Southeast States’ Teacher Salaries and Benefits Eta State Conference April 2016

Alabama Teacher Salaries

Alabama Teacher Salary Rankings Starting Salary $36,198 Average Salary $47,949

Alabama Teacher Retirement System Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) - provides benefits to qualified members employed by state- supported educational institutions Qualified Members - Public employees of K-12 school systems, two-year Community Colleges, four-year higher education institutions, and state education agencies. TRS Goal - to provide exceptional member services, including accurate and timely benefit payments to our eligible retirees, beneficiaries and survivors. TRS Tier 1 Active Members: Any member of the TRS who had service credit with the ERS or TRS prior to January 1, TRS Tier 2 Active Members: Any member of the TRS who had no service credit with the ERS or TRS prior to January 1, TRS -

Alabama Teacher Health Benefits ActiveHealth administers the Team Up for Health Wellness Program. ActiveHealthTeam Up for Health Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama administers the Hospital/Medical, Flexible Spending Accounts, and Supplemental Plans. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama MedImpact administers the Core Pharmacy, Specialty Pharmacy, and EGWP Pharmacy Programs. MedImpact VIVA Health administers an optional Hospital/Medical plan. VIVA Health Southland Benefit Solutions administers the Cancer, Dental, Indemnity, and Vision Optional Plans. Southland Benefit Solutions Health Insurance Plan -

Alabama Charter Schools No charter schools to date Alabama just signed a Charter School bill last March (2015) Bill will allow local school systems to set up charter schools Probably beginning in Fall 2016

Georgia Teacher Salaries

Georgia Teacher Salary Rankings Starting Salary $33,664 Average Salary $52,880

The Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) - benefits for qualified state- supported educational institutions members Permanent status position, not less than half-time Georgia Teacher Retirement System

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122 charter schools Average Yearly Salary in Atlanta, Georgia - $53,993 Beginning Salary - $44,464 annually Potential average income after several years on the job - $63,521 Georgia Charter Schools

Georgia Charter Schools

Mississippi Beginning Teacher Salaries $33,390Bachelors Degree $35,780 Masters $36,944 Specialist $38,108 Doctorate

Mississippi Salary Stats Top salary for public school educators with a bachelor’s degree is $51,785. Salary increases with advanced degrees.

Benefits - tuition, books, materials, and fees for three year maximum Requirements - geographical shortage area teacher with a Class A license Mississippi Teacher Fellowship Program

Mississippi Teacher Loan Repayment Program Benefits - eligible for up to $12,000 for undergraduate student loan forgiveness) Requirements - obtained teacher certification through an alternate route program; teaches in one of the geographical shortage areas or teaches specific high need courses Mississippi Teacher Fellowship Program

Moving Expense Reimbursement: Benefits (reimbursement maximum of $1000) Requirements (district approval; one-time award only) Housing Assistance for Teachers: Benefits (maximum grant of $6000 which pays closing costs for teacher) Requirements (house must be in same county as school district) Mississippi Teacher Fellowship Program

Mississippi Teacher Salary Starting Salary $31,184 Average Salary $41,814

Mississippi Retirement System Employees must be vested in the system. Until 6/30/07, vested after 4 years After 2007, vested after 8 years Have a voluntary supplemental tax- deferred defined contribution retirement savings plan offered through PERS to all state employees

Mississippi Teacher Health Benefits All full-time educators qualify for medical insurance. They must pay for any additional family members that are added to their policies. After retirement and before age 65, employees must pay for their medical insurance.

Mississippi Charter Schools 10 charter schools - no current data available Number of charter schools may increase Private schools in the state (257) serve 57,493 students. Average minority enrollment in these schools is 14%, and 75% are religiously affiliated Teachers often retire from the public schools and work for a private school to draw their full retirement. and

South Carolina Teacher Salaries Salary range - $28,000-$70,000 $49, 677 – salary variation between systems - wide range of factors - population, general market competitiveness Charleston - $47,800; Columbia $49,150, and Greenville $48,040 Starting salary for Greenville County - $33,259 for a Bachelor’s Degree; a teacher with 27+ $55, 632 Lexington range - $44,610-$74,988

South Carolina Teacher Salary Ranking Starting Salary $36,306 Average Salary $48,375

South Carolina Retirement System Teacher automatically enrolled in the state’s pension system -provides lifetime benefits SCRS - benefit program that requires a percentage contribute income to a fund. In the SCRS, Teacher contributes 7% of gross pay and employer contributes an additional 10.45%. Must meet following requirements: Age 65 or older with at least five years of service Any age with 28 years of service

South Carolina Health Benefits Salary of $30, annual leave days health, life, and dental insurance totaling $3,047.16; Retirement match, Social Security match; worker’s comp to $300.00; total dollar fringe benefits $13,206.31; Fringe benefits as a percent is 44% of annual salary

South Carolina Charter Schools 68 charter schools Charter and Private Schools are willing to pay a larger premium for teachers in hard-to-staff subjects than district schools A charter school’s base salary is $26,977 and goes to $46,314 A district’s base salary is $25, 888 and goes to $48,728 Private school’s base is $20,302 and goes to $34,348 (May 2002)

Tennessee Teacher Salary Licensed Educators - $50,463 Instructional Personnel - $50,175 Classroom Teachers - $47,979 Principals - $82,445 Superintendents - $115,078

Tennessee Teacher Salary Starting Salary $ Average Salary $47,563

Tennessee Retirement System Consolidated Retirement System Benefit pension plan covers state employees, higher education employees, K- 12 public school teachers, and employees of political subdivisions who have elected to participate in the plan. Benefits determined by a formula using the highest five-year average salary and years of service. Eligible to retire at age of 60 + five years of service or any age + 30 years of service

Tennessee Teacher Health Benefits Under the ACA, all employees in a school system must be offered health insurance. Districts can use the State Government Insurance Plan (SGIP) OR offer their own plan - must be at comparable or better than SGIP

Tennessee Charter Schools 105 charter schools Publicly-funded, privately-operated schools authorized by a local school district or the State Board of Education. By law, have autonomy in areas such as personnel and salary policies, curriculum and instruction methods, and financial decisions. Must meet the same academic performance standards as traditional public schools. Tennessee law allows for the creation of new charter schools and the conversion of traditional public schools into charter schools No set salary – differs per charter school

Virginia Teacher Salaries Teacher not considered state employees - hired by local districts Pay, per pupil expenditure, and benefits determined at the local level Large range in all of these categories Difficult to recruit/retain quality teachers in lower range districts Most districts provide supplements for graduate degrees that increase by degree level

Virginia Teacher Salary Starting Salary $37,848 Average Salary $48,670

Virginia Retirement System Most districts cover employees under VRS Some districts have 2 pay scales: Employees covered by VRS and those who are not. Richmond Public Schools - separate salary scales for people not covered by VRS (work less than 75% of full time contract, Employees covered under Richmond Retirement System, retired employees working in critical shortage areas, and employees who work full time for 2 VRS participating agencies)

Virginia Teacher Health Benefits Health insurance determined by local districts Contracted through private Health Insurance companies Different plan/tiers of service and payroll deduction amounts Most districts cover their employees under the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) Basic retirement – no health care benefits Law passed – covered by VRS and taught 15 years – gets funds to use toward insurance premiums

Virginia Charter Schools 9 public charter schools - serving 1,089 students Considered part of local district - different pay scales/benefits Pay scales for teachers - follow district’s pay scale/benefits schedule Other employees i.e. elective teachers/administrators employed by the charter school salaries/benefits not available – employed by private company

Per Pupil Expenditure by Region

Costs per Pupil by State Rankings 2016 Alabama: $8,562 Georgia: $9,247: $9,719 Mississippi: $8,164; $9,394 ( ) North Carolina: $8,200 South Carolina: $9,147; 11,440 ( ) Tennessee: $8,294 Virginia: $10,656

North Carolina Teacher Salary Starting Salary $30,776 Average Salary $45,737

Average Teacher Salary Rankings: (Preliminary Estimates)

ESTIMATED AVERAGE SALARIES OF CLASSROOM TEACHERS

Fiscal Year North Carolina Public School Salary Schedules

Per Pupil Expenditures Rankings: (Preliminary Estimates)

Bachelor’s Degree Certified Teacher Salary Schedule

Benefit Highlights – Teacher & State Employees Retirement System

TRENDS IN PER PUPIL EXPENDITURES US AND NC THROUGH

TRENDS IN AVERAGE TEACHER SALARIES US AND NC THROUGH

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