Poor communities and teacher pay

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On Monday, credit.com published a list of areas that have the highest and lowest household median incomes.  The "lowest" list includes three North Carolina communities, Forest City, Roanoke Rapids, and Lumberton. 

During a morning talk show discussion about the report, a caller claimed that starting teacher salaries were lower than the median household incomes of each area.  So that contention got me thinking.  How do public school teachers in these three places compare?  In this week’s CommenTerry, I answer this question (more or less).

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CommenTerry

Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, credit.com writer Christine DiGangi compiled a list of the poorest and wealthiest cities in the nation.  Out of 2,120 metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas, three North Carolina cities landed in the bottom ten. Forest City ($32,836), Roanoke Rapids ($29,930) and Lumberton ($28,293) were among the cities that had the lowest annual household incomes in the nation.  Lumberton had the lowest, while Roanoke Rapids had the third lowest and Forest City came in ninth.

There are a few important things to note about the ranking.  First, all three North Carolina cities are Micropolitan Statistical Areas, a designation that allows government agencies to organize data according to geographic units defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.  In this way, it does not refer to the city itself but to the area surrounding the city.  Micropolitan and Metropolitan Statistical Areas may include multiple counties and jurisdictions.  For the purposes of my analysis, however, I examine only the district(s) that encompass or are near the city center.

Second, the ranking considers median household, not per capita, income.  Household income is the combined gross income(s) of all those over the age of 15 who share a residence.  Credit.com reports the median U.S. household income was $51,371 last year.  By the way, a separate analysis concluded that household income has been on the decline since 2007.  I blame George Bush.

Anyway, how do median household income and teacher salaries compare in the three Micropolitan Statistical Areas mentioned above?  Technically, they don’t.  The two figures describe different things.  Teacher salaries are incomes for individuals.  Household incomes represent groups. Household incomes include, but are not necessarily limited to, teacher salaries.

These facts will not stop some from using the credit.com ranking to depict teachers as vassals.  As a result, I’ll abandon "the better angels of our nature" and compare the figures anyway.

According to the 2013-14 state salary schedule, the entry level (bachelor’s degree + certification) teacher salary is $30,800.  That already puts starting teacher salary above the median household incomes of Roanoke Rapids and Lumberton, but it does not take other factors into account. 

The Robeson County Schools, which is headquartered in Lumberton, provides teachers a 5 percent salary supplement, which is an additional $1,540 for an entry-level teacher.  The estimated salary for a teacher in Robeson County with no experience and minimum credentials is $32,340.

Teacher salaries in the Roanoke Rapids area are a much more complicated matter because there are three school districts within Halifax County alone.  While the Roanoke Rapids City Schools awarded a $1,912 supplement last year, neither the Halifax County Schools nor the Weldon City Schools provided a teacher salary supplement.  Regardless of the district, a new teacher would earn more than the median household income of the statistical area.

Forest City is located in Rutherford County.  The average salary supplement was $1,100 for teachers in the Rutherford County Schools.  Unlike Lumberton and Roanoke Rapids, an entry-level teacher salary does not exceed the median household income for residents of the Forest City area.

The above discussion considers starting salary only.  The average salary is another story.  According to the NC Department of Public Instruction, the average teacher salary in Robeson County was $39,080.  In Rutherford County, the average salary reached $41,755.  For the three districts in Halifax County, Roanoke Rapids City had the highest average salary, $42,354.  Halifax County ($39,091) and Weldon City ($38,489) trailed Roanoke Rapids significantly.

Regardless, in all instances the average teacher salary was significantly higher than the median household income.  Again, these metrics do not produce apples to apples comparisons.

More importantly, they do not reflect how much and how teachers should be paid.  The question of how compensation should reflect the value of a teacher is separate from the issue of their relative financial status in their communities.  I deal with the latter here, but suspect that I will receive emails addressing the former.  Allow me to save you the trouble.  My email is [email protected].

Facts and Stats

FY 2012-13 6th pay period average salary and benefits: Selected school districts

Source: NC Department of Public Instruction

Education Acronym of the Week

µSA – Micropolitan Statistical Area

Quote of the Week

"What am I to tell a teacher whose (sic) making $30,000 a year? If you were in my shoes, how the state can hire somebody for $85,000 or $65,000 or $314,000 or somebody who can work for one month and make more than a teacher does in a year? I need to know how to respond to that."

– Tommy Tucker (R-Union) quoted in Wos grilled about salary, Medicaid reform

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