DENVER (KDVR) — Teachers’ pay in Vermont and New Hampshire continues to lag behind the national average and, despite modest increases in compensation, isn’t enough to keep up with inflation, according to a new report.

According to new data released Tuesday by the National Education Association, the largest teachers’ union in the U.S., the average salary for a teacher in Vermont in 2022-23 was $66,536, a 3.7 percent increase over the previous school year.

In New Hampshire, teachers earned an average of $64,169, a 2.2% increase over the 2021-2022 school year.

Both states pay their teachers less than the national average of $69,544. The average pay increase for a teach in the U.S. was 4.1 percent, according to the NEA’s data.

Nowhere was the average teacher salary higher than in California, which dethroned New York as the top state for teachers’ pay. The average teacher in California is making more than $95,100 annually. That’s up almost $7,000 from the previous school year, bolstering California from No. 3 to the top of the list.

New York make $92,696 on average. In only one other state, Massachusetts, the average salary is more than $92,000. Rounding out the top five on NEA’s list were Massachusetts ($92,000), Washington ($86,804) and the District of Columbia ($84,882).

Educators just starting out are making far less at $44,530. NEA reports that is 3.9% more than in the 2021-2022 school year, but, when adjusted for inflation, “starting teacher salaries are now $4,273 below the 2008-2009 levels.”

Overall, NEA says teachers are receiving 5% less than they did 10 years ago because of inflation. In almost 20 states, the average salary fell below $60,000.

At the bottom of NEA’s list is West Virginia, where teachers are making less than $53,000 annually. Florida ($53,098) and South Dakota ($53,153) were close behind. Also in the bottom five were Mississippi ($53,354) and Missouri ($53,999).

Last year, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced legislation that would set the minimum pay for public school teachers at $60,000 a year following calls from President Joe Biden to give teachers raises. That bill was sent to a Senate committee in March 2023.

“While some elected leaders are doing what is right, too many students remain in schools where decision-makers have driven away quality educators by failing to provide competitive salaries and support, disrespecting the profession, and placing extraordinary pressure on individual educators to do more and more with less and less,” NEA President Becky Pringle said in a news release.

The interactive map below shows the average salary per state for the last school year, as well as the previous year’s average and how each state ranked in both years.

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