Missouri ranks 50th in the nation for starting teacher pay

A new review from the National Education Association teachers union found Missouri teachers are near the bottom in pay by multiple measures.
Missouri teachers are paid some of the lowest starting salaries in the nation, according to a new review of teacher pay from the National Education Association, a teachers union.

On average, starting salaries for Missouri teachers are a little more than $33,200. Only Montana pays new teachers less.

Even Missouri teachers with more experience are in the bottom five of states for average pay; the review found the average Missouri teacher salary is $51,600. That is much less than professionals with similar levels of education in the state, said Mark Jones, communications director for the Missouri National Education Association.

“Asking educators to sacrifice, over the course of their life, 25 or 30% of what their contemporaries could be making is a lot to ask,” Jones said. “It's hard to make a case for a person coming out of college that they should go into education.”