What many labeled the first year of “normalcy” since the pandemic, the 2022-23 school year proved to be a headache for many district leaders and educators alike. If you spent any time browsing the news over the past year, you might already know that K12 education is evolving and impacting school districts in nearly every state. And the data shows.
Scholaroo, a scholarship-help and research company, recently published its report on the condition of American public education, the newest snapshot of specific characteristics essential to public education in each state, including the number of school districts, enrollment, attendance, number of teachers, instructional staff, and teacher/instructional staff salaries.
The data provides district leaders with an update on the latest trends and statistics in their state. Readers can identify where their state ranks with respect to each characteristic, for instance, teacher pay. But first, let’s take a look at the report’s key findings:
Enrollment
In terms of student enrollment, Scholaroo identified two states in particular that stood out among the rest. Hawaii was the state with the largest enrollment decline this school year at 2% compared to 2022-23.
On the other hand, Montana recorded the largest increase in student enrollment at 2.45%.
Teacher variation
To this day, many states are still experiencing staff shortages, specifically teachers. One state, however, saw the largest dip in its teaching staff. Alabama recorded the largest variation of teachers in the country with a decrease of nearly 10% from the previous school year.
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Teacher salaries
Several studies have shed light on the state of teacher pay in America, including a recent report from the National Education Association. According to Scholaroo’s analysis, New York has the highest average teacher salaries for public school teachers at $91,097, followed by Massachusetts, California, Washington and Connecticut.
Comparably, New Jersey recorded one of the smallest variations in teacher pay with a nearly 0% change in teacher salaries compared to the previous year. Hawaii, on the other hand, saw the largest reduction in teacher pay compared to last year at 5.50%.
Worst states for teacher pay
Finally, looking only at average teacher salary data, Mississippi ranks last with an average salary of $47,902, coming behind West Virginia, South Dakota, Florida and Missouri.
