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     Many new teachers burnout in their first few years of teaching and quit (American University). The federal government needs to set a federal annual minimum salary for teachers based on the teacher’s annual living salary gap, and states need to raise teacher salaries systemically based on local inflation levels. Low salaries contribute to high teacher resignation rates and burnout among new teachers. MIT’s living wage calculator shows that teachers are not making a living salary in most of the country; 30% of new teachers left their schools between 2021 and 2023 (Education Resource Strategies), 75% of new teachers feel that their salary is unfair for the work they do (Ed Week Research Center 13), and “teachers report feeling undervalued by their administrators, colleagues, students, and even parents” (James). Although other factors lead to new teacher burnout and resignation, I will be addressing only one: teacher salary. I created this website with financial resources for teachers to help them find ways to support themselves and their classrooms on a teacher’s salary alone. This website compares annual teacher salaries with the annual living salary of each state to pull data and calculate that state’s annual living salary gap for elementary school teachers. I learned what elementary school teachers need to survive on just a teacher’s salary, without an annual living salary, in their first five years of teaching, because it is crucial for the next generation of teachers to understand how to support themselves in the future.

     When looking at teacher salaries, it is easy to see numbers increase every year and assume that these numbers are enough for elementary teachers. However, with the inflation rates in the U.S. rapidly increasing over the last 20 years, that annual raise is not what it needs to be. In 38 states, when adjusted for inflation, the average teacher salary in 2018 was lower than it was in 2009 (American Federation of Teachers 5). From 2012 to 2022, the average salary of teachers has declined by an estimated 6.4 percent (Walker, “Teacher Salaries Not Keeping up with Inflation”). This decline has caused the net salary for teachers, after pension, taxes, and Social Security are taken out, to be significantly lower than the average annual living salary. I am calling this difference the Teacher Annual Living Salary Gap. To get a precise amount for the teacher annual living salary gap of each state, I created an equation to find a state’s teacher annual living salary gap: (L + P) – S = G. ‘L’ is the required annual income before taxes that every adult in a state needs to support a single person living alone with no children. The data for ‘L’ is taken from the MIT Living Wage Calculator. ‘P’ is the percentage of salary taken out for Pension, Taxes, and/or Social Security. The data for ‘P’ is taken from the U.S. Treasury Department, the I.R.S., the Reason Foundation, and the Tax Foundation. ‘L’ and ‘P’ added together make the annual living salary for teachers before taxes in the state. This is necessary because paying into our pensions, social security, and taxes should not compromise the ability of new teachers to support themselves. ‘S’ is a state’s average salary for new elementary teachers with a bachelor’s degree. This is created by averaging the salaries of two cities in that state: the state capital and the largest city by population. The data for ‘S’ is taken from Salary.com. ‘G’ is the annual living salary gap for teachers in that state. I found that 60.77% of the United States has a teacher annual living salary gap of more than $10,000 for new elementary school teachers, and 11.76% has a teacher annual living salary gap of more than $20,000. On this website, each state has its own page with a more specific breakdown of its teacher annual living salary information and financial resources specific to that state.

     Even if you do not care about teachers’ salaries, this annual living salary gap leads to a problem that affects others: teachers burn out and resign from teaching. Burnout is a more temporary condition in which an educator has exhausted the personal and professional resources necessary to do the job (Walker, “Getting Serious about Teacher Burnout”). The symptoms of burnout include exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficiency. The signs of teacher burnout are constant fatigue, self-doubt, withdrawal from people, and a loss of drive to teach. From 2016 to 2021, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that more than 270,000 teachers have left the profession every year and projected this departure rate to continue through 2026. Some of these departures were attributed to retirement, but more than half of them were classified as occupational transfers (American University). The toll that burnout takes on teachers’ mental health leads to teacher absenteeism, which impacts students too. It affects the ability of students to learn, because teachers are one of the most important determinants of students’ academic success (Flannery). According to the NEA article “Getting Serious about Teacher Burnout,” “demoralization is equally prevalent”; it occurs when an educator believes they are unable to perform the work in ways that uphold the high standards of the profession. “Burnout and demoralization are meaningfully different forms of work dissatisfaction that each affect teachers’ ability to do their jobs and influence decisions to remain in the profession, Santoro says” (Walker, “Getting Serious about Teacher Burnout”). Devlin Peck lists low salaries as one of the reasons for teacher burnout, he also states that “their workload isn’t shrinking and salaries aren’t increasing. No wonder burnout is rising and a growing number of teachers are planning on quitting”. One of the teacher burnout statistics Peck lists for 2025 is: “Compensation is the #1 reason educators plan to quit their jobs” (Peck). This is why it is so important to raise teachers’ salaries systemically based on inflation. Money can not solve everything, but it can help make the lives of teachers easier.

     The most relevant challenge to my thinking is that money is not the primary factor contributing to teacher burnout and resignations. The EdWeek article “What Teacher Morale Looks Like in Every State” and an Arizona State University study both say that respect, recognition, achievement, work conditions, and positive relationships with students and colleagues are more important than money to motivate them. Teachers go into this profession with ideals of what we can achieve in the classroom and ways to help our students. Teachers put so much effort into teaching during our first five years, and it can be frustrating not to meet our goals. Teachers deal with systemic issues within their school districts and behavioral issues in the classroom. It is a hard job that can be overwhelming and lead to burnout. Najarro states:

A typical teacher works about 54 hours a week—with just under half of that time devoted to directly teaching students. While teachers cited the need for better pay to match the amount of work they put in each week, they also said support systems to help manage their workloads are crucial. It’ll take logistical changes such as reworking school calendars and prioritizing the social-emotional needs of both students and teachers [to make a difference for educators without a salary raise].

     However, despite this and low salaries, teacher morale is on the rise. It has risen 31 points since last school year (Kurtz and Baker). In the Arizona State University study, “Should I Stay or Should I Go? Understanding Teacher Motivation, Job Satisfaction, and Perceptions of Retention among Arizona Teachers,” salary was ranked the tenth most important job motivator for teachers; it was also ranked the number one reason why teachers leave the profession (Mertler 40). These low salaries lead many new teachers to work two to three jobs during the academic year. This can negatively impact current teachers in terms of their job satisfaction and their decision to return to teaching each year (Sherratt et al. 1), which shows that salary is connected to the other dominant factors contributing to teacher burnout and resignation.

     Although teachers enter the profession due to their personal values, money is still the main reason that teachers resign; “Compensation provides a livelihood and supports professional growth and accomplishment” (Stronge et al. 3). Due to these factors, in the future the federal government needs to set a federal annual minimum salary for teachers based on my teacher annual living salary gap equation. Teachers also need states to raise teacher salaries annually and systemically based on inflation levels. However, until that is a reality, I have created this website with financial resources for teachers in every state to help support themselves, their families, and students to bridge the annual living salary gap of teachers.

Word Count: 1,459

Addendum: Acknowledging the use of Generative AI

I acknowledge the use of AI during the last phase of making my project. I used ChatGPT and Grammarly to help me review my writing and title this website. I used EasyBib to aid me with some of my citations.

References

“Addressing Teacher Burnout: Causes, Symptoms, and Strategies: American University.” School of Education, American University, 15 Apr. 2024, soeonline.american.edu/blog/teacher-burnout/. 

Amy K. Glasmeier, “Living Wage Calculator,” Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2025. https://livingwage.mit.edu/, Accessed on 9 Apr. 2025.

Association, National Education. “Starting Teacher Pay.” NEA, http://www.nea.org/resource-library/educator-pay-and-student-spending-how-does-your-state-rank/starting-teacher. Accessed 14 Mar. 2025. 

A Decade of Neglect, American Federation of Teachers, 2018, http://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/media/2018/decade-of-neglect-2018.pdf. 

District of Columbia Teachers’ Retirement Plan 2023, District of Columbia Retirement Board, home.treasury.gov/system/files/241/SPD-Teachers-Plan-2023.pdf. Accessed 5 Apr. 2025.

“Examining School-Level Teacher Turnover Trends from 2021 to 2023: A New Angle on a Pervasive Issue.” Education Resource Strategies, 4 Dec. 2024, http://www.erstrategies.org/tap/teacher-turnover-trends-analysis/. 

“Federal Income Tax Rates and Brackets.” Internal Revenue Service, http://www.irs.gov/filing/federal-income-tax-rates-and-brackets. Accessed 23 Mar. 2025.

Flannery, Mary Ellen. “How Economic Pressure Affects Teachers.” NEA, http://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/how-economic-pressure-affects-teachers. Accessed 7 Feb. 2025.

“How Is Social Security Financed?” SSA, Press Office, 2025, http://www.ssa.gov/news/press/factsheets/HowAreSocialSecurity.htm. 

James, Samantha. “The Complete Guide to Teacher Burnout: Causes, Statistics, and Solutions.” Education Walkthrough, 1 Nov. 2024, educationwalkthrough.com/8-causes-of-teacher-burnout/. 

Kurtz, Holly, and Laura Baker. “What Teacher Morale Looks like in Every State.” The State of Teaching, The State of Teaching, 13 Mar. 2025, http://www.edweek.org/state-of-teaching/teaching-learning/what-teacher-morale-looks-like-in-every-state/2025/03. 

Kurtz, Holly. “A Profession in Crisis: Findings from a National Teacher Survey.” EdWeek Research Center, EdWeek Research Center, 16 Feb. 2024, http://www.edweek.org/research-center/reports/teaching-profession-in-crisis-national-teacher-survey.

Merrimack College. Ed Week Research Center, 2022, 1st Annual Merrimack College Teacher Survey: 2022 Results. Accessed 11 Mar. 2025. 

Mertler, Craig A. “Should I Stay or Should I go? Understanding Teacher Motivation, Job Satisfaction, and Perceptions of Retention Among Arizona Teachers.” International Research in Higher Education, vol. 1, no. 2, 24 Mar. 2016, https://doi.org/10.5430/irhe.v1n2p34. 

Najarro, Ileana. “Here’s How Many Hours a Week Teachers Work.” Education Week, Education Week, 26 Apr. 2022, http://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/heres-how-many-hours-a-week-teachers-work/2022/04#promo. 

Peck, Devlin. “Teacher Burnout Statistics: Why Teachers Quit in 2025: Devlin Peck.” RSS, http://www.devlinpeck.com/content/teacher-burnout-statistics. Accessed 11 Mar. 2025. 

Pensionzachary. “How Much Teachers Contribute to Their Retirement Benefits in Each State.” Reason Foundation, 24 Feb. 2025, reason.org/commentary/how-much-teachers-contribute-to-their-retirement-benefits-in-each-state/.

Salary.com, Site built by: “Salary.Com Salary Wizard- Do You Know What You’re Worth?: Salary-Calculator.” Salary.Com, http://www.salary.com/tools/salary-calculator/teacher-elementary-school?edu=EDLEV4&yrs=0. Accessed 26 Mar. 2025. 

Sherratt, Ellen, et al. “Raising the Bar on Teacher Pay.” THE TEACHER SALARY PROJECT, American Institutes For Research, May 2023, http://www.teachersalaryproject.org/reports.html. 

Stronge, James H., et al. “Attracting, Developing, Retaining—and Paying—Quality Teachers.” Teacher Pay & Teacher Quality: Attracting, Developing, & Retaining the Best Teachers, Corwin Press, Thousand Oaks, CA, 2006.

Walker, Tim. “Getting Serious about Teacher Burnout.” NEA, http://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/getting-serious-about-teacher-burnout. Accessed 11 Mar. 2025. 

Walker, Tim. “Teacher Salaries Not Keeping up with Inflation, NEA Report Finds.” NEA, http://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/teacher-salaries-not-keeping-inflation-nea-report-finds. Accessed 7 Feb. 2025. 

Yushkov, Andrey, et al. “2025 State Individual Income Tax Rates & Brackets.” Tax Foundation, 11 Mar. 2025, taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-income-tax-rates/.