Macomb Today

Despite the average teacher salary increasing in 2019-20 by $1,383 to $62,170, it is not reflective of the actual salaries some districts' teachers are receiving, according to a Michigan Capitol Confidential report.

Liza Parkinson is on the Utica Community Schools payroll as a teacher, despite being the president of the local teachers union, where she spends all of her time on union work rather than classroom teaching.

"Parkinson’s salary under the district’s teachers union contract was $105,843 in 2013-14, and it rose to $106,552 in 2019-20. But like many high-seniority school employees, even the local union president gets no more base-pay increases once she hits the top of the union pay scale," Tom Gantert wrote in Michigan Capitol Confidential. "This is the situation for many Utica teachers who have received few increases in gross pay for six years and generally collect between $89,000 and $105,000 annually."

The highest available base salary for a Utica teacher tops out at $101,956, but some "highest-seniority teachers" can earn thousands extra by coaching or supervising extracurricular activities. The highest-paid instructor at Utica collected $114,051 in the 2019-20 school year but received $121,741 in the 2015-16 school year. 

"These regular hikes, known as step increases, brought one Utica Schools elementary teacher, who had been collecting $68,532 in 2013-14, up to $85,909 in 2019-20. That was a $17,377 increase in gross pay over a six-year period, or a bump of 25%," Gantert wrote.

These figures are a reflection of the highest-paying district in Michigan. 

In comparison, the superintendent at Eau Claire Public school earned $115,870 in the 2019-20 school year, which is lower than Utica's highest-paid teacher back in 2015-16. 

"The average teacher salary at Eau Claire was $49,149 in 2019-20, or 60% of Utica’s $81,641 average," Gantert wrote. "The dollar amounts of the periodic step increases are smaller, too. A high school teacher at Eau Claire saw his gross pay increase from $33,759 in 2013-14 to $51,995 in 2019-20, a 54% increase over that six-year period."

Comparing the pay rates of just these two school districts shows the large pay gap between teachers in Michigan. While it's still unclear if changes will be made to decrease this gap, teachers are clear that the average teacher's salary does not accurately reflect all of the state's public school districts.