Ohio Teachers' Average Salary Part Of National Discussion

CLEVELAND, OH — From West Virginia to Arizona, the topic of teacher pay has become the most discussed educational topic other than school safety. The teachers in West Virginia went on strike for nine days and now an Arizona teacher has sparked renewed dialogue about what teachers earn.

Here, in Ohio, teachers were paid $56,441 annually, on average, in 2016, the 21st highest average annual salary for educators in the nation, according to the National Education Association (NEA). By comparison, teachers in West Virginia were earning $45,622 in 2016.

Teachers salaries increased about 3.2 percent between 2015 and 2016 in Ohio. That's the fourth largest increase in that nation during that time period. Meanwhile, teachers in Arizona saw a pay decrease of about .5 percent in 2016 versus 2015.

Arizona already had the 37th lowest average salary for teachers in the country, at $47,218. The .5 percent decrease from 2015 to 2016 was the largest decrease in the nation.

Ohio's History of Strikes

The Buckeye State has seen its fair share of teachers' strikes. Perhaps the most notable was the 1981 Ravenna teachers strike, which saw educators walk out of the classroom for 85 straight days, protesting a lack of state funding for public education. It is the second longest teachers; strike in U.S. history.

Teachers also went on strike in Dayton, Brunswick, Boardman and Youngstown, according to Ohio History Connection. Multiple teachers were arrested along the way, but the Ravenna School Board eventually voted to increase teachers' wages, ending the strike.

Perhaps the most recent teachers' strike took place in the Northeast Ohio suburb of Strongsville in 2013. That strike lasted eight weeks. That contract was about wages and retirement benefits and ended with a new contract being written for the teachers.

Powder Keg Ready For A Strike?

Teachers in West Virginia had the second largest decrease with a .4 percent salary drop between 2015 and 2016. Frustrated as more cuts to healthcare and salaries were proposed by state legislature, West Virginia teachers led a statewide strike that shut down all the public schools in the state. The strikers won a 5 percent raise for all public employees.

Teachers in Arizona are moving in that direction.

One of those Arizona 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 $35,490.00.

"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 National Education Association – the largest national teacher's organization – says that her salary is well below the state's average of $47,218.

The NEA's research shows that the average teacher salary around the country is $58,353. That was up 1.3 percent from 2015. New York had the highest average salary in 2016 at $79,152 and South Dakota had the lowest at $42,025.

"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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