What is the average annual immediate cost to taxpayers of employing each full-time public school teacher in the U.S.?
Correct Answer
The national average immediate cost of employing a full-time public school teacher is $87,854, including salaries, bonuses, supplemental pay, and some of the benefits teachers receive. Adjusted for the costs of living in different states, teacher compensation varies from a low of $67,159 in Colorado to a high of $108,468 in Massachusetts. These figures do not include non-immediate costs like unfunded pension liabilities and post-employment benefits like health insurance. They also don't account for the fact that full-time private industry workers work an average of 37% more hours per year than public school teachers, including time spent for lesson preparation, test construction and grading, providing extra help to students, coaching, and other activities.
DocumentationTeacher Compensation