Teacher pay tale amounts to fake news
Are teachers’ salaries simply low in Coeur d’Alene area high schools — or are they at the very bottom of a mine shaft?
There seems to be a dispute about that, following publication of a report from the Career Trends website that pegged local high school teachers’ average pay at $36,470 — the worst in the entire country.
Career Trends is produced by Graphiq, and bills itself as using “semantic technology to deliver deep insights via data-driven articles, visualizations and research tools.”
What Career Trends apparently “visualized” with its stunning claim that placed Coeur d’Alene area high schools as the worst-paying in the nation was a report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Before we get into the uproar over how much our teachers actually are paid, it’s worth noting the Bureau of Labor Statistics has produced some odd numbers in the past. Just a few months back, the Idaho Department of Labor took issue with BLS figures for salaries in Kootenai County, which it claimed were erroneously low.
IN OTHER words, feel free to be skeptical about any numbers coming from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Or as Coeur d’Alene School District spokesperson Laura Rumpler put it: “Here’s a tip: Trust local sources.”
Rumpler and her colleagues naturally were shocked — OK, outraged is probably a better word — to see that $36,470 salary number appear in print. They knew instantly it was wrong.
For one thing, the school wouldn’t be able to retain a full staff of qualified teachers at such a ridiculous pay level.
“Not a chance,” Rumpler said. “I don’t know where (the BLS) came up with their numbers, but they aren’t even close. Common sense would tell you that.”
According to Rumpler, the average salary for high school teachers in the district is $45,668 — which she acknowledged is lower than the district would like, but nowhere near the published figures that placed the school dead last in the United States.
If the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ national average is correct ($57,200), Coeur d’Alene area high schools thus would be paying about 30 percent under that average.
Again using the BLS ranking of various cities and high schools, the corrected number would pull Coeur d’Alene off the bottom of the pile — but the jump is only to 33rd-worst in the country.
IT’S NICE to know we’re not floundering around in last place, but local teachers aren’t exactly getting rich, either.
The United Way produces a study that places households in various income categories, and one unique level bears the acronym ALICE — which stands for “Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.”
If your tongue trips over that jumble of words, let’s make it easier: A family in the ALICE category can be considered as the working poor. These are households that face a constant battle to meet basic needs, and rarely have money for savings or discretionary spending.
Using cost of living figures for Kootenai County, the United Way’s chart suggests a family of four — with one preschooler in child care — needs an annual income of $48,000 just to survive in the ALICE category.
Bottom line: Coeur d’Alene area teachers are not the worst-paid in the nation, but — like educators throughout the state — they earn far less than their critical work demands.
It’s nice not to be in last place, but let’s not kid ourselves.
Teachers here are still terribly underpaid, and the Idaho Legislature giving a constant backhand to education remains a recipe for long-term disaster.
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Steve Cameron is a special assignment reporter for The Press. Email [email protected].