Arizona Ranks At The Very Bottom For Teachers: Report

ACROSS ARIZONA — Having a great teacher in school can change the trajectory of a young student's life. Teachers are paid and treated better in some states than others though, and a recently released report ranked the 50 best and worst states for the profession.

Arizona was the very worst.

The report from the personal finance site WalletHub ranked all 50 states and the District of Columbia based on 23 key indicators of "teacher-friendliness," which included such things as the income growth potential for the profession, pupil-teacher ratio and teacher safety.

Each of these 23 key indicators were then listed with its corresponding weight, and graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the maximum teacher experience. The weighted scores were subsequently combined to give each state an individual score.

For Arizona teachers, the state ranks 51 overall in the country for people in the education profession. Our state also finished 50th in opportunity & competition and 51st in academic & work environment.

North Dakota took home the award for best state for teachers in the nation.

Arizona dominated the very bottom of many of the more specific teacher rankings as well. With our state finishing 50 in lowest annual salaries, 46 in highest projected teacher turnover, 51 in highest pupil-teacher ration, 47 in lowest public-school spending, and 49 in worst school systems.

The national average teacher salary is $59,660, according to the most recent version of the National Education Association. "Over the past decade, the average classroom teacher salary has increased 15.2% but after adjusting for inflation, the average salary has actually decreased by $1,823 or 3.0%," said the NEA.

Michigan finished first in the country for the average highest-annual teacher salary, but Massachusetts earned the no. 1 spot for best school system, according to the report.

On the other end of the teaching experience spectrum, Arizona was joined by New Hampshire, Hawaii, Louisiana, and West Virginia as the five worst states for teachers.

Here are the top ten overall states:

1. North Dakota: 61.69
2. New Jersey: 60.15
3. Pennsylvania: 59.67
4. Wyoming: 56.98
5. Connecticut: 56.53
6. Illinois: 55.93
7. Minnesota: 55.61
8. Massachusetts: 55.41
9. Utah: 54.50
10. New York: 54.03