The Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy released a research brief on how Idaho’s investment in teachers compares to the rest of the nation and the resulting implications for children across the state.
Sasha Pierson, policy analyst at the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy, summarized the findings, “The nation has seen an unprecedented number of teacher strikes over the last year after some states chipped away at resources available to public schools. In two of the six states that experienced the strikes, teachers were paid more than their counterparts in Idaho in the 2016-17 school year. Teachers who went on strike for increased school funding in Kentucky, for example, earned about $4,800 more than teachers in Idaho, who did not strike.”
Idaho recently entered the fourth year of a five-year plan to invest an additional $250 million towards a teacher career ladder. Since Idaho began investing in the teacher career ladder in 2015, teacher compensation has gone up almost 9 percent, but only in nominal terms. After adjusting for inflation there has been less than a 1 percent increase, which has a much smaller impact on the ability of teachers to pay their bills.
To continue reading this report, please open the PDF here.