Let’s start with some good news. In 2019, the average Utah teacher salary was about $54,000. By 2022, it had gone up to $65,000, a 20 percent increase. Starting teacher salaries grew even more, and, with this last legislative session, the average starting salary for teachers in Utah will be close to $60,000.
This is no accident. In fact, also in 2019, Envision Utah brought together two dozen state, education, community and business leaders to figure out what teacher compensation needed to look like to ensure our students had the best educators possible. Part of the answer was a $60,000 starting salary, and we’ve been making progress towards that goal ever since.
But our “Vision for Teacher Excellence,” as we called our recommendations, was, by design, shortsighted. It was looking only at what teacher compensation would need to look like in 2019. It didn’t account for inflation or wage growth in other competitive industries. And it certainly did not account for a pandemic. We never intended to say what teacher compensation should be in 2023. So, we’re inviting everyone to consider what teacher compensation needs to look like — now, in 2023 and 2024. And we’ll propose a simple criteria: is what we’re doing working? Are we attracting and retaining the best teachers possible for our students?
Every year, about 3,000 teachers leave the classroom — some retire, some move to administration, some leave for family or other reasons.
Read the Vision for Teacher Excellence to learn about the strategies we can use to solve the teacher shortage.
A top concern is our teacher shortage. There is an imbalance of new teachers coming in, versus other teachers going out. Every year, about 3,000 teachers leave the classroom — some retire, some move to administration, some leave for family or other reasons. But only about 1,500 new teachers graduate college with a degree in education. This gap does not even take into account the additional teachers we need to keep up with growth. And just as troubling is the fact that teacher colleges have fewer students pursuing teaching degrees now than in recent years. In other words, what we’re doing isn’t quite working — at least not yet.
But think about what’s happened over the last few years. Every pay raise has also had to compete with inflation, the pandemic, and a wave of increased political tensions in education. Bottom line, approaching $60K starting salary is likely exactly what’s needed to happen over the past few years, but it might not be the starting salary that works next year or the next year.
Bottom line, approaching $60K starting salary is likely exactly what’s needed to happen over the past few years, but it might not be the starting salary that works next year or the next year.
What would any other company do in almost any other industry if they faced a shortage of talent? It’s actually pretty simple: they’d do whatever they could to retain their best people, and they’d figure out what it takes to recruit more people into their industries. Part of their solution — likely the bulk of the solution — would be more competitive compensation.
So what do we need to do to better retain the best teachers and bring top talent into the profession over the next few years? Somewhere between $60k and $70k is probably about right, especially if that’s coupled with meaningful and competitive growth. And we believe that growth should put teacher compensation at a truly competitive number like $110K and $125K by the end of their career.
Of course, we can’t stop just at salary. We need to look at better training and induction, scholarships, flexibility and growth opportunities, smaller class sizes and more.
We should be proud of where we’ve come in terms of teacher compensation, but we have not arrived yet. We haven’t fixed the teacher shortage. Better compensation is the market at work, and more competitive compensation will make teaching a more attractive career. More of our best and brightest students will compete to become teachers. Schools will be able to be more selective in who they hire or who they hold onto. Today’s educators will be better supported — and more effective without the need to hold second jobs. Teaching will improve. And all these things will lead to the most important priority: better student outcomes.
Want to know more about what it takes to ensure our students have the best teachers possible? Explore the Vision for Teacher Excellence →