Alaska teacher salaries are not competitive compared to the national average when cost of living is taken into account, UAA study finds

Teacher salaries in Alaska are not competitive compared to many areas in the bottom 48 states, a new study finds. University of Alaska Anchorage Social and Economic Research Institute.

Matthew Berman, a UAA economics professor and one of two authors of a research paper published last month, found that when adjusted for Alaska's high cost of living, teacher salaries in Alaska are lower than the national average. He said it was below.

Public school funding and teacher pay issues have become a major focus of the Alaska Legislature and local school boards across the state. Last week, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy vetoed an education package that was overwhelmingly passed by the state Legislature and would have been the largest nominal increase in school funding in Alaska's history. The governor said he vetoed the bill because some of his priorities, such as teacher bonuses and charter school provisions, were not included in the bill. The vote to override the veto was rejected 39-20, just one vote short of the 40-member threshold.

The study comes at a time when Alaska school districts are having great trouble attracting and retaining qualified teachers.

Many education advocates, superintendents, and school board members say that with flat state education funding and a lack of defined benefit retirement plans, offering higher wages and better benefits to retain teachers He says it is becoming difficult to do so.

Berman and Dana DeFeo, director of the university's Alaska Education Policy Research Center, noted in their study that this is not a new problem. When accounting for cost of living differences, teachers in Alaska earn on average below-average salaries. National average for the past few decades.

[With hope fading for additional state education funding, Alaska’s rural school districts prepare to make difficult cuts]

What's new is that teacher salaries across the country have not kept up with inflation in recent years, contributing to the nationwide teacher shortage, Berman said. That makes it even more difficult for Alaska schools to remain competitive and fill open positions.

Dunleavy and lawmakers suggested this month that there is still a chance Alaska school districts could expect funding for public education by the end of the fiscal year, but they don't know when, how and how much money districts can expect. It was not clear. Alaska lawmakers said this week they see no clear path to a new education spending bill.

With no additional state funding promised this year, some districts are facing additional financial uncertainty.

Funding and employment challenges appear to be particularly acute in rural areas off the road network, where districts also face higher operating costs, fewer housing options, and a more severe climate. was found in research.

More expensive operations and a higher cost of living in these districts means salaries need to be higher to attract qualified teachers, the study said.

“If Alaska wants to attract and retain qualified educators, it needs to invest in teacher salaries,” Berman and DeFeo wrote.

The study is part of a response to a 2023 report from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development that examined teacher pay in the state since the 1980s, Berman said.

The report found that although the gap between Alaska's teacher pay and the Lower 48 states has narrowed, Alaska still ranks 10th in the nation for teacher salaries, about 11% higher than the national average. is shown. (Dunleavy administration staff withdrew the article as a cover story for Alaska Economic Trends in October. It was later published under a different headline in December, rather than as a cover story.)

But when Berman and DeFeo adjusted these numbers to account for Alaska's high cost of living, they found that teachers in Alaska actually earned an average of 25% less than teachers in the 48 states. .

In urban areas, the difference is smaller, Berman said. Anchorage teachers would need a 5% to 6% pay raise for the district to be nationally competitive. For rural teachers he will need closer to 25%.

“A gallon of milk costs more in Anchorage than in Albuquerque, and things are more expensive in Nome than in Anchorage,” the authors wrote in their study, which looked at the difference in salaries between locations. He explained the importance of paying attention to living expenses.

Berman and DeFeo also noted that Alaska teachers have historically earned more than teachers in the Lower 48 states, but over the past 20 years, as much of the country faces teacher shortages, He also noted that the gap is narrowing.

Nationwide, fewer people are choosing the teaching profession. The profession's high turnover rate means Alaska needs to offer higher salaries to recruit and retain teachers, the authors write.

Fair compensation was the No. 1 factor considered by Alaska teachers in a 2021 survey conducted by the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development. when deciding whether to leave or accept a job.

Dunleavy acknowledged the investigation in a press conference Friday and announced his intention to veto the education bill. He said the $58 million teacher bonus plan would be a way to test whether increased one-time income would help with teacher retention.

ISER's findings echo what Cory Eist, president of the Anchorage teachers union, has seen and heard from local educators.

“I think the important thing to look at is how much more Alaska educators can earn out of state,” said Mr. He added that he knows of teachers who are He was offered a $30,000 raise and pension.

“Raises and pensions. What's really driving teachers to retire is the alignment of those two things,” Eist said.

“Everyone is looking to greener pastures,” he said.