Teachers in all three local school districts are paid below the state average, which has declined for four years in a row.

Julie Mack, in an MLive story published Monday, reported that the “average salary for Michigan public school teachers dropped for the fourth consecutive year in 2014-15, according to data recently released by the state Center for Educational Performance and Information. The average salary was $61,978 in 2014-15, down from $62,169 the previous year. The last time the average salary was below $62,000 was in 2010-11.”

It is widely believed that the drop in salaries is caused by many public school districts providing buyout packages to encourage older and higher-paid teachers to retire.

The lowest paid teachers in Allegan County are in Martin, at $49,982. Hopkins teachers average $51,424 and Wayland’s have been pegged at $54,936.

The lowest pay in the county is in tiny Glenn, at $48,585. The highest is at Outlook Academy in Allegan, at $71,015, with Saugatuck at $63,659 and Hamilton at $62,773.

Statewide, Wayland is ranked 327^th in the state for teachers’ pay, Hopkins is 422^nd and Martin is 449^th.

Martin has an average of 21 pupils per teacher. Hopkins is 23 to 1 and Wayland is 23 to 1. The survey of average teachers’ pay and class student ratio was compiled during the 2014-15 academic year.

Average teacher pay is calculated by dividing the total cost of salaries by the number of full-time-equivalent teachers.