PSEA report details data on teacher pay, student performance, school funding

WILKES-BARRE — PSEA President Aaron Chapin on Tuesday said a new report provides up-to-date facts and information about Pennsylvania’s public schools to help stakeholders better understand the challenges and opportunities being faced.

“As Pennsylvania’s 1.7 million students head back to school, we hope this report will be a resource to everyone who cares about Pennsylvania’s public school system and wants our schools to be the best they can be,” Chapin said.

The Pennsylvania State Education Association has released a comprehensive report highlighting key facts and data on the state’s public schools, educator compensation, district staffing & funding, and student performance.

Chapin said the report is designed to be a resource for educators, staff, students, parents, community, elected leaders, and the media.

The report, titled “Fundamental Facts: Pennsylvania Public Education,” can be found in full at — www.psea.org/fundamentalfacts — including sources for all data.

Educator pay has decreased relative to inflation

The report states that both Pennsylvania’s average starting educator salary and average teacher salary have declined relative to inflation over the past three decades.

The average teacher salary of $74,945 in 2022-23 was 16.5% lower than the inflation-adjusted 1995-96 average salary of $89,743 — a difference of $14,798.

Similarly, the average starting educator salary in 2023-24 was $50,043 — 12.5% ($7,148) lower than the inflation-adjusted 1995-96 average starting salary of $57,191.

Chapin said PSEA has been a strong advocate for raising Pennsylvania’s minimum teacher salary to $60,000 a year and paying school support staff a living wage of at least $20 an hour.

“Pennsylvania schools are strong because of the quality of our educators and support staff,” Chapin said. “If we want to attract and retain them, salaries and wages need to reflect the value of our members’ work.”

PA schools among best in nation

Test scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2022 National Report Card indicate that Pennsylvania’s public schools continue to be among the best in the nation.

Among fourth graders, only one state has statistically significant higher fourth-grade math scores than Pennsylvania, and only three states have statistically significant higher fourth-grade reading scores. Among eighth graders, six states have statistically significant higher reading scores, while 12 have statistically significant higher math scores.

The report also states that Pennsylvania is also a leader in post-secondary education, with more than six out of 10 high school graduates planning to continue their education after high school. Pennsylvania ranks 14th in the nation in the percentage of full-time college students who complete their bachelor’s degrees.

Basic education funding up from historic low

The report states that the basic education subsidy was 37.3% of total school district expenditures in 2022-23 — a significant improvement from a historic low of 30.4% in 2020-21. At its peak in 1973-74, the share was 55%.

The estimated basic education subsidy for all school districts was $7.87 billion in 2023-24. The subsidy increased by 7.8% ($567 million) in 2023-24, 11.4% ($750 million) in 2022-23, and 4.8% ($300 million) in 2021-22.

The reports states that greater investment in public schools is particularly needed given Pennsylvania’s relatively high rate of children living in poverty.

In 2022, 15% of Pennsylvania children between the ages of six and 17 lived in families with incomes below the federal poverty level. The commonwealth ranked 20th highest among U.S. states in the percentage of children living in poverty.

“In the FY 2024-25 budget, Gov. Shapiro and the Legislature approved a historic increase in K-12 public education funding and delivered more than a billion new state dollars for Pennsylvania’s public schools,” Chapin said. “Even more importantly, they took a significant step toward fixing our broken public school funding system.

“It is critically important that we continue to make these investments to close adequacy gaps and ensure that every child can succeed, regardless of their ZIP codes.”

Chapin is a Stroudsburg Area middle school teacher and president of PSEA. An affiliate of the National Education Association, PSEA represents about 177,000 active and retired educators and school employees, aspiring educators, higher education staff, and health care workers in Pennsylvania.