Isle teachers’ salaries
fall further below
U.S. average
A typical teacher's salary rose 3.3 percent nationally in the 2002-03 school year, but the average salary for Hawaii teachers fell, according to a teachers union survey released yesterday.
Hawaii's average teacher salary remained below the national average and actually fell 3.5 percent for the 2002-03 school year, according to an annual report by the American Federation of Teachers.
Nationally, teachers were paid an average of $45,771 last year, a figure not keeping pace with educators' expenses, the report said.
The 1.3 million-member union gets its financial data from state education departments.
The pay range varies significantly by state, accounting for differences in cost of living and the way salary packages are set up.
California paid the highest average salary, $55,693. South Dakota had the lowest, $32,414.
Hawaii ranked 21st in the nation with an average teacher salary of $42,768, down from 17th place last year, when the average teacher salary in the islands was $44,306.
The report blamed the change on retirements and less expensive new hires.
Guam ranked near the bottom with an average teacher salary of $34,738.
Starting salaries for new teachers in Hawaii fared better, rising 6.3 percent in 2002-03 to $34,000, placing the state seventh in the nation.
Nationally, new teachers were paid an average of $29,564 last year, an increase of 3.2 percent. Guam's starting teacher salary remained the same from 2001-02 to 2002-03 at $29,878.
A call to the Hawaii State Teachers Association, the union that represents the state's teachers, was not immediately returned.
Under the most recent public school teachers contract ratified in May, starting teacher salaries will increase nearly $2,200 this year to $36,486 per year.
Teachers receiving top scale will see their annual pay increase more than $2,500, to $66,203.
American Federation of Teachers
www.aft.org