The educator pay gap is getting worse

An April 4 report from the Economic Policy Institute reported: “Teacher pay (accounting for inflation) actually fell…from 1996 to 2015, while pay for other college graduates increased…. In short, the teacher pay gap—the difference between what teachers earn in weekly wages compared with similarly educated and experienced workers—has widened significantly.”

According to EPI, Washington teachers make 73.5 percent of what their colleagues with comparable education earn in other professions. In 2017, education support professionals earned just 60 percent of the statewide average pay.

The TRUTH about educator pay

Districts have the money & the public supports pay raises!

• 78 percent of Americans say educators are underpaid & deserve higher salaries. True!
• $2 billion in additional state funding for salaries because of the Supreme Court’s McCleary order. True!
• That equates to about $9,300 for each cert and $12,600 for each ESP. True!
• $1.5 billion in school district reserves. True!
• In 2018, Washington voters approved $4 billion in local levy money. True!