Kentucky’s teacher salary increases rank way up in new report from US Government

In recent years Kentucky’s teachers have gotten some of the best salary increases in the nation according to recently released data in the Digest of Education Statistics 2011.

Table 84 in that new release shows teachers’ salaries across the nation for the 2004-05 and 2010-11 school years in each state and the District of Columbia. I calculated the changes in those salaries and then ranked those changes in this table.

Teacher Salary Change 50 States and DC 05 to 11

I knew Kentuckians had made some real sacrifices recently for our teachers, but I didn’t expect to see such a high ranking for the Bluegrass State.

Thanks to the big increase in salaries, Kentucky’s average pay for teachers now ranks 28th in the nation as of the 2010-11 school term. Back in 2004-05, the state ranked six spots lower in 34th place.

Just so we get this message clear about the taxpayers’ sacrifices, I also downloaded and ranked the 2011 per capita personal income in each state from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Personal Income by State 2011 from BEA

As you can see, Kentucky ranks way down the list for per capita income at number 48.

There can be no question: Kentucky is really performing for its teachers. I hope our educators understand that.