In the Public Interest

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Public Interest Institute. They are brought to you in the interest of a better-informed citizenry.

The National Education Association (NEA) recently released its annual ranking of average teacher salaries among the states. For the 2003-2004 school year, Iowa's average teacher salary was $39,432. According to the NEA report, this ranks Iowa at number 38 in the nation for average teacher salaries.
Not surprisingly, this report evoked calls from state and local teachers' unions for increased spending for education in the state, particularly to increase pay for teachers. However, I believe there is at least one item we must consider before we pour even more state and local money into education and teacher salaries: cost of living.
The NEA report found that the highest average teacher salary was in California, where the average teacher salary was $58,287. However, the cost of living in many California cities is much higher than most Iowa cities.
The official web site of the National Association of Realtors (www.homefair.com) has a cost of living comparison calculator. If you were considering moving from one city to another in the United States, you could type in your current salary, and find out how much you would need to earn to maintain a similar lifestyle in the new city.
If an Iowa teacher living in Des Moines and making the state average salary of $39,432 decided to move to San Francisco, California, the teacher would have to earn $96,865 in order to have a similar lifestyle, including owning their home. But the average teacher pay in California is only $58,287. It would appear that San Francisco teachers are extremely underpaid compared to those lucky teachers in Des Moines, Iowa.
San Francisco is a large city, so of course its cost of living would be higher than Des Moines, Iowa. However, when we compare Des Moines to two California cities close in size to Des Moines, the result is similar. A teacher from Des Moines earning $39,432 would need to earn $77,557 in Glendale, California and $69,152 in Fremont, California - both higher than the average teacher salary in California.
I can hear the teachers' union representatives arguing: there are other factors to consider. That is my point, exactly. I realize that the average teacher pay in California is just that, an average. Teachers in cities with higher costs of living are likely paid more than in cities with lower costs of living. The same is true from state to state, and Iowa (fortunately for those of us living here) has more cities and towns with lower costs of living than states such as California.
Simply figuring the average teacher salary and ranking them by amount doesn't tell us much, unless we consider other factors, such as the differences in cost of living - from state to state and city to city.

Amy K. Frantz
Senior Research Analyst Public Interest Institute
Mt. Pleasant