Kentucky ranks 41st in nation for average teacher pay

LEXINGTON, Ky. ( FOX 56 ) — The school year is ending, and many schools’ systems wonder if they’ll have enough teachers when the next semester rolls around. That’s because a new report shows that Kentucky teachers are among the poorest paid teachers in the nation.

This week, the National Education Association (NEA) released its latest teacher salary data, showing that the starting pay for teachers in Kentucky is $39,204. Only five states pay less than that.

The president of the Kentucky Education Association (KEA) says it’s concerning that despite all the talk about teacher shortages and retention, the state is not moving up in the rankings.

“Educators are being asked to do more and more and more with less and less and less,” said KEA president Eddie Campbell.

The saying goes that education is key, but teachers say it’s hard for them to open doors when their pay doesn’t make the grade.

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According to the new report, Kentucky teachers continue to make less than the national average.

“When you adjust for inflation, we’re actually about 5% behind. So, we’re not keeping up with other professions in terms of pay; we’re not keeping up with inflations,” said Campbell. “Their salaries aren’t matching the professional pay because, you know, it doesn’t matter what your position is—if you’re in transportation, if you’re in food service, if you’re an aid, if you’re a secretary, if you’re a teacher—you know, there’s lots of training, there’s degrees that go along with a lot of those positions, and we should be paid as the professionals we are.”

The average teacher salary in Kentucky is $56,296, which is less than the $57,026 economists consider to be the minimum living wage, and it takes time to get there, with starting pay under $40,000 a year.

Campbell said lawmakers will continue to deal with teacher shortages if something doesn’t change.

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“I think our legislature really missed out on an historic opportunity to really invest in our public schools so that we can recruit and retain the best and the brightest into the education profession. 90% of the children in the state of Kentucky attend a public school, and we want to make sure that we have highly skilled, highly qualified educators there with students every single day, making sure that they have every opportunity possible to be successful,” Campbell said.

Campbell said now that the general session is over, KEA will shift its focus from Frankfort and lobby local school boards to find more money for teachers.

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