New figures from NEA highlight same old problems

The annual hand-wringing over teacher salaries in North Carolina resumed once again yesterday with the release of the National Education Association’s annual rankings of the states and estimates report.

The report contained both good news and bad news. On the negative side, overall average teacher pay fell five slots from 38th to 43rd in the nation. Meanwhile, beginning teacher pay was up three slots from last year, climbing to 43rd in the nation. That news wasn’t surprising, as recent efforts to improve teacher pay have focused largely on improving starting pay.

The release of this annual data usually sets off alarm bells among teacher advocates, who use the information to boost salary levels. Sometimes, however, it causes some to talk out of both sides of their mouth.

Tamika Walker Kelly, president of the North Carolina Association of Educators, was touting the statistics, saying that “annual rankings provide a clear view of how states stack up in supporting their educators.” Yet earlier in the month, she was quoted in the same paper downplaying a state report that said that the average teacher in North Carolina earned above $61,000. Sadly, the credibility of the data seems to be a function of how well the numbers propel the desired argument.

Before the volume on this year’s teacher-pay debate gets turned up, a few observations are in order.

The annual teacher-salary debate obscures the many ways in which the current salary schedule limits efforts to pay teachers fairly and prevents a much-needed focus on educational outcomes.

The NEA report includes average teacher salaries by state. The report provides little context or nuance, however. North Carolina trails such states as New York, California, Illinois, and New Jersey, where teacher salaries are much higher than they are in North Carolina. What’s missing from the report is the notion that the higher salaries are a function of the higher cost of living and the strength of the teachers’ unions in those states. Also missing from the debate is any talk about changing demographics. The fact is, growing states like North Carolina will need to hire more teachers, many of them younger. Doing so will reduce the average salary relative to other states whose teachers are — on average — older. Terry Stoops, my predecessor, addressed a number of these considerations in an older — but still timely — article on the subject.

Too many people seem to think that all we have to do is boost teacher salaries and our education problems are solved. Yes, it’s important to pay teachers a fair salary. The annual teacher-salary debate, however, obscures the many ways in which the current salary schedule limits those efforts and prevents a much-needed focus on educational outcomes.

North Carolina’s system for paying teachers is based on years of experience and educational credentials. Period. The assumption is that those two factors correlate with better teaching and —ultimately — improved student achievement. It’s a false assumption, however; the research on the subject is inconclusive, at best.

These realities alone should propel a wider discussion on teacher pay, but they haven’t. North Carolina continues to feed a broken system since policymakers haven’t had the stomach to fully fix a thorny — yet solvable — school finance problem (for additional information, see here). Current proposals range from the Senate budget proposal that calls for an average 3.3 percent increase for teachers over two years, to a House proposal (HB 192) that calls for 22 percent pay increases for teachers. Neither proposal addresses the fundamental problems with the current system.

Until they do, North Carolina will continue to hear the same story every year about how it lags behind other states and the national average. It will continue to hear how it needs to spend more on teacher pay despite the fact that many states that pay teachers highly attractive salaries have not seen gains in student achievement, while some have even seen declines (see NAEP Scores for New York, California, Vermont, and New Jersey).

The NEA study holds up national average teacher pay as the standard that states like North Carolina should attempt to meet for teacher pay. Because it is readily influenced by a few key high-paying states (which make the overwhelming majority of states “below the national average”), the national average is meaningless. A better statistic would be the median.

The annual NEA reports simply illustrates how the majority of states lag behind high-paying unionized states. It’s not surprising, considering the source of the report. The scenario, coupled with the legislature’s typical response, is sadly predictable. It reminds me of a dog chasing its tail. It has no purpose — and it needs to stop.