By Erik Edoff, Senior Executive Director, Michigan Education Association

This week marks Teacher Appreciation Week, a time when we all come together to honor the hard work of our children’s educators. The most important thing we can do to show our appreciation for Michigan’s dedicated teachers is to pay them a competitive wage.

Unfortunately, Michigan is lagging behind other states when it comes to compensating educators, which is essential to keeping great people working in our kids’ classrooms and attracting more talent into the education profession.

According to a new report from the National Education Association:

• The average starting wage for Michigan teachers in the 2023-24 school year was $41,645, ranking Michigan eighth-lowest nationwide.
• Michigan fares better when it comes to paying the average veteran teacher, with an overall average salary of $69,067 — but we still dropped two spots in the national rankings, from 17th to 19th. Our teachers also have more to manage, as our state has the 8th-most students for every teacher.
• The average full-time school support professional — which includes paraprofessionals, bus drivers, custodians and others — earned just $31,753 last school year, putting Michigan 33rd in the nation.
• Most states are doing a better job than Michigan of addressing substandard educator pay, as our state ranked 33rd in the nation last year in average teacher pay increases.
• While the average teacher’s wage increased by about 3% here in Michigan, the inflation rate increased by the same amount, mitigating actual gains. Overall, the average Michigan teacher makes 14% lessthan in 2016 when accounting for inflation.

You don’t need to look far to see the impact of inadequate educator pay. Neighborhood schools across our state continue to struggle with a shortage of qualified teachers and support staff, which impairs students’ ability to learn and grow and leaves them unprepared for life after school. This is especially a problem in lower-income rural and urban schools.

State policymakers have implemented numerous measures aimed at reducing the educator shortage. Some have had a positive impact, such as providing tuition assistance and other incentives for college students in teacher preparation programs and for school support staff looking to become certified teachers.

Other proposed policies, such as reducing teaching certification standards or requiring school support staff to lead classrooms, will not effectively address the goal of improving student outcomes.

If we as a state are serious about ensuring every student has high-quality educators working in their schools, then we must increase compensation for our local teachers and school support staff.

Competition from a variety of employers and new job creation have made finding and developing young educators challenging. The programs needed are not complicated, but rather basic labor economics: The better salary, benefits and working conditions you can offer, the more talent you can attract and keep.

That’s where Michigan’s lawmakers and governor come in. From my conversations with lawmakers from both parties, I’m convinced that most elected leaders at the state Capitol, no matter their political leanings, want to improve student outcomes and create a brighter future for our children. Democrats and Republicans alike understand that our state must better prepare students to compete for the high-tech jobs of the 21st century.

As the Legislature and governor work to finalize the 2025-26 education budget, I encourage them not to overcomplicate the process and to prioritize funding for schools that support our students and educators.

So this Teacher Appreciation Week, please remember your favorite educator and how they helped you achieve your goals.  Committing to paying our educators what they deserve will benefit our students, communities, and the future Michigan.

(Erik Edoff is senior executive director of the Michigan Education Association

Labor Voices

Labor Voices columns are written on a rotating basis by United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, Michigan Education Association President Chandra Madafferi, Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights Executive Secretary-Treasurer Tom Lutz and selected Service Employees International Union members.

(Posted as submitted to Detroit News)