What Georgia Teachers Earn: Pay Stub Photo Sparks Discussion

When an Arizona teacher recently posted a photo of her pay stub on social media, it prompted a national discussion over what teachers should be paid, perhaps the most debated educational topic other than school safety. Low pay prompted teachers in West Virginia to go on strike for nine days. Georgia teachers fare better than some of their counterparts, even while earning nearly $4,000 less than the national average.

According to the National Education Association, Georgia has the 23rd-highest average salary for teachers in the country at $54,190 in 2016. Their average salary increased 1.5 percent in 2016 from the year before, one of the larger increases in the country.

The organization says teachers in neighboring Florida have the 35th-highest average salary at $49,199 a year; Alabama's teacher pay ranks 37th at $48,518; and South Carolina's ranks 36th at $48,769.

The National Education Association – the largest national teacher's organization – reports the average teacher salary around the country is $58,353. That was up 1.3 percent from 2015.

New York teachers had the highest average salary in 2016 at $79,152 and South Dakota had the lowest at $42,025.

Teachers in Arizona are considering a strike. One of those teachers went on Facebook last week to draw attention to low pay and working conditions that she said are in desperate need of improvement.

"Something must be done," wrote Elisabeth Milich, a second-grade teacher in Paradise Valley outside of Phoenix. "Otherwise our poor children will be taught by unqualified, burned out, and just plain bad teachers!"

Milich's post included her recent pay stub to show just how much she makes. The stub highlights what he annual salary was and what it will be now that she has taken some professional development classes.
Her salary went to $35,621.25 from $35,490.

"I actually laughed when I saw the old salary vs. the new one," she wrote on Facebook. I mean, really, I need a college degree for this? I paid 80,000 for a college degree, I then paid several hundred more to transfer my certification to Az.

"I buy every roll of tape I use, every paper clip I use, every sharpie I grade with, every snack I feed kids who don't have them."

Milich wrote that without her husband's income, she could never afford to be a teacher in Arizona.

Patch researched how Milich's salary compares to the average in Arizona and the rest of the country. The NEA says that her salary is well below the state's average of $47,218.

"No one goes into teaching for the money," Milich wrote. "But we do need to eat and have a home!
"I'm sad for my single mom teacher friends working 3 jobs to make ends meet!"

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Reporting by Patch Editor Colin Miner

Photo via ShutterStock