Thursday, September 04, 2014

Honolulu Teachers Are The Worst Paid In America, Milwaukee's The Best

The Hawai'i Free Press has this from a report by the National Center for Policy Analysis:
When adjusted for cost of living, teacher...median adjusted salaries in the 60 metro areas range from $32,312 in Honolulu, Hawaii to $73,078 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The national median salary for an elementary school teacher is $53,590.
No wonder Hawaii doesn't produce enough teachers, and can't keep the teachers hired from the Mainland. The cost for Mainland teachers to go home to visit family even once a year is one of the costs which may not be included in the cost of living. Tack on $600 to $850 for that item, just for airfare, out of an effective salary of $32,312.
The national median salary for an elementary school teacher is $53,590.
So just to reach the national median, Hawaii would have to increase the median teacher salary by roughly 65%. Imagine the taxpayer's response to that.

Also: Don't forget that while Hawaii teacher pensions get a 2.5% bump for inflation every year, the adjustment is applied only to the original amount of the pension and is not applied to the pension at the last raise: that is, it isn't compounded, only added to the original benefit. A couple of years of 5-8% inflation will devastate retirees, already the worst paid in America.

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2 Comments:

Anonymous Dan said...

So what? If you adjust for the cost of living, you can make similar statements about almost any profession.

And what is your solution? Given the high cost of living, where's the extra money for teachers (and all other professions) going to come from?

Thursday, September 4, 2014 at 2:08:00 PM HST  
Blogger TTB said...

" If you adjust for the cost of living, you can make similar statements about almost any profession."

So what? The statement was made about this one.

I have no solution. There may not be one. It may not even be a problem.

If the teachers here are approximately as good as the ones on the Mainland, the pay is only a problem for the teachers, and they seem to put up with it. At least the ones who don't quit do. If teachers here aren't as good, the taxpayers are getting what they are willing to pay for. No problem.

If we have a problem with the schools, my guess it is because we need better quality parents.

Thursday, September 4, 2014 at 2:14:00 PM HST  

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