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 327th in the state for teachers’ pay, Hopkins is 422nd and Martin is 449th.
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.
The article would be most truthful if it would also include the average tenure of the teachers reporting salary levels. The younger the teaching staff, the less the average pay. Seniority does has its advantages. I’m sure the highest paid school districts have the highest number of “experienced teachers’ versus those districts with teacher of 15 years or less in tenure. Also, those districts in the county have at one time or another encouraged teacher retirement by adding a bonus to leave early and hiring teachers at the beginning pay scale. Over time, a proven way to get a younger teaching staff. These studies not showing the reasons for the low wage level are not complete, at worst, dishonest at the heart of the matter of reporting accurate and complicated statistics. Honesty is always the best policy.