RD43 - Biennial Report on Public School Teacher Compensation


Executive Summary:
Beginning Teacher Salaries

In the 2008-2009 school year, the average entry-level salary for Virginia public school teachers was $36,640. The Virginia entry-level teacher salary was 3.8% below the entry-level salary of private and state jobs requiring similar education and training. When adjusted to reflect the actual number of days worked annually (200 for teachers and 234 for private sector employees); the entry-level salary for Virginia public school teachers is 12.7% above that of private industry.

Entry-level salaries for teachers are 28.8% higher than salaries for comparable state positions. When adjusted to reflect the actual number of days worked annually (200 for teachers, 234 for state employees), the entry-level salary for Virginia public school teachers is 50.6% above that of comparable state employees.

The 2006-2007 survey by the American Federation of Teachers ranks Virginia 13th out of the fifty states and the District of Columbia in average salaries for beginning teachers. The Virginia average is 4.0% above the national average for beginning teacher’s salaries.

Average Teacher Salaries

According to the National Education Association, Virginia’s average salary for public school teachers was $46,796 in 2007/2008, and this ranked Virginia as 30th among 50 states and the District of Columbia for that year. According the an American Federation of Teachers survey, the average public school teacher salary in Virginia ranked second among 12 states in the southeastern United States in 2006-2007. The Virginia average was 11.1% higher than the southeastern states’ average and 96.3% of the national average.

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) reported that the average Virginia teacher salary was $46,690 in 2007-2008, ranking it 8th among the organization’s 16 member states. Since 1997, Virginia ranked 17th among the 50 states with a ten- year inflation-adjusted increase of 6.70%. The comparable U.S. average was 2.80%.

Final decisions on increases to teacher salaries are made by localities. Average budgeted salaries for the 2008-2009 school year ranged from a high of $82,171 for Thomas Jefferson High School to a low of $30,296 for the Regional Alternative Education/King William County. Among the cities and counties, the highest budgeted average in 2008-2009 was $72,075 in Alexandria City, while the lowest was $37,180 in Bland County.

Actions Taken to Improve Teacher Salaries

Local school boards engaged in a variety of initiatives aimed at increasing teacher pay. In 2008-2009, most jurisdictions reported increases for their teachers’ salaries. The highest budgeted increase planned was 10.0%, granted by Dickenson County, Russell County, and Project Bridge/Russell County. The average increase for all localities was 2.75%.

In the 2009 Appropriation Act, Chapter 781 of the 2009 Virginia Acts of Assembly, the General Assembly proposed and the Governor approved a budget which eliminated funding for a July 1, 2009, 2.0% salary increase for instructional and support positions. The 2.0% increase had been approved by the 2008 Session of the General Assembly, with the intent that average instructional salaries be improved throughout the state by at least 2.0%.