2017’s Best & Worst States for Teachers

From WalletHub, Sep 25, 2017

Teaching can be a profoundly rewarding career, considering the critical role educators play in shaping young minds. But many teachers find themselves overworked and underpaid. Education jobs are among the lowest-paying occupations requiring a bachelor’s degree, and teacher salaries consistently fail to keep up with inflation. Meanwhile, the law demands better student performance, but some critics argue that it deprives educators of guidance and positive incentive to improve their own effectiveness in the classroom.

This combination of job pressures, low pay and lack of mobility forces many teachers to quit soon after they start, a pattern that has led 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, and nearly half 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, a nonprofit focused on improving the education community.

In some states, however, teachers are more fairly paid and treated than in others and therefore less likely to face a revolving door of teacher turnover. To help America’s educators find the best opportunities and teaching environments, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on 21 key indicators of teacher-friendliness. Their data set ranges from teachers’ income growth potential to pupil-teacher ratio to teacher safety….

read … Full Report

Hawaii

• Rank – 50th
• Score -- 39.19
• Opportunity & Competition Rank – 51st
• Academic & Work Environment Rank – 39th
• Annual Salaries (adj for cost of living) – 51st

Related: Hawaii is #1 in Teacher Absenteeism at 79% 

ED: New report ranks states by 'teacher-friendliness'

SA: Hawaii ranks near bottom among states for teachers