|
|
| |
| Fri, Sep. 5, 2008 |  |
 |
|
||
| |
Teacher salary disparity growing, report says Saturday, Mar 8, 2008 By Rob Moritz Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - The salary gap between Arkansas public school teachers and people with jobs in the public sector continues to grow, according a national study released Friday. State education officials acknowledged a disparity exists, but said another national study issued in January suggested the gap was narrower and that teacher salaries in the state were rising. "We have worked to increase salaries because we know that is a way to place highly qualified teachers in the classroom," Department of Education spokeswoman Julie Thompson said. Friday's report by the Washington, D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute found U.S. public school teachers are paid about 15 percent less a week than registered nurses, computer programmers, accountants and other workers in the private sector. Arkansas and 14 other states had gaps exceeding 25 percent, according to the report. The gap in Arkansas, according to the study, was 31.7 percent. Five states had gaps of 10 percent or less. A January report by Washington, D.C.-based Education Week had slightly different numbers, finding a 12 percent gap nationally and a 15.6 percent gap in Arkansas. Overall, the Education Week study ranked Arkansas 32nd nationally in teacher salaries, and ranked the state 8th overall in quality of educational policies and student achievement. "We are proud of the steps we have made in getting better salaries for teachers in Arkansas," Thompson said Friday. The starting salary for a teacher with a bachelor's degree is $28,897, she said, up from the $21,860 starting pay before the Legislature raised the minimum salary to $27,500 in 2004 during a court-ordered overhaul of public education. The average teacher salary in Arkansas was $44,009 in 2006-2007, according to the state Bureau of Legislative Research. Thompson said it appeared the two studies used slightly different data, but either way, the message remained clear, work still needs to be done to improve teacher salaries in the state. Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute and director of the education research program, said Friday the EPI study included several factors not included in the Education Week study, including that that teachers don't teach year-round and reported its findings in weekly pay rather than annual pay. |
