Teacher salaries in Iowa have dropped another notch in national rankings. Iowa State Education Association President Jolene Franken isn’t happy.She says teacher salary levels in Iowa fell from 35th to 36th in the nation this year. Franken says they’ve been falling for five or six years. The report says the “average” Iowa teacher is 42 years old, and has taught in the state for 15 years. Franken says last year’s two-point-two percent increase in teacher pay left teachers behind other Iowa workers.Franken says most Iowa workers make 90-point-seven percent of the national average salary for their profession, while Iowa teachers make only 85 percent of the national average wage. Franken says the state is also spending below the national average on its public schools.Currently K-12 schools get per-pupil spending of just over 43-hundred dollars, which ranks Iowa 35th. Franken says a new teacher pay system passed by lawmakers this year is no guarantee the pay situation will change.Franken says it might help some beginning teachers, but participation is voluntary. Some school districts may implement it this year, some next year, so it could be three years before most teachers get a raise.
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