How much do teachers get paid in California?
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — With National Teacher Appreciation Week underway until Friday, schools are expressing gratitude for educators nationwide for their work in advancing student achievement.
However, teachers across the country are still calling for higher pay to keep up with the rising inflation rate, which according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is currently 3.5%. The inflation rate went up 0.4% in March from the month before.
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According to the latest data from the California Department of Education, the average annual salary of public school teachers in the state was just over $95,000 for the 2022-2023 academic year.
For the same school year, the national average salary for teachers, as reported by the National Education Association, is $69,500, which is 5% less than what they were paid a decade ago. However, the nationwide average is about 4% more compared to the 2021-2022 school year.
California is No. 1 on the NEA’s list of where teachers were paid the most on average from 2022-2023. The state saw a 7.5% increase in average teacher salaries from the 2021-2022 academic year.
In California, beginning elementary school teachers in districts averaging less than a thousand students made about $51,352, whereas new teachers in larger districts with more than 5,000 students made close to $59,000 per year.
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Meanwhile, the CDE reported a beginning high school teacher in a small district made an average of about $51,260 while a teacher in a large district with over 4,000 students had an average salary of $62,635.
Teachers working in unified school districts made slightly less, according to the data. Beginning teachers in districts with less than 1,500 students averaged an annual salary of about $47,600. New teachers in larger districts with over 20,000 students had an average salary close to $55,000.
The data was collected by the state superintendent of public instruction as required by California code. According to the CDE, the state superintendent is required to collect the statewide averages and percentage of expenditures by district type (elementary, high or unified) and by the districts’ annual average daily attendance.
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