Teacher Salaries: Michigan Educators Among Better Paid In Nation

From West Virginia to Arizona, the topic of teacher pay has become the most discussed educational topic other than school safety. The teachers in West Virginia went on strike for nine days. And, in Arizona, one teacher posted a photo of her pay stub – just to show the low salaries teachers are paid.

Here in Michigan, though, teacher pay isn't quite as bad as that of the Arizona teacher. According to data from the National Education Association, teachers in the Great Lakes State had the 11th highest average salaries when compared to teachers in other states. Teachers here earned an average of $62,028 in 2016, up 0.1 percent from 2015, NEA data shows.

And while most Michigan teachers are not getting rich, they do fare better than most teachers across the nation, according to the data. The average teacher salary around the country is $58,353 in 2016 – up 1.3 percent from 2015.

Teachers in places like Arizona are not happy with their salaries. There, teachers are among the lowest paid in the nation and the average salary actually decreased 0.5 percent in 2016 from the year before – the largest decrease in the country.

One of those teachers went on Facebook earlier this month to draw attention to low pay and working conditions that she said are in desperate need of improvement.

"Something must be done," wrote Elisabeth Milich, a second-grade teacher in Paradise Valley outside of Phoenix. "Otherwise our poor children will be taught by unqualified, burned out, and just plain bad teachers!"

Milich's post included her recent pay stub to show just how much she makes. The stub highlights what he annual salary was and what it will be now that she has taken some professional development classes.
Her salary went to $35,621.25 from $35,490.00.

"I actually laughed when I saw the old salary vs. the new one," she wrote on Facebook. I mean, really, I need a college degree for this? I paid 80,000 for a college degree, I then paid several hundred more to transfer my certification to Az.

"I buy every roll of tape I use, every paper clip I use, every sharpie I grade with, every snack I feed kids who don't have them."

Milich wrote that without her husband's income, she could never afford to be a teacher in Arizona.
Patch researched how Milich's salary compares to the average in Arizona and the rest of the country.
The National Education Association – the largest national teacher's organization – says that her salary is well below the state's average of $47,218.

New York had the highest average salary in 2016 at $79,152 and South Dakota had the lowest at $42,025.

"No one goes into teaching for the money," Milich wrote. "But we do need to eat and have a home!
"I'm sad for my single mom teacher friends working 3 jobs to make ends meet!"

Photo via Shutterstock