SACRAMENTO, CA -- In his proposal to exempt teachers from the state income tax, Gov. Gray Davis assumes that California teachers are underpaid across the board. State schools chief Delaine Eastin agrees, saying that
teachers in California are paid less than prison guards, despite having more education. Such arguments,
however, mask many key facts about teacher pay.

Although California’s average teacher salary in 1997-98 was $43,725, 16.5 percent above the 1979-80 average in constant dollars and in the top 10 among all states today, teacher advocates argue that teacher salaries
should be compared to the salaries of other professional workers. A recent regional study conducted for the Girard Foundation by Claremont McKenna College’s Rose Institute did just that and came to some
surprising conclusions.

The Rose Institute study analyzed teacher salaries in San Diego County and found, among other things, that
there was wide disparity in average salaries. For example, in 1998-99, Spencer Valley Elementary School
District had the lowest average salary in the county, $33,292, while San Marcos Unified had the highest
average salary, $60,116. One might be tempted to conclude that Spencer Valley must be underfunded. In
reality, Spencer Valley’s per-pupil revenues of $9,858 were second highest in the county and far above the
state per-pupil revenue average.

Countywide, the average teacher salary in a high-school district was $55,097. The average salary in a
unified-school district was $51,793 and the average salary in an elementary-school district was $51,015.
While teachers did make less money than computer engineers and optometrists, they made as much or more
than many other professional workers in San Diego. For example, biological scientists made $52,300, less than
the average high-school-district teacher. Those making less than the average K-12 teacher include management
analysts at $50,797, chemists at $49,122, registered nurses at $46,481, accountants and auditors at $42,774,
and postsecondary math teachers at $49,426.

These salary comparisons, however, do not take into account the fact that teachers work about 185 days a
year versus 220 days for other professional workers. The Rose Institute study, therefore, also adjusted for
days worked. The study observed that "When this alculation is made, the relative value of teacher alaries increases substantially." Based on this alculation, the mean annual wage for igh-school-district teachers was $65,768, $61,733 for nified-school-district teachers, and $60,972 for lementary-school-district teachers.

By comparison, mechanical engineers at $60,790, medical cientists at $57,733, industrial production managers
at $56,586, computer programmers at $55,621, and ystems analysts at $54,930 all made less than teachers
despite having as much or more education. These rofessions must also work without the protections from
incompetence that teachers enjoy in California, where iring a poorly-performing teacher is practically
impossible.

The point of all this is that the teacher-salary issue s not a mere "let’s-pay-them-more" proposition. In ome parts of the state, such as San Diego, teachers re already well compensated. Any pay-increase plan, herefore, must be more narrowly focused to target reas of real need, such as math and science, and should include pay-for-performance components to reward quality teaching. Blanket pay-raise schemes and special tax breaks are inadvisable, insupportable, and in some cases simply offensive.

-Lance T. Izumi

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