Teachers’ pay falls behind that of other college-educated workers, new study finds

The weekly pay of Virginia teachers in the last four years has fallen 31 percent lower than the wages of other college-educated workers, according to a report by the Economic Policy Institute.

The Washington D.C.-based liberal-leaning think tank found that teachers in every state make less than their similarly-educated peers. Virginia was third from the bottom on the list, behind Washington and Arizona, where teachers make 31.6 and 32.6 percent, respectively, less than others.

“Providing teachers with a decent middle-class living commensurate with other professionals with similar education is not simply a matter of fairness,” the EPI report states. “Effective teachers are the most important school-based determinant of student educational performance. To promote children’s success in school, schools must retain credentialed teachers and ensure that teaching remains an attractive career option for college-bound students. Pay is an important component of retention and recruitment.”