The Utah Foundation released a report this week on the state of teacher pay here in Utah addressing retention rates, teaching licensing and cost of living.
Shawn Teigen is the Director of Research at the Utah Foundation; he said, “They may not necessarily be leaving because of salary but it’s certainly not keeping them around.”
Their report says that Utah teachers are paid about $47,000 per year, much lower than the national average of about $60,000 per year. That salary is one of many factors causing teachers to leave the classroom. In Utah, 40% of teachers leave the profession by their 8th year.
That turnover creates another problem: lack of training.
Teigen said, “What we’re seeing now is that there’s been a shift where teachers are coming from other places. Part of that is necessity. There just aren’t as many people in those four-year programs and districts need teachers in the classroom.”
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