According to a new report by the Manhattan Institute (MI), teachers in Raleigh make 15 percent less than other white collar workers. Read the WSJ op-ed here.
The report uses data from 2004, so I updated the calculation using the current salary schedule for Wake County Public Schools. I assume that the average teacher salary in Wake County is $44,534.70 (a teacher with 13 years experience (state average) with a bachelor’s degree). I also assume that the teacher will be paid for approximately 43 weeks of work under the standard 10-month contract, and will work 35.5 hours per week (the figure used by the MI report). Given these factors, I estimate that the average teacher pay in Wake County is $29.17 per hour.
Using the Employment Cost Index to update the MI figure, I estimated that the current average pay for a white-collar worker in Raleigh is approximately $28.35 per hour. It is important to note that this figure is an estimate based on employment cost increases nationwide, and does not account for local conditions. Given the limitations of these estimates, I suspect that teacher pay and white-collar pay in Raleigh is roughly the same.
It is important to put this in perspective. MI found that ?In neither [statistical] model does relative teacher pay have any effect on high school graduation rates. Per-pupil spending and the student-teacher ratio also have no effect on high school graduation rates. Metro areas with a higher percentage of white students have higher graduation rates. And it appears that metro areas with fewer students and more school districts have higher graduation rates.?
Hat tip: BAM
