Today, the National Center for Education Statistics released a new report, “Comparative Indicators of Education in the United States and Other G-8 Countries: 2009.”

Highlights included:

Of the G-8 countries reporting data in 2006, Germany reported the highest average starting salary of public school teachers at both the primary and upper secondary levels (primary: $40,300; upper secondary: $45,200) (figure 22). The United States paid the second highest average starting salary to public school teachers at both levels (primary: $34,900; upper secondary: $33,700).

In 2005, expenditure per student for the United States was about $9,800 at the combined primary and secondary education levels and about $24,400 at the higher education level (figure 23a). Both figures were higher than those in the five other G-8 countries reporting data, which ranged from about $6,900 in Germany and the United Kingdom to $7,500 in France at the combined primary and secondary levels and from about $8,000 in Italy to $13,500 in the United Kingdom at the higher education level.

Yet, students in the U.S. earned average scores on most international assessments.