How Hopatcong, Sparta Township Teachers' Salaries Stack Up In NJ

HOPATCONG, NJ — Getting a six-figure salary as a teacher isn't impossible anymore – even as many New Jersey school districts are dealing with declining state aid. Indeed, one New Jersey school district has an annual median pay of $113,869 while 19 others earn $90,000 or more.

After delays caused by the COVID crisis, the state released information to Patch this week that shows how much your school district, special services district, vocational district and charter school have been paying teachers this past year.

Teachers in the Hopatcong public school district are being paid $83,535 for the 2020-21 academic year, which ranks 47th among teachers statewide. Meanwhile, educators in Sparta Township public schools are earning $82,680 this year. The salary for both districts above the state average for public educators in New Jersey. In Hopatcong, data shows that teachers in the district took a 0.36 percent cut in pay from 2019-20, which ranks 524th among the state’s 652 public school districts, data shows while teachers in Sparta received a 7.36 percent pay increase, which ranks 75th statewide, data shows.

A full list of the state rankings for salaries and how much teacher’s pay either increase or dipped can be found here.

The information is part of the state Department of Education's Taxpayer's Guide to Education Spending that was just released, showing the median salary in every New Jersey school district and charter school.

“For decades, the Department of Education’s annual guide has provided members of the public with insight and information about the expenditures of their public school district,” said Angelica Allen-McMillan, acting commissioner of the state Department of Education. “This kind of transparent, unfiltered information can be the first step toward helping residents better understand the needs and priorities of their local schools.”

Overall, 231 school districts make more than the state median of $70,815, a 2 percent increase over the previous year. And it's not just the big towns or the regional districts that pay the most: Indeed, Ocean City is a great place to get a teaching job, where the median salary is $91,865. So is West Orange, which has a median salary of $90,172.

Patch also determined the difference in salaries between 2019 and 2020. Northfield in Atlantic County had the biggest increase, shooting to $78,482, a 45.71 percent increase. Stone Harbor in Cape May County had the biggest decrease, sinking to $67,565, a -18.68 percent drop.

The salary increases came to many districts despite suffering losses in state aid and the rising costs of getting kids back to school amid the COVID crisis. Read more: Gov. Murphy Releases New NJ State Aid Figures For Schools

In addition to median salaries, the state Department of Education site also shows each district's total spending, average daily enrollment and students from sending districts, the per-pupil costs and the district's total budget spending for 2019 and 2020.

Patch editor Tom Davis contributed reporting to this report.