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Wage Gap Example In 2016-17, the statewide average beginning BA salary for teachers was $33,984. If teacher compensation was equitable to other similarly educated peers, the average salary would be $37,120, including all benefits. Each county in Maine is different with adjustments made by the cost of living index. In Androscoggin County, for example, in order to have the purchasing power of the statewide average without the teacher compensation penalty, a teacher at BA minimum would have to earn $36,131. The current average salary in Androscoggin County is $2,307 less than that, meaning, on average, teachers on the BA minimum in Androscoggin County are $2,307, or 6.4%, behind their peers. Over the course of a career, this disadvantage represents a substantial amount of money. To see a complete list of county-by-county data for Master’s Degree, log on to Maine Educator Online.
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County by County Comparison of Teacher Pay vs. Similar Professional Pay The MEA is continually working to provide members useful information regarding your salary and benefits. In each issue of Maine Educator this year you will find something related to these important topics that you can learn from and hopefully use to better your personal livelihood. In this issue, Maine Educator, with the help of MEA’s Director of Collective Bargaining and Research, CJ Betit, took a closer look at the wage gap of professionals with comparable education in relation to what teachers earn, with similar education. In terms of the teacher wage gap, the comparison to other similarly-situated districts is calculated based upon findings in an Economic Policy Institute report that found, on average, in Maine when comparing public school teacher and non-teacher
college graduates weekly wages, Maine teachers with a BA make 87% of their similarly-situated peers while Maine teachers with a Master's make 75% of their similarly-situated peers. However, the report also finds teachers have a more attractive benefit package than other similar-situated professionals so that measuring just the wages overstates the teachers compensation disadvantage. The report found nationally, nearly 35% of the compensation disadvantage for teachers is eliminated when factoring in the benefit advantage. The table below has been adjusted to reflect this 35% benefit advantage. The salaries in the table reflect what the average salary at each level would be in each county relative to the statewide average when taking into account both the cost of living difference between counties and the teacher penalty.
Cost of Living Example If the average teacher salary is $52,000 statewide, in order to have the same purchasing power as the statewide average, a teacher in Cumberland County would need to earn $54,894 while a teacher in Aroostook County would need to earn $49,136.
Please note: The columns titled Minimum, Step 10 and Maximum are the average for a non-teacher with a Bachelor’s Degree in each county adjusted for the cost of living compared to the average statewide salary, and includes an Bachelor's Degree adjustment to be equitable to their similarly education peers. The column titled Teacher Penalty is how much less or more a teacher actually earns in that county compared to their similarly-educated peers. Cost of Living vs. State Avg. Min Actual Step 10 Actual Max Actual Androscoggin 97.3% $36,131 -$2,307 $47,370 -$1,957 $61,313 -$2,833 Aroostook 94.5% $35,076 -$4,266 $45,988 -$4,796 $59,524 -$5,104 Cumberland 105.6% $39,187 -$2,736 $51,377 $462 $66,499 -$449 Franklin 94.7% $35,171 -$1,891 $46,112 -$5,483 $59,685 -$4,665 Hancock 99.1% $36,799 -$2,798 $48,247 -$6,413 $62,448 -$9,610 Kennebec 97.0% $35,994 -$2,155 $47,192 -$3,427 $61,082 -$336 Knox 100.0% $37,120 -$478 $48,667 -$875 $62,992 -$677 Lincoln 98.7% $36,647 -$300 $48,048 -$220 $62,190 $1,632 Oxford 95.1% $35,301 -$1,707 $46,283 -$2,895 $59,906 -$2,658 Penobscot 97.7% $36,277 -$3,197 $47,563 -$4,483 $61,563 -$3,817 Piscataquis 94.9% $35,227 -$765 $46,186 -$2,603 $59,780 -$2,622 Sagadahoc 101.1% $37,524 -$3,121 $49,197 $439 $63,677 $3,995 Somerset 95.7% $35,524 -$687 $46,575 -$2,022 $60,283 -$5,406 Waldo 97.2% $36,088 -$1,095 $47,315 -$1,572 $61,242 -$3,211 Washington 94.5% $35,090 -$3,972 $46,006 -$7,396 $59,547 -$10,652 York 104.4% $38,764 -$2,168 $50,822 $138 $65,781 -$4,084 STATEWIDE 100.0% $37,120 -$3,137 $48,668 -$4,112 $62,993 -$5,323 STATEWIDE $33,984 $44,556 $57,670 TEACHER CURRENT 26
Maine Educator • September 2017
