Illinois Raises Minimum Teachers Salary To $40,000

ILLINOIS — Starting next year, some Illinois teachers will get a salary increase thanks to a new law signed Thursday by Gov. J.B. Pritzker. The law raises the minimum salary for full-time teachers to $40,000 by the 2023-2024 school year, with gradual increases beginning in the 2020-21 school year.

The increase schedule is as follows:

• $32,076 minimum for 2020-2021
• $34,576 minimum for 2021-2022
• $37,076 minimum for 2022-2023
• $40,000 minimum for 2023-2024

After 2023-2024, the minimum salary will increase based on the Consumer Price Index, subject to approval by the General Assembly.

Pritzker signed the legislation a year after previous Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed a similar bill that would have increased the minimum salary for full-time teachers to $40,000 over a five-year period.

Pritzker on Thursday signed House Bill 2078, which replaces previous state law that set the minimum salary at $10,000 for teachers with a bachelor's degree and $11,000 for those with master's degrees.

According to a 2018 report from the National Education Association, the average Illinois public school teacher in Illinois makes $65,721. Illinois ranks 11th for teacher salaries compared with the rest of the nation, according to a nationwide analysis published by the NEA.

"An analysis of Illinois State Board of Education data shows that fewer than 8,000 of the state’s 130,000 teachers make less than $40,000," the Illinois Education Association said in June. "Illinois could bring all of the teachers currently being paid less than $40,000 up to the $40,000 mark this year and only use 10 percent of the evidence-based funding formula dollars."

What do you think of the new minimum teachers salary in Illinois? Is it enough or too much? Sound off in the comments.