Teacher Pay: How Virginia Ranks

VIRGINIA — School funding and teacher pay drove at least 177 teachers to run for election in recent midterm elections. At least 42 of them won, mostly in statehouse races.

While more teachers lost their elections than won, teachers still tout the impact their activism had on voters.

Nationally, teachers were paid an average annual salary $60,483 in the 2017- 2018 school year, according to the most recent data available from the National Education Association.

In Virginia, teacher salaries average $51,265, putting the Commonwealth below the national average and ranking it No. 34 among U.S. states as far as teacher salaries.

Neighboring District of Columbia is No. 4 in the nation, with an average teacher salary of $76,486; and Maryland, where teacher salaries average $69,761, is ranked No. 7 in the U.S.

Are teachers in Virginia paid enough? Tell us in the comments!

In general, teachers in K-12 public schools are paid about 30 percent less than comparably educated U.S. workers, according to the Brookings Institute.

Low pay and school funding cuts aren’t sitting well with America’s teachers.

The Virginia Education Association is planning a Lobby Day on Jan. 28 in Richmond and put this on its flier for the event: "Your elected representatives need to see and hear from you! They need to know why you Wear #Red4Ed and fight for adequate school funding and better pay."

High-profile teacher strikes in a handful of states earlier this year could be a foreshadowing of issues in newly configured state legislatures in 2019.

West Virginia teachers were the first to walk out and strike for higher pay. In the 2017-2018 school year, West Virginia teachers earned an average of $45,642, according to data from the National Education Association. They are the second lowest-paid educators in the U.S. after Mississippi, where teacher salaries average $43,107. West Virginia state lawmakers approved and the governor signed a bill that would boost teacher pay 5 percent.

Emboldened by the nearly two-week strike in West Virginia, teachers in Arizona, Oklahoma and Kentucky also swarmed statehouses demanding higher pay and more funding for public schools. Some Arizona teachers staged a sick-out in March to protest their salaries, which averaged $47,746 last year. Teachers also walked out to protest their pay in Kentucky, where the average teacher earned $52,952 last school year.

In Oklahoma, the average teacher salary was $45,678, the third-lowest in the country, according to National Education Association data. Teachers went on strike in Oklahoma for nine days.

A high school social studies teacher in Oklahoma who joined his colleagues in a strike in April was one of the 42 teachers who won in the midterm elections.

“Today, let’s take back our state and our nation for the people — for working families, for kids, for students, and for teachers,” the teacher, John Waldron, wrote on Facebook hours before he was elected to Oklahoma’s state legislature. In office, he will become part of the Education Caucus, a group of bipartisan lawmakers with direct ties to education.

The Oklahoma Education Association said the caucus, which includes current and former teachers, support professionals and school administrators, grew from nine to 25 members in the midterm election.

“There are now more educators in the state legislature than ever before,” the association said in a statement. “No matter how you look at it, public education won.”

Waldron was among nearly 60 Oklahoma teachers who ran for public office in the midterm election. Of them, six won their races in the general election, according to Education Week.

Iowa is one of the states expected to take up education funding and salaries in the upcoming session. Its Legislative Service Bureau put together the teacher salary comparisons, along with teacher pay as a percentage of household income in 2017. The report used data from the National Education Association, as well as the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2017 American Community Survey.

Here’s how the states ranked:

1. New York: $83,585
2. California: $81,126
3. Massachusetts: $79,710
4. District of Columbia: $76,486
5. Connecticut: $73,113
6. New Jersey: $69,917
7. Maryland: $69,761
8. Alaska: $69,474
9. Pennsylvania: $67,398
10. Illinois: $66,778
11. Rhode Island: $66,758
12. Oregon: $63,143
13. Michigan: $62,702
14. Delaware: $60,484
15. Wyoming: $58,578
16. Vermont: $58,572
17. Ohio: $58,000
18. New Hampshire: $57,833
19. Hawaii: $57,866
20. Nevada: $57,812
21. Minnesota: $57,782
22. Iowa: $56,790
23. Georgia: $56,329
24. Wisconsin: $55,895
25. Washington: $55,175
26. North Dakota: $54,421
27. Indiana: $54,846
28. Nebraska: $53,473
29. Texas: $53,167
30. Kentucky: $52,952
31. Montana: $52,776
32. Colorado: $52,389
33. Maine: $51,663
34. Virginia: $51,265
35. South Carolina, $51,027
36. Tennessee: $50,900
37. North Carolina: $50,861
38. Kansas: $50,403
39. Louisiana: $50,256
40. Alabama: $50,239
41. Idaho: $49,225
42. Missouri: $49,208
43. Arkansas: $49,017
44. South Dakota: $47,944
45. New Mexico: $47,839
46. Florida: $47,721
47. Arizona: $47,746
48. Utah: $47,604
49. Oklahoma: $45,678
50. West Virginia: $45,642
51. Mississippi: $43,107

Beth Dalbey of Patch’s national desk contributed to this report.

Photo via Shutterstock