CUS Current Urban Studies 2328-4900 Scientific Research Publishing 10.4236/cus.2023.112015 CUS-125558 Articles Social Sciences&Humanities The Impact of Teacher Pay on Teacher Poverty: Teacher Shortage and Economic Concerns Everett B. Singleton 1 Twianie Roberts 2 College of Education, Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN, USA Womack Educational Leadership Department, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN, USA 08 06 2023 11 02 289 300 14, April 2023 10, June 2023 13, June 2023 © Copyright 2014 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. 2014 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The record number of individuals leaving the teaching profession is well documented. This coupled with the lack of individuals entering the profession has contributed to the creation of a teacher shortage crisis in the United States. Urban, rural, mathematics, science and special education areas have been particularly impacted. Research indicates that issues related to stress, political issues, lack of administrative support and limited resources are implicated factors. In addition to inherent job related stressors, limited pay for teachers extends the stress factors from work to the home by impacting the teachers ’ quality of life. This article will examine the impact of teacher pay on teacher poverty. Factors such as beginning teacher pay, average teacher pay and housing costs will be examined.

Teacher Pay Teacher Shortage Housing Costs Teacher Poverty 1. Introduction

The teacher shortage crisis in America has been impacted two-fold by fewer individuals entering the teaching profession and by increased numbers of teachers leaving the teaching profession (Antonucci, 2022; García & Weiss, 2019; Earley & Ross, 2005) .

The lack of teachers has been particularly concerning in hard to staff areas, which include Science, Mathematics and Special Education. The impact is greater in rural and urban areas (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019) .

 2. The Current State: Why Are Individuals Leaving the Teaching Profession?

According to USA Today in “Number of teachers quitting hits new high”, the United States continues to see teachers leave the profession at both mid-year and end of year terms. Stress, student behavior challenges, political issues, student emotional needs, class size and lack of staffing were listed as contributing factors (Barnum, 2023) . More than a half-million teachers have left the profession since the start of 2020 (Greenblatt, 2022) .

In “teacher salaries become a bipartisan cause: Low pay is a major crisis in education”, USA Today addresses the issue of teacher pay contributing to individuals not entering and leaving the teaching profession.

How Much Do Teachers Earn?

“Nationally, the average starting salary for a teacher is less than $42,000, while teachers of all levels of experience make about $61,000 (Table 1). Those numbers mask significant variation from state to state, however.” (Wong, 2023)

3. Multiple Impact Factors: (Current and Potential Teachers) Stress, Lack of Support Discipline, Pay

Current news and policy reports indicate a teacher shortage in many parts of the country (Nguyen et al., 2022) . These critical shortages harm students and public education, as vacant positions are either left unfilled or filled with less qualified or uncertified teachers. Schools serving a high percentage of minority students and students from poverty suffer the most from a shortage of credentialed teachers (Garcia & Weiss, 2019, Marshall, 2023) . Approximately one-third of newly hired teachers in these high-needs schools need more preparation to enter the classroom. These novice teachers are often less effective and leave at least two to three times more than their fully credentialed counterparts (Ingersoll et al., 2014) . Furthermore, although low pay contributes to teachers leaving the profession and few candidates becoming teachers (Garcia & Weiss, 2019) , other factors compound the issue. These include stress and burnout, lack of support from school leaders, problems with discipline and motivation, and lack of professional autonomy (Ingersoll & May, 2011) .

3.1. Stress and Burnout

A national survey revealed that two-thirds of the teaching workforce feel overwhelmed and burned out, with 55 percent considering exiting the profession earlier than expected (Walker, 2022) . The high-stress profession of teaching causes many teachers to encounter and suffer from significant emotional issues tied to on-the-job stress (Eaton et al., 1990; Montgomery & Rupp, 2005) . The inability to cope well can negatively impact relationships with students, affecting academic and behavioral goals (Wentzel et al., 2010) . In recent years, teacher stress can be linked to the consequences of COVID-19 and emerging issues such as school closures, persistent uncertainty, and a lack of experience with remote teaching formats (Kim & Asbury, 2020) .

Teacher salary by state
State Starting salary Top bachelor’s Starting master's Top master's Top salary
Alabama $41,163 $52,862 $47,242 $60,457 $69,466
Alaska $49,907 NA NA NA $88,247
Arizona $40,554 $52,130 $43,211 $61,237 $68,910
Arkansas $35,803 $48,371 $39,995 NA $54,163
California $49,933 NA NA NA $99,912
Colorado $35,724 $45,273 $39,313 $56,740 $64,646
Connecticut $47,477 NA $51,478 $90,099 $95,823
Delaware $43,448 $61,348 $49,416 $77,440 $88,135
Dist. of Columbia $56,313 $89,294 $60,067 $110,179 $116,408
Federal $54,311 $105,224 $62,007 $113,321 $130,622
Florida $44,040 $61,484 $46,561 $64,025 $66,405
Georgia $38,692 $56,790 $43,902 $64,779 $80,262
Hawaii $50,123 $71,403 $54,132 $77,115 $91,948
Idaho $39,842 $52,420 $41,233 $56,797 $59,110
Illinois $41,228 $60,922 $45,400 $75,916 $84,146
Indiana $38,158 NA NA NA $70,398
Iowa $38,515 NA NA NA $71,877
Kansas $39,100 $44,148 $42,159 $54,321 $60,878
Kentucky $37,373 $53,261 $41,180 $58,153 $62,950
Louisiana $42,185 $54,821 $42,951 $56,205 $58,470
Maine $37,580 $62,637 $40,308 $66,552 $68,748
Maryland $48,510 $64,972 $51,619 $87,379 $95,142
Massachusetts $48,372 $77,082 $52,310 $85,109 $95,147
Michigan $37,820 $64,815 $42,423 $70,437 $74,803
Minnesota $41,234 $56,034 $46,363 $67,763 $73,141
Mississippi $36,653 $55,397 $39,095 $63,290 $70,175
Missouri $33,234 $42,322 $36,124 $52,109 $56,552
Montana $32,495 $44,333 $36,670 $61,144 $65,785
Nebraska $36,491 $44,949 $43,251 $61,839 $69,490
Nevada $41,277 $54,477 $47,621 $69,778 $78,530
New Hampshire $39,737 $59,880 $43,489 $67,459 $71,905
New Jersey $54,053 $85,220 $57,845 $89,966 $93,932
New Mexico $41,737 $56,114 $42,703 $66,364 $69,690
New York $47,618 $77,720 $52,170 $88,896 $94,795
North Carolina $37,127 $55,160 $40,839 $60,675 $63,359
North Dakota $40,907 NA $44,808 NA $64,009
Ohio $38,231 $66,430 $42,341 $77,508 $82,236
Oklahoma $38,074 $52,759 $39,508 $54,849 $57,151
Oregon $39,338 $55,851 $43,744 $68,988 $74,191
Pennsylvania $46,991 $72,842 $50,703 $80,046 $85,503
Rhode Island $44,592 $83,803 $47,696 $87,158 $89,594
South Carolina $37,704 $55,511 $43,029 $62,842 $76,568
South Dakota $40,128 $52,981 $44,063 $55,078 NA
Tennessee $39,024 $52,091 $42,327 $56,840 $64,967
Texas $44,527 $62,634 $47,569 $64,939 $63,673
US $41,770 $60,381 $45,391 $70,279 $76,540
Utah $44,349 $66,473 $48,354 $76,945 $81,594
Vermont $40,810 $56,139 $45,846 $70,737 $77,192
Virginia $42,251 $66,844 $44,918 $70,473 $72,255
Washington $51,040 $61,318 $60,253 $88,713 $98,792
West Virginia $37,987 $59,073 $40,813 $61,936 $65,778
Wisconsin $38,961 NA NA NA $73,364
Wyoming $46,826 $55,813 $51,280 $67,448 $74,513

(Department, 2022) .

 3.2. Lack of Support from School Leadership

School leaders can have a profound impact on a school’s culture and climate. Leaders have an obligation and responsibility to empower teachers by creating ongoing opportunities for professional development through collaborations with colleagues (Sergiovanni et al., 2013) . Furthermore, these opportunities to collaborate and dialogue can stimulate teachers to acquire new coping skills (Moll, 2013) . Shen et al. (2012) and Kearney (2015) emphasized the importance of school leadership in affirming and comprehensibly assessing new teachers’ performance. Research shows that new teachers often feel isolated and uncertain about their job performance status when left to interpretation. They need direct communication with school leadership to measure progress, accountability, and problem-solve (Avalos & Valenzuela, 2016; Hopkins & Spillane, 2014) .

 3.3. Student Discipline and Motivation (and Well-Being)

According to research, teachers believe student conduct, a lack of motivation, and responding to difficult parents to be significant barriers that impact their ability to perform duties and intensify their frustration (Ratcliff et al., 2010) . Student populations have changed, and the ability of teachers to manage behavior could be a stressfully daunting task at any stage in their careers (Aloe et al., 2014) . According to Donaldson and Johnson (2011) , student misbehavior and classroom management were significant stressors that increased teacher attrition.

 3.4. Lack of Professional Autonomy

Rosenheck (2023) notes that although teachers are trained to be experts and are employed for that reason, they often lack the recognition or autonomy to perform their jobs. More than two-thirds of teachers report that they have less than a great deal of control over what they teach in the classroom (71.3%) and what instructional materials they use (74.5%), which adds to the stress and shows their expertise and judgment are not valued (NCES, 2015-2016) . Survey data examined how politicization affects teachers’ instructional strategies, mental health, assessments of the climate in their schools and districts, and intentions to leave their positions. Findings revealed that educators who complained of being bullied over politically charged matters had lower well-being levels and negative impressions of their school or district (Woo et al., 2022) .

 4. Impact of Pay: Poverty

Research has revealed disturbing teacher pay trends over the last 18 years. “Simply put, teachers are paid less (in weekly wages and total compensation) than their non-teaching college-educated counterparts, and the situation has worsened considerably over time” (Allegretto, 2022: p 1) . Even after accounting for changes in the work year, U.S. teacher earnings in 2019 amounted to just 80% of other college graduates. In contrast, teachers in several European and Asian countries, whose salaries are, on average, comparable to those of other college graduates (Allegretto & Mishel, 2020) . Among college-bound students and those taking entrance exams, many interested in teaching as a career choose to sidestep the profession in place of higher-paying career options due to low pay (Croft et al., 2018; PDK, 2018) .

Perry (2019) found that many teachers cannot afford to live near the school communities they are teaching in. One of several examples he cited was the San Francisco metropolitan area, where P-12 teachers earn a median salary of $67,138 but struggle financially to reside close to their communities when the average rent is over $20,000 per year. An increased number of teachers are working second jobs and full-time non-teaching jobs due to low and declining pay. Moreover, many of these teachers chose to take on part-time work not merely to supplement income but, for some, to make enough money to avoid falling into debt (Reilly, 2018; Long, 2019; Talley et al., 2018) .

Median home statistics and starting master’s pay by state
State Median Home Price Median Home size (in square feet) Median Household Income Starting master's pay Does Starting Master's Pay exceed Median Household Income? If not by how much?
Alabama $165,200 1996 $52,035 $47,242 No ($4793)
Alaska $293,400 1857 $77,790 NA
Arizona $349,300 1942 $61,529 $43,211 No ($18,318)
Arkansas $145,300 1865 $49,475 $39,995 No ($9480)
California $684,800 1778 $78,672 NA
Colorado $488,600 2243 $75,231 $39,313 No ($35,918)
Connecticut $318,400 1942 $79,855 $51,478 No ($28,377)
Delaware $304,500 2164 $69,110 $49,416 No ($19,694)
Florida $294,900 1715 $57,703 $46,561 No ($11,142)
Georgia $240,400 2159 $61,224 $43,902 No ($17,322)
Hawaii $732,000 1229 $83,173 $54,132 No ($29,041)
Idaho $398,900 2192 $58,915 $41,233 No ($17,682)
Illinois $234,000 1650 $68,428 $45,400 No ($23,028)
Indiana $186,100 1904 $58,235 NA
Iowa $161,700 1604 $61,836 NA
Kansas $177,400 1987 $61,091 $42,159 No ($18,932)
Kentucky $165,900 1823 $52,238 $41,180 No ($11,058)
Louisiana $189,200 1923 $50,800 $42,951 No ($7849)
Maine $301,700 1666 $59,489 $40,308 No ($19,181)
Maryland $361,900 1862 $87,063 $51,619 No ($35,444)
Massachusetts $510,500 1805 $84,385 $52,310 No ($32,075)
Michigan $207,800 1617 $59,234 $42,423 No ($16,811)
Minnesota $300,100 1981 $73,382 $46,363 No ($27,019)
Mississippi $141,900 2033 $46,511 $39,095 No ($7416)
Missouri $194,000 1799 $57,290 $36,124 No ($21,166)
Montana $353,700 2108 $56,539 $36,670 No ($19,869)
Nebraska $205,200 2040 $63,015 $43,251 No ($19,764)
Nevada $358,400 1925 $62,043 $47,621 No ($14,422)
New Hampshire $357,000 1889 $77,923 $43,489 No ($34,434)
New Jersey $397,900 1724 $85,245 $57,845 No ($27,400)
New Mexico $246,000 1996 $51,243 $42,703 No ($8540)
New York $373,000 1528 $71,117 $52,170 No ($18,947)
North Carolina $242,300 2018 $56,642 $40,839 No ($15,803)
North Dakota $240,200 2145 $65,315 $44,808 No ($20,507)
Ohio $179,700 1691 $58,116 $42,341 No ($15,775)
Oklahoma $146,600 1855 $53,840 $39,508 No ($14,332)
Oregon $438,100 1870 $65,667 $43,744 No ($21,923)
Pennsylvania $234,800 1728 $63,627 $50,703 No ($12,924)
Rhode Island $375,800 1576 $70,305 $47,696 No ($22,609)
South Carolina $223,400 1964 $54,864 $43,029 No ($11,835)
South Dakota $239,500 1853 $59,896 $44,063 No ($15,833)
Tennessee $231,600 2055 $54,833 $42,327 No ($12,506)
Texas $243,600 2073 $63,826 $47,569 No ($16,257)
Utah $458,900 2522 $74,197 $48,354 No ($25,843)
Vermont $294,100 1968 $63,477 $45,846 No ($17,631)
Virginia $329,200 2009 $76,398 $44,918 ($31,480)
Washington $504,200 2025 $77,006 $60,253 ($16,753)
West Virginia $114,600 1789 $48,037 $40,813 ($7224)
Wisconsin $231,300 1800 $63,293 NA
Wyoming $272,700 2198 $65,304 $51,280 ($14,024)
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