Recruiting and retaining qualified public school teachers plays a significant role in school quality and student success.
Highlights
Recruiting and retaining qualified public school teachers plays a significant role in school quality and student success. While teacher shortages have been amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic, Missouri public schools have consistently experienced challenges hiring and retaining qualified teachers. Students in rural, high-poverty, and high-minority schools are most likely to have less experienced teachers and higher teacher turnover rates. Salary is consistently reported by teachers, students and administrators to be the primary barrier to teacher recruitment and retention. Missouri teacher salaries consistently rank among the lowest in the United States, including in comparisons adjusted for cost of living or to similar professions with similar education requirements.
Missouri law requires that new public school teachers receive a minimum salary of at least $25,000 and that teachers with a master’s degree and ten years of experience must earn a salary of at least $33,000 (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 163.172). Minimum salary requirements were most recently adjusted in 2005 when the General Assembly voted to increase new teacher minimum salaries from $18,000 to $25,000 ($24,000 to $33,000for master’s degree and ten years of experience) over a four-year period ending in the 2009-10 school year. The average starting salary for Missouri public school teachers ($32,600) currently ranks second to last in the United States (Figure 1), where the average starting salary is $40,106 (median: $38,358).1 The average salary of all Missouri teachers, overall and based on years of experience, is consistently lower than the United States average (Table 1).2 Public school teachers in Missouri also make 26.5% less than comparable college graduates in other professions (national average is 19.8%).3 Average teacher salaries across all experience levels are lowest for teachers in rural schools and highest for teachers in schools with relatively few students who are eligible for free and reduced price lunch.4
Each year, 11% of Missouri’s teachers are new district hires, compared to a national hiring rate of 8%. Approximately half of Missouri’s public teacher workforce has less than 10 years of experience.5 Recent surveys of Missouri public school teachers and administrators indicate that teacher pay is consistently cited as the top reason that schools had trouble recruiting and retaining teachers.5 Several states have found that low-resource schools have significant teacher vacancies, high turnover rates and tend to hire more teachers with less experience.6,7 Similarly, low-income, nonwhite, and rural students in Missouri have the least access to highly experienced teachers.4
The Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education (DESE), along with a working group of teachers and other stakeholders, recently developed an outreach plan with recommendations and specific action items to improve teacher recruitment and retention.8 The teacher salary proposal includes both adequacy targets (e.g., increasing minimum salary, increasing all teacher salaries) and equity targets (e.g., increasing pay in high-need areas). The State Board of Education has requested that the House and Senate establish a Joint Interim Committee to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of alternative teacher compensation strategies, including incentive pay, health benefit design, tenure, and differential pay based on subject area and geography.9 Tax relief for educators is the primary legislative strategy currently being proposed to effectively increase teacher income without requiring a salary change. House Bill 727 would provide an income tax deduction worth 25% of that teacher’s income; Senate Bill228 would reimburse teachers for educator expenses up to $500.
In addition to the proposal for teacher salary increases, the DESE outreach plan includes plans to improve teacher recruitment by (1) creating and implementing a public relations plan, (2) expanding and improving the Grow Your Own teacher initiative, (3) developing teaching incentives and (4) expanding leadership/professional development opportunities. They also provide recommendations for retention including (1) utilizing innovative school and district accountability measures and (2) improving school climates/cultures.8
