2016’s Best & Worst States for Teachers

From WalletHub,  Sep 26, 2016

Most educators don’t pursue their profession for the money. Despite their critical role in shaping young minds, teachers across the U.S. are shortchanged every year. In fact, education jobs are some of the lowest-paying occupations that require a bachelor’s degree, and their salaries consistently fail to keep up with inflation. Meanwhile, the law demands better student performance without providing educators much guidance or incentive to improve their own effectiveness in the classroom.

Consequently, the job pressures, low pay and lack of mobility force many teachers to quit soon after they start, leading to a perpetual attrition problem in America’s public schools. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, about a fifth of all newly minted public-school teachers leave their positions before the end of their first year — nearly half of them never last more than five. Many teachers, especially novices, transfer to other schools or abandon the profession altogether “as the result of feeling overwhelmed, ineffective, and unsupported,” according to ASCD. It’s therefore no surprise that the high turnover rate among K–12 teachers has been likened to a revolving door.

But regardless of the issues plaguing the profession, many educators will continue to follow their passion and serve the purpose larger than themselves. In order to help ease the process of finding the best opportunities and teaching environments, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on 16 key indicators of teacher-friendliness. WalletHub data set ranges from “median starting salary” to “pupil-teacher ratio” to “school safety.” Continue reading below for their findings, additional insight from experts and a full description of their methodology.

Hawaii Dead Last

• Rank -- 51st
• Score -- 22.22 of 100
• Job Opportunity and Competition Rank -- 51st
• Academic and Work Environment Rank -- 47th

Methodology

In order to identify the teacher-friendliest states in the U.S., WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across two key dimensions, including “Job Opportunity & Competition” and “Academic & Work Environment.” Because competitive salaries and job security are integral to a well-balanced personal and professional life, WalletHub assigned a heavier weight to the first category.

WalletHub evaluated these categories using 16 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with 100 indicating the best conditions for living and working as a teacher.

WalletHub then calculated overall scores for each state and the District using the weighted average across all metrics, which was then used to construct the final ranking.

Job Opportunity & Competition - Total Points: 70

• Average Starting Salary for Teachers: Full Weight (~10.00 Points)
  Note: This metric was adjusted for the local cost of living.
• Median Annual Salary for Teachers: Full Weight (~10.00 Points)
  Note: This metric was adjusted for the local cost of living.
• Teachers’ Income Growth Potential: Full Weight (~10.00 Points)
• Average Teacher Pensions: Full Weight (~10.00 Points)
  Note: This metric was adjusted for the local cost of living.
• Projected Teacher Demand: Full Weight (~10.00 Points)
  Note: This metric measures the number of teachers per 1,000 students by year 2022.
• Public-School Enrollment Growth (Fall 2015 vs. Fall 2014): Full Weight (~10.00 Points)
• 10-Year Change in Teacher Salaries: Full Weight (~10.00 Points)
  Note: This metric measures the change in constant dollars for teacher salaries between the 2005–2006 and the 2015–2016 academic years.

Academic & Work Environment - Total Points: 30

• WalletHub “School Systems” Ranking: Triple Weight (~9.47 Points)
• Annual Evaluation Requirement for All Teachers: Full Weight (~3.16 Points)
• Teacher Effectiveness: Full Weight (~3.16 Points)
• Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Full Weight (~3.16 Points)
• School Safety: Full Weight (~3.16 Points)
  Note: This metric measures the percentage of public-school teachers who reported that they were threatened with injury by a student from school during the previous 12 months.
• WalletHub “Underprivileged Children” Ranking: Half Weight (~1.58 Points)
• Public-School Spending per Student: Full Weight (~3.16 Points)
  Note: This metric measures the annual state and local expenditures for K-12 public schools per capita.
• Average Commute Time: Half Weight (~1.58 Points)
• WalletHub “Working Moms” Ranking: Half Weight (~1.58 Points)

Sources: Data used to create these rankings were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Education Association, National Center for Education Statistics, Council for Community and Economic Research, TeacherPensions.org, CareerOneStop, National Council on Teacher Quality and WalletHub research.

---30---

HTH: Hawaii ranks last in WalletHub’s ‘Best & Worst States for Teachers’

PBN: Thinking about becoming a teacher in Hawaii? Consider this

CB: Teachers Falling Farther Behind In Net Pay, Benefits Costs

KHON: Analysis: Hawaii ranked last in U.S. for public school teachers