High school and middle school teachers' salaries all depend on the location of the school and the state the school is in. Different states have different salaries, as well as pensions, for the teachers when they retire. Teachers have to work their way up through the years to keep raising their salary and pension. Higher education professors at college have higher salaries and different benefits. 

The average salary for a teacher in the state of Pennsylvania is $44,647. This is  the average throughout all the schools in Pennsylvania, so first-year teachers make much less than that right out of college. As teachers gain more experience with the same school, their salary will start to rise by the year. This salary method is called a “step and lane” schedule and almost all teachers regardless of the state they teach, abide by this schedule. It is a schedule that shows how much more teachers will make as they continue to teach at the same school. Another impact on a teacher’s salary is their experience and education. The degree of a teacher is a part of what goes into a teacher’s salary as well as what school they may have gone to. There are a lot of different variables that go into what a teacher’s salary is and will continue to be as they continue to work. 

The salary of a teacher is one of the reasons why there is a teacher shortage in this country. The teacher shortage could reach 200,000 by 2025, up from 110,000 in 2018. Class numbers are expected to rise as will the demand for more teachers. This could have a ripple effect as this could impact the quality of learning each student gets on a daily basis. The teacher shortage could cause less qualified teachers to educate students, which then lessens the standard of education. There are other indicators of why there is a teacher shortage, such as changing of curriculum, poor working conditions, and lack of autonomy. The teacher shortage is expected to get much worse in the following years, as the number of students is also expected to see a rise. 

Teacher’s pensions are a “defined benefit” in most states. The defined benefits all correlate with how long you work at a certain school. A teacher’s peak salary is around 55 years old if they continue to gain experience in the school district and work their way towards a better salary. The teacher union for a school district negotiates salaries, as well as the benefits teachers have in that school district. These benefits include paid leave, sick days, vacation days, dental and vision insurance. Additional benefits in Pennsylvania include the blood bank, credit union, Family Care Account Program for child or elder care, Family Care Leave Without Pay with Benefits. These benefits are part of the reason why the average salary for a teacher in Pennsylvania is not as high as other states. 

Retirement benefits and pensions all change throughout every state. In Pennsylvania, a teacher has to be 65 years or older with three years of service or your age and 35 years of service equals 92. These monthly benefits for retired teachers depend on the years of service and the teachers salary when retired. A fully employed teacher in New Jersey is a part of the Teachers’ Pension and Annuity Fund that helps retired teachers financially after they retire. This plan helps teachers after they retire, but they are required to contribute 6.5 percent of their salary towards their fund, while the employer adds money that changes. What a teacher receives monthly from the pension and annuity fund depends on what their salary was leading up to their retirement and years served. Teachers in Delaware are a member of Delaware State Employee’s Pension Fund as soon as they become a full-time teacher. This pension fund distributes benefits to all public workers. Teachers in Delaware are required to contribute 3 percent of their salary that exceeds $6,000 a year. The state and local schools are also required to contribute a percentage to their pension fund.