Where are teachers starting at $40,000? That was 10 year salary in most of the US not even 5 years ago. My brother, his wife, and one of my sisters all started at ≈$24,000 a year, and they still had to supply their classrooms with basic supplies. They all got into teaching at completely different points over the last 19 years. One in '05, one in '12, and the last in '16 and they all started at ≈$24,000 a year. This was in Indiana, Georgia, and Virginia.
Straight from the National Education Association website.. This is a .org pro teacher and pro education website that is actively trying to increase teacher pay.
The National average for NEW teachers is $44,530. 28 percent of districts that staff a total of 300,000 teachers start at below $40,000. However, 23 percent of districts start at over $50,000, and those districts staff a total of 1,300,000 teachers. So over four times more teachers start over $50k, compared to the under $40k crowd.
Furthermore, Montana and Missouri have the lowest average starting teacher salaries and they are still at $34,500 and $36,800. So even if you’re in the dead last worst off state in the country, you’re still average new teacher salary is about $35,000.
So your numbers you have are a far, far, cry from reality for all but the lowest paid teachers in the lowest paid areas and are like a decade back from today’s rates.
As a completely superficial note, my friend just got her first full time teaching job for grade school and is in the 2nd lowest paying state for new teachers in the country; Missouri. Her starting salary is $51,000.
So if you want to have any argument or discussion about my original statement for teacher salaries being incorrect, do as I have and back it up with facts and sources.
Thats because teachers have been fighting tooth and nail to get a proper salary and its still fucking awful.