Too many legislators are working to drive dedicated educators from the profession
Concord, NH – April 24, 2023 – The annual NEA Rankings and Estimates Report was released today. The data, combined with a recent NEA-New Hampshire survey of its members indicates a perfect storm is brewing in public education that needs to be addressed.
New Hampshire reported an average teacher salary for 2021-2022 of $62,783 ranking us 33rd in the country: almost $4,000 less than the national average, $9,200 less than the New England average, and $26,755 less than our neighbor to the south, Massachusetts.
The report also found that the national average per-student expenditure in 2021-2022 was $15,386, a gain of 5.9% from 2020-2021 while New Hampshire spent an average of $19,839 per student.
“While our Education Commissioner has admitted he has not looked into what constitutes an adequate education and continues his efforts to take money away from our public schools, it is clear the amount the state sends our schools is hardly adequate to cover the cost with the burden falling squarely and unfairly on local property taxpayers,” said Megan Tuttle, NEA-NH President. “
When it comes to the source of funding for public education, New Hampshire ranks 49th in the percentage of education costs covered by the state and second, behind the District of Columbia, in the percentage of Local Revenue used to support public education with local taxpayers covering an average of 61.7% of the total cost.
Less than 25% of NEA-NH members believe public education in New Hampshire is on the right track, and close to 70% are dissatisfied with the conditions facing educators in their districts. Six in ten New Hampshire educators report experiencing very high levels of frustration and stress.
“We are human and have our limits, and many of us seem to be getting closer and closer to them as the year progresses,” said Tuttle. “Two-thirds of our members told us that they are more likely to leave the profession earlier than they had planned and 43% reported they are much more likely to leave early. This news should shake those trying to under-fund and dismantle public schools.”
“In the heated environment now surrounding public education, the critically important work of our public schools is purposely being devalued by those bent on bringing culture wars to our classrooms,” said Tuttle. “We know most citizens strongly support public schools. They don’t want them underfunded or dismantled.”
“There is still time left in this legislative session to take steps to begin to address the serious issues exposed by this report,” concluded Tuttle.
The data released today include “Rankings and Estimates,” a report NEA has produced since the 1960s that is highly respected and widely cited as an authoritative source. The comprehensive report provides comparative state data and national averages for a wide array of public K-12 education statistics, including average teacher salary and per pupil expenditures. NEA’s “Teacher Salary Benchmark Report” provides information from 12,000 local school districts on starting teacher salaries and salaries at other points of the teaching career continuum. The “Education Support Professional Earnings Report” offers a pay breakdown of school support staff, also known as education support professionals, working in K-12 public schools and higher education. NEA’s “Higher Education Faculty Salary Analysis” looks at full-time faculty and graduate assistant salaries at the national, state, and institutional levels.