The Recession's Impact on Teacher Salaries

Teacher salary growth took a hit post-recession, according to the National Council on Teacher Quality's new report The Recession's Impact on Teacher Salaries.

The report finds that teacher raises for experience and market forces like inflation were one-third to one-half of what they were at the beginning of the recession. While this slow-down in teacher salary growth was on par with that of comparable professions, some districts were hit particularly hard. Eighty percent of the school districts in our 41-district sample had a total pay freeze or pay cut in at least one school year between 2008-09 and 2011-12. However, no district had a pay cut or freeze every year and eight districts had positive salary growth each year between 2008-09 and 2011-12 (Fort Worth, Memphis, Milwaukee, New York City, Jefferson County, KY, Fresno, Chicago, and Baltimore City). Chicago Public Schools had the highest average raise over the four years at 6.5 percent.

The full report breaks down how each district adjusted its pay scheme to account for tightened budgets.