Mathematics and science teacher salaries continued to lag behind salaries for other professions, and the gap has widened.
Why is this indicator important?
Adequate compensation and supportive school environments attract and retain teachers.
Key Observations
From 1993 to 2003, full-time high school mathematics and science teachers had a real salary gain of 8%, compared with increases of 21 to 29% for computer systems analysts, accountants or financial specialists, and engineers.
The median salary for full-time high school mathematics and science teachers in the United States in 2003 was $43,000.
Median salaries for accountants and other financial specialists, for computer systems analysts, and for engineers exceeded $60,000 that year.
Related Discussion
Although public school teachers generally had favorable perceptions of their working conditions, those in schools with high concentrations of minority students or of students from low income families viewed their work environments as less satisfactory (SEI 2008
Figure 1-20).
About half of public middle and high school mathematics and science teachers were not satisfied with their pay in school year 2003-04 (SEI 2008
Figure 1-17).