Teacher Salaries: Too Much? Too Little?

Regarding the recent article from DNAInfo about teacher pay…(since I’ve received texts and emails.)

I’m not going to provide an answer to what I think of teacher pay within Chicago Public Schools. Because the answer isn’t simply connected to a number. It is also very connected to how we value public education and the people spending as much (or more) waking time with our children per year than we spend with them as their guardians. It’s dependent upon our collective perceptions of equity between professions; what benefits cities can afford to pay; the constraints we require of teachers (such as demanding that they live within city limits, certifications/re-certifications, high school vs. elementary school professions, specialists, etc.) Salary and benefits affect recruitment and retention, as well as experience and expertise, so what we value in terms of reducing teacher turnover, putting qualified and experienced teachers in classrooms, etc. also has an effect on our perception of “fair” pay.

I will point out that salary information is a matter of public record, so if you wish to look at the specific teacher salary data in Chicago, it is available.

Here is the salary data on record for educators in the City of Chicago–including charter and alternative schools and Central Office–listed in 2015 2013-2014.

Some of what this dataset includes:

• Names of teachers and administrators listed as receiving compensation within CPS for 2015 2013-2014.
• Location, gender, race of those listed.
• Full time equivalent (so you can’t assume all are listed as full-time)
• Base salary, retirement/other benefits cost, bonuses, sick/vacation days.
• ADDED BUT HAVE NOT AUDITED (use with caution): Grades served at assigned school, District-Run vs. Contract/Charter/Alternative School **

**Some charter networks have multiple schools that could be classified as Elementary or High School and it was difficult to assign teachers to specific charter locations. Some schools serve grades beyond the binary classification of Elementary vs. High School and those were noted where possible.

What this dataset does not include:

• Type of education/training of those listed
• Level of education of those listed
• Years of experience

Here is a primer on the differences between mean, median, and mode and how they are affected by outliers before you look at the data.

Enjoy.