billion.
The school funding increases were part of the state’s response to earlier Supreme Court rulings that public school funding was inadequate and inequitable and, as a result, unconstitutional.
James and Dan Marzoni, president of the Arkansas Education Association teachers union, credited legislators and the former governor for their efforts to increase state funding for school district operations, including teacher salaries.
“We are very happy to see Arkansas rise in the rankings,” Marzoni said. “It’s the result of the adequacy funds, and we do thank Gov. [Mike ] Huckabee and the legislators for making sure that adequacy was met for that year.”
Huckabee was governor during that special legislative session. His term ended in January. Mike Beebe is now governor.
Marzoni and James said the challenge is to continue the improvement or at least keep pace with the teacher salary increases enacted in other states over time.
“It’s a moving target,” James said of salary goals.
Justin Minkel of Fayetteville, Arkansas’ 2007 Teacher of the Year, said he appreciated state leaders’ efforts in regard to salaries. “Arkansas has made progress in this area, and I expect that given the excellence of the current leadership at the [Arkansas Department of Education ], we will continue to make progress.” But, Minkel also said salaries in general are not satisfactory. As a result, educational opportunities to students are diminished and students suffer. Higher starting salaries are needed, he said, especially for teachers who teach subjects or work in locations where there are shortages. Additionally, greater annual pay raises are needed for teachers who stay with the profession, he said. He also called for some form of differentiated teacher pay based not only on student test scores but also on teacher evaluations and added responsibilities a teacher assumes.
“Teachers across the country are not receiving the salaries that their training and professional responsibilities merit,” he said. “In a country with America’s wealth, I refuse to believe that we have any excuse to fail our children by paying teachers inadequate wages.”
California topped the nation on teacher pay with a 2005-06 average of $ 59, 825, followed by Connecticut’s $ 59, 304.
South Dakota had the lowest average salary at $ 34, 709.
Arkansas ranked third in the nation in the percentage change in average salaries since 1995-96 — 12. 6 percent based on constant dollars adjusted for inflation. The 10-year increase is 44. 8 percent if inflation is not taken into account. Mississippi and Louisiana took first and second places in both categories.
The U. S. average in the percentage change over 10 years was 1. 3 percent, adjusted for inflation, and 30. 2 percent without inflation.
In regard to revenue per student, Arkansas ranked 38 th based on 2005-06 data. The funding per student that year was $ 9, 166 compared to $ 8, 717 the preceding year when the state ranked 37 th. The national average in 2005-06 was $ 10, 474 in revenue per student. Hawaii generated the most revenue per student at $ 14, 793. New York was second with $ 14, 685 per student.
In terms of expenditures, Arkansas ranked 30 th in the nation, spending $ 8, 402 per student in 2005-06 compared to the U. S. average of $ 9, 100 and the District of Columbia average of $ 15, 508.
The National Education Association’s 130-page report ranked the states and District of Columbia in dozens of categories, including the percentage of male public education teachers, a category in which Arkansas ranked 51 st based on the 2005-06 data.
Arkansas’ public school faculty was 17. 5 percent male. In contrast, Kansas ranked first in the country with one in every three teachers being male. The national average was 24. 9 percent.
Minkel, who as state Teacher of the Year is on leave from Springdale’s Jones Elementary, said increasing the number of male teachers is important to student success.
“In my own experience, many boys, especially those without a father in their life, benefit from having a male role model,” Minkel said. “Both boys and girls benefit from teachers in a school modeling respectful interactions between men and women, which you can’t do if you have no men in your school.”
Enticing men into teaching can be done by actively recruiting them, he said.
“My own school has two men teaching first grade, me in second grade, and another in fifth grade. This fact is due largely to our principal creating a climate where men feel valued and feel comfortable in our school setting,” he said.