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Trump announces new auto tariffs in major trade war escalation; Florida child labor bill advances amid exploitation concerns; Indiana sets goal to boost 3rd grade reading proficiency; Kentucky doctors say GOP lawmakers' attempt to clarify abortion ban confuses instead.

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Newly released Signalgate messages include highly classified data. Americans see legal political spending as corruption. Activists say cuts to Medicaid would hurt maternity care, and cuts and changed rules at Social Security are causing customer service problems.

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Rural folks face significant clean air and water risks due to EPA cutbacks, a group of policymakers is working to expand rural health care via mobile clinics, and a new study maps Montana's news landscape.

Report: Teacher pay lags behind others with college degrees

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Monday, September 16, 2024   

Average teacher pay increased in 2023, but a new study shows it still lags far behind that of other college graduates.

Average weekly wages for teachers across the nation increased 1.7% last year. But it was still more than 26 percentage points below other college graduates.

Sylvia Allegretto, senior economist with the Center on Economic Policy Research, is author of the report - and said there's a vast disparity across states, with Idaho among the states falling behind.

"The worst is in Colorado at just over 38% - and then Idaho, the teacher pay gap is 27.1%," said Allegretto. "So, not really great news, but it's not the worst in the country."

Wyoming had the smallest gap between teacher pay and other college graduates, at 9%. Nearly three quarters of states had gaps larger than 20%.

Allegretto noted that the gap for teachers has increased significantly in recent decades, from about 6% in 1996 to more than 26% in 2023.

She said this is having far-reaching effects for a profession that's one of the most important in the country.

"Are we able to retain the teachers that are already in the profession?" said Allegretto. "And how are we going to attract and retain future students of today to choose teaching as a profession?"

Allegretto said more public investment in education will be necessary to correct this issue.

"There's not going to be one way to do this," said Allegretto, "but it is definitely going to take federal, state and local government effort."




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